Summer Food Service Program for Children; Program Reimbursement for 2004

AGENCY:

Food and Nutrition Service, USDA.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

This notice informs the public of the annual adjustments to the reimbursement rates for meals served in the Summer Food Service Program for Children (SFSP). These adjustments reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index and are required by the statute governing the Program. In addition, further adjustments are made to these rates to reflect the higher costs of providing meals in the States of Alaska and Hawaii, as authorized by the William F. Goodling Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act of 1998.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

January 1, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Robert M. Eadie, Branch Chief, Policy and Program Development Branch, Child Nutrition Division, Food and Nutrition Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 3101 Park Center Drive, Room 640, Alexandria, Virginia 22302, (703) 305-2620.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

This program is listed in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance under No. 10.559 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 notice published at 48 FR 29114, June 24, 1983).

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3518), no new recordkeeping or reporting requirements have been included that are subject to approval from the Office of Management and Budget.

This notice 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. Additionally, this notice has been determined to be exempt from review by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Order 12866.

Definitions

The terms used in this Notice shall have the meaning ascribed to them in the regulations governing the Summer Food Service Program for Children (7 CFR part 225).

Background

In accordance with Section 13 of the National School Lunch Act (NSLA)(42 U.S.C. 1761) and the regulations governing the SFSP (7 CFR part 225), notice is hereby given of adjustments in Program payments for meals served to children participating in the SFSP in 2004. Adjustments are based on changes in the food away from home series of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for All Urban Consumers for the period November 2002 through November 2003.

Section 104(a) of the William F. Goodling Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act of 1998 (Pub. L. 105-336) amended section 12(f) of the NSLA (42 U.S.C. 1760(f)) to allow adjustments to SFSP reimbursement rates to reflect the higher cost of providing meals in the SFSP in Alaska and Hawaii. Therefore, this notice contains adjusted rates for Alaska and Hawaii. This change was made in an effort to be consistent with other Child Nutrition Programs, such as the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program, which already had the authority to provide higher reimbursement rates for programs in Alaska and Hawaii.

The 2004 reimbursement rates, in dollars, for all States excluding Alaska and Hawaii:

The 2004 reimbursement rates, in dollars, for Alaska:

The 2004 reimbursement rates, in dollars, for Hawaii:

The total amount of payments to State agencies for disbursement to Program sponsors will be based upon these Program reimbursement rates and the number of meals of each type served. The above reimbursement rates, for both operating and administrative reimbursement rates, represent a 2.2 percent increase during 2003 (from 179.8 in November 2002 to 183.8 in November 2003) in the food away from home series of the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor. The Department would like to point out that the SFSP administrative reimbursement rates continue to be adjusted up or down to the nearest quarter-cent, as has previously been the case. Additionally, operating reimbursement rates have been rounded down to the nearest whole cent, as required by section 11(a)(3)(B) of the NSLA (42 U.S.C. 1759 (a)(3)(B)).

Authority: Secs. 9, 13 and 14, National School Lunch Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. 1758, 1761, and 1762a).