(i) Persons directly connected with the administration or enforcement of the provisions of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 or regulations, other Federal assistance programs, federally-assisted State programs providing assistance on a means-tested basis to low income individuals, or general assistance programs which are subject to the joint processing requirements in § 273.2(j)(2).

(ii) Persons directly connected with the administration or enforcement of the programs which are required to participate in the State income and eligibility verification system (IEVS) as specified in § 272.8(a)(2), to the extent the SNAP information is useful in establishing or verifying eligibility or benefit amounts under those programs;

(iii) Persons directly connected with the verification of immigration status of aliens applying for SNAP benefits, through the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) Program, to the extent the information is necessary to identify the individual for verification purposes.

(iv) Persons directly connected with the administration of the Child Support Program under part D, title IV of the Social Security Act in order to assist in the administration of that program, and employees of the Secretary of Health and Human Services as necessary to assist in establishing or verifying eligibility or benefits under titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act;

(v) Employees of the Comptroller General's Office of the United States for audit examination authorized by any other provision of law; and

(vi) Local, State, or Federal law enforcement officials, upon their written request, for the purpose of investigating an alleged violation of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 or regulation. The written request shall include the identity of the individual requesting the information and his authority to do so, violation being investigated, and the identity of the person on whom the information is requested.

(vii) Local, State, or Federal law enforcement officers acting in their official capacity, upon written request by such law enforcement officers that includes the name of the household member being sought, for the purpose of obtaining the address, social security number, and, if available, photograph of the household member, if the member is fleeing to avoid prosecution or custody for a crime, or an attempt to commit a crime, that would be classified as a felony (or a high misdemeanor in New Jersey), or is violating a condition of probation or parole imposed under a Federal or State law. The State agency shall provide information regarding a household member, upon written request of a law enforcement officer acting in his or her official capacity that includes the name of the person being sought, if the other household member has information necessary for the apprehension or investigation of the other household member who is fleeing to avoid prosecution or custody for a felony, or has violated a condition of probation or parole imposed under Federal or State law. The State agency must accept any document that reasonably establishes the identity of the household member being sought by law enforcement authorities. If a law enforcement officer provides documentation indicating that a household member is fleeing to avoid prosecution or custody for a felony, or has violated a condition of probation or parole, the State agency shall follow the procedures in § 273.11(n) to determine whether the member's eligibility in SNAP should be terminated. A determination and request for information that does not comply with the terms and procedures in § 273.11(n) would not be sufficient to terminate the member's participation. The State agency shall disclose only such information as is necessary to comply with a specific written request of a law enforcement agency authorized by this paragraph.

(viii) Local educational agencies administering the National School Lunch Program established under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act or the School Breakfast Program established under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, for the purpose of directly certifying the eligibility of school-aged children for receipt of free meals under the School Lunch and School Breakfast programs based on their receipt of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.

(i) State agencies shall eliminate the purchase requirement for all households on or before January 1, 1979. The State agency shall designate the month the purchase requirement is to be eliminated. If the month designated is other than January 1979, the State agency shall obtain prior approval of FNS. FNS shall approve the designation of months prior to January 1979, if the State agency demonstrates that an accounting procedure for the new issuance system will be in place. The submission dates for the forms FNS-250 and FNS-256, stipulated in § 274.8(a), shall be effective with the reports for the first month of issuance without a purchase requirement. For example, if EPR is implemented in January, the FNS-250 and FNS-256 for January would be due by March 17, 1979. The FNS-259 shall be submitted in accordance with § 274.8(a)(3) starting with the quarter beginning January 1979.

(ii) State agencies may implement all eligibility rules contained in part 273 and all issuance rules contained in part 274 at the same time the purchase requirement is eliminated, but in no case shall eligibility and issuance rules be implemented prior to elimination of the purchase requirement. State agencies may also implement portions of part 273 and part 274 separately after the purchase requirement is eliminated, provided that the eligibility rules setting the income standards, the income deductions and the household allotment calculation are implemented at the same time, and all rules are implemented no later than 3 months after the purchase requirement is eliminated. However, if a State agency implements EPR after December 1, 1978, it shall implement the certification and other issuance regulations for all new applications and recertifications no later than March 1, 1979.

(iii) State agencies shall have up to 4 months following the first day that applications are taken under the new rules, to convert the current caseload to the new program. Households coming due for recertification during this time will be converted to the new program at recertification. Remaining households shall be converted by a desk review during that 4-month period. The new income definition, deductions, and allotment calculation shall be completed for all households which are converted through a desk review. To the extent that the case file and other information available to the State agency permit, other eligibility criteria, such as work registration, resources, tax dependency, and alien status, shall be considered during the desk review. Otherwise, nonincome eligibility factors shall be deferred until the household's scheduled recertification. In no event shall a household's certification period be extended as a result of the desk review. Until recertified or converted by a desk review, a household shall continue to receive the bonus portion of the allotment, calculated in accordance with the income, deduction, and basis of issuance provisons of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 of 1964. During the case file conversion period, some households may be participating on the basis of the old program rules and some on the new rules. Claims against households and restoration of benefits shall not be assessed provided that whichever program rules are in use for a particular case are correctly applied during the conversion period. However, errors caused by miscalculations based on the old or new program rules which result in an entitlement to restoration of lost benefits or an overissuance shall be assessed in accordance with §§ 273.17 and 273.18 of these regulations. The procedures for calculating lost benefits or overissuances as specified in §§ 273.17 and 273.18 shall be applied to any case found to be in error after the implementation of these procedures, even though the action which caused the error may have occurred prior to the date of implementation. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the preceding provisions of this paragraph, State agencies shall have up to four months following the first day that applications are taken under the new rules, to convert the current caseload to the new program. Households coming due for recertification during this time shall be converted to the new Program at recertification. However, if the State agency elects to schedule a desk review for these households earlier in the four-month period, conversion shall take place after the desk review. Further, State agencies may elect to do a point-in-time computer conversion in lieu of individual desk reviews. Such a computer conversion must cover entire categories of households, such as public assistance households, all households in a particular project area, all households currently in the computer files, etc., and the State agency may not elect to postpone the conversion of certain cases until recertification.

(iv) State agencies shall implement § 273.17 on the restoration of lost benefits on or before March 1, 1979. State agencies are encouraged to implement restoration of lost benefits concurrent with the elimination of the purchase requirement, especially as they relate to households which are entitled to lost benefits but which have been unable to receive them because the households are currently ineligible. State agencies shall notify currently ineligible households of the availability of their lost benefits by using one of the following procedures:

(v) State agencies shall assume the authority to settle or adjust recipient claims delegated under § 271.4(b) on or before July 1, 1979.

(vi) State agencies without a currently approved utility standard required in § 273.9(d)(5) shall develop and implement an FNS approved utility standard on or before October 1, 1979. The State agency shall notify households certified at the time the utility standard is implemented of the availability of the standard and the conditions for its use in lieu of actual expenses. Households qualified to use the standard and which elect to do so shall have the standard applied as any other change in circumstances. Otherwise, actual utility expenses shall continue to be used for households qualified for the standard until their next recertification.

(vii) State agencies shall advise FNS of their determination of the need for bilingual services as required by § 272.4(c) on or before December 1, 1978. If the State agency cannot determine, based on available information sources, whether or not bilingual services are required in particular project areas, it shall so advise FNS on or before December 1, 1978. The State agency shall then develop procedures to record the number of non-English-speaking low-income households which make contact with its offices in these project areas as required by § 272.4(c)(6). These procedures shall be implemented on or before March 1, 1979, and shall continue for 6 months. The State agency shall submit to FNS its determination(s) of the need for bilingual services not later than 60 days following the end of the 6-month period. Bilingual outreach materials shall be available for distribution within 90 days of the State agency's determination that such materials are required. When the State agency determines that bilingual staff and certification materials are required, it shall also make a determination of whether volunteers or paid staff will be used. When volunteers are to be used, the State agency shall provide the materials and arrange for volunteers within 90 days. Paid staff and materials shall be provided within 180 days.

(viii) Prior to the certification of households under these regulations, State agencies shall implement staff training for the transition as required in § 272.4(e)(3), and training for outreach workers, receptionists, and others, as required in § 272.4(e)(1) (v) and (vi). Beginning with these training sessions for the transition, State agencies shall implement the requirements for public participation at training sessions, as specified in § 272.4(e)(1)(iv). State agencies shall designate a training coordinator and develop and implement the ongoing training program required by § 272.4(e) on or before July 1, 1979.

(ix) Elimination of the purchase requirement and the implementation of the basic financial and nonfinancial eligibility criteria and other coupon issuance criteria shall not be extended for any reason. FNS may grant extensions for other provisions contained in these rules, provided that the State agency presents compelling justification for a delay and establishes an acceptable alternative schedule in advance of the implementation deadline. In no event will FNS grant an extension in excess of 120 days from the specified implementation date. In those cases where extensions are granted, the relevant Department regulations under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 of 1964 shall remain in effect until superseded by implementation of the new rules.

(i) All State agencies shall continue conducting modified QC reviews [in accordance with regulations published February 9, 1979 (43 FR 8548)] through August 31, 1979 and submit Form FNS-133 to FNS by September 15.

(ii) State agencies shall implement the requirements in subpart C of part 275 for conducting QC reviews no later than October 1, 1979. A quality control sampling plan (as specified in § 275.11(a) of these regulations) must be submitted by each State to the appropriate FNS Regional Office no later than September 1, 1979 (30 days prior to implementation). This will allow time necessary for approval of the plans prior to the October 1 implementation date.

(iii) State agencies are encouraged to implement QC September 1, if possible. States opting to implement early would not be required to operate for this month under an approved sampling plan. These States must, however, submit sampling plans in accordance with paragraph (g)(6)(ii) of this section. The month of September (sampling month) would serve as a test phase. Therefore, data collected for the sample month would not be required to be submitted to FNS or used in determining a State's cumulative allotment error rate.

(iv) Regulations published October 17, 1978 (43 FR 47846) which implement major aspects of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 provide for the conversion of cases via a desk review (§ 272.1(g)(1)(iii)). Desk converted cases would be converted to the new eligibility criteria for income and deductions but may not have been converted to the new criteria for resources, work registration, tax dependency, etc. Therefore, States will have households participating in the program based on some of the eligibility criteria of the 1964 Food and Nutrition Act of 2008. Desk converted cases as provided in § 272.1(g)(1)(iii) and cases which should have been converted via desk review (some cases may not undergo the conversion process as required), shall be subject to standard QC review procedures. When the QC reviewer detects a variance in one of these cases which results from an element of eligibility which was not converted and was not required to have been converted, the reviewer shall disregard the variance. When the reviewer detects a variance in a case when an element of eligibility was, or should have been converted, the reviewer shall handle the variance like any other QC variance as identified in § 275.12 of these regulations. It is possible that desk converted cases may continue to show up in QC samples through February 1980.

(v) State agencies shall submit reports of QC review activity (one copy to the appropriate FNS Regional Office and one copy to the Deputy Administrator for Family Nutrition Programs, Washington, DC) as follows:

(i) State agencies shall implement the program changes required by amendment for all new applications and recertifications no later than January 1, 1980. Currently eligible households shall be converted at recertification or when they request conversion to the new deduction system by responding to the notice required in paragraph (g)(7)(iii) of this section or by otherwise requesting recomputation.

(ii) State agencies may but are not required to convert the current caseload to the shelter deduction system provided for in § 273.9(d)(5) through desk reviews or by computer search. State agencies are encouraged to convert eligible households to the new shelter deduction as soon as possible to allow these households to benefit during the winter months.

