Food and Nutrition Service – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on this proposed information collection. This collection is a revision of a currently approved collection for determining eligibility for free and reduced price meals and free milk as stated in FNS regulations. These Federal requirements affect eligibility under the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, and the Special Milk Program and are also applicable to the Child and Adult Care Food Program and the Summer Food Service Program when individual eligibility must be established.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on this proposed information collection. This collection is a revision of a currently approved collection for awarding local agencies for excellence in WIC breastfeeding services and support.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on the proposed collection of information for the Understanding States' SNAP Customer Service Strategies study. This is a NEW information collection. This study seeks to describe the key characteristics of State Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) agencies' customer service strategies through in-depth case studies in up to 9 States, review the current literature on customer service, particularly in government social safety net programs, and identify promising practices in improving, measuring, and monitoring customer service in SNAP.

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is adopting the interim final rule on non-discretionary quality control provisions of Title IV of the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018, and its correction, as final. In this final rule, USDA is also removing one obsolete paragraph from the interim final rule due to the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) subsequent approval of information collection activities associated with the rule.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on this proposed information collection. This collection is a new collection for (1) identifying and describing relevant federal statutory, regulatory, and operational barriers and facilitators that have considerable impact on coordination between the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid agencies; (2) identifying and describing relevant State statutory, regulator, and operational barriers and facilitators that have considerable impact on coordination between SNAP and Medicaid agencies; (3) identifying and describing systems used by States to determine eligibility and manage SNAP and Medicaid application and recertification information; (4) identifying and describing similarities and differences in State SNAP and Medicaid applications; and (5) using information collected from Objectives 1-4 to develop a Best Practices Guide that explains how States can better improve coordination between SNAP and Medicaid.

This notice announces the surplus and purchased foods that the Department expects to make available for donation to States for use in providing nutrition assistance to the needy under The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) in Fiscal Year (FY) 2023. The foods made available under this notice must, at the discretion of the State, be distributed to eligible recipient agencies (ERAs) for use in preparing meals and/or for distribution to households for home consumption.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on this information collection. This is a revision of a currently approved collection that consists of several components of State agency reporting and/or recordkeeping: State Plan of Operations, Puerto Rico Plan of Operations, Territory Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs), a budget projection statement, a program activity report, waiver requests submitted via the Waiver Information Management System (WIMS), card skimming reporting, and other plans and submissions such as advance planning documents for information systems and for electronic benefit transfer (EBT) systems. This collection also merges the activities under the Annual State Report on Verification of SNAP participation, OMB Control Number 0584-0605, expiration date 06/30/2025 into this collection which ensures that no person who is deceased, or who has been permanently disqualified from SNAP, improperly received SNAP benefits for the fiscal year preceding the report submission. Section 4032 of the Agriculture Act of 2014 is the basis for this collection. The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) considers an email from each State agency to their corresponding FNS Regional SNAP Program Director verifying their compliance with Section 4032 of the Agriculture Act of 2014 as the mechanism for compliance. FNS intends to discontinue the Annual State Report of Verification of SNAP Participants, OMB Control Number 0584-0605 expiration date 06/30/2025 following OMB approval of this information collection request.

The Food and Nutrition Service, USDA (the Department), proposes to remove barriers to online ordering and internet-based transactions in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) through this rulemaking. This is expected to improve the WIC shopping experience while increasing equity and access to nutritious foods for WIC participants, thus positively impacting nutrition security. The proposed rule also complements the Program's near-complete transition to electronic benefit transfer (EBT) by streamlining and modernizing certain WIC food delivery regulations to support current technology and future innovation, and by introducing measures intended to meet the needs of a modern, data-driven program that uses these technologies for food delivery.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (``Department'') announces adjusted income eligibility guidelines to be used by State agencies in determining the income eligibility of persons applying to participate in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). These income eligibility guidelines are to be used in conjunction with the WIC Regulations.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on this proposed information collection. This is an existing collection in use without an OMB Control Number in which we are seeking approval to establish a process for requesting a waiver from the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to offer SNAP recipients incentives at SNAP authorized retailer locations that encourage them to purchase healthier foods. This collection burden only affects SNAP retailers as well as private organizations or governmental entities who partner with SNAP retailers. There are no data collection activities for SNAP households in this request.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on this proposed information collection. This collection is a revision of a currently approved collection for the School Meals Operations (SMO) Study (OMB control number 0584-0607) information collection with updated survey instruments for school year (SY) 2022-2023. This study will collect data from State agencies and public school food authorities (SFAs), including disaggregated administrative data, on the continued use and effectiveness of the nationwide Child Nutrition (CN) COVID-19 waivers, and continuation of SMO information collection with updated survey instruments.

