Through this rulemaking, FNS is codifying new statutory requirements included in the 2018 Farm Bill.
The FNS is consolidating certain programmatic and financial data reporting requirements that are currently approved by the Office of Management and Budget, under the Food Programs Reporting System. The purpose is to give states and ITO agencies one portal for the various reporting required for the programs that the states and ITOs operate. The data collected is used for a variety of purposes; mainly program evaluation, planning, audits, funding, research, regulatory compliance and general statistics.
This notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on this proposed information collection. This collection is an extension, without change, of a currently approved collection. This collection allows for Food Distribution Programs, such as the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), and The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), to run effectively.
This notice announces the surplus and purchased foods that the Department expects to make available for donation to states for use in providing nutrition assistance to the needy under TEFAP in FY 2019. The foods made available under this notice must, at the discretion of the state, be distributed to eligible recipient agencies for use in preparing meals and/or for distribution to households for home consumption.
This is a new generic clearance that will allow FNS to quickly collect and analyze specific information from state and local administrators of the special nutrition programs, including the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Summer Food Service Program, the Child and Adult Care Food Program, Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, Food Distribution on Indian Reservation, Commodity Supplemental Food Program, and the Emergency Food Assistance Program.
This rule revises and clarifies requirements to ensure that USDA donated foods are distributed, stored, and managed in the safest, most efficient, and cost-effective manner, at state and recipient agency levels. The rule also reduces administrative and reporting requirements for state distributing agencies, revises or clarifies regulatory provisions relating to accountability for donated foods, and rewrites much of the regulations in a more user-friendly, plain language, format.
This proposed rule would implement Section 4018 of the Agricultural Act of 2014. Section 4018 created new limitations on the use of federal funds authorized in the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program promotion and outreach activities.