[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 63 (Thursday, April 2, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16242-16243]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-8587]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food and Nutrition Service
Nutrition Program for the Elderly; Initial Level of Assistance
From October 1, 1997 to September 30, 1998
AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces the initial level of per-meal assistance
for the Nutrition Program for the Elderly (NPE) for Fiscal Year 1998.
The Fiscal Year 1998 initial level of assistance is set at $.5607 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: October 1, 1997.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellen Henigan, Chief, Schools and
Institutions Branch, Food Distribution Division, Food and Nutrition
Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 3101 Park Center Drive,
Alexandria, Virginia 22302-1594 or telephone (703) 305-2644.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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 of 1995
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 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3507).
Regulatory Flexibility Act
This action has been reviewed with regards to the requirements of
the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (5 U.S.C. 601-612). The
Administrator of the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has certified
that this action will not have a significant economic impact and will
not affect a substantial number of small entities. The procedures in
this notice would primarily affect FNS regional offices, and the State
Agencies on aging and local meal providers. While some of these
entities constitute small entities, a substantial number will not be
affected. Furthermore, any economic impact will not be significant.
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 Older Americans 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.
However, the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug
Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 1996 (Pub.
L. 104-37) imposed, for Fiscal Year 1996 and succeeding years, 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 ``* * * hereafter notwithstanding any other provision of
law, for meals provided pursuant to the Older Americans Act of 1965, 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.''
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),
[[Page 16243]]
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 1997 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 $.5857 for Fiscal Year 1997, the highest rate
which it believed could be sustained throughout the fiscal year. This
initial level of per-meal assistance was announced in the April 8, 1997
Federal Register (62 FR 16757).
The Department's meal service projection for Fiscal Year 1997
assumed a slightly higher rate of growth than occurred in the preceding
fiscal year. This initial per-meal support level of $.5857 was
sustained throughout Fiscal Year 1997, and thus no adjustment was
necessary to keep expenditures within the limit of the $140 million NPE
appropriation established by Pub. L. 104-180. Funds in the estimated
amount of $500 thousand were not paid out for Fiscal Year 1997 and
will, in accordance with the legislative mandate in Pub. L. 104-180, be
carried over into Fiscal Year 1998 and expended in per-meal
reimbursement for that year.
Fiscal Year 1998 Initial Level of Assistance
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 $.5607, which will not
be increased, and which will be decreased only if necessary to keep
expenditures within the limit of the $140 million NPE Fiscal Year 1998
appropriation established by Pub. L. 105-86 and the $500 thousand
estimated to be available from Fiscal Year 1997. Any of these funds not
paid out for Fiscal Year 1998 reimbursement will, in accordance with
Pub. L. 105-86, remain available through Fiscal Year 1999. In the
unlikely event that the rate needs to be decreased, States will be
notified directly.
Dated: March 9, 1998.
Yvette Jackson,
Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 98-8587 Filed 4-1-98; 8:45 am]
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