[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 23 (Friday, February 3, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6691-6692]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-2711]



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 Notices
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
 or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings 
 and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings, 
 delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 23 / Friday, February 3, 1995 / 
Notices  
[[Page 6691]]

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Consumer Service


Nutrition Program for the Elderly; Adjusted Level of Assistance 
From October 1, 1993 to September 30, 1994 and Initial Level of 
Assistance From October 1, 1994 to September 30, 1995

AGENCY: Food and Consumer Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces both the final level of per-meal 
assistance for the Nutrition Program for the Elderly (NPE) for Fiscal 
Year 1994 and the initial level of per-meal assistance for Fiscal Year 
1995. The Fiscal Year 1994 initial level of assistance of $.6146 is 
adjusted to $.6057 for all eligible meals served during the fiscal year 
in accordance with section 311(c)(2)(A) of the Older Americans Act of 
1965, as amended by section 310 of the Older Americans Act Amendments 
of 1992 and preempted by the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and 
Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Act of 1993. Rates are 
subject to change because NPE receives a finite amount of annual 
appropriations, but meal service is a variable which cannot be 
accurately projected. Therefore, if meal service exceeds Department 
projections, the rate must be adjusted accordingly. The Fiscal Year 
1995 initial level of assistance is set at $.60 for each eligible meal 
in accordance with section 311(a)(4) of the Older Americans Act of 
1965, as amended by section 310 of the Older Americans Act Amendments 
of 1992.

EFFECTIVE DATE: Fiscal Year 1994 Adjusted Level of Assistance: October 
1, 1993. Fiscal Year 1995 Initial Level of Assistance: October 1, 1994.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Philip K. Cohen, Chief, Program 
Administration Branch, Food Distribution Division, Food and Consumer 
Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 3101 Park Center Drive, 
Alexandria, Virginia 22302-1594 or telephone (703) 305-2662.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Executive Order 12866

    This action is exempted from review by the Office of Management and 
Budget under Executive Order 12866.

Executive Order 12372

    This program is listed in the Catalog of Federal Domestic 
Assistance under Nos. 10.550 and 10.570 and is subject to the 
provisions of Executive Order 12372, which requires intergovernmental 
consultation with State and local officials (7 CFR part 3015, subpart 
V, and final rule-related notices published at 48 FR 29114, June 24, 
1983 and 49 FR 22676, May 31, 1984.)

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This notice imposes no new reporting or recordkeeping provisions 
that are subject to Office of Management and Budget review in 
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (44 U.S.C. 3507). 
This action is not a rule as defined by the Regulatory Flexibility Act 
(5 U.S.C. 601-612) and thus is exempt from the provisions of that Act.

Legislative Background

    Section 310 of Pub. L. 102-375, the Older Americans Act Amendments 
of 1992, amended section 311(a)(4) of the Older Americans Act of 1965, 
42 U.S.C. 3030a(a)(4), to require the Secretary of Agriculture to 
maintain an annually programmed level of assistance equal to the 
greater of: (1) The current appropriation divided by the number of 
meals served in the preceding fiscal year; or (2) 61 cents per meal 
adjusted annually beginning with Fiscal Year 1993 to reflect changes in 
the Consumer Price Index. Section 311(c)(2) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 
3030a(c)(2)) was amended to provide that the final reimbursement claims 
must be adjusted so as to utilize the entire program appropriation for 
the fiscal year for per-meal support.
    Notwithstanding the initial rates established by the Older 
Americans Act, the Department is required to comply with the spending 
clause of the U.S. Constitution and 31 U.S.C. 1341(a)(1)(A) (known as 
the Antideficiency Act), which prohibit the obligation or expenditure 
of funds in excess of the available appropriation. Thus the Department 
is required to establish (and if necessary, adjust) rates in such a 
manner as to not exceed the program appropriation.