(iii) Notices explaining the changes and their applicability shall be available at all SNAP certification offices and shall also be mailed or otherwise provided individually to all currently certified households at least once prior to implementation. At a minimum, these notices shall be distributed in the month prior to implementation either with the ATP card or separately but no later than the 15th of the month. The notice shall advise the household of the availability of the new deductions and the procedures for reporting medical and shelter expenses. If the State agency can identify those households to which this amendment would apply, only these households need to receive the notice.

(iv) Fliers advising of the changes contained in this amendment shall be made available to public and general assistance offices, local Social Security offices, and any interested organizations, particularly those dealing with the elderly or disabled or those places where the elderly or disabled congregate, such as housing units. Also, posters explaining the changes shall be displayed in SNAP certification offices and shall be made available to public and general assistance offices, local Social Security offices and any other interested groups. State agencies shall notify all organizations on its outreach contact list of the changes and of the availability of posters and fliers. State agencies shall issue press releases to the news media advising of the impending program changes.

(v) For the first two months of implementation, State agencies shall have up to 30 days to process changes in medical and shelter costs reported in conjunction with this amendment. The change shall be effective for the first issuance following that 30-day period with restoration of lost benefits to the point at which the change would normally become effective under § 273.12. The State agency may request an extension of processing time of up to 60 days to act on these changes. The State agency shall submit appropriate documentation to FNS for the State or any part of the State for which such an extension is requested. After the first two months the State agency shall act on these changes in accordance with the normal processing standards in § 273.12(c). For changes reported during a period of two months following a State agency's implementation of this amendment, verification of shelter and medical expenses required by § 273.2(f) must be obtained prior to the issuance of the third normal monthly allotment after the change is reported. If the household does not provide verification, the household's benefits will revert to the original level. State agencies are encouraged to complete such verification and, if needed, conduct an interview prior to processing the change. After this initial period, State agencies will verify these expenses in accordance with the normal timeliness standards.

(vi) Medical expenses shall be subject to the same rounding procedures used for shelter expenses in § 273.10(e)(1)(ii). This procedure shall be in effect until implementation of amendments to § 273.10(e)(1)(ii).

(vii) No household shall be entitled to restoration of lost benefits under this amendment for any period prior to the time the State agency has implemented its provisions. For the initial months after implementation, during which the longer processing time allowed under this amendment is in effect, a household shall be entitled to restoration of lost benefits back to the month the change would have become effective under the normal processing standards in § 273.12(c). After this initial period, no household shall be entitled to restoration of lost benefits unless the State agency does not act on reported changes in accordance with the timeliness standards in § 273.12(c) or the household is otherwise entitled under the provisions of § 273.17.

(viii) Implementation of these program changes falls in the last three months of the October 1979 to March 1980 reporting period for quality control. For the months of January, February and March 1980, all cases in which a household member is either 60 years of age or over, receives SSI, or disability benefits under title II of the Social Security Act will be subject to standard quality control review procedures, except that any varying information regarding medical deductions and/or shelter deductions in excess of the cap found in the review shall be disregarded in determining errors. Such information shall be noted on the Face Sheet of Form FNS-245 under part VII, Discrepancies and Other Information, and reported to the State agency for appropriate action on an individual case basis. Starting with the April-September 1980 reporting period, when the reviewer detects a variance in the medical deduction and/or the shelter deduction in excess of the cap, and these expenses were reported at application, recertification or during the certification period, the reviewer shall handle the variance like any other QC variance as identified in § 275.12 of the Performance Reporting System regulations.

(i) Convert households at recertification;

(ii) convert households by conducting a desk review; or

(iii) convert all households, or all households in a certain category, at a point-in-time. For example, the State agency may convert all public assistance households or all households in a project area by computer. Point-in-time mass conversions shall be conducted no later than July 1, 1980. In any case, the State agency shall advise FNS regarding which rounding and caseload conversion procedures are chosen and when the conversion will be completed.

(i) State agencies shall begin requiring social security numbers for all new applications and recertifications no later than the first day of the first month which commences 120 days from the date of publication of final rules. Participating households shall be requested to provide or apply for social security numbers (SSN) for appropriate household members at recertification, or at the time of office contact for any other reason. The State agency shall provide advance notification of this requirement and the consequences of noncompliance by sending an individual notice to all participating households and by providing press releases for dissemination through the media. The individual notices may be sent as either a one-time notice prior to implementation and/or with the notices of expiration of a certification period.

(ii) If any affected member(s) of a household does not have his or her SSN readily available at the time of application, recertification, or any office contact, he or she shall follow the procedures for furnishing an SSN in accordance with § 273.6 as amended.

(iii) State agencies shall implement the fraud claims procedures contained in §§ 273.16 and 273.18. Implementation shall be no later than the first of the month following the 120th day from the date of publication of final rules. By implementation the State agency shall also have an approved system for handling claims, including a method for accounting for the fifty percent retention of the value of funds collected from fraud claims. Any collection action on fraud claims after implementation is subject to the fifty percent retention including claims established under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 of 1964 as amended and under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, as amended. However, only individuals found guilty of fraud through an administrative fraud hearing or through a court of law under regulations promulgating the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, as amended, are subject to the recovery provisions in §§ 273.16 and 273.18 retroactive to implementation of fraud claim provisions under the 1977 Act.

(i) State agencies shall submit the initial State corrective action plans so they are received by FNS within 90 days of publication of these regulations as required in § 275.22(a) of this chapter. This initial plan shall contain all known deficiencies in the State which meet the criteria set forth in § 275.16(b) of this chapter and shall identify, for each such deficiency, the items required in § 275.17(b) of this chapter. Project areas also shall prepare and submit to the State corrective action plans for all identified deficiencies. These plans shall be submitted within 60 days of identification of a deficiency and shall include any deficiencies known to the project area prior to publication of these regulations for which corrective action has not been completed. Ninety days after publication of these regulations, all provisions of §§ 275.15, 275.16, 275.17, 275.18, 275.19 and 275.22 of this chapter shall be implemented.

(ii) State agencies shall have submitted management evaluation (ME) review schedules within 90 days of publication of these regulations as required by § 275.20 of this chapter. These review schedules shall contain all information required by § 275.20 of this chapter and shall be adhered to unless a change is necessary. If a modification to an ME review schedule is necessary at any time in the review period, the State shall notify the appropriate FNS Regional Office of the modification.

(iii) State agencies shall implement ME reviews within 90 days of publication of these regulations, following the provisions of §§ 275.5, 275.6, 275.7, 275.8, and 275.9 of this chapter. Any waiver from the requirements of § 275.7 or § 275.9 must be requested 60 days prior to its implementation as identified in § 275.5(c). Development or submission of requests for a deviation shall not delay implementation of the ME review sub-system past the required implementation date.

(iv) All provisions of these regulations which are not addressed in paragraphs (g)(11) (i) and (ii) of this section shall be implemented within 90 days of publication of these regulations. While this includes the requirements for a Performance Reporting System Coordinator and designation of an organizational entity for effecting corrective action as identified in § 275.2(a) of this chapter, this position and designation may be established on an interim basis; provided that the provisions of § 275.2(a) of this chapter are fully implemented by October 1, 1980. During this interim period States shall ensure that all responsibilities of the coordinator or entity are adhered to.

(i) The fee agent system for conducting interviews is currently in use and its continuing use is approved.

(ii) All other rules except paragraph (p) of § 272.8 shall be implemented as soon as practical but no later than 90 days following the date of final rulemaking. A fee agent training plan must be submitted within 45 days of the date of final rulemaking. Paragraph (p) of § 272.8 concerning points and hours shall be implemented following the time standards contained therein.

(i) State agencies shall restore lost benefits to households who had their eligibility or benefit levels adversely affected because Federal energy assistance payments were counted as income and/or resources. Entitlement to restoration of lost benefits shall be retroactive to October 1, 1979 for payments received under CSA's ECAP; to November 27, 1979 for payments received under DHEW's EAP; and to January 7, 1980 for the one-time-only energy assistance payments to SSI households in accordance with Pub. L. 96-126.

(ii) State agencies shall use the following procedures for notifying households of entitlement to restoration of benefits under Amendment 142:

(i) State agencies shall implement the income/resource disregard provision for Federal, State, and local energy assistance payments (§§ 273.8 and 273.9 of this subchapter) no later than October 1, 1981.

(ii) State agencies shall implement the new maximum resource limit and the exemption of vehicles for the physically disabled (§ 273.12 of this subchapter) no later than October 1, 1981 for all new applicants. State agencies shall convert the current caseload to the new resource limit at the time of recertification, or at any other time the casefile is reviewed prior to recertification.

(iii) State agencies shall implement the student participation provisions of this amendment (§§ 273.1, 273.2, 273.5, 273.7 and 273.11 of this subchapter) no later than October 1, 1981 for all new applicants. Current caseload shall be converted at the time of recertification or any time the casefile is reviewed prior to recertification.

(i) The procedures contained in part 273 regarding SSI SNAP joint application processing shall become effective on August 1, 1980 for all State agencies except that:

(ii) State agencies shall distribute fliers advising of the changes contained in this amendment to public and general assistance offices, local Social Security offices, any interested organizations, particularly those dealing with the elderly or disabled, and those places where the elderly or disabled congregate, such as housing units senior citizens centers, and elderly feeding programs. Also, posters explaining the changes shall be displayed in SNAP certification offices and shall be made available to public and general assistance offices, local Social Security offices and any other interested groups. State agencies shall notify all organizations on their outreach contact lists of the changes and of the availability of posters and fliers. State agencies shall issue press releases to the news media advising of the impending program changes. FNS will supply State agencies with model language describing the changes which State agencies may use in their publications.

(i) All States operating an ATP issuance system shall submit the first Form FNS-46, Food Stamp Reconciliation Report, in accordance with Amendment No. 171, for the month of February 1981. This report shall be submitted to the FNS Regional Office within 90 days from the end of the report month.

(ii) All States shall submit the Form FNS-388, State Coupon Issuance and Particpation Estimates, for February 1981 and each month thereafter. Those States that have not submitted procedures for estimating program participation, shall submit them to the FNS Regional Office on or before February 9, 1981.

(i) Both agencies shall begin immediately to develop the work registration plan and agreements discussed in § 273.7(c) and (d) of Amendment 165. The plan and agreements must be approved and implemented within the 120 day timeframe established for implementation of all provisions of the final rule.

(ii) The provisions of amendment 165 shall be applied to households at the time of initial application, recertification, or reregistration, beginning no later than the first of the month following 120 days from publication of the amendment.

(i) The rules shall be implemented no later than October 1, 1981, including the provisions for a medical deduction, separate dependent care deduction, and uncapped shelter expense deduction for the elderly and disabled in Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands. All households who apply October 1 or later and those households who are recertified October 1, 1981 or later shall be processed in accordance with these provisions. The proration of initial month benefits shall begin no later than October 1, 1981.

(ii) Conversion of the current caseload to the new gross income test and earned income deduction amount shall be completed no later than 90 days from October 1, 1981, or 90 days from the date of implementation approved through waiver requests in accordance with paragraph (g)(35)(vi) of this section.

(iii) Conversion of the current caseload to the new household definition; ineligibility of strikers and boarders; and, in Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands, a medical deduction, separate dependent care deduction, and uncapped excess shelter expense deduction shall be completed at or before recertification. In no event shall the new medical, dependent care, and excess shelter provisions for Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands be implemented prior to October 1, 1981.

