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Notices Federal Register

60216

Vol. 62, No. 216

Friday, November 7, 1997

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Consumer Service

The Emergency Food Assistance

Program Availability of Commodities

for Fiscal Year 1998

AGENCY: Food and Consumer Service,

USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: This notice announces the

surplus and purchased commodities

that the Department expects to make

available for donation to States for use

in providing food assistance to the

needy under the Emergency Food

Assistance Program (TEFAP) in Fiscal

Year (FY) 1998. The commodities made

available under this notice shall, at the

discretion of the State, be distributed to

organizations for use in preparing

meals, and/or for distribution to

households for home consumption.

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Lillie Ragan, Assistant Branch Chief,

Program Administration Branch, Food

Distribution Division, Food and

Consumer Service, U.S. Department of

Agriculture, 3101 Park Center Drive,

Alexandria, Virginia 22302–1594 or

telephone (703) 305–2662.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background and Need for Action

Surplus Commodities

Surplus commodities donated for

distribution under TEFAP are

Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC)

commodities determined to be available

for donation by the Secretary of

Agriculture under the authority of

section 416 of the Agricultural Act of

1949, 7 U.S.C. 1431 (hereinafter referred

to as section 416) and commodities

purchased under the surplus removal

authority of section 32 of the Act of

August 24, 1935, 7 U.S.C. 612c

(hereinafter referred to as section 32).

The types of commodities typically

made available under section 416

include dairy, grains, oils, and peanut

products. The types of commodities

purchased under section 32 include

meat, poultry, fish, vegetables, and

fruits. Donations of surplus

commodities were initiated in 1981 as

part of the Department’s efforts to

reduce stockpiles of government-owned

commodities, such as cheese, flour,

butter, and cornmeal, which had been

acquired under section 416. These

donations responded to concern over

the costs to taxpayers of storing large

quantities of foods, while at the same

time there were persons in need of food

assistance. The authority to donate

surplus commodities for distribution

through TEFAP is currently codified in

Section 202 of the Emergency Food

Assistance Act (EFAA) of 1983 (7 U.S.C.

7502).

In recent years, the supply of surplus

commodities has been drastically

reduced. These reductions are the result

of changes in the agricultural pricesupport programs which have brought

supply and demand into better balance,

and accelerated donations and sales.

The Department anticipates that there

will be sufficient quantities of nonfat

dry milk available for donation under

section 416, and dried navy beans and

dried prunes purchased under section

32, to support the donation of these

commodities for distribution through

TEFAP in FY 1998. While sufficient

quantities of these commodities are

anticipated to be available in FY 1998

to support such donations, the

Department would like to point out that

commodity acquisitions are based on

changing agricultural market conditions;

therefore, the above commodities may

not be available for donation in FY

1998, or additional types of surplus

commodities may become available.

Purchased Commodities

Congress responded to the reduced

availability of surplus commodities with

section 104 of the Hunger Prevention

Act of 1988, Pub. L. 100–435, which

added sections 213 and 214 to the

EFAA. Those sections required the

Secretary to purchase commodities for

distribution to States in addition to

those surplus commodities which

otherwise might be provided to States

for distribution under TEFAP. Pursuant

to section 871(d) of the Personal

Responsibility and Work Opportunity

Reconciliation Act of 1996, Pub. L. 104–

193, Congress repealed the

authorization of funds for food

purchases under section 214. In

addition, section 871(g) added a new

section 27 to the Food Stamp Act of

1977 under which the Secretary is

required to use $100 million from the

funds made available to carry out the

Food Stamp Act for each of FYs 1997

through 2002 to purchase a variety of

nutritious and useful commodities and

distribute the commodities to States for

distribution through TEFAP.

For FY 1998, the Department

anticipates purchasing for distribution

through TEFAP the following

commodities: peanut butter, roasted

peanuts, rice, macaroni, spaghetti, grits,

fortified cereal, bakery mix, nonfat dry

milk, egg mix, dehydrated potatoes,

dehydrated soup mix, corn syrup,

vegetable oil, dry bagged beans, raisins,

the following canned foods: apple juice,

applesauce, peaches, pears, vegetarian

beans, refried beans, green beans,

potatoes, tomatoes, tomato sauce,

tomato juice, corn, orange juice,

grapefruit juice, plums, pineapple, pork,

salmon, tuna, beef, and chicken, as well

as the following frozen foods: ground

beef, ground turkey, cut-up chicken, and

turkey roasts. The amounts of each item

purchased will depend on the prices

USDA must pay, as well as the quantity

of each item requested by the States.

Changes in agricultural market

conditions may result in the availability

of additional types of commodities or

the non-availability of one or more types

listed above. Once USDA has made the

commodities available to States, State

officials will be responsible for

determining how to allocate the State’s

‘‘fair share’’ to eligible organizations.

States have full discretion in

determining the amount of commodities

that will be made available to

organizations for distribution to needy

households for use in home-prepared

meals or for providing prepared meals

to the needy at congregate feeding sites.

Dated: October 28, 1997.

Yvette S. Jackson,

Acting Administrator.

[FR Doc. 97–29426 Filed 11–6–97; 8:45 am]

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