[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]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