(iv) Notification to affected households of these changes shall be done, at a minimum, in the same manner required for mass changes in public assistance grants prescribed in § 273.12(e)(2)(ii).

(v) Beginning October 1, 1981, outreach activities engaged in by State agencies shall be ineligible for Federal matching funds.

(vi) FNS will consider requests for waivers to these timeframes, except for the timeframe in paragraph (g)(35)(v) of this section, on a state-by-state basis, if good cause can be established and justified, in writing, for the need for a longer timeframe.

(i) The provision in § 273.11(c) for handling the income and resources of an individual disqualified for intentional Program violation shall apply to any individual disqualified for such a violation since the implementation of the fraud disqualification provisions of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008. The disqualification procedures for intentional Program violation in § 273.16 shall apply to any individual alleged to have committed one or more acts of intentional Program violation since the implementation of the fraud disqualification provisions under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008. However, the disqualification penalties in § 273.16(b) shall apply only to individuals disqualified for acts of intentional Program violation which occur after implementation of this amendment. In addition, the disqualification penalties in § 273.16(b) shall apply only to individuals disqualified for acts of intentional Program violation which occurred either during a certification period based on an application form containing these penalties or after receipt of written notification from the State agency of these penalties. Recurring acts of intentional Program violation which occur over a period of time prior to and after implementation of this final rule shall not be separated. Only one penalty can be imposed for such recurring violations and the household member shall be disqualified in accordance with the disqualification penalties specified in this amendment. The reporting requirements of § 273.16(i) shall become effective upon implementation, however, the State agency shall have until October 1, 1983, to submit such reports on individuals disqualified under previous regulations implementing the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008.

(ii) The recovery provisions for claims against households in § 273.18 shall apply to any overissuance caused by an action which occurred after implementation of regulations promulgating the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, as amended. And, the procedures for calculating the amount of overissuances as specified in § 273.18(c) shall apply to any month in which an overissuance occurred retroactive to March 1, 1979. However, State agency retention of 50 percent of the value of collected intentional Program violation claims and 25 percent of the value of collected inadvertent household error claims as provided in § 273.18(h) shall apply to any collection action retroactive to January 1, 1982. The State agency shall have the option of reinstating any claim previously suspended, but not terminated, under the recovery provisions of regulations implementing the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 and, once reinstated, such claims shall be subject to the recovery provisions contained in this amendment. However, the State agency shall not reinstate any amount of a claim compromised or any claim terminated under previous regulations implementing the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, as amended. The submission requirements for the Form FNS-209, Status of Claims Against Households, as set forth in § 273.18(h) shall become effective with the quarter ending March 31, 1983.

(i) State agencies shall implement the provisions contained in § 274.1(d) statewide no later than October 1, 1983. FNS will consider requests for waivers to this timeframe on a State-by-State basis if the State agency establishes good cause through submission of written justification of the need for a longer timeframe and submits a plan that shows when the system will be implemented.

(ii) State agencies shall implement the correction made to § 273.1(a)(1)(iv) retroactive to September 8, 1982.

(iii) The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico shall implement the changes to part 285 on January 1, 1984, as published in the Federal Register for December 21, 1984.

(i) State agencies shall apply the work registration, job search, and voluntary quit provisions of this rule, amending portions of § 273.7, to new applicants no later than January 2, 1985. The provisions shall apply to participating households at recertification or at the time of office contact for any other reason.

(i) The sanction/incentive provisions of § 275.25 were effective October 1, 1982. The previous provisions of § 275.25 shall continue to apply to the review periods prior to October 1982.

(ii) The funding provisions of § 277.4(b)(2) were effective on October 1, 1982, and shall apply to the October 1982, through September 1983, review period and every review period thereafter.

(iii) The revised funding provisions of § 277.4(b)(7) shall apply to the 6-month review periods October 1, 1981 through March 1982 and April through September 1982.

(i) The quality control review provisions contained in Amendment 260 are effective starting with the beginning of Fiscal Year 1984, except as provided in the following sentences. All cases sampled for the six months October 1983 through March 1984 shall be disposed of and reported within 95 days of March 31, 1984. Cases sampled for April 1984 and for months thereafter shall be disposed of and reported according to § 275.21. For example, 90 percent of April cases are due within 75 days of April 30, and 100 percent are due within 95 days of that date. The structure of sample frames specified in § 275.11(e) must be implemented no later than the sample month of October 1984.

(ii) Starting with the October 1983 sample month, cases must be determined complete, not complete, or not subject to review according to §§ 275.12(g) and 275.13(e). As of the beginning of Fiscal Year 1984 the sample sizes stated in § 275.11(b) and related sampling plan requirements are effective, and State agencies are required to meet the completion standard stated in § 275.11(d). State agencies currently sampling at the levels provided in § 275.11(b)(1)(iii) must submit to their respective FNS Regional Offices the reliability statement required by § 275.11(a)(2) within 30 days of the publication of this rule, or no later than the second month after publication of this rule begin sampling at the levels specified in § 275.11(b)(1)(ii).

(i) A Plan describing good faith efforts shall at a minimum document that the State agency is currently in compliance with wage match criteria as specified in the final rulemaking of November 5, 1982 (47 FR 50180), assure that such compliance will continue at current levels until such time as these provisions are implemented, and provide an implementation schedule that reflects full compliance in the minimum amount of additional time. Requests for delays of implementation beyond May 29, 1986 shall identify the applicable regulation part, the date for implementation, justification for the delay, and the implementation plan.

(ii) The Secretary shall consult with the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and with the Secretary of the Department of Labor prior to the approval of Plans of Operation documenting good faith efforts. In no event shall the Secretary approve a delay of the provisions of individual notification in § 273.2(f)(9) beyond the initial implementation date of any of these new provisions.

(iii) Implementation schedules beyond September 30, 1986 are not approvable, with the following exception: If on April 1, 1985 no SWICA exists in a particular State, the provisions of the rule as they relate to SWICAs shall be effective upon the designation of a SWICA. Implementation of a SWICA after April 1, 1985 shall take place as soon thereafter as possible but in no event later than September 30, 1988. All SWICAs with delayed implementation shall be in operation so that wage information is reported to them starting with the month of October 1988.

(i) All Fiscal Year 1987 review schedules shall continue in force despite the implementation of these provisions. However, a State agency may, at its option, seek a change in that schedule.

(ii) Waivers shall remain in force until their expiration. If a State agency wishes to cancel a waiver it should contact its Regional Office and negotiate whatever change it needs.

(iii) The first periodic Corrective Action Plan update required by this amendment shall be submitted by May 1, 1987.

(i) State agencies shall implement the earned income and dependent care deduction amounts and the resource limit provisions of Amendment 270 on May 1, 1986. If, for any reason, a State agency fails to implement these provisions on that date, households shall be provided the lost benefits which they would have received if the State agency had implemented these provisions as required.

(ii) The provisions of § 272.1(b) regarding the prohibition of State or local sales taxes on foods purchased with SNAP coupons shall be implemented on October 1 of the calendar year during which the first regular session of each State's Legislature is convened following enactment of Pub. L. 99-198 (enacted December 23, 1985). A “regular session” means a scheduled session of a State's legislature convened to address the usual range of statutory and budgetary issues. A “budgetary” session of a legislature shall be considered a “regular session” if State rules allow for statutory issues to be introduced at these “budgetary” sessions even if rules governing these special procedures are stringent.

(i) The provisions of this amendment at §§ 271.2, 273.2, 273.5, 273.9, 273.10(d)(6), and 273.21(b) shall be implemented for all new applications and the current caseload no later than August 1, 1986. If, for any reason, a State agency fails to implement these provisions on this date, households shall be provided lost benefits which they would have received if the State agency had implemented these provisions as required.

(ii) The provisions of this amendment at § 273.18 and part 285 shall be implemented June 20, 1986.

(iii) The provisions of this amendment at § 273.21(a)(4)(i)(A) and the second sentence in § 273.10(f)(7) are effective retroactive to August 31, 1981. Section § 273.21(a)(4)(ii)(A) and the first two sentences of § 273.21(a)(4)(ii)(B) described in this amendment are retroactive to September 8, 1982. The provisions of this amendment at §§ 272.3, 273.21(a), 273.21(a)(3), 273.21(a)(4)(i)(B), the third sentence at § 273.10(f)(7), and the last two sentences of § 273.21(a)(4)(ii)(B) are effective retroactive to December 2, 1983. The provision of this amendment at § 276.7(j) is effective retroactive to December 23, 1985.

(i) This rule is effective retroactively to December 23, 1985. Any household that applied and was denied benefits from that date until implementation of this rule is entitled to restored benefits if it:

(ii) For quality control (QC) purposes only, QC reviewers shall not identify variances resulting solely from either implementation or nonimplementation of this rule in cases with review dates between December 23, 1985 and October 31, 1986, inclusive.

(i) For State agencies which elected to implement a $160 dependent care deduction limit for all households prior to October 18, 1986, the dependent care deduction provision of Amendment No. 279 is effective retroactive to May 1, 1986 in accordance with section 638 of Pub. L. 99-500. In such States, for QC purposes only, QC reviewers shall not include in the error determination variances which resulted from early implementation by these States of the deduction limit provided the implementation occurred during the period beginning May 1, 1986 through October 1986.

(ii) For all other State agencies, the $160 dependent care deduction provision of Amendment No. 279 shall be implemented for elderly and disabled applicant and participating households on December 1, 1986. State agencies shall implement the provision as a mass change in accordance with § 273.12(e), except that affected households in Alaska, Hawaii and Guam shall be issued an individual notice which, at a minimum, informs the households of the general nature of the mass change, the effect of the deduction limit on the household's allotment, and the month the change will take effect. If for any reason the State agency fails to implement the provision on the required date, affected households shall be provided restored benefits, back to December 1, 1986. For QC purposes only in such States, QC reviewers shall not include in the error determination variances which resulted solely from a State agency's implementation or nonimplementation of the deduction limit between December 1, 1986 and January 1, 1987.

(i) The provisions of Amendment No. 285 at §§ 273.9(d)(6)(i), 273.9(d)(6)(ii), 273.9(d)(6)(v)(B), 273.10(d)(1)(i) and 273.10(d)(6) are retroactively effective to October 1, 1986. The State agency shall implement the provisions immediately upon publication and any eligibility determination made on or after that date shall be made in accordance with this rule. The State agency shall review a case to determine if the household was denied benefits under these amendments whenever the household requests a review or the State agency becomes aware that such a denial may have occurred. Any household that was denied benefits as a result of an eligibility or benefit calculation (e.g., processed change report) made on or after October 1, 1986 is entitled to restored benefits. Restored benefits for these households shall be made available, if appropriate, in accordance with § 273.17 back to:

(ii) For quality control (QC) purposes only, a variance resulting solely from either the implementation or non-implementation of this rule shall not be identified between October 1, 1986 and April 1, 1987.

(i) The provisions of Amendment No. 286 which permit homeless meal providers to apply for authorization to accept SNAP benefits were effective March 11, 1987.

(ii) All other provisions of this amendment were effective April 1, 1987.

(i) The effective date of the provisions of this amendment is retroactive to November 6, 1986.

(ii) The actual dates upon which aliens may become eligible under § 273.4(a) (8), (9), (10), and (11) are specified in those paragraphs. State agencies must inform their staff of the respective dates as they pertain to the eligibility or ineligibility of applicant aliens.

(i) State agencies shall implement the provisions of this amendment for new applicant households which apply for program benefits on or after June 1, 1987.

