Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 127 /Thursday, July 2, 1998 / Notices 36205

Authority: Sections 4, 8, 11 and 17A of the

National School Lunch Act, as amended, (42

U.S.C. 1753, 1757, 1759a, 1766a) and

sections 3 and 4(b) of the Child Nutrition

Act, as amended, (42 U.S.C. 1772 and 42

U.S.C. 1773(b)).

Dated: June 26, 1998.

George A. Braley,

Acting Administrator.

[FR Doc. 98–17675 Filed 7–1–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–30–U

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service

Child and Adult Care Food Program:

National Average Payment Rates, Day

Care Home Food Service Payment

Rates, and Administrative

Reimbursement Rates for Sponsors of

Day Care Homes for the Period July 1,

1998–June 30, 1999

AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service,

USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: This notice announces the

annual adjustments to the national

average payment rates for meals served

in child care, outside-school-hours care

and adult day care centers; the food

service payment rates for meals served

in day care homes; and the

administrative reimbursement rates for

sponsors of day care homes to reflect

changes in the Consumer Price Index.

Further adjustments are made to these

rates to reflect the higher costs of

providing meals in the States of Alaska

and Hawaii. The adjustments contained

in this notice are required by the

statutes and regulations governing the

Child and Adult Care Food Program

(CACFP).

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Robert M. Eadie, Branch Chief, Policy

and Program Development Branch,

Child Nutrition Division, Food and

Nutrition Service, USDA, Alexandria,

Virginia, 22302, (703) 305–2620.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This

program is listed in the Catalog of

Federal Domestic Assistance under No.

10.558 and is 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 final rule

related notice published at 48 FR 29114,

June 24, 1983.)

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. 3501–3518).

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. This notice has

been determined to be exempt under

Executive Order 12866.

Definitions

The terms used in this notice shall

have the meanings ascribed to them in

the regulations governing the CACFP (7

CFR Part 226).

Background

Pursuant to sections 4, 11 and 17 of

the National School Lunch Act (NSLA)

(42 U.S.C. 1753, 1759a and 1766),

section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of

1966 (CNA) (42 U.S.C. 1773) and

sections 226.4, 226.12 and 226.13 of the

regulations governing the CACFP (7 CFR

Part 226), notice is hereby given of the

new payment rates for participating

institutions. These rates shall be in

effect during the period July 1, 1998

through June 30, 1999.

As provided for under the NSLA and

the CNA of 1966, all rates in the CACFP

must be revised annually on July 1 to

reflect changes in the Consumer Price

Index (CPI) for the most recent 12-

month period. In accordance with this

mandate, the Department last published

the adjusted national average payment

rates for centers, the food service

payment rates for day care homes and

the administrative reimbursement rates

for sponsors of day care homes on July

14, 1997 at 62 FR 37702 (for the period

July 1, 1997–June 30, 1998).

Section 704(b) of the Personal

Responsibility and Work Opportunity

Reconciliation Act of 1996, Pub. L. 104–

193, amended section 11a(3)(B) of the

NSLA (42 U.S.C. 1759a(a)(3)(B)) and

changed the method for computing the

annual adjustments to the national

average payment rates for meals and

supplements served to non-needy

children in day care centers. Beginning

July 1, 1997, the annual adjustments to

the payment rates for paid meals and

paid supplements were rounded down

to the nearest whole cent. The annual

adjustments to the payments for free

and reduced price meals and to the

payments for free and reduced price

supplements were unchanged by Pub. L.

104–193 and continue to be rounded up

or down to the nearest one fourth cent.

Section 708(e)(1) of Pub. L. 104–193

also amended section 17(f)(3)(A) of the

NSLA to establish two ‘‘tiers’’ of day

care homes and reimbursement rates.

Tier I homes are homes located in lowincome areas or homes in which the

provider’s household income is at or

below 185 percent of the Federal

income poverty guidelines. Tier II

homes are those homes which do not

meet the location or provider income

criteria for a tier I home. However, tier

II homes may receive the tier I rates for

meals served to identified incomeeligible children (i.e. children from

households with incomes at or below

185 percent of the Federal income

poverty guidelines).

