[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 205 (Thursday, October 23, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 55142-55146]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-28060]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food and Consumer Service
7 CFR Part 247
RIN 0584-AC60
Commodity Supplemental Food Program--Caseload Assignment
AGENCY: Food and Consumer Service, USDA.
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: This direct final rule amends provisions of the Commodity
Supplemental Food Program Regulations to provide for the allocation of
a single caseload to State agencies each year, instead of the
allocation of two separate caseloads, one for women, infants, and
children, and one for the elderly. This rule will permit State
agencies, and the local agencies with which they have signed
agreements, to utilize this single caseload to serve low-income women,
infants, and children and elderly populations as needed, provided they
give priority in service to women, infants, and children over the
elderly. This rule will also streamline and simplify program management
at the State and local level.
DATES: This rule will become effective on December 8, 1997, unless the
Department receives written adverse comments or notices of intent to
submit adverse comments postmarked on or before November 24, 1997. If
adverse comments within the scope of this rulemaking are received, the
Department will publish timely notification of withdrawal of this rule
in the Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to Lillie Ragan, Assistant Branch
Chief, Household Programs Branch, Food Distribution Division, Food and
Consumer Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Park Office Center,
Room 502, 3101 Park Center Drive, Alexandria, VA 22302-1594. Comments
in response to this rule may be inspected at 3101 Park Center Drive,
Room 502, Alexandria, Virginia during normal business hours (8:30 a.m.
to 5 p.m., Mondays through Fridays).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lillie Ragan at the above address or
telephone (703) 305-2662.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Executive Order 12866
This direct final rule has been determined to be not significant
for purposes of Executive Order 12866, and, therefore, has not been
reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
Regulatory Flexibility Act
This action has been reviewed with regard to the requirements of
the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601-612). The Administrator of
the Food and Consumer Service (FCS) has certified that this action will
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities. While procedures in this rulemaking will affect State and
local agencies that administer the Commodity Supplemental Food Program,
any economic effect will not be significant.
Unfunded Mandate Reform Act of 1995
Title II of the Unfunded Mandate Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA), Public
Law 104-4, establishes requirements for Federal agencies to assess the
effects of their regulatory actions on State, local, and tribal
governments and the private sector. Under section 202 of the UMRA, FCS
generally must prepare a written statement, including a cost-benefit
analysis, for proposed and final rules with ``Federal mandates'' that
may result in expenditures to State, local, or tribal governments, in
the aggregate, or to the private sector, of $100 million or more in any
one year. When such a statement is needed for a rule, section 205 of
the UMRA generally requires FCS to identify and consider a reasonable
number of regulatory alternatives and adopt the least costly, more
cost-effective or lease burdensome alternative that achieves the
objectives of the rule.
This rule contains no Federal mandates (under the regulatory
provisions of Title II of the UMRA) for State, local, and tribal
governments or the private sector of $100 million or more in any one
year. Thus, this direct final rule is not subject to the requirements
of sections 202 and 205 of the UMRA.
Executive Order 12372
This program is listed in the Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance under 10.565, and is subject to the provisions of Executive
Order 12372, which requires intergovernmental consultation with State
and local officials (7 CFR part 3015, Subpart V and final rule-related
notices published at 48 FR 29114, June 24, 1983 and 49 FR 22676, May
31, 1984).
Paperwork Reduction Act
This final rule reflects no new information collection requirements
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3507). The
existing recordkeeping and reporting requirements for 7 CFR part 247,
which were approved by OMB under control number 0584-0293, will not
change as a result of this final rule.
Executive Order 12988
This direct final rule has been reviewed under Executive Order
12988, Civil Justice Reform. This rule is intended to have preemptive
effect with respect to any State or local laws, regulations, or
policies which conflict with its provisions or which would otherwise
impede its full implementation. This rule is not intended to have
retroactive effect unless so specified in the EFFECTIVE DATE section of
the preamble. There are no administrative procedures which must be
exhausted prior to any judicial challenge to the provisions of this
rule or the application of its provisions.