(ii) State agencies shall convert their affected current caseload to the provisions of this amendment at household request, at recertification, or when the case is next reviewed, whichever occurs first and provide restored benefits, if appropriate, back to the date of application of October 17, 1986, whichever occurred later.

(iii) Any affected household that applied for Program benefits from October 17, 1986 until implementation of this rule and was denied benefits is entitled to restored benefits back to the date of application or October 17, 1986, whichever occurred later, if the household:

(iv) For quality control (QC) purposes only, QC shall not identify variances resulting solely from either implementation or nonimplementation of the provisions of this amendment for cases with review dates between October 17, 1986 (the date of enactment of Pub. L. 99-498) and August 31, 1987.

(i) Automated Federal information exchange systems. States' QC liability exemption for errors resulting from proper use of a Federal automatic information exchange system is effective beginning with the Fiscal Year 1986 reporting period.

(ii) FNS timeframes. The timeframes for notifying States of their payment error rates and payment error rate liabilities, if any, and the timeframe by which FNS must initiate collection action on claims for such liabilities are effective beginning with the Fiscal Year 1986 reporting period.

(i) The provision in § 271.2 of this amendment which defines “General assistance” and the provisions contained in § 273.9(b)(2)(i), § 273.9(c)(1)(ii)(A), (c)(1)(ii)(B), and (c)(1)(ii)(C), regarding exclusion of certain PA/GA vendor payments are effective retroactively to April 1, 1987. The provision in § 273.9(c)(1)(iv)(B), exclusion of emergency/special PA/GA vendor payments, is also effective retroactive to April 1, 1987, however, this provision reflects current policy and requires no implementation efforts by State agencies. State agencies shall immediately implement the other provisions listed above. Affected households shall be entitled to restored benefits back to the date of application or April 1, 1987, whichever occurred later.

(ii) The technical amendment to part 277 is effective September 29, 1987, and does not require implementation efforts by State agencies. The remaining provisions of Amendment No. 298 are effective, and must be implemented, as follows:

(iii) State agencies must implement the provisions as outlined in paragraph (g)(93)(ii) of this section on the specific dates required for each provision. If, for any reason, the State agency fails to implement the provisions on the required date, affected households, if appropriate, shall be entitled to restored benefits back to the date of application or the effective date of the provision involved, whichever occurred later.

(iv) Quality control variance exclusion.

(i) State agencies must apply the provision of this amendment for any eligibility or benefit calculation made on or after February 1, 1988.

(ii) Affected households which were denied benefits because the household's eligibility or benefit calculation during the second Federal fiscal year quarter of 1988 (but not prior to February 1, 1988) did not include the income exclusion provision of this amendment shall be entitled to restored benefits at the time of recertification, whenever the household requests a review of its case, or when the State agency otherwise becomes aware that a review of a particular case is needed.

(iii) Benefits shall be restored back to February 1, 1988 or the date of the SNAP application, whichever occurred later. Restoration shall be made in accordance with § 273.17 except that the twelve-month limit for restoring benefits shall not apply.

(iv) For Quality Control (QC) purposes only, QC reviewers shall not identify variances resulting solely from implementation or nonimplementation of Amendment No. 303 for cases with review dates between February 1, 1988 and August 31, 1988. For retrospectively budgeted cases, QC reviewers shall begin identifying variances when September becomes the budget month. Variances shall not be identified in cases where Amendment No. 303 was not implemented prior to the QC review when the State agency correctly followed the implementation provisions of this section.

(i) This rule is effective August 11, 1988.

(ii) State agency Work Plans setting forth proposals for conducting Simplified Application/Standardized Benefit Projects must be postmarked no later than November 9, 1988. Local agency Work Plans must be postmarked no later than December 9, 1988.

(i) No later than October 1, 1988, for all new applicants, and no later than the first recertification on or after October 1, 1988, for the participating caseload, State agencies shall implement the provisions of § 272.2(b) relating to the alien/citizenship statement and notification of verification with INS; the provisions of § 273.1(b) relating to nonhousehold members; the provisions of § 273.2(f)(1)(ii) relating to the mandatory verification of alien status; the provisions of § 273.2(h)(3) relating to delays in application processing; and the provisions of § 272.11(c) relating to the treatment of income and resources of nonhousehold members; and

(ii) Unless a waiver has been approved by FNS by October 1, 1988, State agencies shall implement all other provisions of this rule no later than October 1, 1988. Implementation by October 1, 1988 shall be accomplished either by obtaining FNS approval to a Plan of Operation as required in the rule at § 272.11(e) or by submitting to FNS a substantially approvable Plan of Operation as described in material which FNS Regional Offices provided State agencies on or about September 2, 1988. That material provided points for State agencies to consider relative to requesting waivers. State agencies should contact FNS Regional Offices if they need further guidance on waivers.

(i) The provisions of this amendment which adopt, as final, interim provisions published July 17, 1987 and those which redesignate or otherwise slightly modify the July 17 interim provisions for clarity only are effective retroactively to April 1, 1987. The conforming amendment at § 273.11(e)(7) is effective retroactively to February 25, 1986. The remaining technical amendments contained in this amendment at §§ 273.2(e)(2), 273.7(b)(1)(vii), 273.9(b)(1)(iii), 276.2(d) and 278.1(e) are effective April 24, 1989. These provisions do not alter or change current policy or procedures under which State agency are operating or do not require special implementation efforts by State agencies.

(ii) The provision in § 273.9(b)(1)(v) which limits application of the provision to on-the-job training programs under section 204(5), Title II, of the Job Training Partnership Act is effective retroactively to April 1, 1987 and shall be implemented as follows:

(i) The provision of Amendment No. 314 which adds five sentences to § 273.2(j)(1)(iv) and the provisions which add a new paragraph § 273.2(j)(2)(iii)(B) and amend §§ 273.17 and 273.18 are effective July 7, 1989 and shall be implemented no later than September 1, 1989.

(ii) All remaining provisions of Amendment No. 314, which adopt the interim provisions of August 5, 1986 as final without change or modify the interim provisions for clarity only, are effective retroactively to December 23, 1985 (the effective date of the interim rulemaking). These provision do not reflect a change in intended policy and, therefore, do not require special implementation efforts by State agencies.

(i) The provisions relating to migrant and seasonal farmworkers (7 CFR 273.9(c)(1)(ii)(E) and 273.10(a)(1)(ii)) are effective September 1, 1988 for all households applying or certified subsequent to August 31, 1988. Changes affecting currently participating households are to be implemented at recertification or when it is necessary to implement other changes affecting the household.

(ii) State agencies were required to implement the provision of this rule regarding a technical correction concerning energy assistance payments (7 CFR 273.9(c)(11)) on September 19, 1988.

(iii) State agencies were required to implement revised SNAP allotments on October 1, 1988 (7 CFR 271.2, 271.7, 273.10(e)(2), 273.10(e)(4)(ii), and 273.12(e)). Revised allotments were implemented as mass changes in accordance with 7 CFR 273.12(e).

(iv) State agencies were required to implement the provision relating to the dependent care deduction, 7 CFR 273.9(d)(4), 273.10(d)(1)(i), and 273.10(e)(1)(i)(E), and monthly reporting and retrospective budgeting, 7 CFR 273.21(a) and (b), on October 1, 1988. These provisions were immediately effective for all households certified subsequent to September 30, 1988. Changes affecting currently participating households were to be implemented upon recertification, at the household's request, or when it was necessary to implement other changes affecting the household. (For example, a change reported by a nonmonthly reporting retrospectively budgeted household was to be implemented in accordance with 7 CFR 273.12.) The Department was not requiring State agencies to conduct a casefile review to implement monthly reporting and retrospective budgeting changes for currently participating households. Monthly reports submitted by households which became exempt from MRRB as a result of the Hunger Prevention Act, such as non-migrant seasonal farmworkers or the homeless, were to be treated as change reports and processed prospectively in accordance with 7 CFR 273.12(c).

(v) State agencies were required to implement the provisions of this rule concerning the exclusion of advance payment of earned income tax credits, 7 CFR 273.8(c)(1) and 273.9(c)(14), on January 1, 1989. Households applying subsequent to December 31, 1988 should have had this provision applied to them as of their date of application. Changes affecting households participating as of December 31, 1988 were to be implemented upon recertification, at the household's request, or when it was necessary to implement other changes affecting the household.

(vi) All other provisions of this rule, relating to technical corrections concerning the urban Alaska TFP (7 CFR 272.7(c)), Alaska proration (7 CFR 272.7(f)(3)(iii)), and the dependent care deduction (7 CFR 273.11(c)(2)(iii) and 273.12(e)(1)(i)(C)), are to be implemented August 1, 1989.

(vii) Quality control errors made as a result of this rule's changes to §§ 273.9, 273.10, and 273.21 during the required implementation time frame established by this rulemaking shall be handled in accordance with interim regulations published at 53 FR 44171, dated November 2, 1988. SNAP allotment changes are not covered by the interim regulation because this is a mass change.

(viii) State agencies which failed to implement any of these provisions by the required dates shall provide affected households with the lost benefits they would have received if the State agency had implemented these provisions as required.

(i) The provisions contained in § 274.2(b) of Amendment No. 316 are effective retroactively to January 1, 1989 and shall be implemented by State welfare agencies no later than January 1, 1990 for all households which newly apply for Program benefits or apply for recertification on or after that date.

(ii) The remaining provisions are effective July 1, 1989 and must be implemented on that date for all households which newly apply for Program benefits or apply for recertification on or after that date. The current caseload shall be converted to these provisions at household request, at the time of recertification, or when the case is next reviewed, whichever occurs first and restored benefits shall be provided, if appropriate, back to July 1, 1989 or the date of the application, whichever is later. Additionally, households which applied for Program benefits between July 1, 1989 and the date the State agency implemented these provisions, and were denied benefits, shall be entitled to restored benefits back to July 1, 1989 or the date of the application, whichever occurred later, if the household:

(i) The State agency shall have until June 18, 1990, to request regional arbitration of regional office case findings which the State received before February 22, 1988.

(ii) The State agency shall have until June 18, 1990, to request national office arbitration of regional arbitration decisions which the State agency received before February 22, 1988.

(i) The provisions of this rule are effective April 2, 1990.

(ii) The provisions relating to the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (§ 272.5(b)(1)(iv)), the collection of fraud claims § 273.18, the monitoring of claims against households (§ 273.18(k)(5)), adverse action notice on claim demand letters (§ 273.18(d)(3)), notices of fair hearings (§ 273.18(d)(3)), and the results of geographic error prone profiles (§ 275.15(g)) shall be implemented no later than July 2, 1990. The provision relating to fraud detection units (§ 272.4(h)) shall be implemented no later than September 4, 1990. State agencies shall complete the first review of SNAP office hours (§ 272.4(g)) during Federal Fiscal Year 1990.

(iii) State agencies may submit attachments to their Plans of Operation pertaining to the intercept of unemployment compensation benefits to repay intentional Program violations claims as specified in §§ 272.2 (a) and (d) and 272.12(a) of this amendment as of February 22, 1990.

(i) The provisions contained in §§ 273.7(d)(1)(ii)(A) and 273.9(c)(5)(i) (A) and (F) of Amendment No. 321, which implement section 404(c) of the Hunger Prevention Act of 1988, are effective and must be implemented retroactively to July 1, 1989.

