64556 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 235 / Monday, December 8, 1997 / Notices

Summary of Collection: Information is

collected from respondents for

appointing committee members,

conducting referendums, and requesting

waivers for inspection.

Need and Use of the Information: The

information is used to administer

Marketing Order 922.

Description of Respondents: Business

or other for-profit.

Number of Respondents: 430.

Frequency of Responses:

Recordkeeping; Reporting: On occasion;

Biennially.

Total Burden Hours: 39.

Donald Hulcher,

Departmental Clearance Officer.

[FR Doc. 97–32032 Filed 12–5–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Consumer Service

RIN 0584–AC58

Food Stamp Program: Maximum

Allotments for Alaska, Hawaii, Guam,

and the Virgin Islands

AGENCY: Food and Consumer Service,

USDA.

ACTION: General notice.

SUMMARY: By this notice, the

Department of Agriculture is updating

for Fiscal Year 1998 the maximum food

stamp allotments for participating

households in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam,

and the Virgin Islands. These annual

adjustments, required by law, take into

account changes in the cost of food and

statutory adjustments since the amounts

were last calculated.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This notice is effective

December 8, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Margaret Werts Batko, Assistant Branch

Chief, Certification Policy Branch,

Program Development Division, Food

and Consumer Service, U.S. Department

of Agriculture, 3101 Park Center Drive,

Alexandria, VA 22302, or telephone at

(703) 305–2516. The e-mail address is

MargaretlBatko@FCS.USDA.GOV.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Implementation

As required by Section 3(o) of the

Food Stamp Act of 1977 (the Act), 7

U.S.C. 2012 (o), State agencies should

have implemented this action on

October 1, 1997, based on advance

notice of the new amounts. As required

by regulations published at 47 FR 46485

(October 19, 1982), annual statutory

adjustments to the maximum allotment

levels and income eligibility standards

are issued by General Notices published

in the Federal Register and not through

rulemaking proceedings.

Executive Order 12866

This notice has been determined to be

not significant for purposes of Executive

Order 12866 and therefore has not been

reviewed by the Office of Management

and Budget (OMB).

Executive Order 12372

The Food Stamp Program is listed in

the Catalog of Federal Domestic

Assistance under No. 10.551. For the

reasons set forth in the Final rule and

related notice to 7 CFR part 3015,

subpart V (48 FR 29916, June 24, 1983),

this program is excluded from the scope

of Executive Order No. 12372 which

requires intergovernmental consultation

with State and local officials.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

The Under Secretary for Food,

Nutrition, and Consumer Services has

certified that this action will not have a

significant economic impact and will

not have an impact on a substantial

number of small entities. The action

will increase the amount of money

spent on food through increases in food

stamp benefits. However, this money

will be distributed among all eligible

food stamp vendors, so the effect on any

one vendor will not be significant.

Paperwork Reduction Act

This action does not contain reporting

or record keeping requirements subject

to review by OMB pursuant to the

provisions of the Paperwork Reduction

Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3507.

Unfunded Mandate Reform Act of 1995

(UMRA)

Title II of UMRA establishes

requirements for Federal agencies to

assess the effects of their regulatory

actions on State, local, and tribal

governments and the private sector.

Under Section 202 of the UMRA, FCS

generally must prepare a written

statement, including a cost-benefit

analysis, for proposed and final rules

with ‘‘Federal mandates’’ that may

result in expenditures to State, local, or

tribal governments, in the aggregate, or

to the private sector, of $100 million or

more in any one year. When such a

statement is needed for a rule, section

205 of the UMRA generally requires FCS

to identify and consider a reasonable

number of regulatory alternatives and

adopt the least costly, more costeffective or least burdensome alternative

that achieves the objectives of the rule.

This notice contains no Federal

mandates (under the regulatory

provisions of Title II of the UMRA) for

State, local, and tribal governments or

the private sector of $100 million or

more in any one year. Thus today’s rule

is not subject to the requirements of

Sections 202 and 205 of the UMRA.

Background

Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) and Allotments

As provided for in Section 3(o) of the

Act, the TFP is a plan for the

consumption of foods of different types

(food groups) that families might use to

provide nutritious meals and snacks for

family members. The plan provides for

a diet required to feed a family of four

persons consisting of a man and woman

aged 20 to 50, a child 6 to 8 and a child

9 to 11. The cost of the TFP is adjusted

monthly to reflect changes in the costs

of the food groups.

The TFPs for Alaska and Hawaii are

based on an adjusted average for the sixmonth period that ends with June 1997.

Since the Bureau of Labor Statistics (the

source of food price data) no longer

publishes monthly information to

compute Alaska and Hawaii TFPs, the

adjusted average provides a proxy for

actual June 1997 TFP costs. The

adjusted average is equal to JanuaryJune 1997 TFP costs for Alaska and

Hawaii increased by the average

percentage difference between the cost

of the TFP in Alaska and Hawaii in June

and the January-June average in 1986 (a

1.53 percent increase over January-June

costs in Alaska and 1.82 percent

increase in Hawaii).

For the period January through June

1997, the average cost of the TFP was

$502.90 in Alaska, and $645.50 in

Hawaii. The proxy in Alaska for actual

June 1997 TFP costs was $510.59. This

proxy is multiplied by three separate

adjustment factors to create three TFPs

for Urban Alaska, Rural I Alaska, and

Rural II Alaska. The proxy in Hawaii for

actual June 1997 TFP costs was $657.24.

The June 1997 cost of the TFP was

$602.20 in Guam and $525.30 in the

Virgin Islands.

