[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 53 (Monday, March 18, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10983-10984]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-6349]



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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Nutrition Program for the Elderly; Adjusted Level of Assistance 
From October 1, 1994 to September 30, 1995 and Initial Level of 
Assistance From October 1, 1995 to September 30, 1996

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 1995 and the initial level of per-meal assistance for Fiscal Year 
1996. The Fiscal Year 1995 current level of assistance of $.5838 is 
adjusted to $.5969 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. The Fiscal Year 1996 initial level of assistance is set at 
$.5864 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 and preempted by the Agriculture, 
Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies 
Appropriations Act, 1996.

EFFECTIVE DATE: Fiscal Year 1995 Adjusted Level of Assistance: October 
1, 1994. Fiscal Year 1996 Initial Level of Assistance: October 1, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellen Henigan, Chief, Schools and 
Institutions Branch, Food Distribution Division, Food and Consumer 
Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 3101 Park Center Drive, 
Alexandria, Virginia 22302-1594 or telephone (703) 305-2644.

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 and Regulatory Flexibility 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 Public Law (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 1995 Adjusted Level of Assistance

    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 $.60, the highest rate which it believed could be 
sustained throughout the fiscal year. This initial level of per-meal 
assistance was announced in the February 3, 1995 Federal Register (60 
FR 6691).
    The Department's meal service projection for Fiscal Year 1995 
assumed the same rate of growth, slightly over 1 percent, as was 
experienced in Fiscal Year 1994. This growth rate was the highest 
increase in the program since 1989. The Department believed that by 
projecting continued significant program growth, a retroactive rate 
reduction in Fiscal Year 1995 could be avoided.
    However, data for the first two quarters of Fiscal Year 1995 
revealed that the program had experienced a slightly more than 3-
percent meal service increase over the number of meals served in the 
first two quarters in Fiscal Year 1994. This increase was

[[Page 10984]]
greater than three times that projected. Therefore, it was necessary to 
retroactively reduce the Fiscal Year 1995 rate from the initially 
announced level of $.60 to $.5838 in order to ensure reimbursement for 
all eligible Fiscal Year 1995 meals. This rate adjustment was announced 
via a memorandum to regional offices dated June 21, 1995. The regional 
offices, in turn, notified State agencies of the rate adjustment.
    There are no discernible historical patterns or trends in NPE meal 
service from which this unprecedented increase could have been 
anticipated. Given this unpredictability, the Department conservatively 
established the adjusted rate at $.5838 in order to virtually eliminate 
the possibility of a further Fiscal Year 1995 rate reduction.
    Final Fiscal Year 1995 meal count data indicate that, while the 
program experienced unprecedented growth during the first half of the 
fiscal year, the number of meals served during the last two quarters 
fell below Departmental projections. Therefore, based on final Fiscal 
Year 1995 meal counts, the Department has concluded that the Fiscal 
Year 1995 appropriation will support an upward adjustment from the 
current rate of $.5838 to a per-meal reimbursement rate of $.5969. This 
final rate applies to all eligible meals served during Fiscal Year 1995 
and claimed in a timely manner.

Fiscal Year 1996 Initial Level of Assistance

    The Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, 
and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-37) 
imposed, for Fiscal Year 1996, the same NPE rate management 
requirements as applied to Fiscal Year 1994. That is, Title IV, 
Domestic Food Programs, of the Appropriations 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 only 
for obligation in the fiscal year beginning October 1, 1996.'' Thus, 
unlike in Fiscal Year 1995, the Department cannot increase the 
initially announced Fiscal Year 1996 rate, and can decrease this rate 
only if it cannot be sustained throughout the year.
    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 during the fiscal year. However, the Department 
wants also to minimize the possibility of a rate reduction and the 
hardship it causes to program operators. In order to guard against the 
need for a reduction, the Department, once again, has projected a 
slightly higher rate of growth in meal service than occurred in the 
preceding fiscal year. Based on its projections, the Department 
announces an initial per-meal support level of $.5864, which will not 
be increased, and which can be decreased only if necessary to keep 
expenditures within the limit of the $150 million NPE appropriation 
established by Pub. L. 104-37. Any funds not paid out for Fiscal Year 
1996 reimbursement will, in accordance with legislative mandate, be 
carried over into Fiscal Year 1997 and expended in per-meal 
reimbursement for that year. In the unlikely event that the rate needs 
to be decreased, States will be notified directly.

    Dated: March 8, 1996.
William E. Ludwig,
Administrator, Food and Consumer Service.
[FR Doc. 96-6349 Filed 3-15-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-U