Background
The primary purpose of the Commodity Supplemental Food Program
(CSFP) is to provide nutritious commodities and nutrition education to
low-income pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding women, infants, and
children up to the age of six, to help meet their dietary needs at a
critical life stage of growth and development. This has been the
program's basic goal since the initiation of a ``supplemental food
program'' for pregnant and breastfeeding women and infants in 1968,
utilizing funds appropriated for child feeding programs, and its
subsequent designation as the ``Commodity Supplemental Food Program''
in the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977 (Pub. L. 95-113), which added
sections 4 and 5 to the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973
(Pub. L. 93-86). However, legislation expanded the eligible population
in 1981 and 1982 to include elderly persons under a pilot project. With
the passage of the Food Security Act of 1985 (Pub. L. 99-198) authority
to provide program benefits to the low-income elderly was extended to
all State agencies that had resources remaining after providing
benefits to all eligible applicant women, infants, and children. Thus,
while women, infants, and children retained priority in service, the
elderly were established as a second eligible population group in the
program. This requirement is found
[[Page 55143]]
in section 5(g) of the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1983
(7U.S.C. 612c note).
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and
Children (WIC) also provides benefits (in the form of food vouchers) to
pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum women, infants and children,
with modest differences in categorical eligibility requirements from
CSFP. In WIC, women are eligible up to six months postpartum, compared
to 12 months in CSFP; and children are eligible up to five years of age
in WIC, and up to six years in CSFP. WIC participation increased
significantly during the period 1988-1996, from 3.6 million to
approximately 7.2 million--an average increase of 450,000 per year. The
increased scope of the WIC Program contributed to a decline in
participation of women, infants, and children in CSFP, as persons
eligible for both programs may only participate in one of them. From
1993 to 1996, participation of women, infants, and children in CSFP
declined by 40 percent, while elderly participation in that period
increased by 35.4 percent. By fiscal year 1996, elderly participation
in CSFP averaged 219,281 per month, or 61.5 percent of total program
participation.
Resources are allocated to participating State agencies in CSFP in
the form of caseload, which is the monthly average number of
participants a State agency is authorized to serve over a specified 12-
month period (the caseload cycle). State agencies' caseload allocations
each year are based on program participation from the previous year,
and requests to expand the program. In implementing the authority to
serve elderly pursuant to the Food Security Act of 1985, the Department
provided, through program regulations, for the assignment of an elderly
caseload to State agencies, separate from the assignment of the women,
infants, and children caseload. While State agencies may not serve more
elderly persons than their assigned elderly caseload level, they may
request a conversion of caseload slots for women, infants, and children
that are unutilized during the caseload cycle to service for the
elderly, if State agencies have more elderly applicants seeking program
benefits. As evidence that the conversion request will not restrict the
participation of women, infants and children, State agencies may
include evidence of outreach efforts conducted by the State and/or
local agency to promote and facilitate service to eligible women,
infants, and children in the service area. To further ensure that this
priority group is adequately served, current regulations do not permit
submission of caseload conversion requests until 90 days after the
assignment of caseload.
Allocation of separate caseloads for the two population groups
served in CSFP, and the caseload conversion requirement, serve the
purpose of protecting program resources for women, infants, and
children, while allowing unused resources to be redirected for use by
the elderly. However, with the decline in participation of women,
infants, and children, and the increased participation of the elderly
in CSFP, the caseload restrictions, and caseload conversion
requirement, have become obstacles to the efficient use of program
resources to serve States' needy populations. Until caseload conversion
requests can be made, and acted upon, caseload slots allocated to State
agencies for women, infants, and children may remain unused. State and
local agencies need more flexibility in caseload management to allow
them to fill caseload slots throughout the caseload cycle.
In order to provide State agencies with greater flexibility in
caseload management, this direct final rule amends regulatory
requirements in part 247 to assign participating State agencies a
single caseload, instead of separate women-infants-children, and
elderly, caseloads. Local agencies within States may serve women,
infants, and children, and the elderly, on a first-come, first-served
basis, up to the single caseload limit assigned to them by the State
agency, but must continue to meet the priority requirements in
Sec. 247.7(b)(2)--i.e., if eligible women, infants, and children are
waiting to be served, the next available caseload slots must be
utilized to serve them.
