The purpose of this rule is to add two sentences which
the Office of the Federal Register (OFR) inadvertently omitted when the
original vendor cost containment final rule was published on October 8,
2009. The first sentence permits State agencies to exclude
partially-redeemed food instruments from a quarterly cost neutrality
assessment if this exclusion is based on an empirical methodology
approved by FNS. The second sentence prohibits State agencies from
excluding food instruments from a quarterly cost neutrality assessment
based on a rate of partially-redeemed food instruments. These two
sentences codify existing FNS policy. This correction rule is effective
on March 30, 2010.
The WIC vendor cost containment final rule was published
on October 8, 2009, concluding all of the WIC-related rulemakings
required by the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004, P.L.
108-265. This final rule follows up on an
interim
rule which was published in 2005. Based on the requirements of the
Act, the interim rule addressed the rising costs of vendors that had
more WIC sales than non-WIC sales, referred to as "above-50-percent
vendors," by requiring that such vendors must be cost neutral for the
program. Under these provisions, the WIC State agency may pay such
vendors no more on average per food instrument than the State agency
pays all other vendors statewide. The final rule makes only minor
adjustments to the provisions of the interim rule, providing
simplification and exemption processes to reduce the administrative
burden of WIC State agencies, and providing additional due process
protections for vendors. The final rule is effective on November 9,
2009.
