[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 73 (Wednesday, April 16, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18578-18579]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-9858]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Consumer Service
RIN 0584-AC54


Food Stamp Program: Maximum Allotments for Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, 
and the Virgin Islands

AGENCY: Food and Consumer Service, USDA.

ACTION: General notice.

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SUMMARY: By this notice, the Department of Agriculture is updating the 
maximum food stamp allotments for participating households in Alaska, 
Hawaii, Guam, and the Virgin Islands. These annual adjustments, 
required by law, take into account changes in the cost of food and 
statutory adjustments since the amounts were last calculated.

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Margaret Werts Batko, Assistant Branch 
Chief, Certification Policy Branch, Program Development Division, Food 
and Consumer Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 3101 Park Center 
Drive, Alexandria, VA 22302, or telephone at (703) 305-2516.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Implementation

    As required by Section 3(o) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (the 
Act), 7 U.S.C. 2012(o), State agencies should have implemented this 
action on October 1, 1996 based on advance notice of the new amounts. 
As required by regulations published at 47 FR 46485 (October 19, 1982), 
annual statutory adjustments to the maximum allotment levels, income 
eligibility standards, and deductions are issued by General Notices 
published in the Federal Register and not through rulemaking 
proceedings.

Executive Order 12866

    This notice has been determined to be not significant for purposes 
of Executive Order 12866 and therefore has not been reviewed by the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Executive Order 12372

    The Food Stamp Program is listed in the Catalog of Federal Domestic 
Assistance under No. 10.551. For the reasons set forth in the Final 
rule and related notice to 7 CFR Part 3015, Subpart V (48 FR 29916, 
June 24, 1983), this program is excluded from the scope of Executive 
Order No. 12372 which requires intergovernmental consultation with 
State and local officials.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services has 
certified that this action will not have a significant economic impact 
on a substantial number of small entities. The action will increase the 
amount of money spent on food through increases in food stamp benefits. 
However, this money will be distributed among all eligible food stamp 
vendors, so the effect on any one vendor will not be significant.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This action does not contain reporting or record keeping 
requirements subject to review by OMB pursuant to the provisions of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3507.

Background

Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) and Allotments

    As provided for in Section 3(o) of the Act, the TFP is a plan for 
the consumption of foods of different types (food groups) that families 
might use to provide nutritious meals and snacks for family members. 
The plan provides for a diet required to feed a family of four persons 
consisting of a man and woman aged 20 to 50, a child 6 to 8 and a child 
9 to 11. The cost of the TFP is adjusted monthly to reflect changes in 
the costs of the food groups.
    The TFPs for Alaska and Hawaii are based on an adjusted average for 
the six-month period that ends with June 1996. Since the Bureau of 
Labor Statistics (the source of food price data) no longer publishes 
monthly information to compute Alaska and Hawaii TFPs, the adjusted 
average provides a proxy for actual June 1996 TFP costs. The adjusted 
average is equal to January-June 1996 TFP costs for Alaska and Hawaii 
increased by the average percentage difference between the cost of the 
TFP in Alaska and Hawaii in June

[[Page 18579]]