(ii) The remaining provisions of Amendment No. 321 are effective October 1, 1988 and must be implemented no later than March 1, 1992. State agencies may implement the conciliation procedure provisions contained in § 273.7(g)(1)(ii) immediately upon publication of Amendment No. 321. However, in no case shall the conciliation procedures be implemented any later than March 1, 1992. By implemented, the Department means that the State agency shall begin to use conciliation procedures in all cases where the State agency has determined on or after the above implementation date that an individual has refused or failed to comply with an E&T requirement under § 273.7(f).

(i) The requirements for State agencies to begin implementation or corrective action for deficiencies which are the cause for non-entitlement to enhanced funding for the Fiscal Year 1986 review period, and review periods thereafter were effective as of October 1, 1985, pursuant to section 604 of Public Law 100-435.

(ii) The requirements for State agencies to begin the implementation of corrective action for deficiencies which result in underissuances, improper denials or improper terminations of benefits to eligible households where such errors are caused by State agency rules, practices or procedures were effective July 1, 1989, pursuant to section 320 of Public Law 100-435. The corrective action must address all such deficiencies which occurred on or after July 1, 1989.

(iii) The State agency shall have until December 27, 1991, to implement changes in the development of quality control sampling plans, such that only those State agencies proposing non-proportional integrated, or other alternative sampling plan designs must:

(iv) The State agency shall have until January 27, 1992, to request regional arbitration of any federally subsampled underissuance cases for which the State agency received FNS regional office QC findings on or after February 22, 1988.

(v) The State agency shall have until January 27, 1992, to request national arbitration of any regional arbitration decisions involving underissuance cases for which the State agency received FNS regional arbitration findings on or after February 22, 1988.

(i) The provisions contained in §§ 271.2, 271.7, 273.1(e)(1)(iii), 273.2(k)(1)(i)(H), 273.2(m), 273.10, 273.18 and 278.1 of Amendment No. 335 are effective on February 1, 1992 and shall be implemented on that date as follows:

(ii) The remaining provisions of Amendment No. 335 are effective February 1, 1992. The provisions which reflect that a joint application is no longer required for SSI applicants §§ 273.2 (c)(1), 273.2(i)(3)(i), and 273.2(k)(1)(i)(D) do not require implementation efforts by State agencies. The remaining provisions (§§ 273.4, 273.9(b) and 273.9(c)) also do not require special implementation efforts by State agencies as the provisions reflect current policy.

(iii) Any variance resulting from implementation of the provisions of this amendment shall be excluded from quality control error analysis for 90 days from the required implementation date which shall be handled in accordance with 7 CFR 275.12(d)(2)(vii).

(i) The provision that gives State agencies the option of using retrospective budgeting for nonmonthly reporting households other than those exempt from monthly reports (7 CFR 273.21(b) introductory text) was effective as of November 28, 1990, the date of enactment of the Leland Act.

(ii) The delegation of the responsibility for design of the monthly report form (§ 273.21(h)(3) and § 273.21(j)(1)(ii) of this chapter) must be implemented by February 1, 1992.

(iii) The remaining provisions are effective January 3, 1992 and must be implemented by July 1, 1992.

(iv) Any variances resulting from implementation of the provisions of this amendment shall be excluded from error analysis for 90 days from the required implementation dates in accordance with 7 CFR 275.12(d)(2)(vii).

(i) State agencies shall implement the provisions of Amendment No. 337 on February 1, 1992, except as provided in paragraph (g)(122)(ii) of this section.

(ii) The amendments to revise the introductory text of § 273.2(j) and § 273.2(j)(3) as they relate to categorical eligibility and the amendment adding § 273.2(j)(4) are effective and must be implemented February 1, 1992 for recipients of GA from a State program. They are effective and must be implemented August 1, 1992 for recipients of GA from a local program.

(iii) Any variance resulting from implementation of the provisions of this amendment shall be excluded from error analysis in accordance with 7 CFR 275.12(d)(2)(vii) for 90 days from the required implementation date. The provisions must be implemented for all households that newly apply for Program benefits on or after the required implementation date. If for any reason a State agency fails to implement on the required implementation date, restored benefits shall be provided, if appropriate, back to the required implementation date, the date of the SNAP application or the date the household was determined categorically eligible in accordance with § 273.2(j)(4), whichever is later.

(iv) The current caseload shall be converted to these provisions at household request, at the time of recertification, or when the case is next reviewed, whichever occurs first. The State agency must provide restored benefits back to the required implementation date.

(i) Currently operating demonstration projects shall submit to FNS for approval a plan no later than June 30, 1992, to satisfy the requirements of this regulation. The plan shall address the areas in which the State EBT demonstration project does not comply with the provisions of this rule and how the State agency plans to bring its system into compliance. The State agency shall submit a schedule of any actions it proposes to take and when they are to be completed. Compliance with the provisions of this final regulation shall occur within two years from the effective date unless approved by FNS to continue operations under the authority of section 17 of the Act (7 U.S.C. 2026) as a demonstration project. In seeking FNS approval to continue under Section 17 authority, the State agency shall state what research value would be obtained in continuing the demonstration.

(ii) For State agencies that have proposals or planning documents currently under review by the Department, the State agencies and the Department shall establish at what point the State agency is in the planning process and how the State agency will fit into the approval process of these rules. All such State agencies will be expected to comply with the standards of these rules.

(iii) A State agency that wishes to obtain approval for an EBT system shall submit a Planning Advanced Planning Document for FNS approval as prescribed herein.

(i) The statutory provision reflected in § 275.23(e)(6)(v) of Amendment No. 327 was effective October 1, 1985 pursuant to Public Law 100-435.

(ii) The remaining provisions are effective October 28, 1992.

(i) The provisions at § 273.7(d)(1)(i)(A) and § 273.7(d)(1)(i)(B) are effective retroactive to October 1, 1991.

(ii) The provision at § 273.7(c)(4)(viii) is effective and must be implemented by August 15, 1993, the date E&T plans must be submitted to FNS.

(iii) The provision at § 273.10(d)(1)(i) is effective January 19, 1993 and must be implemented by March 1, 1993.

(iv) The remaining provisions of Amendment No. 340 are effective and must be implemented retroactively to February 1, 1992.

(v) Any variances resulting from implementation of the provision at § 273.10(d)(1)(i) shall be excluded from error analysis for 90 days from the required implementation date in accordance with 7 CFR 273.12(d)(2)(vii).

(i) § 273.1(a)(2)(i)(C), § 273.1(a)(2)(i)(D) and § 273.10(f)(2) are effective as of October 1, 1987; § 273.2(i)(1) (iii) and (iv) are effective as of December 1, 1987; the new § 273.9(c)(1)(ii)(G) is effective as of April 1, 1987. However, application of § 273.9(c)(1)(ii)G) in conjunction with the provisions at § 273.9 (c)(1)(ii) (A) through (F) and (c)(5)(i)(F) is effective as of the date the individual provisions at 7 CFR 273.9 (c)(1)(ii) (A) through (F) and (c)(5)(i)(F) became effective. Those dates are: § 273.9(c)(1)(ii) (A), (B), and (C), April 1, 1987; § 273.9(c)(1)(ii)(D), October 20, 1987; § 273.9(c)(1)(ii)(E), September 1, 1988, and § 273.9(c)(1)(ii)(F), August 1, 1991. The amendment to the first sentence of § 273.9(c)(1)(iv)(B) to include a regulatory reference to 7 CFR 273.9(c)(5)(i)(F) is effective as of August 1, 1991 (the date the individual provision at 7 CFR 273.9(c)(5)(i)(F) became effective), and § 273.18(c)(2)(ii) is effective as of September 5, 1987. To the extent that these provisions represent new or different policy from that under which the State agency is currently operating, the State agency shall implement the provisions not later than April 1, 1994 for households newly applying for Program benefits on or after such implementation date. State agencies shall convert their affected current caseload to these provisions (except for § 273.18(c)(2)(ii)) at recertification, when the household requests a review of its case, or when the State agency otherwise becomes aware that a review is needed, whichever occurs first. To the extent that the provisions will result in restored benefits for affected households, such benefits shall be provided back to the effective date of the provision or the date of the household's first initial application, whichever occurs later;

(ii) The remaining provisions of Amendment No. 349 adopt as final, without change, interim provisions published September 29, 1987 and are effective as of the date the corresponding interim provision became effective as established at 7 CFR 272.1(g)(93). These provisions and the effective dates are: § 271.2, definition of “Homeless individual,” July 22, 1987; § 272.5, July 22, 1987; § 273.9(a)(3), October 1, 1988; § 271.2, definition of “General assistance,” April 1, 1987; § 273.9(b)(2)(i), April 1, 1987; § 273.9(c)(1) (ii)(A), (ii)(B) and (ii)(C), April 1, 1987; § 273.9(d)(7)(i), October 1, 1987; § 273.9(d)(8)(i), October 1, 1987 (except for the last sentence, which is effective October 1, 1988). The provisions do not change policy or procedures under which State agencies are currently operating and, therefore, do not require specific implementation efforts by State agencies.

(i) The provisions at §§ 271.2, 273.1, and 273.11 were effective and had to be implemented no later than February 1, 1992.

(ii) The provision at § 273.9(c)(17) is effective the earlier of:

(i) The provision at § 273.8(e)(12)(i) of this chapter is effective and must be implemented according to statute retroactive to January 1, 1991.

(ii) The provision at § 273.8(e)(12)(ii) of this chapter will be effective and must be implemented on September 1, 1994.

(iii) The provision at § 273.21(b) of this chapter against establishing new monthly reporting requirements for households residing on Indian reservations if no monthly reporting system was in place on March 25, 1994 is effective and must be implemented according to statute retroactive to March 25, 1994.

(iv) The provision in § 273.2(j) of this chapter concerning categorical eligibility for GA recipients is effective and must be implemented according to statute retroactive to February 1, 1992.

(v) The remaining provisions are effective and must be implemented October 28, 1994.

(i) The provisions relating to aggregated (combined) allotments to households applying after the 15th of the month and mail issuance in rural areas where households experience transportation difficulties in obtaining benefits are effective and must be implemented by statute retroactive to February 1, 1992.

(ii) The provision relating to staggered issuance on Indian reservations was in place on March 25, 1994, is effective and must be implemented according to statute retroactive to March 25, 1994.

(iii) The remaining provisions are effective and must be implemented September 1, 1995.

(i) The provision relating to the increased penalties at 7 CFR 273.16(b) is effective and must be implemented retroactive to September 1, 1994. This includes providing notification of the increased penalties on the application form.

(ii) The remaining provisions are effective and must be implemented October 23, 1995.

(i) Sections 273.5(b)(1), (b)(4), and (b)(9) are effective February 1, 1992. The introductory paragraph of 273.5(b)(6) is effective February 1, 1992. The introductory paragraph of 273.5(b)(10) is effective February 1, 1992. Sections 273.5(b)(11)(ii), (b)(11)(iii), and (b)(11)(iv) are effective February 1, 1992.

(ii) Sections 273.5(b)(6)(i) and (b)(6)(ii) and sections 273.5(b)(10)(i) and (b)(10)(ii) and the remaining provisions of this regulation are effective November 1, 1995 and shall be implemented no later than February 1, 1996.

(iii) The current caseload shall be converted to these provisions at the household's request, at the time of recertification, or when the case is next reviewed, whichever occurs first. The State agency shall provide restored benefits back to the effective date.

(iv) Any variance resulting from implementation of a provision in this rule shall be excluded from error analysis for 120 days from the required implementation date of that provision.

(i) With the exception of the changes to § 275.3(c)(4) [Arbitration], § 275.23(e)(5) [State agencies' liabilities for payment error-Fiscal Year 1992 and beyond], § 275.23(e)(7) [Good Cause], and § 275.23(e)(9) [timeframes], all quality control changes that are made by Amendment No. 366 shall be implemented July 2, 1997.

