[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 60 (Monday, March 29, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16226-16229]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-6905]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service


Child Nutrition Programs--Income Eligibility Guidelines

AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This Notice announces the Department's annual adjustments to 
the Income Eligibility Guidelines to be used in determining eligibility 
for free and reduced price meals or free milk for the period from July 
1, 2004 through June 30, 2005. These guidelines are used by schools, 
institutions, and facilities participating in the National School Lunch 
Program (and Commodity School Program), School Breakfast Program, 
Special Milk Program for Children, Child and Adult Care Food Program 
and Summer Food Service Program. The annual adjustments are required by 
section 9 of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act. The 
guidelines are intended to direct benefits to those children most in 
need and are revised annually to account for changes in the Consumer 
Price Index.

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Robert M. Eadie, Chief, Policy and 
Program Development Branch, Child Nutrition Division, FNS, USDA, 
Alexandria, Virginia 22302, or by phone at (703) 305-2590.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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.
    In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
3507), no new recordkeeping or reporting requirements have been 
included that are subject to approval from the Office of Management and 
Budget.
    This action is exempted from review by the Office of Management and 
Budget under Executive Order 12866.
    These programs are listed in the Catalog of Federal Domestic 
Assistance under No. 10.553, No. 10.555, No. 10.556, No. 10.558 and No. 
10.559 and are subject to the provisions of Executive Order 12372, 
which requires intergovernmental consultation with State and local 
officials. (See 7 CFR part 3015, subpart V, and the final rule related 
notice published at 48 FR 29114, June 24, 1983.)

Background

    Pursuant to sections 9(b)(1) and 17(c)(4) of the Richard B. Russell 
National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(1) and 42 U.S.C. 
1766(c)(4)), and sections 3(a)(6) and 4(e)(1)(A) of the Child Nutrition 
Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1772(a)(6) and 1773(e)(1)(A)), the Department 
annually issues the Income Eligibility Guidelines for free and reduced 
price meals for the National School Lunch Program (7 CFR part 210), the 
Commodity School Program (7 CFR part 210), School Breakfast Program (7 
CFR part 220), Summer Food Service Program (7 CFR part 225) and Child 
and Adult Care Food Program (7 CFR part 226) and the guidelines for 
free milk in the Special Milk Program for Children (7 CFR part 215). 
These eligibility guidelines are based on the Federal income poverty 
guidelines and are stated by household size. The guidelines are used to 
determine eligibility for free and reduced price meals and free milk in 
accordance with applicable program rules.

Definition of Income

    In accordance with the Department's policy as provided in the Food 
and Nutrition Service publication Eligibility Guidance for School Meals 
Manual, ``income,'' as the term is used in this Notice, means income 
before any deductions such as income taxes, Social Security taxes, 
insurance premiums, charitable contributions and bonds. It includes the 
following: (1) Monetary compensation for services, including wages, 
salary, commissions or fees; (2) net income from nonfarm self-
employment; (3) net income from farm self-employment; (4) Social 
Security; (5) dividends or interest on savings or bonds or income from 
estates or trusts; (6) net rental income; (7) public assistance or 
welfare payments; (8) unemployment compensation; (9) government 
civilian employee or military retirement, or pensions or veterans 
payments; (10) private pensions or annuities; (11) alimony or child 
support payments; (12) regular

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contributions from persons not living in the household; (13) net 
royalties; and (14) other cash income. Other cash income would include 
cash amounts received or withdrawn from any source including savings, 
investments, trust accounts and other resources that would be available 
to pay the price of a child's meal.
    ``Income,'' as the term is used in this Notice, does not include 
any income or benefits received under any Federal programs that are 
excluded from consideration as income by any legislative prohibition. 
Furthermore, the value of meals or milk to children shall not be 
considered as income to their households for other benefit programs in 
accordance with the prohibitions in section 12(e) of the Richard B. 
Russell National School Lunch Act and section 11(b) of the Child 
Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1760(e) and 1780(b)).

The Income Eligibility Guidelines

    The following are the Income Eligibility Guidelines to be effective 
from July 1, 2004 through June 30, 2005. The Department's guidelines 
for free meals and milk and reduced price meals were obtained by 
multiplying the year 2004 Federal income poverty guidelines by 1.30 and 
1.85, respectively, and by rounding the result upward to the next whole 
dollar.
    The income eligibility chart for School Year 2004-2005 contains a 
few minor changes from previous years. Prior to this Notice, the 
Department displayed the monthly and weekly amounts for the Federal 
poverty guidelines in addition to the annual figures as issued by the 
Department of Health and Human Services. This Notice, however, only 
displays the annual figures because the monthly and weekly Federal 
poverty guidelines were not used to determine the Income Eligibility 
Guidelines. As detailed below, all calculations are based on the annual 
figures.
    An additional change is that the chart which details the free and 
reduced price eligibility criteria now includes columns for income 
received twice monthly as well as income received every two weeks. To 
differentiate: A person paid every two weeks is paid 26 times per year, 
whereas a person paid twice monthly is paid 24 times per year. 
Furthermore, the addition of columns for income received twice per 
month as well as income received every two weeks conforms to the format 
currently being used by the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for 
Women, Infants and Children (WIC) (42 U.S.C. 1786; 7 CFR part 248).
    Income calculations are made based on the following formulas: 
Monthly income is calculated by dividing the annual income by 12; twice 
monthly income is computed by dividing annual income by 24; income 
received every two weeks is calculated by dividing annual income by 26; 
and weekly income is computed by dividing annual income by 52. All 
numbers are rounded upward to the next whole dollar. The numbers 
reflected in this notice for a family of four in the 48 contiguous 
states, the District of Columbia, Guam and the territories represent an 
increase of 2.45% over the July 2003 numbers for a family of the same 
size.

    Authority: (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(1)).

    Dated: March 23, 2004.
Roberto Salazar,
Administrator.
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[FR Doc. 04-6905 Filed 3-26-04; 8:45 am]
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