Attachment C1 SNAP 2008 Farm Bill Provisions

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Rules and Regulations

Federal Register
Vol. 85, No. 164
Monday, August 24, 2020

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER
contains regulatory documents having general
applicability and legal effect, most of which
are keyed to and codified in the Code of
Federal Regulations, which is published under
50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.
The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by
the Superintendent of Documents.

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food and Nutrition Service
7 CFR Parts 271 and 274
[FNS–2016–0074]
RIN 0584–AE02

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program: 2008 Farm Bill Provisions on
Clarification of Split Issuance; Accrual
of Benefits and Definition Changes
Food and Nutrition Service,
U.S. Department of Agriculture.
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:

This final rule amends the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP) regulations to
implement provisions of the 2008 Farm
Bill regarding monthly benefit issuance
allotments, storage of benefits off-line,
and permanent expungement of unused
benefits, as well as related benefit
expungement and off-line storage
provisions of the 2018 Farm Bill. This
final rule also updates SNAP regulations
to reflect the program’s name change to
SNAP and benefit issuance through
Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT)
systems.

SUMMARY:

This final rule is effective
September 23, 2020.

DATES:

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

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Vicky T. Robinson, Chief, Retailer
Management and Issuance Branch,
Retailer Policy and Management
Division, Food and Nutrition Service
(FNS), U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA), 1320 Braddock Place,
Alexandria, Virginia 22314, (703) 305–
2476, [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Executive Summary
Purpose of the Regulatory Action
This rule finalizes the provisions of a
proposed rule published on September
29, 2016 (81 FR 66866). With this final
rule, the Department is amending 7 CFR

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part 274 to implement the benefit
issuance, storage and expungement
provisions of the Food, Conservation
and Energy Act of 2008, Public Law
110–234 (2008 Farm Bill).
Since publication of the proposed
rule, the President signed the
Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018
(2018 Farm Bill), which made
additional mandatory changes to the
provisions governing the storage and
expungement of unused benefits.
Accordingly, the Department intends to
adopt these 2018 Farm Bill provisions
as final as well.
Finally, this final rule will update
terminology at 7 CFR part 271 to reflect
the program’s new name and the
issuance of benefits through Electronic
Benefit Transfer (EBT) systems, as well
as add new EBT-related definitions to 7
CFR 271.2.
Summary of Changes From Proposed
Rule
The final rule incorporates the
following modifications for clarity:
• The definitions of EBT Card, EBT
System, Interoperability and Point-ofSale Device will no longer refer to pointof-sale and card technology in order to
take into account on-line and other
emerging technologies.
• Amendatory language is being
added to clarify that taking benefits offline means making a household’s entire
SNAP EBT account inaccessible to the
household, including any new benefits
added to the account.
• Amendatory language is being
added to clarify that any unexpired
benefits taken off-line must be restored
upon a household’s recertification or
reapplication for benefits or a general
request for assistance.
• Amendatory language is being
added to clarify that benefits must be
expunged on a first-in-first-out (FIFO)
basis.
The Department is also making the
following changes to the proposed
provisions:
• The proposed change to the
definition of ‘‘Drug addiction or
alcoholic treatment and rehabilitation
program,’’ is being withdrawn to
provide the public another opportunity
to comment as part of a future
comprehensive rulemaking regarding
group living arrangements.
• The proposed corrections to the
definitions of ‘‘Employment and
Training (E&T) component,’’ and

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‘‘Employment and Training (E&T)
mandatory participant.’’ is being
withdrawn because they will be
included in a separate rulemaking on
E&T provisions.
• State agencies will now have the
option to maintain the current method
of expunging unused benefits only from
inactive accounts or to expunge benefits
based on the date of issuance, regardless
of account activity. The option the State
chooses must be applied to all
households.
• State agencies must expunge
unused benefits after nine months
(rather than 12 months) in accordance
with one of the expungement processes
above.
• States agencies must provide notice
to individual households prior to
expunging benefits no later than 30 days
prior to the date the benefits will be
expunged.
• State agencies may choose to take
benefits off-line prior to expungement
after three months of account inactivity
(rather than six months).
• State agencies will not be required
to remove off-line benefits from the
Account Management Agent (AMA) as
proposed. Instead, State agencies will be
required to make the entire EBT account
inaccessible to the household if they
take benefits off-line.
II. Background
SNAP regulations at 7 CFR part 274
already required several of the 2008
Farm bill provisions addressed in the
proposed rule. These include
requirements to issue monthly benefits
in one lump sum, expunge unused
benefits after the household’s account
has been inactive for 12 months, and
notify households prior to taking
benefits off-line. The Department’s
implementing memo on October 1,
2008, addressed provisions requiring
State agencies to wait until a SNAP
account remains inactive for six months
and to reinstate off-line benefits within
48 hours of a household’s request.
The Department published a proposed
rule to solicit comments on various
implementation details of the above
provisions over which the Department
has discretion, as well as to update 7
CFR part 271 to reflect ‘‘SNAP’’ as the
new name of the program and the
mandatory issuance of benefits through
Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT)
systems.

