[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 161 (Tuesday, August 20, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51136-51138]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-20244]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food and Nutrition Service
Request for Information: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP) Enhancing Retail Food Store Eligibility
AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: Sections 3(k), (p) and (r), Section 7, and Section 9 of the
Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (``the Act''), and Title 7 Parts 271,
274, and 278 of the Code of Federal Regulations (``the regulations'')
provide factors for determining the eligibility of retail food stores
to participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
(``SNAP''). This notice requests information from any and all
interested parties on opportunities to enhance retailer definitions and
requirements in a manner that improves access to healthy food choices
for SNAP participants as well as program integrity, and ensures that
only those retailers that effectuate the purpose of SNAP are authorized
to accept benefits. The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) considers
access to a variety of healthy foods at SNAP retailers to be
fundamental to the effectiveness of this critical nutrition assistance
program. FNS is requesting information to understand what policy
changes and, as needed, statutory changes, should be considered for
retailer authorizations. FNS will use this information in determining
how to make positive progress in the available healthy choices for
program participants at authorized SNAP retail stores.
DATES: To be assured of consideration, written comments must be
submitted on or before October 21, 2013.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted through the Federal eRulemaking
Portal at www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for
submitting comments electronically. Comments can also be mailed or
delivered to: Shanta Swezy, Chief, Retailer Management and Issuance
Branch, Retailer Policy and Management Division, Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program, Food and Nutrition Service, U.S. Department of
Agriculture, 3101 Park Center Drive, Room 426, Alexandria, Virginia,
22302.
All comments submitted in response to this notice will be included
in the record and will be made available to the public at
www.regulations.gov. Please be advised that the substance of the
comments and the identity of the individuals or entities commenting
will be subject to public disclosure.
FNS will conduct public listening sessions to receive input on this
subject. These listening sessions will provide an opportunity for
affected parties, key stakeholders, and the general public to provide
input directly to FNS policy officials.
Timeline:
Public listening sessions: 45 day period following RFI publication.
Comment period for Request for Information closes: 60 days
following publication.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shanta Swezy, Chief, Retailer
Management and Issuance Branch, Food and Nutrition Service, (703) 305-
2238.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: At the end of fiscal year (FY) 2012, over
246,000 retailers were authorized to redeem SNAP benefits. This is an
increase of almost 100,000 authorized stores since 2005. According to
the most recent data available (2012), 82 percent of all benefits
redeemed were redeemed at supermarkets, large grocers and superstores.
Approximately 18 percent of benefits were redeemed at smaller stores,
including convenience stores, small grocers and farmers' markets. Less
than one percent were redeemed by authorized treatment programs, group
homes, homeless meal providers, communal dining facilities and shelters
as provided for in statute. A 2009 FNS study on benefit use indicates
that 96.3 percent of all SNAP beneficiaries shopped at supermarkets or
superstores at least once each month.
According to Sections 3(k), (p) and (r), and Section 9 of the Act,
and Title 7 Parts 271, and 278 of the regulations, to be eligible to
participate in SNAP, stores must sell food for home preparation and
consumption and meet one of the criteria below:
(A) Offer for sale, on a continuous basis (any given day of
operation), at least three varieties of qualifying foods in each of the
following four staple food groups, with perishable foods in at least
two of the categories:
Meat, poultry or fish
Bread or cereal
Vegetables or fruits
Dairy products
OR
(B) More than one-half (50 percent) of the total dollar amount of
all things (food, nonfood, gas and services) sold in the store must be
from the sale of eligible staple foods.
The last major changes to the store eligibility requirements took
place in the early 1990's as a result of congressional action. Today, a
store that consistently stocks as few as 12 total food items from the
required staple foods categories could technically be licensed to
participate in SNAP. Store authorization data collected from retailers
by USDA indicates that over 90,000 currently authorized SNAP retailers
have substantial (over 50 percent) sales that stem from ineligible
items.
In addition to providing minimal access to healthy food, retailers
that do
[[Page 51137]]
not provide sufficient healthful offerings often tend to be those
stores that present the greatest integrity challenges for USDA. The
sale or exchange of SNAP benefits for cash is referred to as
``trafficking'', an illegal activity punishable by law. According to
the latest FNS trafficking study covering the period 2009-2011, 99.5
percent of all trafficking stores involve retailers other than
supermarkets, superstores and large grocers. Further, 84.5 percent of
all benefit dollars trafficked involve retailers other than
supermarkets, superstores and large grocers. The large number of
smaller stores--roughly 222,000 authorized store locations nationwide--
redeemed 15 percent of SNAP recipient's benefits and present the
greatest integrity challenge for FNS; the trafficking rate in these
store types was 7.6 percent. The store violation rate was 12.45
percent. A 2006 report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO)
suggested that the minimal stocking requirements in SNAP contribute to
corrupt retailers entering the program, and noted that FNS regulations
lacked clarity as to what constitutes sufficient stocking requirements.