Fiscal Year 1994 Adjusted Level of Assistance

    The Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, 
and Related Agencies Act of 1993 (Pub. L. 103-111), which appropriated 
NPE funding for Fiscal Year 1994, imposed different NPE rate management 
requirements for Fiscal Year 1994. Title IV, Domestic Food Programs, of 
the Act provides that ``* * * a maximum rate of reimbursement to States 
will be established by the Secretary, subject to reduction if 
obligations would exceed the amount of available funds, with any 
unobligated funds to remain available for obligation in the fiscal year 
beginning October 1, 1994.''
    Based on its projection of the number of meals to be claimed during 
the fiscal year, and in light of constitutional and statutory 
prohibitions on obligating or spending funds in excess of the available 
appropriation, the Department announced an initial per-meal 
reimbursement rate of $.6146, the highest rate which it believed could 
be sustained throughout the fiscal year. This initial level of per-meal 
assistance was announced in the January 3, 1994 Federal Register (57 FR 
59).
    The Department's meal service projection for Fiscal Year 1994 
assumed a .45 percent meal service increase over virtually complete 
Fiscal Year 1993 meal counts. This growth factor represented one-half 
of the highest rate of growth (.9 percent) the program had experienced 
in any one of the four previous fiscal years. However, meal service, 
which is the basis for rate setting, cannot always be accurately 
projected because it follows no discernible pattern from year to year. 
In some recent years, for example, meal service declined when the per-
meal support level remained unchanged or increased.
    Data for the first three quarters of Fiscal Year 1994 revealed that 
the program had experienced a .31 percent meal service increase over 
the number of meals served in the first three quarters in Fiscal Year 
1993, well within the Department's projected .45 percent increase for 
the year. However, the program experienced an almost 
[[Page 6692]] unprecedented increase in meal service during the fourth 
quarter, resulting in a 1.18 percent increase over the number of meals 
served in Fiscal Year 1993, the highest annual increase in the program 
since 1989. The Department monitors meal service on a monthly basis by 
comparing data from each month of the current fiscal year to the 
corresponding month in the previous fiscal year. However, the increase 
experienced in the fourth quarter was unpredictable given that, as in 
past years, there has been no discernible pattern from month to month 
during the fiscal year.
    Final Fiscal Year 1994 meal counts exceeded Departmental 
projections by little more than one-half of one percent. However, this 
marginal unanticipated program growth necessitated a retroactive per-
meal rate reduction since the program appropriation was consequently 
insufficient to support all meals served at the initially announced 
level. Therefore, the Department announces a reduced Fiscal Year 1994 
per-meal reimbursement rate of $.6057. This final rate applies to all 
eligible meals served during Fiscal Year 1994 and claimed in a timely 
manner. The Department anticipates that a minimal amount of funds will 
remain unspent after close-out for the fiscal year has been completed. 
In accordance with the mandate of the Agriculture, Rural Development, 
Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies Act of 1993, these 
funds will be carried over into Fiscal Year 1995 and expended in per-
meal reimbursement for that year.

Fiscal Year 1995 Initial Level of Assistance

    In the absence of overriding appropriations legislation such as was 
enacted for Fiscal Year 1994, the Department will for Fiscal Year 1995 
be operating under the Older Americans Act of 1965, as amended. In 
Fiscal Year 1995, a situation exists similar to that at the beginning 
of Fiscal Years 1993 and 1994, i.e., the Fiscal Year 1995 appropriation 
will not sustain reimbursement at the mandated annually adjusted rate.
    It is the Department's goal to establish the highest rate that can 
be sustained throughout the fiscal year so as to maximize the flow of 
program funds to States. Program operators would prefer to receive 
their per-meal support steadily throughout the year, rather than to 
operate at a lower rate during the year and receive a compensatory 
payment in connection with a rate increase after the year has ended. 
However, the Department wants also to minimize the possibility of a 
rate reduction and the hardship that it could cause program operators. 
In order to guard against the need for a reduction, the Department has 
projected continued significant growth in the number of meals that will 
be served in Fiscal Year 1995. Based on such projections, the 
Department announces an initial per-meal support level of $.60.
    If this initial rate does not exhaust available funds per the 
mandate by the Older Americans Act of 1965, as amended, the rate will 
be increased to achieve compliance with this requirement. However, in 
the unlikely event that the number of meals served exceeds the 
Department's projection of significantly expanded participation, it 
will be necessary to reduce the rate. In either event, the rate will 
experience two adjustments: an intermediate and final per-meal level of 
support. The intermediate rate, based on final meal counts and 
available funds, will be announced in January 1996. A final rate 
exhausting any unspent funds, which are anticipated to be minimal, will 
be announced in March 1996 after close-out for the fiscal year has been 
completed. States will be notified directly of changes in the Fiscal 
Year 1995 rate.

    Dated: January 27, 1995.
George A. Braley,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 95-2711 Filed 2-2-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-U