The maximum food stamp allotment

is paid to households that have no net

income. For households with some type

of income, their allotments are

determined by reducing the maximum

allotment for their household size by 30

percent of the household’s net income

in accordance with Section 8 (a) of the

Act, 7 U.S.C. 2017 (a). To obtain the

maximum food stamp allotment for each

household size, the TFP costs are

divided by four, multiplied by the

appropriate household size and

economy of scale factor, and the final

result rounded down to the nearest

dollar.
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 235 / Monday, December 8, 1997 / Notices 64557

Pursuant to Section 3 (o) (3) of the

Act, maximum food stamp benefits for

Guam and the Virgin Islands cannot

exceed those in the 50 States and the

District of Columbia, so they are based

upon either the lower of their respective

TFPs or the TFP for rural II Alaska.

MAXIMUM ALLOTMENT AMOUNTS 1—OCTOBER 1997, AS ADJUSTED

Household

Size

Urban

Alaska

Rural I

Alaska

Rural II

Alaska Hawaii Guam 2 VirginIslands 2

1 ........................................................................................ $154 $196 $239 $197 $180 $157

2 ........................................................................................ 283 360 439 361 331 288

3 ........................................................................................ 405 516 628 517 474 413

4 ........................................................................................ 514 656 798 657 602 525

5 ........................................................................................ 611 779 948 780 715 623

6 ........................................................................................ 733 935 1,138 936 858 748

7 ........................................................................................ 810 1,033 1,257 1,035 948 827

8 ........................................................................................ 926 1,181 1,437 1,183 1,083 945

Each Additional Member ................................................... +116 +148 +180 +148 +135 +118

1Adjusted to reflect the cost of food in June, adjustments for each household size, economies of scale, and 1.00 percent of the TFP and

rounding. 2Adjusted to reflect changes in the cost of food in the 48 States and D.C., which correlate with price changes in these areas. Maximum allotments in these areas cannot exceed those in Rural II Alaska.

Dated: November 17, 1997.

Yvette S. Jackson,

Administrator, Food and Consumer Services.

[FR Doc. 97–31973 Filed 12–5–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–30–U

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food And Consumer Service

RIN 0584–AC57

Food Stamp Program: Maximum

Allotments for the 48 States and the

District of Columbia, and Income

Eligibility Standards for the 48 States

and the District of Columbia, Alaska,

Hawaii, Guam, and the Virgin Islands

AGENCY: Food and Consumer Service,

USDA.

ACTION: General notice.

SUMMARY: The purpose of this notice is

to update for Fiscal Year 1998 the

maximum allotment levels, which are

the basis for determining the amount of

food stamps which participating

households receive and the gross and

net income limits for food stamp

eligibility. These adjustments, required

by law, take into account changes in the

cost of living and statutory adjustments

since the amounts were last calculated.

DATES: This notice is effective December

8, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Margaret Werts Batko, Assistant Chief,

Certification Policy Branch, Program

Development Division, Food Stamp

Program, Food and Consumer Service,

USDA, 3101 Park Center Drive,

Alexandria, Virginia 22302, (703) 305–

2516. The e-mail address is

MargaretlBatko@FCS.USDA.GOV.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Implementation

As required by Section 3(o) of the

Food Stamp Act of 1977 (the Act), 7

U.S.C. 2012(o), State agencies should

have implemented the adjustments to

the maximum food stamp allotments

reflected in this notice on October 1,

1997, based on advance notice of the

new amounts. In accordance with

regulations published at 47 FR 46485–

46487 (October 19, 1982), annual

statutory adjustments to the maximum

allotment levels and income eligibility

standards are issued by general notices

published in the Federal Register and

not through rulemaking proceedings.

Classification

Executive Order 12866

This notice has been determined to be

not significant for purposes of Executive

Order 12866 and therefore has not been

reviewed by the Office of Management

and Budget (OMB).

Executive Order 12372

The Food Stamp Program is listed in

the Catalog of Federal Domestic

Assistance under No. 10.551. For the

reasons set forth in the final rule related

notice to 7 CFR part 3015, subpart V (48

FR 29116, June 24, 1983), this program

is excluded from the scope of Executive

Order 12372 which requires

intergovernmental consultation with

State and local officials.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

The Under Secretary for Food,

Nutrition and Consumer Services has

certified that this action will not have a

significant economic impact and will

not have an impact on a substantial

number of small entities. The action

will increase the amount of money

spent on food through food stamps.

However, this money will be distributed

among the nation’s food vendors, so the

effect on any one vendor will not be

significant.

Paperwork Reduction Act

This action does not contain reporting

or recordkeeping requirements subject

to approval by OMB pursuant to the

provisions of the Paperwork Reduction

Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3507.

Unfunded Mandate Reform Act of 1995

(UMRA)

Title II of UMRA establishes

requirements for Federal agencies to

assess the effects of their regulatory

actions on State, local, and tribal

governments and the private sector.

Under Section 202 of the UMRA, FCS

generally must prepare a written

statement, including a cost-benefit

analysis, for proposed and final rules

with ‘‘Federal mandates’’ that may

result in expenditures to State, local, or

tribal governments, in the aggregate, or

to the private sector, of $100 million or

more in any one year. When such a

statement is needed for a rule, Section

205 of the UMRA generally requires FCS

to identify and consider a reasonable

number of regulatory alternatives and

adopt the least costly, more costeffective or least burdensome alternative

that achieves the objectives of the rule.

This notice contains no Federal

mandates (under the regulatory

provisions of Title II of the UMRA) for

State, local, and tribal governments or

the private sector of $100 million or

more in any one year. Thus this rule is

not subject to the requirements of

sections 202 and 205 of the UMRA.