FNS is concerned that there are a large and growing number of
authorized retailers that do not provide healthful food offerings to
SNAP recipients and that engage in fraud. These retailers represent a
management challenge for the program that must be balanced against the
need to ensure effective access to healthful, nutritious food for SNAP
households. FNS has an interest in assuring that all authorized
retailers will play by the rules and further the purpose of SNAP.
FNS' objectives are to improve the availability of more healthful
foods without compromising access to nutritious food for SNAP
participants, or unnecessarily burdening the retailers that redeem SNAP
benefits, and to improve the integrity of the program. The Agency is
seeking public input regarding the following questions, with particular
attention to impacts of each on program integrity, healthy food
choices, access to food and retailer operations:
1. Is ensuring that SNAP retailers provide SNAP clients access to
healthy food choices a reasonable priority for establishing SNAP store
eligibility criteria?
2. Are there store types that clearly meet all of the Program goals
and, consequently, should always be eligible for SNAP participation?
3. Conversely, are there store types that do not effectively
improve access to food choices (e.g. stores that sell low amounts of
food when compared to the amounts of distilled liquor, tobacco and/or
lottery tickets sold) and, therefore, should always be ineligible for
SNAP participation?
4. Would a different definition of the ``staple foods\1\'' required
in SNAP authorized stores help to ensure that these stores offer more
healthy food choices? If so, what kinds of changes would be most
effective? Specifically, almost all foods can be counted towards
meeting staple food requirements, including those high in added sugar,
sodium or solid fats. Should foods high in these components be counted
as staple foods when determining store authorization requirements?
5. How should prepared foods with multiple ingredients, such as
chicken pot pie or other frozen dinners, or single serving meat jerky
packages, be treated with regards to ``staple foods'' categories?
6. Do twelve items (the minimum amount necessary to meet SNAP
authorization criterion A, by virtue of needing three varieties in the
four different staple food categories) provide adequate variety for a
retailer to further the Program's purpose? If not, what would be a more
appropriate requirement?
7. Currently, retailers who are authorized under criterion A are
required to stock perishable items (e.g., fresh, frozen or refrigerated
fruits and vegetables; dairy; meats, poultry and fish; bread or cereal)
in two categories. Should perishable items be required in more than two
categories?
8. Are 50 percent of sales in staple foods, as currently required
for criterion B, sufficient to ensure that a SNAP authorized store
furthers the program's purpose, given the current definition of
``staple foods''? Would this percentage be sufficient if the definition
of ``staple foods'' is changed to exclude items high in added sugar,
sodium or solid fats?
9. Should stores whose primary business (as evidenced by marketing,
inventory or sales) is not the sale of food, be eligible to participate
in SNAP?
10. Restaurants are generally prohibited from being SNAP retailers,
and hot foods cannot be purchased with SNAP benefits. However, there
are authorized retailers who primarily sell food for immediate
consumption, often on premises, but also sell their products cold and
heat them for SNAP recipients immediately after purchase for a nominal
fee. These stores qualify today based on the array of raw ingredients,
such as unbaked pizza or raw fish. Should such stores be eligible for
participation in SNAP?
11. Should all retailers who meet SNAP eligibility criteria be
authorized, even when sufficient store access for recipients is not a
concern?
12. If store access were a concern in an area where no store meets
basic eligibility criteria for SNAP authorization, how should FNS
select the stores to authorize that best serve the needs of the client
population? Should FNS employ an evaluation and scoring system? If so,
what criteria should make up such a system?
13. How should integrity and management priorities be balanced
against healthy food choice criteria in the SNAP authorization process?
What elements could be used to assess integrity risks, and how should
they be applied?
14. Are there any other ways in which the criteria for retailer
eligibility should be changed? If so, how?
Dated: August 15, 2013.
