Current through Vol. 42, No. 1, September 16, 2024
Any Class A or B violation shall subject the vendor to
reimburse the department for any overcharges, charges for items not received by
WIC participants, and monies paid for products not authorized as WIC approved
foods.
(1) Any Class A violation shall
constitute grounds for disqualification of authorization to the WIC Program. If
the department determines that disqualification of the vendor would result in
inadequate participant access, the department shall impose a civil money
penalty in lieu of disqualification. The length of each disqualification is
listed below.
(A) Permanent disqualification:
A vendor convicted of trafficking in food benefits or selling firearms,
ammunition, explosives, or controlled substances (as defined in section 102 of
Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802) in exchange for
food benefits.
(B) Six-year
disqualification:
(i) One incidence of buying
or selling food benefits for cash (trafficking); or
(ii) One incidence of selling firearms,
ammunition, explosives, or controlled substances as defined in
21 U.S.C.
802, in exchange for food benefits.
(C) Three-year disqualification:
(i) One incidence of sale of alcohol or
alcoholic beverages or tobacco products in exchange for food benefits;
or
(ii) A pattern of claiming
reimbursement for sale of an amount of a specific WIC food item which exceeds
the store's documented inventory of that WIC food item for a specific period of
time; or
(iii) A pattern of
charging participants more for WIC food than non-WIC customers or charging
participants more than the current shelf or agreement price; or
(iv) A pattern of receiving, transacting
and/or redeeming food benefits outside of authorized channels, including the
use of an unauthorized vendor and/or an unauthorized person; or
(v) A pattern of charging for WIC food not
received by the participant, proxy, or department representatives; or
(vi) A pattern of providing credit or
non-food items, other than alcohol, alcoholic beverages, tobacco products,
cash, firearms, ammunition, explosives, or controlled substances as defined in
21 U.S.C.
802, in exchange for food benefits.
(D) One-year disqualification: A
pattern of providing unauthorized food items in exchange for food benefits,
including charging for supplemental foods provided in excess of those listed on
the food benefit.
(E)
Disqualification period equal to SNAP disqualification:
(i) Permanent disqualification,
disqualification or suspension from participation in the USDA SNAP, or
imposition of a civil money penalty by SNAP;
(ii) Such sanction shall not be subject to
administrative or judicial review under the WIC program.
(F) Voluntary withdrawal or non-renewal of
agreement:
(i) The department shall not
accept voluntary withdrawal of the vendor from the Program as an alternative to
disqualification for violations listed in this section, but shall enter the
disqualification on the record; or
(ii) The department shall not use non-renewal
of the vendor agreement as an alternative to disqualification.
(G) Civil Money Penalty (For each
violation subject to a mandatory sanction):
The department shall impose a Civil Money Penalty in lieu
of WIC Program disqualification if such disqualification of the vendor would
result in inadequate WIC participant access. The Civil Money Penalty is set
forth in 7 CFR
246.12(l)(x)(C) and
7 CFR
3.91(b)(3)(v).
(2) Any Class B violation shall constitute
grounds for the following sanctions:
(A) For
the first Class B violation, the WIC retail vendor shall be given written
notice of the violation and shall be given an administrative warning.
(B) For the second Class B violation
committed within one (1) year of the first Class B violation, the vendor shall
be subject to a fine assessment of five hundred dollars ($500). The vendor
shall also be required to attend a compliance training workshop.
(C) The third Class B violation committed
within two (2) years of the first Class B violation shall subject the vendor to
a fine assessment of one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(D) The fourth Class B violation committed
within two (2) years of the first Class B violation shall be grounds for
termination of the vendor authorization, and a fine assessment of two thousand,
five hundred dollars ($2,500).
(3) Any Class C violation shall constitute
issuance of an administrative warning. Five (5) Class C violations within a one
(1) year period shall be grounds for termination of the vendor authorization
for a period of one (1) year.
(4)
Second mandatory sanction, a vendor, who previously has been assessed a
sanction for any of the violations listed in this part, receives another
sanction for any of these violations, the department shall double the
sanction.
(5) Third or subsequent
mandatory sanction, a vendor, who previously has been assessed two or more
sanctions for any of the violations in this part, receives another sanction for
any of these violations, the department shall double the third sanction and all
subsequent sanctions. The department shall not impose civil money penalties in
lieu of disqualification for third or subsequent sanctions for violations
listed in this part.
(6) The time
period shall commence from the time the notice of violation, termination, or
fine assessment is issued by the department.
(7) All fine assessments shall be paid by
cashier certified check or money order in United States currency.
Added at 10 Ok Reg
4203, eff 8-1-93 (emergency); Added at 11 Ok Reg 3823, eff 7-11-94; Amended at
16 Ok Reg 2505, eff 6-25-99; Amended at 17 Ok Reg 1600, eff 5-25-00; Amended at
22 Ok Reg 741, eff 5-12-05; Amended at 25 Ok Reg 870, eff
5-11-08
