Summary
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on this proposed information collection associated with SNAP benefit storage and expungement provisions of the 2008 and 2018 Farm Bills. This collection is an extension, without change, of a currently approved collection. This collection is for providing SNAP households advance or concurrent notice of state agency action to store unused SNAP benefits offline due to three or more months of account inactivity and for those households to seek reinstatement of benefits prior to permanent expungement. This collection is also for providing SNAP households advance or concurrent notice prior to the state agency expunging unused SNAP benefits from the household's Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) account due to nine months of account inactivity.
Request for Comments
Written comments must be received on or before Dec. 16, 2024.
Comments may be sent to Erica Kain, Chief, Issuance Support Branch, Issuance Policy and Innovation Division, Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), 1320 Braddock Place, 5th Floor, Alexandria, Virginia 22314, or via email to SM.FN.SNAP.Issuance.Policy@usda.gov. Comments will also be accepted through the Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and follow the online instructions for submitting comments electronically.
All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the request for Office of Management and Budget approval. All comments will be a matter of public record.
Abstract
On Aug. 24, 2020, the Department published the final rule, “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: 2008 Farm Bill Provisions on Clarification of Split Issuance; Accrual of Benefits and Definition Changes” (85 FR 52025) to implement the mandatory SNAP benefit storage and expungement provisions of the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008, PL 110-243 (2008 Farm Bill). In the final rule, the Department also adopted as final the provisions in the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, PL 115-334 (2018 Farm Bill), that mandated changes to the requirements governing the storage and expungement of unused benefits.
As a result, state agencies are required to provide a 30-day advance notice prior to permanently expunging unused SNAP benefits that remain in household's account nine months after issuance or after nine months of account inactivity. State agencies that opt to take unused benefits off-line after three months of SNAP EBT account inactivity must also provide up to 10 days advance or concurrent notice prior to taking such action and to reinstate benefits store off-line within 48 hours of a household's request if the benefits have not reached the expungement timeframe. Currently, FNS is not aware of any state agency exercising the option to store unused benefits off-line prior to expungement.