The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is correcting regulations that published in a final rule in the Federal Register of September 19, 2022, and went into effect in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) on October 1, 2022. The rule amended the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) regulations to strengthen program integrity by clarifying, simplifying, and streamlining program administration to facilitate compliance with program requirements.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on this proposed information collection. This collection is an extension, without change, of a currently approved collection for activities associated with administering emergency allotments (EA) waivers. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020, enacted March 18, 2020, includes a general provision that allows the Department of Agriculture to issue EA waivers based on a public health emergency declaration by the Secretary of Health and Human Services under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act related to an outbreak of COVID-19 when a State has also issued an emergency or disaster declaration.

The Food and Nutrition Service is delaying the effective date for the interim final rule published in the Federal Register on October 3, 2022, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Requirement for Interstate Data Matching to Prevent Duplicate Issuances.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on this proposed information collection. This is a revision of a currently approved collection.

The United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) plans to collect additional information from grant applicants for the second round of The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) Reach and Resiliency Grant applications and add reporting questions on a biannual basis. FNS already has OMB approval for collection of information associated with these grants under the Uniform Grant Application for Non-Entitlement Discretionary Grants, as approved under OMB Control Number: 0584-0512 (Expiration Date: July 31, 2025). This notice solicits public comment on the additional information proposed for collection.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on this revision of a currently approved information collection. This is a collection for the electronic submission of programmatic and financial data through the Food Programs Reporting System (FPRS). The data is currently collected on approved Office of Management and Budget (OMB) forms.

The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 requires the Secretary of Agriculture to establish an interstate data system called the National Accuracy Clearinghouse (NAC) to prevent issuance of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to an individual by more than one State agency simultaneously (also known as interstate duplicate participation). This interim final rule requires SNAP State agencies to provide information to the NAC regarding individuals receiving SNAP benefits in their States in order to ensure they are not already receiving benefits in another State. It also requires State agencies to take appropriate action with respect to each indication from the NAC that an individual may already be receiving SNAP benefits from another State agency. This rule aims to enhance Program integrity by reducing the risk of improper payments and improve customer service by incorporating best practices and lessons learned from the NAC pilot to require that State agencies take appropriate and timely action to resolve NAC matches. This rule also establishes safeguards to ensure households receive benefits for which they are eligible and are not incorrectly removed from the Program.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other interested parties to comment on a proposed information collection. This collection is an extension of a currently approved collection. This information collection will conduct research in support of FNS' goal of delivering science-based nutrition education to targeted audiences. This information collection will also conduct research that will assist FNS in identifying effective design and implementation approaches to use to develop and assess grants. From development through testing of materials and tools with the target audience, FNS plans to conduct data collections that involve formative research including focus groups, interviews (dyad, triad, telephone, etc.), surveys and Web-based collection tools.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on this proposed information collection. This collection is a revision of a currently approved collection for State administrative expense funds expended in the operation of the Child Nutrition Programs administered under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966.

The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is correcting a final rule with request for comments that appeared in the Federal Register on February 7, 2022 and went into effect in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) on July 1, 2022. The rule established Child Nutrition Program transitional standards for milk, whole grains, and sodium for school years 2022-23 and 2023-24.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on this proposed information collection. This is a revision of a currently approved collection. This information collection consists of State agency notification and data collection activities associated with a major change in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) operations at the State level.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (``Department'') announces adjusted income eligibility guidelines to be used by State agencies in determining the income eligibility of persons applying to participate in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). These income eligibility guidelines are to be used in conjunction with the WIC Regulations.

USDA is finalizing its November 25, 2020, proposed rulemaking regarding child nutrition meal pattern requirements. This final rule will establish transitional standards to support the continued provision of nutritious school meals as schools respond to and recover from the pandemic and while USDA engages in notice-and-comment rulemaking to update the meal pattern standards to more comprehensively reflect the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025. This final rule will provide immediate relief to schools during the return to traditional school meal service following extended use of COVID-19 meal pattern flexibilities. This rule finalizes the proposed milk provision by allowing local operators of the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program to offer flavored, low-fat milk (1 percent fat) for students in grades K through 12 and for sale as a competitive beverage. It will also allow flavored, low-fat milk in the Special Milk Program for Children and in the Child and Adult Care Food Program for participants ages 6 and older. Beginning in SY 2022-2023, this final rule will require at least 80 percent of the weekly grains in the school lunch and breakfast menus to be whole grain-rich. Lastly, this final rule will modify the proposed sodium standards and establish Sodium Target 1 as the sodium limit for school lunch and breakfast in SY 2022-2023 as proposed, but implement a Sodium Interim Target 1A effective for school lunch beginning in SY 2023-2024.

On October 18, 2021, the Food and Nutrition Service revised rules concerning meal pattern tables for the National School Lunch Program and the Child and Adult Care Food Program. The document contained incorrect table entries. This document corrects the final regulations.