Food and Nutrition Service – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The final rule and interim final rule titled Eligibility, Certification, and Employment and Training Provisions of the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 was published on January 6, 2017 (82 FR 2010). The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) cleared the associated information collection requirements on July 13, 2017. This document announces approval of the ICR.

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. The purpose of the Summer Meals Study is for the Food and Nutrition Service to understand the facilitators and barriers to program implementation, perceived benefits and challenges for sponsor and site participation, nutritional quality of meals served, parental awareness, factors influencing child participation, and experience with the Summer Food Service Program and the National School Lunch Program's Seamless Summer Option.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 this

This Notice announces the annual adjustments to the ``national average payments,'' the amount of money the Federal Government provides States for lunches, afterschool snacks, and breakfasts served to children participating in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs; to the ``maximum reimbursement rates,'' the maximum per lunch rate from Federal funds that a State can provide a school food authority for lunches served to children participating in the National School Lunch Program; and to the rate of reimbursement for a half-pint of milk served to non-needy children in a school or institution that participates in the Special Milk Program for Children. The payments and rates are prescribed on an annual basis each July. The annual payments and rates adjustments for the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs reflect changes in the Food Away From Home series of the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers. The annual rate adjustment for the Special Milk Program reflects changes in the Producer Price Index for Fluid Milk Products.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on a proposed information collection, which will use two new forms. The purpose of the SNAP-Ed Toolkit Intervention Submission Form and Scoring Tool is to provide a uniform and transparent method for submission, review, and scoring of nutrition education, physical activity promotion, and obesity prevention interventions for possible inclusion in the SNAP-Ed Strategies and Interventions: An Obesity Prevention Toolkit for States (Toolkit). The Toolkit was developed to assist State agencies in locating evidence-based interventions for their implementation of SNAP-Ed programming. The Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, as amended (The Act) Sec. 28(c)(3)(A) requires that States use evidence-based interventions. These forms will allow FNS to increase the selection of interventions available in the Toolkit, increase innovation in service delivery using interventions which reflect up-to-date research, and respond to intervention developer requests to be included in the Toolkit.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on proposed information collections. This collection is a revision of currently approved information collection requirements associated with initiating collection actions against households who have received an overissuance in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

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. The primary purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of the current formula used for State Administrative Expense (SAE) allocations for Child Nutrition Programs, identify and examine factors that influence State spending, and develop and test a range of possible alternatives to improve the SAE allocation formula.

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 information collection for the Study of School Food Authority (SFA) Procurement Practices. This study is intended to describe and assess the practices of SFAs related to procuring goods and services for school meal programs (e.g., National School Lunch Program [NSLP] and the School Breakfast Program [SBP]), and to better understand how SFAs make decisions that lead to these procurement practices. The SFA Procurement Practices study will go beyond previous studies that concentrated on single food service or Child Nutrition programs (e.g., NSLP, SBP, or the Summer Food Service Program [SFSP]) or studies that focused on single procurement practices (e.g., use of Food Service Management Companies [FSMCs]) at the SFA level. This collection includes a mixed-methods approach of qualitative and quantitative information utilizing a structured web-based survey, as well as in-depth interviews (IDIs) to be conducted by telephone. Data will be collected from a subsample of the SFA population participating in the second year of the Child Nutrition Program Operations Study-II (CN-OPS II) (OMB Number 0584-0607).

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 Evaluation of Alternatives to Improve Elderly Access. This is a NEW information collection. This study will provide FNS with a better understanding of the barriers to serving elderly populations in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the extent to which available policy options improve program access, whether certain program models or combinations are more effective than others, and what tradeoffs exist between program simplification/access goals and ensuring benefit adequacy.

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.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, this notice invites the public and other public agencies to comment on a proposed information collection burden for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Employment and Training (E&T) Program, currently approved under OMB No. 0584-0339. This is an extension without revision of a currently approved collection. The burden estimate remains 21,889 hours.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on this proposed information collection. This is a new collection for the purpose of learning about the types of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) related fraud activity observed by large retailers and the methods they use to prevent fraud and minimize their losses. The goal of the information collection is to learn more about the types of SNAP fraud that occur in large retailer settings; document retailer practices to detect, deter, and deal with fraud (collectively known as loss prevention or loss prevention practices); and determine which practices could provide information that would help FNS in detecting and preventing SNAP fraud.

The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) seeks input on the use of the current Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) income conversion factors used to anticipate a household's income for the purposes of SNAP eligibility when a household's income is received on a weekly or biweekly basis. FNS hopes to obtain perspective from State agencies and other stakeholders as it considers how to best balance the flexibilities States are granted in calculating anticipated monthly income under current SNAP regulations, while adhering to the legislative intent of reducing administrative burden on State agencies and removing barriers to eligibility for needy households.

This notice informs the public of the annual adjustments to the reimbursement rates for meals served in the Summer Food Service Program for Children. These adjustments address changes in the Consumer Price Index, as required under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act. The 2017 reimbursement rates are presented as a combined set of rates to highlight simplified cost accounting procedures. The 2017 rates are also presented individually, as separate operating and administrative rates of reimbursement, to show the effect of the Consumer Price Index adjustment on each rate.

