Deadline for Issuing a Notice of Adverse Action

The Program Development Division has recently received questions about the meaning of 7 CFR 273.12(c)(2)(i), which states in part:

(2) Decreases in benefits. (i) If the household's benefit level decreases or the household becomes ineligible as a result of the change, the state agency shall issue a notice of adverse action within 10 days of the date the change was reported unless one of the exemptions to the notice of adverse action in §273.13 (a)(3) or (b) applies.

The purpose of this memorandum is to clarify the meaning of within 10 days.

Question One
If the tenth day for issuing a notice of adverse action falls on a weekend or holiday, does the state agency have until the end of the next working day to issue the notice?

Answer One
No. The regulations require the state agency to issue the notice of adverse action within ten days. Neither the regulations nor any Food Stamp policy provides for an extension that depends on when the tenth day falls. In order to comply with this regulation the state agency would have to determine when the tenth day would fall for a particular case. Should that day be a weekend or holiday, the state agency would issue the notice of adverse action earlier than the tenth day.

Question Two
Suppose the state agency’s computer system requires the state agency to request the notice of adverse action on the day before the system would actually mail it. Does the state agency meet the requirement of 7 CFR 273.12(c)(2)(i) by instructing the computer on the tenth day and actually mailing the notice of adverse action on the eleventh day?

Answer Two 
No. In the regulations, the word issue means mail or give. The state agency has not issued a notice of adverse action just because they have instructed their automated system to print and mail the notice. At that point, the notice of adverse action is either unproduced (which is to say that it does not even exist yet) or the state agency still possesses it. Either way, the state agency has not issued the notice.

If you have any questions about this memorandum, please contact your region’s policy liaison in the Certification Policy Branch.

Arthur T. Foley
Director
Program Development Division
Food Stamp Program