1.This Act may be cited as the
Hurricane Katrina Food Assistance
Relief Act of 2005
.
2.In this Act, the
term Secretary means the Secretary of Agriculture.
3.Food Stamp Program
disaster authority
(a)Section 5(h) of the
Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2014(h)) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
(4)Response to Hurricane
Katrina
(A)In this paragraph:
(i)
(I)The term
affected area means an area of a State that the Secretary
determines was affected by Hurricane Katrina or a related condition.
(II)The term affected area
includes any area that, as a result of Hurricane Katrina or a related
condition, was covered by—
- (aa)a
natural disaster declaration under section 321(a) of the
Consolidated Farm and Rural Development
Act (7 U.S.C. 1961(a)); or
- (bb)a
major disaster or emergency designation under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.).
(ii)
(I)The term
affected household means a household—
- (aa)in an affected area;
- (bb)in which a member worked immediately prior
to August 29, 2005, in an affected area;
- (cc)that was displaced as a result of Hurricane
Katrina or a related condition to other areas of the same or another State;
or
- (dd)that the Secretary determines should
receive relief under this paragraph as a result of Hurricane Katrina or a
related condition.
(II)The term affected household
includes a household containing 1 or more individuals that were displaced as a
result of Hurricane Katrina or a related condition, as determined by the
Secretary.
(iii)
(I)The term
disaster recovery period means the period of 180 days beginning on
the date of enactment of this paragraph.
(II)The disaster recovery period shall be
extended for another 180 days unless the President determines that the
extension is not necessary to fully meet the needs of affected
households.
(B)During the disaster
recovery period—
(i)clauses (iv) and (v) of subsection
(g)(2)(B), subsections (d) and (o) of section 6, and section 8(c)(1) shall not
apply to affected households;
(ii)the application of an affected household
shall be processed under the procedures established under section
11(e)(9);
(iii)the State agency shall increase the value
to the affected household of the thrifty food plan determined under section
3(o) by 10 percent when calculating the value of the allotment for an affected
household under section 8(a);
(iv)the Secretary shall pay each State agency
an amount equal to 100 percent of administrative costs allowable under section
16(a) related to serving affected households in lieu of the payments section
16(a) would otherwise require for those costs;
(v)an affected household shall be considered
to meet the requirements of subsection (c)(2) if the income of the affected
household, as calculated under subsection (c)(2), does not exceed the level
permitted under subsection (c)(1) by more than 50 percent;
(vi)any resource to which the household lost
access because of Hurricane Katrina or a related condition shall not be
considered a financial resource under subsection (g);
(vii)any funds designated for rebuilding or
relocation (including payments from Federal, State, or local governments,
charitable organizations, employers, or insurance companies) shall be excluded
from consideration under subsection (g) in determining the eligibility of an
affected household; and
(viii)an affected household may not be considered
to customarily purchase food and prepare meals together with other individuals
if the affected household did not customarily purchase food and prepare meals
for home consumption with those individuals immediately prior to August 29,
2005.
(C)
(i)The Secretary shall take such actions as
are prudent and reasonable under the circumstances to identify affected
households that are participating in more than 1 State and to terminate the
duplicate participation of those households.
(ii)Except in the case of deliberate
falsehoods, no action may be taken against any affected household relating to
any duplicate participation during the disaster recovery period that takes
place prior to termination under clause (i).
(D)Claims relating to
benefitsExcept in the case
of intentional program violations as determined under section 6(b), no claim
may be established under section 13(b) relating to benefits issued under this
subsection.
(E)For purposes of determining the payment
error rate of a State agency under section 16(c), the Secretary shall disregard
any errors resulting from the application of this paragraph to an affected
household during the disaster recovery period.
(F)Effect of more generous disaster
plansThis paragraph shall
not supersede any provision of a plan approved under paragraph (1) that—
(i)provides more complete or expeditious
relief to affected households; or
(ii)provides assistance to more
individuals.
.
(b)Program
information activities
(1)From funds otherwise
appropriated for the food stamp program established under the
Food Stamp Act of 1977
(7 U.S.C.
2011 et seq.), the Secretary may use not more than $5,000,000
for the period of fiscal year 2005 through 2006 to enter into contracts with
nonprofit organizations to support household and community efforts to address
the food assistance and related needs resulting from Hurricane Katrina or a
related condition.
(2)Notwithstanding
any other provision of law, the Secretary shall not be required—
(A)to provide public notice of the
availability of funds described in paragraph (1); or
(B)to accept competitive bids for contracts
under this subsection.