The Department will continue to transform all funds available for
CSFP commodity purchases each year into caseload, and to allocate all
available caseload among the State agencies. Procedures for
establishing total available caseload are not governed by legislation
or regulations and will be modified only to the minor extent necessary
to reflect the shift from two caseloads to one. In accordance with
sections 5(a) and (1) of the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of
1973, the Department will make 20 percent of the annual appropriation
and 20 percent of any unspent food funds carried over from the previous
year available to State agencies in the form of administrative funds.
The Department will convert remaining funds to caseload based on
estimates of the percentage of total participation to be accounted for
by each subgroup--e.g., pregnant and breastfeeding women, the elderly--
and projections of the average cost of foods to be taken by
participants in each subgroup. These data will be used to compute a
single, blended average cost of food per participant per year, and that
cost will be divided into available food funds to yield total CSFP
caseload.
The amendments to the regulatory requirements addressing caseload
assignment and the State plan of operation are discussed in more detail
below. The Department invites comments only on the regulatory
amendments in this rulemaking, which establish a single caseload for
the program, and not on any other sections of program regulations. The
Department considers the regulatory amendments in this direct final
rule to be noncontroversial and unlikely to elicit adverse comments. In
order for the Department to issue CSFP caseload by the December 1, 1997
deadline, as required by Sec. 247.10(a), this rule will be effective on
December 8, 1997, rather than on a date conforming with the 60-day time
period generally provided to effectuate direct final rules.
Caseload Assignment
Section 247.10 of the current regulations describes the procedures
for assigning caseload to State agencies each year, the procedures and
restrictions for requesting caseload conversion, and the use of elderly
caseload to serve women, infants, and children. The transition to a
single caseload assignment in this final rule requires the revision of
paragraph (a)(2) of this section, which addresses the specific order
and manner in which caseload assignments are made, and the removal of
paragraphs (a)(3), (a)(4), and (a)(5) of this section, which address
caseload conversion--not necessary in a single caseload system--and the
use of elderly caseload slots. As part of the amendment of paragraph
(a)(2), the method for assigning caseload to State agencies requesting
expansion of service to women, infants, and children is revised. The
present assignment of expansion caseload to State agencies based on
their capacity to serve their categorically eligible women, infants,
and children in WIC and CSFP is overly complicated, and no longer
necessary, as the expansion of the WIC Program has resulted in a much
more extensive coverage of the target population. Furthermore, reliable
data on this capacity are no longer available. Hence, the Department is
revising this method to bring it into conformance with the means of
addressing expansion requests for the elderly.
[[Page 55144]]
Additionally, all references to caseload cycles beginning on
specific dates are removed, since these cycles have long since passed.
In assigning caseload, the Department will continue to attach a
higher priority to requests to expand service for women, infants, and
children over requests to expand service for the elderly. Although
State agencies will always be allocated caseload that is not designated
for use by a particular population group, if they request expansion
caseload to serve additional women, infants, and children, they will be
expected to promote and facilitate use of such caseload for the
intended purpose, for example, by assigning the caseload to areas where
women, infants, and children are underserved by the WIC Program, and by
intensifying outreach efforts to this population group in areas where
the additional caseload is assigned. In States which currently do not
operate the program, requests for initiation of program service to
women, infants, and children will likewise be considered ahead of
requests to initiate service to the elderly.
Below, the primary features of each of the steps in the current
order of caseload assignment, as delineated in Sec. 247.10(a)(2), are
described, together with any changes that this rulemaking makes to that
step. As at present, caseload assignment will proceed through as many
of the steps in the process as available resources permit.
Under paragraph (a)(2)(i), State agencies receive caseload for the
three elderly pilot projects in Detroit, New Orleans, and Des Moines,
equal to December 1985 levels. This remains unchanged.