(ii) The quality control changes to § 275.3(c)(4) [Arbitration], § 275.23(e)(5) [State agencies' liabilities for payment error-Fiscal Year 1992 and beyond], § 275.23(e)(7) [Good Cause], and § 275.23(e)(9) [Timeframes], shall be implemented after approval of the provisions at § 275.3(c)(4) [Arbitration], and § 275.23(e)(7) [Good Cause] by the Office of Management and Budget under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. FNS will publish a notice in the Federal Register announcing the implementation date. It shall be a date occurring after the publication date of the notice.

(i) The definition of “Homeless individual” in § 271.2, and the amendments to § 273.1(b)(1)(ii), § 273.2(i)(3)(i) and (i)(3)(ii) were to be implemented August 22, 1996;

(ii) The amendments to § 273.8(f)(1) and § 273.10(e)(4)(ii) were to be implemented October 1, 1996;

(iii) The amendment to § 273.9(d)(8) was to be implemented January 1, 1997;

(iv) The amendments to § 273.1(b)(1)(iii) and § 273.8(e)(3)(i)(A) must be implemented no later than March 1, 2001; and

(v) All remaining amendments must be implemented no later than January 1, 2001.

(i) State agencies may implement the following amendments at their discretion at any time on or after the effective date: § 272.8; § 272.11(a); § 273.2(f)(9)(i); § 273.2(f)(10); § 273.2(j)(2)(ii); § 273.9(d)(6)(i); § 273.9(d)(6)(iii)(E); § 273.11(a)(3)(v); § 273.12(a)(1)(vii); § 273.25; and § 277.4(b).

(ii) State agencies may implement the following amendment at their discretion at any time after the effective date established by OMB approval of the associated information collection burden: § 273.12(f)(4).

(iii) State agencies must implement the following amendments no later than 180 days after the effective date established by OMB approval of the associated information collection burden for all households newly applying for Program benefits: § 273.2(c)(2)(i), § 273.2(e)(1), § 273.2(e)(2)(i), § 273.2(e)(2)(ii), § 273.2(e)(3), § 273.4(c)(3)(iv); and § 273.12(c)(3). State agencies must convert current caseloads no later than the next recertification following the implementation date.

(iv) State agencies must implement the amendment to § 273.2(b)(4)(iv) no later than August 1, 2001, for all households newly applying for Program benefits.

(v) State agencies must implement all remaining amendments no later than June 1, 2001, for all households newly applying for Program benefits. State agencies must convert current caseloads no later than the next recertification following the implementation date.

(vi) Acting under policy guidance the Department issued previous to the publication of this final rule, several State agencies that have identified programs to confer categorical eligibility for SNAP benefits that do not meet the criteria established at §§ 273.2(j)(2)(i)(B), 273.2(j)(2)(i)(C), 273.2(j)(2)(ii)(A), or 273.2(j)(2)(ii)(B) of this chapter. Any such State agency may continue to use these programs to confer categorical eligibility for SNAP purposes until September 30, 2001.

(vii) A State agency which first implements option 1 under 7 CFR 273.11(c)(3)(ii), and then decides at a later date to implement option 2 under that same paragraph is entitled to a second variance exclusion period under 7 CFR 275.12(d)(2)(vii).

(i) Any new contract executed after October 16, 2000, must have provisions for interoperability and portability which include an implementation date for this functionality no later than October 1, 2002, except under the following circumstances:

(ii) Enhanced funding is available for interoperability costs incurred after February 11, 2000, and before October 1, 2002, for State agencies which have implemented standards of interoperability and portability adopted by a majority of State agencies, and for such costs incurred after September 1, 2002, for State agencies that have adopted standards for interoperability and portability in accordance with this regulation at 7 CFR 274.12.

(i) The following amendments were to be implemented October 1, 2002: 7 CFR 273.4(a)(6)(ii)(H), 7 CFR 273.8(b), and 7 CFR 273.9(d)(1).

(ii) The following amendments were to be implemented April 1, 2003: 7 CFR 273.4(a)(6)(ii)(B) through 7 CFR 273.4(a)(6)(ii)(F) and 273.4(a)(6)(iii).

(iii) The following amendments were to be implemented October 1, 2003: 7 CFR 273.4 (a)(6)(ii)(J); 7 CFR 273.4(c)(3)(vi).

(iv) State agencies must implement the following amendments no later than August 1, 2010: 7 CFR 273.4(c)(2)(v), 7 CFR 273.4(c)(3)(iv), 7 CFR 273.4(c)(3)(vii), 7 CFR 273.9(b)(1)(vi), and 7 CFR 273.9(c)(3)(ii)(A).

(v) State agencies may implement all other amendments on or after the effective date.

(vi) State agencies that implemented discretionary provisions, either under existing regulations or policy guidance issued by the Department, prior to the publication of this final rule have until August 1, 2010 to amend their policies to conform to the final rule requirements.

(i) The Budget Projection Statement solicits projections of the total costs for major areas of program operations. The Budget Projection Statement shall be submitted annually and updated as necessary through the year. The Budget Projection Statement shall contain projections for each quarter of the next Federal fiscal year. The State agency shall submit with the Budget Projection Statement a narrative justification documenting and explaining the assumptions used to arrive at the projections. The narrative shall cover such subjects as: The number and salary level of employees; other factors affecting personnel costs including anticipated increases in pay rates or benefits, and reallocations of staff among units or functions, insofar as these might result in cost increases or decreases; costs for purchasing, leasing, and maintaining equipment and space, especially as concerns any upcoming, one-time-only purchases of new capital assets such as ADP equipment, renegotiation of leases, changes in depreciation rates or procedures, relocation of offices, maintenance and renovation work, and inflation; issuance system costs, including renegotiation of issuing agent fees and plans to change issuance systems; changes in caseload and factors contributing to increases or decreases in the number of participants; recertifications, including the anticipated impact of economic conditions (and in particular unemployment) and seasonality; cost implications of corrective action plans; anticipated changes in program regulations and operating guidelines and instructions; training needs; travel costs; and adjustments in insurance premiums. The narrative should cover as many of the items listed above, and any other items deemed relevant by the State agency, that will have a significant impact on costs. The State agency is not required to discuss every item in the list in every submission of a Budget Projection Statement. The narrative should concentrate on items that account for increases or decreases in costs from the preceding submissions.

(ii) The Program Activity Statement, to be submitted quarterly (unless otherwise directed by FNS), solicits a summary of Program activity for the State agency's operations during the preceding reporting period.

(i) The position of the head of the State agency responsible for administering SNAP in relation to the overall State organizational structure, i.e., the Program Director in relation to the Commissioner of Welfare;

(ii) A description of the organizational structure through which the State agency will administer and operate SNAP, including whether the Program is State, county, locally, or regionally-administered; whether the workers have single SNAP or multi-program functions; and the title and position of the individual or panel designated as the hearing authority and whether officials conduct both fair and fraud hearings.

(iii) A description of the funding arrangement by which State, county, and local jurisdictions will contribute to the State agency portion of administrative costs;

(iv) The position within the State organizational structure of the Performance Reporting System (PRS) coordinator, including whether the PRS coordinator is full or part-time, and is responsible for direct supervision over Quality Control or Management Evaluation or if these functions are handled separately, and whether quality control reviewers have single SNAP or multi-program review responsibilities;

(v) The position of the training coordinator and whether this is a full or part-time position; and

(vi) The organizational entity responsible for corrective action.

(i) Quality Control Sampling Plan as required by § 275.11(a)(4);

(ii) Disaster Plan as required by § 280.6 (currently reserved), or certification that a previously submitted Disaster Plan has been reviewed and remains current;

(iii) Nutrition Education Plan if the State agency elects to request Federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) grant funds to conduct nutrition education and obesity prevention services as discussed in paragraph (d)(2) of this section.

(iv) A plan for the State Income and Eligibility Verification System required by § 272.8.

(v) Employment and Training Plan as required in § 273.7 (c)(6).

(vi) ADP/CIS Plan as required by § 272.10.

(vii) A plan for the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) Program as required by § 272.11(e).

(viii) Mail Issuance Loss Reporting Level Plan required by § 276.2(b)(4), for the State agency using mail issuance, shall contain the unit level of reporting mail issuance losses for the upcoming fiscal year as elected by the State agency. If a State agency does not revise its Plan by August 15 in any given year, FNS shall continue to require reporting and to assess liabilities for the next fiscal year at the level last indicated by the State agency. If the agency has selected the unit provided for in § 276.2(b)(4)(ii), a listing of the issuance sites or counties comprising each administrative unit within the State agency shall also be included in the Plan.

(ix) A plan for Program informational activities as specified in § 272.5(c).

(x) Claims Management Plan as required by § 273.18(a)(3) to be submitted for informational purposes only; not subject to approval as part of the plan submission procedures under paragraph (e) of this section.

(xi)-(xii) [Reserved]

(xiii) If the State agency chooses to implement the optional provisions specified in (273.11(k), (l), (o), (p), and (q) of this chapter, it must include in the Plan's attachment the options it selected, the guidelines it will use, and any good cause criteria under paragraph (o). For § 273.11(k) of this chapter, the State agency must identify which sanctions in the other programs this provision applies to. The State agency must also include in the plan a description of the safeguards it will use to restrict the use of information it collects in implementing the optional provision contained in § 273.11(p) of this chapter.

(xiv) The State agency's disqualification plan, in accordance with § 273.7(f)(3) of this chapter.

(xv) If the State agency chooses to implement the provisions for a work supplementation or support program, the work supplementation or support program plan, in accordance with § 273.7(l)(1) of this chapter.

(xvi) If the State agency chooses to implement the optional provisions specified in:

(xvii) A plan indicating the definition of fleeing felon the State agency has adopted, as provided for in § 273.11(n).

(xviii) A list indicating the names of gaming entities with which the State agency has entered into cooperative agreements and the frequency of data matches with such entities.

(i) Conform to standards established in this regulation, SNAP-Ed Plan Guidance, and other FNS policy. A State agency may propose to implement an annual or multiyear Plan of up to three years;

(ii) Identify the methods the State will use to notify applicants, participants and eligible individuals to the maximum extent possible of the availability of SNAP-Ed activities in local communities;

(iii) Describe methods the State agency will use to identify its target audience. FNS will consider for approval targeting strategies and supporting data sources included in SNAP-Ed Plan Guidance and alternate targeting strategies and supporting data sources proposed by State agencies;

(iv) Present a valid and data-driven needs assessment of the nutrition, physical activity, and obesity prevention needs of the target population, and their barriers to accessing healthy foods and physical activity. The needs assessment should consider the diverse characteristics of the target population, including race/ethnicity, gender, employment status, housing, language, transportation/mobility needs, and other factors;

(v) Ensure interventions are appropriate for the low-income population defined as SNAP participants and low-income individuals eligible to receive benefits under SNAP or other means-tested Federal assistance programs and individuals residing in communities with a significant low-income population. The interventions must recognize the population's constrained resources and potential eligibility for Federal food assistance;

(vi) Describe the evidence-based nutrition education and obesity prevention services that the State will provide in SNAP-Ed and how the State will deliver those services, either directly or through agreements with other State or local agencies or community organizations, and how the interventions and strategies meet the assessed nutrition, physical activity, and obesity prevention needs of the target population;

(vii) Use of Funds.