and the January-June average from 1976 through 1986 (a 1.53 percent 
increase over January-June costs in Alaska and 1.82 percent increase in 
Hawaii).
    For the period January through June 1996, the average cost of the 
TFP was $491.50 in Alaska, and $625.20 in Hawaii. The proxy in Alaska 
for actual June 1996 TFP costs was $499.02. This proxy is multiplied by 
three separate adjustment factors to create three TFPs for Urban 
Alaska, Rural I Alaska, and Rural II Alaska. The proxy in Hawaii was 
$636.57. The June 1996 cost of the TFP was $590.40 in Guam and $515.00 
in the Virgin Islands.
    The TFP is also the basis for establishing food stamp allotments. 
``Allotment'' is defined in Section 3(a) of the Act as ``the total 
value of coupons a household is authorized to receive during each 
month.'' Food stamp allotments are adjusted periodically to reflect the 
changes in food cost levels indicated in the changing amounts of the 
TFP. Prior to the amendment of Section (3)(o) of the Act by Section 804 
of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act 
of 1996, Pub. Law 104-193, on August 22, 1996, allotment amounts were 
established on each October 1 at 103 percent of the cost of the TFP in 
the previous June. Amended Section 3(o)(4) of the Act now provides that 
the TFP will be adjusted each October 1 to reflect the exact cost, or 
100 percent, of the TFP for the previous June. This provision was 
implemented by the Department as a requirement of the Food Stamp 
Program on October 1, 1996, without prior notice and comment due to the 
binding, non-discretionary nature of the statutory provision. In 
accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B), the Department has determined 
that good cause existed to justify such implementation. In a subsequent 
rulemaking, the Department will issue a corresponding regulatory change 
to 7 CFR 273.10(e)(4)(ii).
    The maximum food stamp allotment is paid to households that have no 
net income. For households with some type of income, their allotments 
are determined by reducing the maximum allotment for their household 
size by 30 percent of the household's net income in accordance with 
Section 8(a) of the Act, 7 U.S.C. 2017(a). To obtain the maximum food 
stamp allotment for each household size, the TFP costs are divided by 
four, multiplied by the appropriate household size and economy of scale 
factor, and the final result rounded down to the nearest dollar.
    Section 804 of Pub. L. 104-193 also amended Section 3(o) of the Act 
to prohibit reducing food stamp allotments for Fiscal Year (FY) 1997 
below those in effect on September 30, 1996. In FY 1996, Alaska (Urban, 
Rural I and II) and Hawaii maximum food stamp allotments for a four 
person household were $510, $650, $791, and $663, respectively. Based 
on the formula discussed above, FY 1997 allotments would have fallen 
below FY 1996 levels to $502, $641, $780, and $636, respectively. 
Consequently, in accordance with the law, the food stamp allotments for 
Alaska and Hawaii published in this notice will remain the same as last 
year's.
    Pursuant to Section 3(o)(3) of the Act, maximum food stamp benefits 
for Guam and the Virgin Islands cannot exceed those in the 50 States 
and the District of Columbia, so they are based upon the lower of their 
respective TFPs or the TFP for rural II Alaska.

                            Maximum Allotment Amounts \1\.--October 1996, as Adjusted                           
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                                             Urban      Rural I    Rural II                             Virgin  
             Household size               Alaska \2\  Alaska \2\  Alaska \2\  Hawaii \2\   Guam \3\     Islands 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\3\---
1.......................................        $153        $195        $237        $198        $177        $154
2.......................................         280         357         435         364         324         283
3.......................................         401         512         623         522         464         405
4.......................................         510         650         791         663         590         515
5.......................................         605         772         939         787         701         611
6.......................................         726         926        1127         945         841         733
7.......................................         803        1024        1246        1044         929         811
8.......................................         918        1170        1424        1193        1062         927
Each additional member..................        +115        +146        +178        +149        +133        +116
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\1\ Adjusted to reflect the cost of food in June, adjustments for each household size, economies of scale, and  
  1.00 percent of the TFP and rounding.                                                                         
\2\ Held at FY 1996 levels as a result of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996.         
\3\ Adjusted to reflect changes in the cost of food in the 48 States and the District of Columbia, which        
  correlate with price changes in these areas. Maximum allotments in these areas cannot exceed those in Rural II
  Alaska.                                                                                                       

    Maximum allotments for the 48 States and the District of Columbia 
are published in a separate notice in the Federal Register. Adjustments 
covered by this notice are announced for Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the 
Virgin Islands only, reflecting revisions required by changes in the 
cost of food and Pub. Law 104-193.

(7 U.S.C. 2011-2034)

    Dated: April 4, 1997.
William E. Ludwig,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 97-9858 Filed 4-15-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-U