This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains regulatory documents having general

applicability and legal effect, most of which

are keyed to and codified in the Code of

Federal Regulations, which is published under

50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

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Rules and Regulations Federal Register

81831 

Vol. 75, No. 249 

Wednesday, December 29, 2010 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

7 CFR Part 2 

Delegations of Authority 

CFR Correction 

In Title 7 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations, Parts 1 to 26, revised as of 

Jan. 1, 2010, on page 139, in § 2.16, 

paragraph (L) which follows paragraph 

(xv) is moved to follow paragraph (K) on 

page 138. 

[FR Doc. 2010–32952 Filed 12–28–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 1505–01–D 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Food and Nutrition Service 

7 CFR Part 274 

RIN 0584–AD48 

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance 

Program, Regulation Restructuring: 

Issuance Regulation Update and 

Reorganization To Reflect the End of 

Coupon Issuance Systems 

AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service 

(FNS), USDA. 

ACTION: Affirmation of direct final rule 

as final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Food and Nutrition 

Service (FNS) is adopting as a final rule, 

without change, a direct final rule that 

made changes to the Supplemental 

Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) 

regulations to account for the 

replacement of the paper coupon 

issuance system with the Electronic 

Benefits Transfer (EBT) system as the 

nationwide method of distributing 

benefits to program participants. This 

action is in accordance with the Food, 

Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, 

Public Law 110–246, (the 2008 Farm 

Bill) which prohibited State agencies 

from issuing paper food stamp coupons 

and made EBT cards the sole method of 

benefit delivery. The 2008 Farm Bill 

also de-obligated paper coupons as legal 

tender as of June 18, 2009. Therefore, 

paper coupons no longer have any value 

and can no longer be redeemed at any 

store. 

In line with EBT implementation and 

the elimination of coupons, these 

changes remove coupon issuance and 

EBT pilot regulations that are no longer 

applicable, revise regulatory language to 

more appropriately reflect the new EBT 

issuance system and the Program’s new 

name, and reorganize sections to 

develop a more cohesive set of issuance 

regulations. 

DATES: Effective December 29, 2010, the 

Food and Nutrition Service adopted as 

a final rule the direct final rule 

published at 75 FR 18377 on April 12, 

2010. The effective date of that direct 

final rule was June 11, 2010. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Andrea Gold, Chief, Retailer 

Management and Issuance Branch, 

Benefit Redemption Division (703) 305– 

2456. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On April 12, 2010, the Food and 

Nutrition Service (FNS) published a 

direct final rule entitled, Supplemental 

Nutrition Assistance Program, 

Regulation Restructuring: Issuance 

Regulation Update and Reorganization 

To Reflect the End of Coupon Issuance 

Systems, that made changes to the 

SNAP regulations to account for the 

replacement of the paper coupon 

issuance system with the EBT system as 

the nationwide method of distributing 

benefits to program recipients. FNS 

published a direct final rule to expedite 

implementation of the rule’s provision, 

while allowing public input. Comments 

were invited on the rule and the 

comment period ended on May 12, 

2010. 

FNS received one comment in 

response to the direct Final Rule that 

misinterpreted the intent of the rule. 

The comment addressed the new 

citation at 7 CFR 274.6(a)(3)(i) regarding 

replacement issuances for food lost in a 

household misfortune. The commenter 

believed that the regulation was 

changed to only allow benefits used for 

food purchased 10 days prior to the 

misfortune to be replaced. To the 

contrary, the new language merely 

removed obsolete coupon and 

authorization document references and 

now reads, ‘‘the report will be 

considered timely if it is made to the 

State agency within 10 days of the date 

food purchased with Program benefits is 

destroyed in a household misfortune.’’ 

The focus of this statement is on when 

households must report the food loss, 

not on the date the food was purchased. 

Therefore, as required by the previous 

language, households must report the 

food loss within 10 days after the date 

the food was destroyed. The food must 

be food that was purchased with SNAP 

benefits. The date when the food was 

actually purchased has no bearing on 

the amount of the issuance replacement. 

The Department’s Office of the 

General Counsel reviewed the comment 

and clarification and determined that 

because the comment was based on a 

misreading of the language, it would not 

have to be considered a material 

comment that would prevent FNS from 

adopting the direct final rule as a final 

rule. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 274 

SNAP, Grant programs-social 

programs, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance 

Program, Regulation Restructuring: 

Issuance Regulation Update and 

Reorganization to Reflect the End of 

Coupon Issuance Systems 

■ Accordingly, FNS is adopting as a 

final rule, without change, the direct 

final rule that amended 7 CFR part 274 

and was published at 75 FR 18377 on 

April 12, 2010. 

Dated: November 24, 2010. 

Julia Paradis, 

Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–32686 Filed 12–28–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–30–P 


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