Under paragraph (a)(2)(ii), currently participating State agencies
receive caseload, first for women, infants, and children, and then for
elderly persons, based on participation in one of three time periods in
the previous year, but not to exceed the caseload allocations for each
of these two groups in the preceding caseload cycle. This step is
revised to assign to currently participating State agencies a single
caseload based on total participation of women, infants, and children,
and the elderly in one of the three time periods in the previous year,
but not to exceed total caseload assigned to State agencies in the
preceding caseload cycle. As at present, State agencies entering their
second caseload cycle of program service will receive caseload equal to
the level assigned for their first cycle of program service, and not in
accordance with first-year participation levels. However, the
distinction between women, infants, and children, and elderly caseload
will cease to be made.
Under paragraph (a)(2)(iii), requests from currently participating
State agencies for expansion caseload for women, infants, and children
are considered. As delineated in paragraph (a)(2)(iii)(A), a State's
participation level for this group must equal 90 percent of assigned
caseload for any of three time periods in the previous year in order
for the State to be considered for expansion caseload. If the State
meets this criterion, expansion caseload is assigned based on the
State's capacity to serve its categorically eligible women, infants,
and children in WIC and CSFP, and in an amount that will increase the
number of this population served in the State to a specific level, as
delineated in paragraphs (a)(2)(iii) (B) and (C). First, this
rulemaking revises paragraph (iii) to add a new sentence stating that
expansion requests to increase service to women, infants, and children
will receive priority over expansion requests to increase service to
the elderly, in accordance with program priorities established in
Sec. 247.7(b)(2). Second, a revised Sec. 247.10(a)(2)(iii)(A) addresses
expansion requests for either women, infants, and children, or the
elderly, utilizing the 90 percent participation requirement for both
populations together. Finally, paragraph (a)(2)(iii)(B) is revised to
address expansion requests for service to women, infants, and children
in the same manner as presently utilized for fulfilling expansion
requests for the elderly: i.e., each State agency requesting expansion
caseload for women, infants, and children will receive an equal share
of the available caseload, or the amount that FCS determines the State
agency needs and can effectively manage, whichever is less. A new
paragraph (a)(2)(iii)(C) addresses the distribution of caseload for
expanded service to the elderly, which is unchanged from the present
procedure, as currently described in paragraph (a)(2)(iv)(B).
Under paragraph (a)(2)(iv), requests from currently participating
State agencies to initiate or expand service to the elderly are
considered. As delineated in paragraph (a)(2)(iv)(A), a State's
participation level for this group must equal 90 percent of assigned
caseload for any of three time periods in the previous year, in order
to be considered for expansion caseload. If State agencies meet this
criterion, expansion caseload is assigned in equal amounts to State
agencies, or in amounts that FCS determines that State agencies need
and can effectively manage, whichever is less, as delineated in
paragraph (a)(2)(iv)(B). Paragraph (a)(2)(iv)(C) states that, if State
agencies' shares exceed their approved requests, the excess amount is
redistributed among State agencies whose allocations did not meet their
approved requests. This rulemaking removes paragraph (a)(2)(iv), since
the revised paragraph (a)(2)(iii) establishes uniform procedures which
cover expansion requests for the elderly, as well as women, infants,
and children.
Under paragraph (a)(2)(v), requests from State agencies to initiate
service to women, infants, and children (i.e., those States not
presently participating in CSFP), are considered, and caseload
assigned. Paragraph (a)(2)(v)(A) utilizes the same means of determining
a State agencies' capacity to serve its potentially eligible women,
infants, and children, and for assigning caseload based on this
determination, as described in paragraphs (a)(2)(iii) (B) and (C).
State agencies may not request to serve the elderly in their initial
year of service; if they wish to serve the elderly, they must wait for
the following caseload cycle, as described in paragraph (a)(4) of this
section, which, as previously mentioned, is removed. This rulemaking
redesignates paragraph (a)(2)(v) as (a)(2)(iv), and revises it to
address requests to initiate service to elderly persons, as well as
women, infants, and children. A new sentence is added stating that
requests to initiate service to women, infants, and children shall
receive priority over requests to initiate service to the elderly, in
accordance with program priorities established in Sec. 247.7(b)(2).