(viii) Include a description of the State's efforts to coordinate activities with national, State, and local nutrition education, obesity prevention, and health promotion initiatives and interventions, whether publicly or privately funded. States must consult and coordinate with State and local operators of other FNS programs, including the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), the National School Lunch Program, Farm to School, and the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, to ensure SNAP-Ed complements the nutrition education and obesity prevention activities of those programs. States may engage in breastfeeding education, promotion, and support that is supplementary to and coordinated with WIC, which has the lead and primary role in all breastfeeding activities among FNS programs. The relationship between the State agency and other organizations it plans to coordinate with for the provision of services, including statewide organizations must be described. Copies of contracts and Memoranda of Agreement or Understanding that involve funds made available under the State agency's Federal SNAP-Ed grant must be available for inspection upon request;

(ix) Include an operating budget for the Federal fiscal year with an estimate of the cost of operation for one or more years, according to the State's approved SNAP-Ed Plan. As part of the budget process, the State must inform FNS by the end of the first quarter of each Federal fiscal year (December 31) of any portion of its prior year allocation that it cannot or does not plan to spend for SNAP-Ed activities by the end of the Federal fiscal year.

(x) Federal financial participation and allocation of grants.

(xi) Fiscal recordkeeping and reporting requirements. Each participating State agency must meet FNS fiscal recordkeeping and reporting requirements. Total SNAP-Ed expenditures and State, private, and other contributions to SNAP-Ed activities are reported through the financial reporting means and in the timeframe designated by FNS;

(xii) Additional information may be required of the State agency, on an as needed basis, regarding the type of nutrition education and obesity prevention activities offered and the characteristics of the target population served, depending on the contents of the State's SNAP-Ed Plan, to determine whether nutrition education goals are being met;

(xiii) The State agency must submit a SNAP-Ed Annual Report to FNS by January 31 of each year. The report shall describe SNAP-Ed Plan project activities, outcomes, and budget for the prior year.

(i) The Budget Projection Statement shall be submitted annually, no later than August 15 of each year.

(ii) The Program Activity Statement shall be submitted quarterly (unless otherwise directed by FNS) based on the Federal fiscal year.

(i) According to the timeframes specified in paragraph (e)(4)(ii) of this section, prior to each annual review period each State agency shall submit any changes in their sampling plan for FNS approval or submit a statement that there are no such changes. These submittals shall include the statement required by § 275.11(a)(2), if appropriate. The Quality Control Sampling Plan in effect for each State agency as of the beginning of Fiscal Year 1984 shall be considered submitted and approved for purposes of this section, provided that the State agency has obtained prior FNS approval of its sampling plan.

(ii) Initial submissions of and major changes to sampling plans and changes in sampling plans resulting from general changes in procedure shall be submitted to FNS for approval at least 60 days prior to implementation. Minor changes to approved sampling plans shall be submitted at least 30 days prior to implementation.

(i) For program funds, State agencies shall request prior approvals promptly from FNS for budget revisions whenever:

(ii) No other changes to the Program fund budget require approval from FNS. Examples of changes which do not require Federal approval are: The use of State agency funds to accomplish program objectives over and above the State agency minimum share included in the approved Program budget; and the transfer of amounts budgeted for direct costs to absorb authorized increases in indirect costs.

(iii) The requirements of paragraph (f)(1)(i)(B) of this section may be waived by FNS provided that:

(i) Application processing;

(ii) Nonfinancial eligibility standards;

(iii) Financial criteria and the eligibility determination;

(iv) Actions resulting from eligibility determinations;

(v) Determining eligibility of special situation households as specified in § 273.11;

(vi) Additional certification functions such as processing changes during certification periods and reporting requirements for households;

(vii) Lost benefits/claims against households;

(viii) Fair/fraud hearings;

(ix) A list of Federal and State energy assistance programs that qualify for the resource and income exclusions discussed in §§ 273.8(e)(14) and 273.9(c)(11) and how these payments are identified as being eligible for the exemption;

(x) Work registration and employment and training requirements.

(i) The specific regulatory provision cannot be implemented due to extraordinary temporary situations such as a sudden increase in the caseload due to the loss of SSI cash-out status;

(ii) FNS determines that the waiver would result in a more effective and efficient administration of the program; or

(iii) Unique geographic or climatic conditions within a State preclude effective implementation of the specific regulatory provision and require an alternate procedure; for example, the use of fee agents in Alaska to perform many of the duties involved in the certification of households including conducting the interviews.

(i) The waiver would be inconsistent with the provisions of the Act; or

(ii) The waiver would result in material impairment of any statutory or regulatory rights of participants or potential participants.

(i) Reasons why the waiver is needed;

(ii) The portion of caseload or potential caseload which would be affected and the characteristics of the affected caseload such as geographic, urban, or rural concentration;

(iii) Anticipated impact on service to participants or potential participants who would be affected;

(iv) Anticipated time period for which the waiver is needed; and

(v) Thorough explanation of the proposed alternative provision to be used in lieu of the waived regulatory provision.

(i) In project areas with less than 2,000 low-income households, if approximately 100 or more of those households are of a single-language minority;

(ii) In project areas with 2,000 or more low-income households, if approximately 5 percent or more of those households are of a single-language minority; and

(iii) In project areas with a certification office that provides bilingual service as required in paragraph (b)(3) of this section.

(i) In each individual certification office that provides service to an area containing approximately 100 single-language minority low-income households; and

(ii) In each project area with a total of less than 100 low-income households if a majority of those households are of a single-language minority.

(i) To receive approval of combined operations, the State agency shall establish special review requirements which at a minimum include:

(ii) The State agency shall annually determine whether each combined operation continues to be justified and shall so advise FNS in writing.

(i) In the event that a State agency is sued by any person(s) in a State or Federal Court in any matter which involves the State agency's administration of SNAP, the State agency shall immediately notify FNS that suit has been brought and shall furnish FNS with copies of the original pleadings. State agencies involved in suits shall, upon request of FNS, take such action as is necessary to join the United States and/or appropriate officials of the Federal Government, such as the Secretary of USDA or the Administrator of FNS, as parties to the suit. FNS may request to join the following types of suits:

(ii) FNS may advise a State agency to seek a settlement agreement of a court suit if the State agency is being sued because it misapplied Federal policy in administering the Program.

(iii) State agencies shall notify FNS when court cases have been dismissed or otherwise settled. State agencies shall also provide FNS with information that is requested regarding the State agency's compliance with the requirements of court orders or settlement agreements.

(i) If the State agency detects a large number of duplicates, it shall implement other measures, such as more frequent checks or increased emphasis on prevention.

(ii) If the State agency provides cash assistance in lieu of coupons for SSI recipients or for households participating in cash-out demonstration projects, the State agency shall check to assure that no individual receives both coupons and other benefits provided in lieu of coupons. Checks to detect individuals receiving both food coupons and cash-out benefits, or any other form of duplicate benefits, shall be made at the time of certification, recertification, and whenever a new member is added to an existing household. However, if the State agency can show that these time frames are incompatible with its system, the State agency shall check for duplicate benefits when necessary, but no less often than annually.

(i) If the State agency chooses to check at the time of certification and recertification, the check for duplicates shall not delay processing of the application and provision of benefits beyond the normal processing standards in § 273.2(g).

(ii) If a duplicate is found in making such a check, the duplication needs to be resolved in accordance with § 273.2(f)(4)(iv) before the application can be processed and benefits provided. Delays in processing caused by this resolution shall be handled in accordance with § 273.2(h).

(i) The name, address, and telephone number or other means of contacting the person alleging discrimination.

(ii) The location and name of the organization or office which is accused of discriminatory practices.

(iii) The nature of the incident or action or the aspect of program administration that led the person to allege discrimination.

(iv) The reason for the alleged discrimination (age, race, color, sex, handicap, religious creed, national origin, or political belief).

(v) The names, titles (if appropriate), and addresses of persons who may have knowledge of the alleged discriminatory acts.

(vi) The date or dates on which the alleged discriminatory actions occurred.

(i) If the signed application is first submitted by a household to a fee agent, the fee agent shall mail the application to the State agency within 5 days of receipt. If the household is eligible for expedited service, the State agency will mail the coupons no later than the close of business of the second working day following the date the application was received by the State agency.

(ii) If the signed application is submitted directly to the State agency in person by a rural resident or its authorized representative or by mail, the State agency shall process the application and issue coupons to households eligible for expedited service in accordance with the time standards contained in § 273.2(i)(3) of this chapter.

(iii) If an incomplete application is submitted directly to the State agency by mail, the State agency shall conduct the interview by the first working day following the date the application was received if the fee agent can contact the household or the household can be reached by telephone or radio-phone and does not object to this method of interviewing on grounds of privacy. Based on information obtained during the interview, the State agency shall complete the application and process the case. Because of the mailing time in rural areas, the State agency shall not return the completed application to the household for signature. The processing standard shall be calculated from the date the application was filed.

(i) The State Wage Information Collection Agency (SWICA) which maintains wage information;

(ii) The Social Security Administration (SSA) which maintains information about net earnings from self-employment, wages, and payments of retirement income, which is available pursuant to section 6103(1)(7)(A) of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Code; and information which is available from SSA regarding Federal retirement, and survivors, disability, SSI and related benefits;

(iii) The IRS from which unearned income information is available pursuant to section 6103(1)(7)(B) of the IRS Code; and

(iv) The agency administering Unemployment Insurance Benefits (UIB) which maintains claim information and any information in addition to information about wages and UIB available from the agency which is useful for verifying eligibility and benefits, subject to the provisions and limitations of section 303(d) of the Social Security Act.

(i) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families;

(ii) Medicaid;

(iii) Unemployment Compensation (UC);

(iv) Food Stamps; and

(v) Any State program administered under a plan approved under title I, X, or XIV (the adult categories), or title XVI of the Social Security Act.

(i) Review of the information and comparison of it to case record information;

(ii) For all new or previously unverified information received, contact with the households and/or collateral contacts to resolve discrepancies as specified in §§ 273.2(f)(4)(iv) and 273.2 (f)(9)(iii) and (f)(9)(iv); and

(iii) If discrepancies warrant reducing benefits or terminating eligibility, notices of adverse action.

(i) The only reason that the actions cannot be completed is the nonreceipt of verification requested from collateral contacts; and

(ii) The actions are completed as specified in § 273.12 of this chapter when verification from a collateral contact is received or in conjunction with the next case action when such verification is not received, whichever is earlier.

(i) State agencies which are sufficiently automated in each area specified in § 272.10(b) may provide a single certification statement that they are sufficiently automated in each area.

(ii) State agencies which are sufficiently automated in some, but not all, areas specified in § 272.10(b) shall submit an ADP/CIS plan which consists of two parts. The first part would be the State agency's certification as to the areas in which they are sufficiently automated. The second part would describe the areas of § 272.10(b) which the State agency has not automated or, in its opinion, has not automated sufficiently and include the State agency's plans for sufficiently automating these areas. State agencies shall include a description of how they intend to automate each area and a timetable for each planned activity, including a consideration of transfers as discussed in paragraph (a)(3) of this section. State agencies which are not planning to automate each of the areas specified § 272.10(b) or which are not already automated in these areas shall provide justification. Any such justification shall include a cost-effectiveness analysis.

(iii) State agencies which are not sufficiently automated in any of the areas specified in § 272.10(b) shall submit an ADP/CIS plan which describes their plans for sufficiently automating each area, including a timetable for each planned activity, and including a consideration of transfers as discussed in paragraph (a)(3) of this section. State agencies which are not planning to automate each of the areas specified in § 272.10(b) or which are not, in their opinion, sufficiently automated in these areas shall provide justification. Any such justification shall include a cost-effectiveness analysis.