4.Emergency Food
Assistance Program and Section 32 Assistance
(a)Definition of
eligible recipientIn this
section, the term eligible recipient means an individual or
household that, as determined by the Secretary in consultation with the
Secretary of Homeland Security—
(1)is a victim of Hurricane Katrina or a
related condition;
(2)has been displaced by Hurricane Katrina or
a related condition; or
(3)is temporarily housing 1 or more
individuals displaced by Hurricane Katrina or a related condition.
(b)
(1)In addition to funds
otherwise made available for fiscal year 2005 or 2006 to carry out the
emergency food assistance program established under the
Emergency Food Assistance Act of
1983 (7
U.S.C. 7501 et seq.), out of any funds in the Treasury not
otherwise appropriated, the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer to the
Secretary of Agriculture $200,000,000 to remain available until expended to
provide a variety of food to eligible recipient agencies for providing food
assistance to eligible recipients, including—
(A)special supplemental foods for pregnant
women and infants or for other individuals with special needs;
(B)infant formula;
(C)bottled water; and
(D)fruit juices.
(2)Funds made available
under paragraph (1) may be used to provide commodities in accordance
with—
(A)section 27 of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7
U.S.C. 2036);
(B)section 203A of the
Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 (7
U.S.C. 7504); and
(C)section 204 of the Emergency Food
Assistance Act of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 7508).
(3)The Secretary
shall be entitled to receive, shall accept, and shall use to carry out this
section the funds transferred under paragraph (1), without further
appropriation.
(c)In addition to funds
otherwise made available under section 32 of the Act of August 24, 1935
(7 U.S.C.
612c), the Secretary shall use not less than $200,000,000 of
funds made available under that section to provide food assistance to eligible
recipients, including food described in subparagraphs (A) through (D) of
subsection (b)(1).
5.
(a)Out of any funds in
the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, in addition to other funds otherwise
made available to the Secretary for fiscal year 2005 or 2006 to carry out the
special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children
established by section
17 of the Child Nutrition Act
of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786), the Secretary of
the Treasury shall transfer to the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out that
program $200,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2007.
(b)The Secretary
shall be entitled to receive, shall accept, and shall use to carry out this
section the funds transferred under subsection (a), without further
appropriation.
(c)The amounts made
available by the transfer of funds in or pursuant to subsection (a) are
designated as an emergency requirement pursuant to section 402 of H. Con. Res.
95 (109th Congress).
(d)Notwithstanding section
17(i) of the Child Nutrition Act of
1966 (42
U.S.C. 1786(i)), the Secretary may allocate funds made
available under subsection (a) as the Secretary determines to be necessary to
provide assistance to women, infants, and children who, as determined by the
Secretary in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security—
(1)are victims of Hurricane Katrina or a
related condition; or
(2)have been displaced by Hurricane Katrina or
a related condition.
6.Commodity Supplemental
Food Program Funding
(a)Out of any funds in
the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, in addition to other funds otherwise
made available to the Secretary for fiscal year 2005 or 2006 to carry out the
commodity supplemental food program established under section 5 of the
Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 (7 U.S.C. 612c note;
Public Law
93–86), the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer to the
Secretary of Agriculture $20,000,000 to carry out that program.
(b)The Secretary
shall be entitled to receive, shall accept, and shall use to carry out this
section the funds transferred under subsection (a), without further
appropriation.
(c)The amounts made
available by the transfer of funds in or pursuant to subsection (a) are
designated as an emergency requirement pursuant to section 402 of H. Con. Res.
95 (109th Congress).
(d)The Secretary shall use
funds made available under subsection (a) as the Secretary determines to be
necessary to provide assistance to individuals who, as determined by the
Secretary in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security—
(1)are victims of Hurricane Katrina or a
related condition; or
(2)have been displaced by Hurricane Katrina or
a related condition.
7.Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of
Homeland Security, shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of
the Senate a report that—
(1)describes whether additional funding or
authority is needed to continue to address the food needs of eligible
recipients; and
(2)includes any determination by the President
under section 5(h)(4)(A)(iii)(II) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (as added by
section 3(a)) that an extension of the disaster recovery period is not
necessary to fully meet the needs of affected households.
8.
(a)The Secretary may
promulgate such regulations as are necessary to implement this Act.
(b)The promulgation of the regulations and
administration of this Act shall be made without regard to—
(1)the notice and comment provisions of
section 553 of title 5, United States Code;
(2)the Statement of Policy of the Secretary of
Agriculture effective July 24, 1971 (36 Fed. Reg. 13804), relating to notices
of proposed rulemaking and public participation in rulemaking; and
(3)chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code
(commonly known as the Paperwork Reduction Act
).
(c)Congressional
review of agency rulemakingIn carrying out this section, the Secretary
shall use the authority provided under section 808 of title 5, United States
Code.