The USDA Food and Nutrition Service is extending for 120 days the public comment period on the interim final rule, “Establishing the Summer EBT Program and Rural Non-Congregate Option in the Summer Meal Programs.”
USDA’s goal across all summer nutrition programs is simple: Connect children with nutritious food during the summer months to help them grow and thrive. The interim final rule published this week is an important step forward in increasing access to these services
The primary purpose of the rule was to strengthen the requirements for adequate testing and pilot before rolling out a new management information system or major system changes. The rule also made changes to the SNAP regulations to provide clarifications and revisions since the last update which occurred in 1996.
This rule proposes to amend Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)--formerly the Food Stamp Program) regulations to implement the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (the Farm Bill), which requires adequate system testing before and after implementation of a new state automatic data processing (ADP) and information retrieval system, including the evaluation of data from pilot projects in limited areas for major systems changes, before the Secretary approves the system to be implemented more broadly.