The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is extending the comment period for this proposed rule. This rule proposes to revise and clarify requirements for the processing of donated foods in order to: Incorporate successful processing options tested in demonstration projects, ensure accountability for donated foods provided for processing, and increase program efficiency. The rule would require multi-State processors to enter into National Processing Agreements to process donated foods into end products, permit processors to substitute commercially purchased beef and pork of U.S. origin and of equal or better quality for donated beef and pork, and would increase oversight of inventories of donated foods at processors. The rule also revises regulatory provisions in plain language, to make them easier to read and understand.

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 new collection for the Evaluation of the Direct Certification with Medicaid for Free and Reduced-Price Meals (DCM-F/RP) Demonstrations.

Consistent with the memorandum of January 20, 2017, to the heads of executive departments and agencies from the Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff entitled ``Regulatory Freeze Pending Review'', the Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is extending the effective dates and comment period for this rule, which was published January 6, 2017 and implements provisions of the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (FCEA) affecting the eligibility, benefits, certification, and employment and training (E&T) requirements for applicant or participant households in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

The final rule titled Administrative Reviews in the School Nutrition Programs was published on July 29, 2016 (81 FR 50170). The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) cleared the associated information collection requirements (ICR) on September 12, 2016. This document announces approval of the ICR.

This final rule implements provisions of the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (FCEA) affecting the eligibility, benefits, certification, and employment and training (E&T) requirements for applicant or participant households in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The rule amends the SNAP regulations to: Exclude military combat pay from the income of SNAP households; raise the minimum standard deduction and the minimum benefit for small households; eliminate the cap on the deduction for dependent care expenses; index resource limits to inflation; exclude retirement and education accounts from countable resources; clarify reporting requirements under simplified reporting; permit States to provide transitional benefits to households leaving State-funded cash assistance programs; allow States to establish telephonic and gestured signature systems; permit States to use E&T funds to provide job retention services; and update requirements regarding the E&T funding cycle. These provisions are intended to more accurately reflect needs, reduce barriers to participation, and improve efficiency in the administration of the program. This rule also replaces outdated language in SNAP certification regulations with the new program name and updates procedures for accessing SNAP benefits in drug and alcohol treatment centers and group living arrangements with use of electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards. This rule provides States with regulatory options for conducting telephone interviews in lieu of face-to-face interviews and for averaging student work hours. Finally, the Department is issuing an interim final rule (with a request for additional comment) that will require that drug and alcohol treatment and group living arrangements (GLA) centers to: Submit completed change report forms to the State agency when a resident leaves the center; notify the State agency within 5 days when the center is not able to provide the resident with their EBT card at departure; and return EBT cards to residents with pro-rated benefits based up on the date of their departure.

This rule proposes to revise and clarify requirements for the processing of donated foods in order to: Incorporate successful processing options tested in demonstration projects, ensure accountability for donated foods provided for processing, and increase program efficiency. The rule would require multi-State processors to enter into National Processing Agreements to process donated foods into end products, permit processors to substitute commercially purchased beef and pork of U.S. origin and of equal or better quality for donated beef and pork, and would increase oversight of inventories of donated foods at processors. The rule also revises regulatory provisions in plain language, to make them easier to read and understand.

This document contains technical corrections to the Code of Federal Regulations regarding the final rule published in the Federal Register on July 29, 2016, ``Local School Wellness Policy Implementation Under the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010.''

This final rule implements Section 4018 of the Agricultural Act of 2014. Section 4018 created new limitations on the use of Federal funds authorized in the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, as amended (FNA), for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) promotion and outreach activities. Specifically, Section 4018 of the 2014 Farm Bill prohibits the use of Federal funds appropriated in the FNA from being used for: recruitment activities designed to persuade an individual to apply for SNAP benefits; television, radio, or billboard advertisements that are designed to promote SNAP benefits and enrollment; or agreements with foreign governments designed to promote SNAP benefits and enrollment. The prohibition on using funds appropriated under the FNA for television, radio, or billboard advertisements does not apply to Disaster SNAP. Section 4018 also prohibits any entity that receives funds under the FNA from compensating any person engaged in outreach or recruitment activities based on the number of individuals who apply to receive SNAP benefits. Lastly, Section 4018 modifies Section 16(a)(4) of the FNA to prohibit the Federal government from paying administrative costs associated with recruitment activities designed to persuade an individual to apply for program benefits or that promote the program through television, radio, or billboard advertisements. This final rule also impacts the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) and The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), both of which receive funding and/or foods authorized under the FNA.

The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is updating the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP or ``Program'') regulations to set implementation parameters, prerequisites and operational standards required of State agencies that intend to implement the photo Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card option provided under Section 7(h)(9) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (``the Act''). The updated regulations establish procedures to ensure State implementation is consistent with all Federal requirements as they relate to photo EBT cards, including establishing procedures to ensure: Any other appropriate member of the household or authorized representative (including any individual permitted by the household to purchase food on its behalf) who is not pictured on the photo EBT card may use the card; placing photos on EBT cards does not affect the eligibility process and does not impose additional conditions of eligibility or adversely impact the ability of appropriate household members to access the nutrition assistance they need. Failure by a State agency to adhere to the provisions of this rule may result in penalties, including loss of federal funding. The rule will also codify several other program updates to reflect the current operations of the program.

The proposed action would update civil rights assurance language contained in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) regulations on the Federal-State Agreement (FSA). The rule does not contain any new requirements and would codify protections already required by Federal law and existing policy.

This document contains technical corrections to the final rule published in the Federal Register on April 25, 2016, ``Child and Adult Care Food Program: Meal Pattern Revisions Related to the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010.''