Pub. L. 104–193 further specified in

section 17(f)(3)(A)(ii) (III) and (IV) the

reimbursement factors for meals served

in tier I day care homes as the factors

in effect on July 1, 1996, with

adjustments made to the factors on July

1, 1997, and each July 1 thereafter. Pub.

L. 104–193 further provided in section

17(f)(3)(A) (ii)(IV) and (iii)(I)(bb) (42

U.S.C. 1766(f)(3)(A) (ii)(IV) and

(iii)(I)(bb)) of the NSLA that the factors

paid to tier I and tier II homes be

rounded down to the nearest whole

cent, instead of rounding the factors up

or down to the nearest quarter-cent

increment as previously required.

Subsequent adjustments must be based

on the unrounded rate from the

preceding school year. In addition,

annual adjustments, which were

previously based on changes in the CPI

for food away from home, must now be

made based on the CPI for food at home.

Please note that reimbursement rates

for tier II family day care homes are set

forth in section 17(f)(3)(A)(iii)(I)(aa) of

the NSLA (42 U.S.C.

1766(f)(3)(A)(iii)(I)(aa)), as amended by

section 708(e)(1) of Pub.L. 104–193.

After these reimbursement rates were

adjusted and rounded down to the

nearest whole cent as required under

the law, an additional six cents was

added to the breakfast rate as required

by section 4(b)(3) of the CNA of 1966,

as amended (42 U.S.C. 1773(b)(3)). The

CNA requires that all reimbursement

rates for breakfasts served under the

School Breakfast Program and the

CACFP be adjusted upward by six cents.

As background, this addition was first

made in 1986, under Pub. L. 99–500, the

School Lunch and Child Nutrition

Amendments of 1986, which added

three cents to adjusted breakfast rates to

assist States in improving the

nutritional quality of the breakfasts.

This adjustment was raised from three

cents to six cents in 1989 under Pub. L.

101–147, the Child Nutrition and WIC

Reauthorization Act of 1989, for the

same reason.

The payment rates for the period July

1, 1998–June 30, 1999 are:
36206 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 127 /Thursday, July 2, 1998 / Notices

ALL STATES EXCEPT ALASKA AND

HAWAII

Meals Served in Centers—Per

Meal Rates in Dollars or Fractions thereof:

Breakfasts:

Paid ........................................ $0.20

Free ....................................... 1.0725

Reduced ................................ 0.7725

Lunches and Suppers:1.

Paid ........................................ $0.18

Free ....................................... 1.9425

Reduced ................................ 1.5425

Supplements:

Paid ........................................ $0.04

Free ....................................... .5325

Reduced ................................ .2675

1These rates do not include the value of

commodities (or cash-in-lieu of commodities)

which institutions receive as additional assistance for each lunch or supper served to participants under the program. A notice announcing the value of commodities and cashin-lieu of commodities is published separately

in the FEDERAL REGISTER.

Tier I Tier II

Meals Served in Day

Care Homes—Per

Meal Rates in Dollars

or Fractions thereof:

Breakfasts .................. $0.90 $0.34

Lunches and Suppers 1.65 1.00

Supplements .............. 0.49 0.13

Administrative Reimbursement Rates for

Sponsoring Organizations of Day Care

Homes-Per Home/Per

Month Rates in Dollars:

Initial 50 day care

homes .................... .............. $76

Next 150 day care

homes ................. .............. $58

Next 800 day care

homes ................. .............. $45

Additional day care

homes ................. .............. $40

Pursuant to section 12(f) of the NSLA

(42 U.S.C 1760(f)), the Department

adjusts the payment rates for

participating institutions in the States of

Alaska and Hawaii. The new payment

rates for Alaska are as follows:

ALASKA

Meals Served in Centers—Per

Meals Rates in Dollars or Fractions thereof:

Breakfasts:

Paid ........................................ $0.29

Free ....................................... 1.70

Reduced ................................ 1.40

Lunches and Suppers:1

Paid ........................................ $0.30

Free ....................................... 3.1450

Reduced ................................ 2.7450

ALASKA—Continued

Supplements:

Paid ........................................ $0.07

Free ....................................... 0.8625

Reduced ................................ 0.4325

1These rates do not include the value of

commodities (or cash-in-lieu of commodities)

which institutions receive as additional assistance for each lunch or supper served to participants under the program. A notice announcing the value of commodities and cashin-lieu of commodities is published separately

in the FEDERAL REGISTER.

