This action proposes to revise Food Stamp Program regulations pertaining to the standards for approval of Electronic Benefits Transfer systems, the participation of retail food stores and wholesale food concerns, and the state agency liabilities and federal sanctions.
After a further review of this matter, and upon advice of our legal counsel, we have reconsidered our position on the use of the Request for Contact (RFC) to facilitate household cooperation with fraud investigations. We have decided that the RFC may only be issued by state eligibility workers and only when the state agency learns of a change in the household’s circumstances that calls into question the household’s continued eligibility for the program or its current level of benefits.
This action will revise Food Stamp Program regulations affecting the administrative review process available to retail and wholesale firms participating in the Food Stamp Program. It proposes to streamline and make technical corrections to this process by amending portions of current regulations. The changes will eliminate repetitious, outdated and unnecessary provisions without taking away a firm’s right to an administrative review. This rule also proposes to make technical corrections.
This report fulfills the request from Congress in the House Appropriations Committee Report (HR 107-116), which accompanied the Agriculture Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2002.
A decision has been made to further temporarily delay for 120 days the effective date of the rule entitled Food Stamp Program: Revisions to the Retail Food Store Definition and Program Authorization Guidance, published in the Federal Register on Jan. 12, 2001, 66 FR 2795.
This action temporarily delays for 60 days the effective date of the rule entitled Food Stamp Program: Food Revisions to the Retail Food Store Definition and Program Authorization Guidance, published in the Federal Register on Jan. 12, 2001, 66 FR 2795.
This final rule implements provisions of the Food Stamp Program Improvements Act of 1994 to revise the criteria for eligibility of firms to participate in the Food Stamp Program as retail food stores, and to provide for notification to such firms of eligibility criteria for participation in the Food Stamp Program.
This final rule implements a revised processing timeframe for retail food stores and wholesale food concerns that apply for authorization to accept and redeem food stamp benefits and clarifies verification requirements.
This action proposes to revise the initial application processing timeframe for retail food stores and wholesale food concerns that apply for authorization to accept and redeem food stamp benefits and clarify verification requirements.
In the past, the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has relied on a series of large surveys to gather and compare information on food expenditures and food consumption among participants and non-participants to better understand the impacts of the Food Stamp Program (FSP) on the diet and nutritional status of program participants. Studies based on survey data, however, have a number of drawbacks, including the time and expense of collecting the survey data, sampling error, response bias, errors in respondent recall, and misinformation about what may have been purchased or consumed.