Section 247.10(a)(2)(v)(A) is revised to utilize the same means of
caseload assignment described above in revised paragraphs (a)(2)(iii)
(B) and (C).
Subparagraph (B) is removed. State agencies are no longer
restricted to serving only women, infants, and children in their first
year of operations.
Section 247.24, which refers to temporary caseload assignment
procedures that were applied to a previous caseload cycle, is removed,
as these procedures are no longer relevant.
State Plan of Operation
In accordance with Sec. 247.5, before the beginning of the fiscal
year, State agencies submit to FCS a plan describing the means by which
the program will be operated and administered. Included in the
information that State agencies must submit, which is detailed in this
section, are caseload conversion requests, plans for caseload
utilization, outreach activities, and documentation of data supporting
requests to serve the elderly. Revisions to the regulatory
[[Page 55145]]
requirements for the submission of this information in the State plan
are described below.
Currently, under Sec. 247.5, State agency requests to convert
unfilled women, infants, and children caseload slots to serve the
elderly are made during the fiscal year as an amendment to the State
plan, and must include documentation supporting the need for elderly
service in the proposed service area, and assurances that caseload
conversion may be accomplished without restricting service to women,
infants, and children in the service area. The assignment of a single
caseload to State agencies, in this rule, makes caseload conversion,
and the attendant documentation, unnecessary. Hence, language in the
introductory text of Sec. 247.5, and paragraph (a)(16) of that section
addressing caseload conversion, its timing, scope, and attendant
documentation, are removed.
Section 247.5(a)(4), which addresses a description of plans for
conducting outreach to reach maximum caseload, is amended to define the
objective of outreach activities as ensuring that women, infants,
children, and elderly persons are aware of program benefits, without
the present language referring to reaching maximum caseload. Since, by
this rulemaking, caseload may be utilized to serve either population
group, it is important to specify the two population groups that should
be targeted in outreach activities. In addition, although reaching
maximum caseload is an objective that this rulemaking is designed to
help State agencies achieve, it is not a regulatory requirement, as
current language implies.
Section 247.5(a)(15) currently requires that State agencies wishing
to serve the elderly provide documentation, as part of the State plan,
describing the extent of need for elderly service in the proposed
service area. Since this rule is intended to provide State agencies
with the flexibility to utilize a single assigned caseload to serve
their needy elderly without the need to request caseload conversion or
provide attendant documentation, this section is amended to require
such documentation only of State agencies wishing to initiate service
to the elderly, or requesting expansion caseload to serve the elderly.
Additionally, paragraph (a)(15)(i) is revised to remove the requirement
that demographic statistics be included as part of the supporting
documentation. Lastly, the language in paragraph (a)(15)(ii) concerning
descriptions of how a State agency will meet the needs of homebound
elderly is clarified, without changing its meaning.
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 247
Agricultural commodities, Food assistance programs, Infants and
children, Maternal and child health, Public assistance programs,
nutrition, women, aged.
Accordingly, 7 CFR Part 247 is amended as follows.
PART 247--COMMODITY SUPPLEMENTAL FOOD PROGRAM
1. The authority citation for part 247 is revised to read as
follows:
Authority: Sec. 5, Pub.L. 93-86, 87 Stat. 249, as added by sec.
1304(b)(2), Pub.L. 95-113, 91 Stat. 980 (7 U.S.C. 612c note); sec.
1335, Pub.L. 97-98, 95 Stat. 1293 (7 U.S.C. 612c note); sec. 209,
Pub.L. 98-8, 97 Stat. 35 (7 U.S.C. 612c note); sec. 2(8), Pub.L. 98-
92, 97 Stat. 611 (7 U.S.C. 612c note); sec. 1562, Pub.L. 99-198, 99
Stat. 1590 (7 U.S.C. 612c note); sec. 101(k), Pub.L. 100-202; sec.
1771(a), Pub.L 101-624, 101 Stat. 3806 (7 U.S.C. 612c note); sec.