Jeffrey J. Tribiano,
Acting Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
\1\Statutory, Regulatory and Policy Definitions of ``Food'',
``Staple Food'' and ``Accessory Food'':
Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 7 U.S.C. 2012 Section 3 Definitions:
(k) ``Food'' means (1) Any food or food product for home
consumption except alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and hot foods or hot
food products ready for immediate consumption other than those
authorized pursuant to clauses (3), (4), (5), (7), (8), and (9) of this
subsection, (2) seeds and plants for use in gardens to produce food for
the personal consumption of the eligible household, (3) in the case of
those persons who are sixty years of age or over or who receive
supplemental security income benefits or disability or blindness
payments under title I, II, X, XIV, or XVI of the Social Security Act
[(42 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.)], and their spouses, meals prepared by and
served in senior citizens' centers, apartment buildings occupied
primarily by such persons, public or private nonprofit establishments
(eating or otherwise) that feed such persons, private establishments
that contract with the appropriate agency of the State to offer meals
for such persons at concessional prices, and meals prepared for and
served to residents of federally subsidized housing for the elderly,
(4) in the case of persons sixty years of age or over and persons who
are physically or mentally handicapped or otherwise so disabled that
they are unable adequately to prepare all of their meals, meals
prepared for and delivered to them (and their spouses) at their home by
a public
[[Page 51138]]
or private nonprofit organization or by a private establishment that
contracts with the appropriate State agency to perform such services at
concessional prices, (5) in the case of narcotics addicts or
alcoholics, and their children, served by drug addiction or alcoholic
treatment and rehabilitation programs, meals prepared and served under
such programs, (6) in the case of certain eligible households living in
Alaska, equipment for procuring food by hunting and fishing, such as
nets, hooks, rods, harpoons, and knives (but not equipment for purposes
of transportation, clothing, or shelter, and not firearms, ammunition,
and ex- plosives) if the Secretary determines that such households are
located in an area of the State where it is extremely difficult to
reach stores selling food and that such households depend to a
substantial extent upon hunting and fishing for subsistence, (7) in the
case of disabled or blind recipients of benefits under title I, II, X,
XIV, or XVI of the Social Security Act, or are 3-2 individuals
described in paragraphs (2) through (7) of subsection (j), who are
residents in a public or private nonprofit group living arrangement
that serves no more than sixteen residents and is certified by the
appropriate State agency or agencies under regulations issued under
section1616(e) of the Social Security Act or under standards determined
by the Secretary to be comparable to standards implemented by
appropriate State agencies under such section [(42 U.S.C. 1382e(e))],
meals prepared and served under such arrangement, (8) in the case of
women and children temporarily residing in public or private nonprofit
shelters for battered women and children, meals prepared and served, by
such shelters, and (9) in the case of households that do not reside in
permanent dwellings and households that have no fixed mailing
addresses, meals prepared for and served by a public or private
nonprofit establishment (approved by an appropriate State or local
agency) that feeds such individuals and by private establishments that
contract with the appropriate agency of the State to offer meals for
such individuals at concessional prices.
(r)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), ``staple foods'' means
foods in the following categories:
(A) Meat, poultry, or fish.
(B) Bread or cereals.
(C) Vegetables or fruits.
(D) Dairy products.
(2) ``Staple foods'' do not include accessory food items, such as
coffee, tea, cocoa, carbonated and un-carbonated drinks, candy,
condiments, and spices.
7 CFR Part 271 General Information and Definitions: Staple food
means those food items intended for home preparation and consumption in
each of the following food categories: meat, poultry, or fish; bread or
cereals; vegetables or fruits; and dairy products. Commercially
processed foods and prepared mixtures with multiple ingredients shall
only be counted in one staple food category. For example, foods such as
cold pizza, macaroni and cheese, multi-ingredient soup, or frozen
dinners, shall only be counted as one staple food item and will
normally be included in the staple food category of the main ingredient
as determined by FNS. Hot foods are not eligible for purchase with food
stamps and, therefore, do not qualify as staple foods for the purpose
of determining eligibility under Sec. 278.1(b)(1) of this chapter.
Accessory food items including, but not limited to, coffee, tea, cocoa,
carbonated and un-carbonated drinks, candy, condiments, and spices
shall not be considered staple foods for the purpose of determining
eligibility of any firm. However, accessory foods that are offered for
sale in authorized retail food stores are eligible food items which may
be purchased with food stamp benefits.
USDA FNS Policy: ``Accessory food items include coffee, tea, cocoa,
carbonated and un-carbonated drinks, candy, condiments and spices. All
foods not identified as accessory in the Act and regulations must be
considered staple foods''.
[FR Doc. 2013-20244 Filed 8-19-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P