[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 67 (Tuesday, April 8, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16757-16758]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-8913]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Consumer Service


Nutrition Program for the Elderly; Initial Level of Assistance 
From October 1, 1996 to September 30, 1997

AGENCY: Food and Consumer 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 1997. 
The Fiscal Year 1997 initial level of assistance is set at $.5857 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. This is a slight reduction from the Fiscal 
Year 1996 level of $.5864. The appropriation for the program was 
decreased from $150 million in Fiscal Year 1996 to $140 million in 
Fiscal Year 1997.

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellen Henigan, Chief, Schools and 
Institutions Branch, Food Distribution Division, Food and Consumer 
Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 3101 Park Center Drive, 
Alexandria, Virginia 22302-1594 or telephone (703) 305-2644.

[[Page 16758]]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Executive Order 12866

    This action is exempted from review by the Office of Management and 
Budget under Executive Order 12866.

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 and Regulatory Flexibility Act

    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). 
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.

Legislative Background

    Section 310 of Public Law (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), 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 1996 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 $.5864 for Fiscal Year 1996, the highest rate 
which it believed could be sustained throughout the fiscal year. This 
initial level of per-meal assistance was announced in the March 18, 
1996 Federal Register (61 FR 10983).
    The Department's meal service projection for Fiscal Year 1996 
assumed a slightly higher rate of growth than occurred in the preceding 
fiscal year. This initial per-meal support level of $.5864 was 
sustained throughout Fiscal Year 1996, and thus no adjustment was 
necessary to keep expenditures within the limit of the $150 million NPE 
appropriation established by Pub. L. 104-37. Funds in the amount of 
$5.5 million were not paid out for Fiscal Year 1996 and will, in 
accordance with the legislative mandate in Pub. L. 104-37, be carried 
over into Fiscal Year 1997 and expended in per-meal reimbursement for 
that year.

Fiscal Year 1997 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 $.5857, 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 1997 
appropriation established by Pub. L. 104-180 and the $5.5 million 
available from Fiscal Year 1996. Any of these funds not paid out for 
Fiscal Year 1997 reimbursement will, in accordance with Pub. L. 104-
180, remain available through Fiscal Year 1998. In the unlikely event 
that the rate needs to be decreased, States will be notified directly.

    Dated: March 27, 1997.
William E. Ludwig,
Administrator, Food and Consumer Service.
[FR Doc. 97-8913 Filed 4-7-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-U