402(a), Pub.L. 104-127, 110 Stat. 1028 (7 U.S.C. 612c note).
2. In Sec. 247.5:
a. The fifth, sixth, and seventh sentences of the introductory text
of paragraph (a) are removed;
b. Paragraphs (a)(4) and (a)(15) are revised;
c. Paragraph (a)(16) is removed.
The revisions read as follows:
Sec. 247.5 State agency plan of program operation and administration.
(a) * * *
(4) A description of any plans for conducting outreach to ensure
that all women, infants, and children, and elderly persons are aware of
program benefits.
* * * * *
(15) If a State agency wishes to initiate service to the elderly,
or request expansion caseload to serve the elderly, a description of
plans for providing program benefits to elderly persons within the
State during the caseload cycle. Such description shall include--
(i) An identification of the elderly population to be served,
including documentation of the extent of need in the proposed service
area; and
(ii) A description of the means by which the State agency will meet
the needs of the homebound elderly.
* * * * *
3. In Sec. 247.10:
a. Paragraph (a)(2) is revised;
b. Paragraphs (a)(3), (a)(4), and (a)(5) are removed.
The revision reads as follows:
Sec. 247.10. Caseload assignment and administrative funding.
(a) * * *
(2) To the extent that funds are available, FCS shall assign
caseload to State agencies in the following order.
(i) State agencies for the three elderly feeding projects in
Detroit, New Orleans, and Des Moines shall be assigned caseload equal
to the level of participation for each project in December 1985.
(ii) Currently participating State agencies, except those entering
their second cycle of program service, shall receive caseload in
amounts equal to the greatest of their total participation of women,
infants, and children, and elderly persons (except for caseload equal
to the December 1985 level of participation at the three elderly
feeding projects) during September, or monthly average participation
for the period July through September, or for the prior fiscal year;
provided, however, that a State agency shall not receive caseload under
this paragraph in excess of caseload assigned for the preceding
caseload cycle. State agencies entering their second caseload cycle of
program service shall receive caseload equal to the caseload level
assigned for their first cycle of program service.
(iii) Requests from currently participating State agencies to
expand service to women, infants, and children, and the elderly, shall
be addressed in the following manner. Expansion requests to increase
service to women, infants, and children shall receive priority over
expansion requests to increase service to the elderly.
(A) State agencies shall be eligible to receive expansion caseload
only if, during the preceding September, the period July through
September, or the prior fiscal year, their monthly average
participation equaled at least 90 percent of their assigned caseload
level for the preceding caseload cycle.
(B) State agencies requesting expansion caseload to increase
service to women, infants, and children shall be assigned the lesser of
an equal share of available caseload or the amount of expansion
caseload FCS has determined that the State agency needs and can
effectively manage. If any State agencies' shares exceed their approved
requests, the excess caseload shall be divided equally among State
agencies whose approved requests exceed their shares.
(C) State agencies requesting expansion caseload to increase
service to the elderly shall be assigned the lesser of an equal share
of available caseload or the amount of expansion caseload FCS has
determined that the State agency needs and can effectively manage. If
any State agencies' shares exceed their approved requests, the
[[Page 55146]]
excess caseload shall be divided equally among State agencies whose
approved requests exceed their shares.
(iv) Requests from State agencies to initiate program service for
women, infants, and children, and the elderly shall be addressed in the
following manner. Requests to initiate service to women, infants, and
children shall receive priority over requests to initiate service to
the elderly.
(A) State agencies with approved State plans incorporating requests
for program initiation to provide service to women, infants, and
children shall be assigned caseload in the same manner described in
paragraph (a)(2)(iii)(B) of this section.
(B) State agencies with approved State plans incorporating requests
for program initiation to provide service to the elderly shall be
assigned caseload in the same manner described in paragraph
(a)(2)(iii)(C) of this section.
* * * * *
Sec. 247.24 [Removed]
4. Section 247.24 is removed.
Dated: October 15, 1997.
Yvette S. Jackson,
Acting Administrator, Food and Consumer Service.
[FR Doc. 97-28060 Filed 10-22-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-U