Tier I Tier II

Meals Served in Day

Care Homes—Per

Meal Rates in Dollars

or Fractions thereof:

Breakfasts .................. $1.42 $0.52

Lunches and Suppers 2.68 1.62

Supplements .............. 0.80 0.22

Administrative Reimbursement Rates for

Sponsoring Organizations of Day Care

Homes—

Per Home/Per Month

Rates in Dollars:

Initial 50 day care

homes. ................ 123 ..............

Next 150 day care

homes ................. .............. 94

Next 800 day care

homes ................. .............. 73

Additional day care

homes ................. .............. 65

The new payment rates for Hawaii are

as follows:

HAWAII

Meals Served in Centers—Per

Meal Rates in Dollars or Fractions thereof:

Breakfasts:

Paid ........................................ $0.23

Free ....................................... 1.2450

Reduced ................................ 0.9450

Lunches and Suppers: 1

Paid ........................................ $0.21

Free ....................................... 2.27

Reduced ................................ 1.87

Supplements:

Paid ........................................ $0.05

Free ....................................... 0.6225

Reduced ................................ 0.3125

1These rates do not include the value of

commodities (or cash-in-lieu of commodities)

which institutions receive as additional assistance for each lunch or supper served to participants under the program. A notice announcing the value of commodities and cashin-lieu of commodities is published separately

in the FEDERAL REGISTER.

Tier I Tier II

Meals Served in Day

Care Homes—Per

Meal Rates in Dollars

or Fractions thereof:

Breakfasts .................. $1.04 $0.39

Lunches and Suppers 1.93 1.17

Supplements .............. 0.57 0.16

Administrative Reimbursement Rates for

Sponsoring Organizations of Day Care

Homes—Per Home/

Per Month Rates in

Dollars:

Initial 50 day care

homes .................... $89

Next 150 day care

homes .................... 68

Next 800 day care

homes .................... 53

Additional day care

homes .................... 47

The changes in the national average

payment rates for centers reflect a 2.75

percent increase during the 12-month

period May 1997 to May 1998 (from

156.3 in May 1997 to 160.6 in May

1998) in the food away from home series

of the CPI for All Urban Consumers,

published by the Bureau of Labor

Statistics of the Department of Labor.

The changes in the food service

payment rates for day care homes reflect

2.03 percent increase during the 12-

month period May 1997 to May 1998

(from 157.5 in May 1997 to 160.7 in

May 1998) in the food at home series of

the CPI for All Urban Consumers.

The changes in the administrative

reimbursement rates for sponsoring

organizations of day care homes reflect

a 1.68 percent increase during the 12-

month period May 1997 to May 1998

(from 160.1 in May 1997 to 162.8 in

May 1998) in the series for all items of

the CPI for All Urban Consumers,

published by the Bureau of Labor

Statistics of the Department of Labor.

The total amount of payments

available to each State agency for

distribution to institutions participating

in the program is based on the rates

contained in this notice.

Authority: Sections 4(b)(2), 11a, 17(c) and

17(f)(3)(B) of the National School Lunch Act,

as amended (42 U.S.C. 1753(b)(2), 1759a,

1766(f)(3)(B)) and section 4(b)(1)(B) of the

Child Nutrition Act of 1966, as amended (42

U.S.C. 1773(b)(1)(B)).

Dated June 26, 1998.

George A. Braley,

Acting Administrator.

[FR Doc. 98–17674 Filed 7–1–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–30–U