(i) State agencies planning additional automation shall consult with other State agencies and with the appropriate Regional Office to determine whether a transfer or modification of an existing system from another jurisdiction would be more efficient and cost effective than the development of a new system. In assessing the practicability of a transfer, State agencies should consult with other State agencies that have similar characteristics such as whether they are urban or rural, whether they are county or State administered, the geographic size of the States and the size of the caseload.

(ii) State agencies that plan to automate operations using any method other than transfers will need to be able to justify why they are not using transfers. The justification will need to include the results of the consultations with other State agencies, the relative costs of transfer and the system the State agency plans to develop, and the reasons for not using a transfer. Common reasons for not using transfers include: The State agency is required to use a central data processing facility and the (otherwise) transferable system is incompatible with it; the State agency's data base management software is incompatible with the transferable system; the State agency's ADP experts are not familiar with the software/hardware used by the transferable system and acquiring new expertise would be expensive; the transferable system is interactive or uses “generic” caseworkers, the receiving State agency does not and it would be expensive to modify the existing system and/or procedures; and transfer would provoke disputes with the State agency's personnel union. State agencies that cite any of these reasons shall not automatically receive approval to develop non-transferred systems. State agencies shall show what efforts were considered to overcome the problems and that those efforts are cost ineffective. This justification will need to be included as part of the Advance Planning Document that the State agency must submit for approval of its proposed system.

(iii) FNS will assist State agencies that request assistance in determining what other States have systems that should be considered as possible transfers.

(i) Determine eligibility and calculate benefits or validate the eligibility worker's calculations by processing and storing all casefile information necessary for the eligibility determination and benefit computation (including but not limited to all household members' names, addresses, dates of birth, social security numbers, individual household members' earned and unearned income by source, deductions, resources and household size). Redetermine or revalidate eligibility and benefits based on notices of change in households' circumstances;

(ii) Identify other elements that affect the eligibility of household members such as alien status, presence of an elderly person in the household, status of periodic work registration, disqualification actions, categorical eligibility, and employment and training status;

(iii) Provide for an automatic cutoff of participation for households which have not been recertified at the end of their certification period;

(iv) Notify the certification unit (or generate notices to households) of cases requiring Notices of:

(v) Prior to certification, crosscheck for duplicate cases for all household members by means of a comparison with SNAP records within the relevant jurisdiction;

(vi) Meet the requirements of the IEVS system of § 272.8. Generate information, as appropriate, to other programs.

(vii) Provide the capability to effect mass changes: Those initiated at the State level, as well as those resulting from changes at the Federal level (eligibility standards, allotments, deductions, utility standards, SSI, TANF, SAA benefits);

(viii) Identify cases where action is pending or follow-up must be pursued, for example, households and verification pending or households containing disqualified individuals or a striker;

(ix) Calculate or validate benefits based on restored benefits or claims collection, and maintain a record of the changes made;

(x) Store information concerning characteristics of all household members;

(xi) Provide for appropriate Social Security enumeration for all required household members; and

(xii) Provide for monthly reporting and retrospective budgeting as required.

(i) Generate authorizations for benefits in issuance systems employing ATP's, direct mail, or online issuance and store all Household Issuance Record (HIR) information including: name and address of household, household size, period of certification, amount of allotment, case type (PA or NA), name and address of authorized representative, and racial/ethnic data;

(ii) Prevent a duplicate HIR from being established for presently participating or disqualified households;

(iii) Allow for authorized under- or over-issuance due to claims collection or restored benefits;

(iv) Provide for reconciliation of all transacted authorization documents to the HIR masterfile. This process must incorporate any manually-issued authorization documents, account for any replacement or supplemental authorization documents issued to a household, and identify cases of unauthorized and duplicate participation;

(v) Provide a mechanism allowing for a household's redemption of more than one valid authorization document in a given month;

(vi) Generate data necessary to meet Federal issuance and reconciliation reporting requirements, and provide for the eventual capability of directly transmitting data to FNS including:

(vii) Generate data necessary to meet other reporting requirements and provide for the eventual capability of directly transmitting data to FNS, including:

(viii) Allow for sample selection for quality control reviews of casefiles, and for management evaluation reviews;

(ix) Provide for program-wide reduction or suspension of benefits and restoration of benefits if funds later become available and store information concerning the benefit amounts actually issued;

(x) Provide for expedited issuance of benefits within prescribed timeframes;

(xi) Produce and store a participation history covering three (3) year(s) for each household receiving benefits.

(xii) Provide for cutoff of benefits for households which have not been recertified timely; and

(xiii) Provide for the tracking, aging, and collection of recipient claims and preparation of the FNS-209, Status of Claims Against Households report.

(i) All activities necessary to meet the various timeliness and data quality requirements established by FNS;

(ii) All activities necessary to coordinate with other appropriate Federal and State programs, such as TANF or SSI;

(iii) All activities necessary to maintain the appropriate level of confidentiality of information obtained from applicant and recipient households;

(iv) All activities necessary to maintain the security of automated systems to operate SNAP;

(v) Implement regulatory and other changes including a testing phase to meet implementation deadlines, generally within 90 days;

(vi) Generate whatever data is necessary to provide management information for the State agency's own use, such as caseload, participation and actions data;

(vii) Provide support as necessary for the State agency's management of Federal funds relative to SNAP administration, generate information necessary to meet Federal financial reporting requirements;

(viii) Routine purging of case files and file maintenance, and

(ix) Provide for the eventual direct transmission of data necessary to meet Federal financial reporting requirements.

(i) Identification of positions of all agency officials with authority to request immigration status information;

(ii) Identification and location of all SAVE access points covered by the agreement;

(iii) For automated SAVE verification through access to the Alien Status Verification Index (ASVI), a description of the access method and procedures;

(iv) For secondary verification as described in paragraph (d) of this section, the locations of USCIS District Offices to which verification requests will be directed;

(v) The safeguards limiting release or redisclosure as required by State or Federal law or regulation as discussed in § 272.1(c) and as may be required by other guidelines published by the Secretary; and

(vi) Reimbursement or billing agreements for ongoing SAVE operational costs, as well as any developmental costs associated with establishing access to the ASVI database.

(i) The information has been independently verified by the State agency (in accordance with the independent verification requirements set out in the State agency's written agreement as required by paragraph (b) of this section) and a Notice of Adverse Action or Notice of Denial has been sent to the household, in accordance with § 273.2(f); or

(ii) The Federal agency's Data Integrity Board has waived the two-step independent verification and notice requirement and notice of adverse action has been sent to the household, in accordance with § 273.2(f) of this chapter.

(i) Closure of any local office that performs major functions for 750 or more SNAP households or 5 percent of the State's total SNAP monthly caseload, whichever is less, and there is not another office available to serve the affected households within 35 miles. An office performing major functions is an office where households can file an application for SNAP in person and receive assistance from merit system personnel staff.

(ii) Substantial increased reliance on automated systems for the performance of responsibilities previously performed by State merit system personnel (as described in section 11(e)(6)(B) of the Act) or changes in the way that applicants and participants interact with the State's SNAP agency. This includes the replacement of the State's automated systems used in the certification process, adding functionality to the existing automated systems used in the certification process, or changes in the way applicants and participants interact with SNAP. For example, adding an overlay on an existing legacy automated system used by eligibility workers, adding online portals to an existing automated system for use by SNAP applicants, participants or community partners, establishment of an online application, use of telephonic technology to accept applications, relying upon an interactive voice response system to provide case status information to participants or implementation of finger imaging shall be considered major changes. Under this criterion, if the State documents that the change is expected to impact less than five percent of the State's SNAP applicants or participants, it will not be considered a major change. Reporting a major change as required in this section does not relieve States of meeting the requirements for new system approvals in § 277.18 of this chapter.

(iii) Changes in operations that potentially increase the difficulty of households reporting required information. This could include implementation of a call center or internet web portal for change reporting, a major modification to forms that households use to report changes or the discontinuation of an existing avenue for reporting changes (e.g., households can no longer contact the local office because all changes must be reported to a unit that handles change reports). Selecting a different change reporting policy option as allowed in § 273.12 of this chapter, or the implementation of a policy waiver related to change reporting would not be a major change.

(iv) Any reduction or change of the functions or responsibilities currently assigned to SNAP merit system personnel.

(v) A decrease of more than 5 percent in the total number of merit system personnel involved in the SNAP certification process in the State from one year to the next. In addition, a decrease of more than eight percent in the total number of merit system personnel involved in the SNAP certification process in the State over a two year period would be a major change. These decreases would include those resulting from State budget cuts or hiring freezes, but not include loss of personnel through resignation, retirement or release when the State is seeking to replace the personnel within 6 months. Evidence of the intent to replace personnel shall include advertising to fill positions and having sufficient funding in the personnel budget for the new hires.

(vi) Other major changes identified by FNS.

(i) The description of the change shall include the following:

(ii) The analysis portion of the State's initial report shall include the projected impact of the major change on:

(i) The number of initial applications received;

(ii) Of the number of initial applications received in paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section, the number subject to expedited service;

(iii) Of the number of initial applications received in paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section, the number broken out by method of application (i.e., in-person, online, telephone, mail, fax);

(iv) The number of initial applications that are approved timely;

(v) Of the number of initial applications approved timely in paragraph (b)(1)(iv) of this section, the number subject to expedited service processed within the 7-day processing requirement;

(vi) The number of initial applications that are approved untimely;

(vii) Of the number of initial applications approved untimely in paragraph (b)(1)(vi) of this section, the number subject to expedited service processed outside the 7-day processing requirement;

(viii) The number of initial applications that are denied;

(ix) Of the number of initial applications that were denied in paragraph (b)(1)(viii) of this section, the number broken out by those denied due to ineligibility and those denied because the State agency was unable to determine eligibility;

(x) The total number of households due for recertification;

(xi) The number of recertification applications received;

(xii) Of the number of recertification applications received in paragraph (b)(1)(xi) of this section, the number broken out by method of application (i.e., in-person, online, telephone, mail, fax);

(xiii) The number of households that were recertified without a delay or break in benefits;

(xiv) The number of households that the State recertifies with a delay or break in benefits of less than one month;

(xv) Of the total number of households due for recertification in paragraph (b)(1)(x) of this section, the number of households that fail to reapply for recertification by the required deadline;

(xvi) The number of recertification applications that are denied; and

(xvii) Of the number of recertification applications that were denied in paragraph (b)(1)(xvi) of this section, the number broken out by those denied due to ineligibility and those denied because the State agency was unable to determine eligibility.

(i) Payment accuracy. FNS will use Quality Control (QC) data when possible, but may require data from case reviews focused on households with specific characteristics, to obtain greater local reliability, or to provide more timely data.

(ii) Negative error rates. FNS will use QC data when possible, but may require data from case reviews focused on households with specific characteristics, to obtain greater local reliability or to provide more timely data on the causes of incorrect denials.

(iii) Impact on households with specific characteristics. In addition to the information required by paragraph (b)(2) of this section, a major change that could disproportionately impact the households identified at paragraph (a)(3)(ii)(E) of this section may require additional information on the impact of the change on the participation of these households. The nature of the change and its potential impact would dictate how this information would need to be reported.

(iv) Impact of certain major changes on customer service. Some major changes may require specific information that is not typically available from a States automated SNAP system. For example, if a State implements a major change that allowed (or required) households to report changes in their individual circumstances through a change center or allows applicants to apply or reapply for SNAP through the use of call center, the following data may be required: