FNS Documents & Resources

This rulemaking proposes to codify three menu planning flexibilities established by the interim final rule titled, Child Nutrition Programs: Flexibilities for Milk, Whole Grains, and Sodium Requirements published Nov. 30, 2017, and made permanent with some modifications by a final rule of the same title published Dec. 12, 2018, hereafter referred to as the 2018 Final Rule. An April 2020 court decision vacated and remanded the 2018 Final Rule.

This final rule removes from the Code of Federal Regulations the final rule published on Dec. 12, 2018, titled, “Child Nutrition Programs: Flexibilities for Milk, Whole Grains, and Sodium Requirements.” This action responds to a decision of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland that vacated the rule.

Through this final rule, FNS is adding regulations that will ensure the integrity of the supplemental allotments for households with children who would have otherwise received free or reduced price school meals under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, but for school closures or reduction in the number of days or hours that students attend school in response to the ongoing and national COVID-19 Public Health Emergency.

This final rule amends the SNAP regulations to ensure that retail food stores can no longer use the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process to delay FNS' administrative actions to sanction a retail food store for SNAP violations. Under this rule, FNS will process FOIA requests and FOIA appeals separately from the administrative action for all SNAP violations, as originally proposed. The processing of FOIA requests and appeals during the administrative and judicial review process will have no impact on when the agency can take administrative action.

This final rule amends the SNAP regulations to implement provisions of the 2008 Farm Bill regarding monthly benefit issuance allotments, storage of benefits off-line, and permanent expungement of unused benefits, as well as related benefit expungement and off-line storage provisions of the 2018 Farm Bill. This final rule also updates SNAP regulations to reflect the program's name change to SNAP and benefit issuance through Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) systems.

The proposed rule would implement the changes made by section 4005 of The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (the Act) to SNAP pertaining to the Employment and Training program and aspects of the work requirement for able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs). In general, these changes are related to strengthening the SNAP E&T program, adding workforce partnerships as a way for SNAP participants to meet their work requirements, and modifying the work requirement for ABAWDs.

This rulemaking proposes changes to simplify meal pattern and monitoring requirements in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs. The proposed changes, including optional flexibilities, are customer-focused and intended to help State and local Program operators overcome operational challenges that limit their ability to manage these Programs efficiently. In the National School Lunch Program, the proposed rule would add flexibility to the existing vegetable subgroups requirement.