This final rule will establish transitional standards to support the continued provision of nutritious school meals as schools respond to and recover from the pandemic and while USDA engages in notice-and-comment rulemaking to update the meal pattern standards to more comprehensively reflect the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
On Oct. 1, 2021, the requirement to credit grains served in the CACFP in "ounce equivalents" was implemented. This action also applied to the crediting of grains served to infants and toddlers in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs. This document corrects the final regulations to align meal pattern tables and corresponding endnotes with regulatory requirements.
This notice announces the annual adjustments to the national average payments, the amount of money the federal government provides states for lunches, afterschool snacks, and breakfasts served to children participating in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs; to the maximum reimbursement rates, the maximum per lunch rate from federal funds that a state can provide a school food authority for lunches served to children participating in the National School Lunch Program; and to the rate of reimbursement for a half-pint of milk served to non-needy children in a school or institution that participates in the Special Milk Program for Children.
This is a revision of a currently approved information collection for Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer for the reporting burden associated with administering P-EBT.
FNS is soliciting proposals from eligible Tribal Organizations to participate in a demonstration project to purchase agricultural commodities for FDPIR. Tribal organizations will be selected on a competitive basis and funding will be awarded through a self-determination contract.
This rulemaking proposes to codify three menu planning flexibilities established by the interim final rule titled, Child Nutrition Programs: Flexibilities for Milk, Whole Grains, and Sodium Requirements published Nov. 30, 2017, and made permanent with some modifications by a final rule of the same title published Dec. 12, 2018, hereafter referred to as the 2018 Final Rule. An April 2020 court decision vacated and remanded the 2018 Final Rule.
This final rule removes from the Code of Federal Regulations the final rule published on Dec. 12, 2018, titled, “Child Nutrition Programs: Flexibilities for Milk, Whole Grains, and Sodium Requirements.” This action responds to a decision of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland that vacated the rule.
FNS is codifying a revised statutory requirement included in the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018. The 2018 Farm Bill at section 4003 requires FDPIR administrative funds to remain available for obligation at the Indian Tribal Organization (ITO) and state agency level for a period of two federal fiscal years. This provision was self-executing and went into effect upon enactment of the 2018 Farm Bill in federal fiscal year 2019.
This rulemaking proposes changes to simplify meal pattern and monitoring requirements in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs. The proposed changes, including optional flexibilities, are customer-focused and intended to help state and local program operators overcome operational challenges that limit their ability to manage these programs efficiently. In the National School Lunch Program, the proposed rule would add flexibility to the existing vegetable subgroups requirement.
This Notice supersedes the notice published in the Aug. 7, 2019 issue of the Federal Register entitled National School Lunch, Special Milk, and School Breakfast Programs, National Average Payments/Maximum Reimbursement Rates (FR Doc. 84-38590). It establishes new reimbursement rates for Guam and Virgin Islands to match the reimbursement rate provided to Puerto Rico, and corrects an incorrect date.