[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]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-U