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State Agency D-SNAP Toolkit
The State Agency D-SNAP Toolkit contains a variety of resources and templates for states to consider in their disaster planning and D-SNAP operations. This page contains links to the print version of the toolkit.
1. Templates for State Agencies
- D-SNAP Waiver Request
- Sample D-SNAP Application (English)
- Sample D-SNAP Application (Spanish)
- Affidavit of Disaster Loss
- Daily Reporting Sheet
2. Examples for Public Information & Reporting
3. State Agency Planning Resources
4. Site Preparedness
- Application Site Selection Guide
- Application Site Supply Checklist
- Human Comforts Checklist
- Application Site Readiness Checklist
- Site Flowcharts
5. Waivers
Below is a chart outlining disaster waivers and flexibilities.
| Policy Area | Food and Nutrition Act/Regulation/Policy | Description |
| Hot Foods | Section 412 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act and Sections 3(k)(1) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, as amended. 7 CFR 271.2 | This waives the mandate in the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 that hot food purchases with SNAP benefits are ineligible. Retail food stores licensed by FNS to accept SNAP benefits in designated disaster areas can accept SNAP benefits from SNAP customers in exchange for hot foods. No sales tax can be charged during the effective period. This waiver can be requested on a statewide or county by county basis. Requires a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration for Individual Assistance. |
| Key-Entered Transactions | April 3, 2001 (Index No. BRD/EBT 2001-1) | This relaxes the requirement that an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card be present during a key-entered, SNAP transaction. Displaced residents of disaster areas can shop without their EBT cards, but they will need to know their card and PIN number. Residents may call either their state office or the EBT contractor if they have lost their card and do not remember their card number. |
| Early Issuance | 7 CFR 274.2(d) | This waiver allows a state agency to issue monthly benefits, early, on a county or statewide basis (i.e., issuance of two months worth of benefits in one month). States’ Account Management Agent system entries should be based on the dates benefits are posted and are made available. The FNS-46 and FNS-388 reports, however, should reflect the month the benefits are intended rather than when they are made available. |
| Expungement of Disaster Benefits | Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, as amended. 7 CFR 274.2 (h)(2) | EBT regulations at 7 CFR 274.12(f)(7)(ii) require that the state agency expunge benefits that have not been accessed by a household after a period of one year. This waiver allows disaster benefits to be expunged from a household’s account after a period of less than one year, usually after each benefit has reached the age of 90 days, regardless of whether that benefit has been accessed by the household within 90 days of issuance or not. |
| Timely Household Reporting of Food Loss | 7 CFR 274.6(a) and 7 CFR 274.6(a)(5) | Section 7 CFR 274.6(b)(1) of the SNAP regulations requires that replacement issuances shall be provided only if a household reports a loss of food purchased with SNAP benefits orally or in writing to the State within 10 days of the date the food is destroyed in a household misfortune. This waiver allows the state agency to extend the amount of time households have to report the loss of food purchased with SNAP benefits, beyond the 10 days. Household misfortunes such as mass power outages and floods would qualify under this waiver. |
| Automatic Replacement of SNAP Benefits | 7 CFR 274.6(a)(3) and 7 CFR 274.6(a)(4) | This waiver allows a state agency to replace a portion/percentage of currently certified households’ monthly SNAP allotments in a disaster without the requirement that a household request a replacement, individually, and travel to a local office to sign an affidavit of loss. Under this waiver, households will not have the added burden of signing paperwork and local offices will not have to process cases manually for each household needing a benefit replacement. Note: The replacement percentage is not fixed and generally depends on the time of the month in which the disaster took place and the state’s issuance cycle. |
| Stand-in Process | 7 CFR 274.3(a)(1)(i) and 7 CFR 3016.20 | EBT regulations at 7 CFR 274.3 (a)(1)(i) hold retailers liable for EBT purchases not authorized at the time of purchase. This waiver allows FNS to accept this liability, up to a certain floor limit, per transaction per retailer per day per client. If the client has insufficient funds in their account to cover their transaction, FNS will reimburse the store up to the designated dollar amount once the store obtains authorization. Note: This is an extremely rare waiver and will only be approved in cases of extreme devastation when power and telephones are out and they will be non-operational for a significant amount of time. Also, this waiver does not replace the language typically in place in standard EBT Contracts in which a state’s EBT vendor assumes the liability for purchases up to a certain floor limit when the processor’s host system is down. |