FNS Documents & Resources

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 section of Q&As covers the Application form, Filing the Application Form, Interviews, Verification, Request For Contact and Shortening Certification Periods, Drug/Alcohol Treatment Programs, Transitional Benefits, Recertification, Aliens, Self-Employment, Shelter Expenses, and Extending Certification Periods.

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.

This proposed rule would implement 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 FSP.

The purpose of this final rule is to implement the Food Stamp Program retailer provisions included in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, as well as the retailer provision included in the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act.