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With regard to benefit expungement,
the proposed rule specifically solicited
feedback on whether the expungement
timeframe should continue to apply
only to inactive EBT accounts as
required under current SNAP policy,
require State agencies to expunge
benefits based on the date of issuance
even if the account remains active, or
provide States agencies the option to
use either method.
On December 20, 2018, the President
signed the 2018 Farm Bill, which made
additional changes to the provisions
governing the storage and expungement
of unused benefits. Section 4006 of the
2018 Farm Bill specifies that a State
may take benefits off-line after three
months (previously six months) and that
States must expunge unused benefits
after nine months (previously 12
months). States must also notify
individual households before expunging
their benefits. Because these provisions
are mandatory and non-discretionary,
the Department is including these
provisions in this final rule without
comment. State agencies will have 12
months from the effective date of this
rule to implement these mandatory 2018
Farm Bill provisions.
The Department solicited comments
on the proposed rule for 60 days, ending
November 28, 2016. The Department
received 24 comments from various
entities, including 13 advocate
organizations, eight State or local
government agencies, two Electronic
Funds Transfer (EFT) associations, and
one individual not identified with an
organization or a State agency.
III. Summary of Comments and
Explanation of Revisions
Overall, commenters supported the
proposed rule but wanted exemptions
from the expungement and off-line
provisions for certain groups, as well as
greater protections for clients, especially
the elderly and disabled. Commenters
also wanted more clarification on the
process for taking benefits off-line and
restoring them. There was some
opposition to the requirement to remove
off-line benefits or the benefits of
deceased households from the EBT
system and the AMA, preferring that
State agencies merely deactivate EBT
cards. Some commenters also pointed
out that some of the definitions related
to EBT were too narrow and should be
broadened to account for emerging
technologies. Below is further
discussion of the most substantive
comments the Department received.
Definitions
The Department proposed adding new
definitions under 7 CFR part 271 to

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update terminology for the EBT
issuance system and ensure consistency
with current policy. Commenters
wanted the definitions of EBT card, EBT
system, Interoperability, and point-ofsale (POS) terminal to account for
possible technologies that do not require
a POS terminal or EBT card, such as
online shopping. The Department agrees
that the proposed definitions may be too
narrow as technology develops.
Therefore, this final rule broadens these
definitions. One commenter also noted
that adding the definition for Contractor
would be confusing, given such broad
and varying use of the term throughout
the SNAP program. This final rule will
change the term Contractor to EBT
contractor to distinguish it from other
types of contractors used in SNAP.
These changes are reflected at § 271.2.
Split Issuance
Section 4113 of the 2008 Farm Bill
required State agencies to issue a
household’s ongoing monthly benefit
allotment in one lump sum. The
Department clarified existing
regulations in the proposed regulations
that affirm this requirement.
Thirteen advocate and two industry
organizations expressed strong support
for prohibiting State agencies from
splitting ongoing monthly allotments.
They believe that lump sum monthly
allotments provide SNAP households
with maximum flexibility for managing
how and when to purchase food within
the time, transportation and other
constraints that low-income shoppers
often face. One commenter also
commented that splitting monthly
SNAP allotments would have a
‘‘chilling effect’’ on seniors receiving
SNAP benefits. Others added that it
would increase administrative costs at
both the state and federal level. No
commenters expressed opposition to
this provision.
The Department appreciates all
comments on this issue, which provide
additional support for requiring the
issuance of monthly benefit allotments
in a single lump sum. Given these
comments and the fact that no
comments expressed opposition, this
provision remains unchanged in the
final rule at 7 CFR 274.2(c).
Moving Benefits Off-Line
Prior to the 2008 Farm Bill,
regulations required three months of
account inactivity before the State
agency could exercise its discretion to
move the inactive account benefits
offline. However, the 2008 Farm Bill
mandated six months of account
inactivity before the State agency could
move the inactive account benefits

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offline. Accordingly, the Department
proposed rules to reflect this new
requirement. However, following
publication of the proposed rule,
Congress passed the 2018 Farm Bill
which restored the original requirement
of three months of inactivity. Because
this statutory provision is mandatory
and non-discretionary, the Department
will not change the current regulation,
which requires three months of
inactivity prior to moving benefits
offline.
The Department also proposed to
notify households in advance within 10
days prior to moving inactive account
benefits off-line. In addition, the
Department proposed to require that any
offline benefits must be restored within
48 hours of the recipient’s request.
Finally, the Department proposed to
remove off-line benefits from the EBT
system rather than merely deactivating
the account.
No comments opposed the
requirement for the notice or the
restoration of benefits within 48 hours
of a recipient’s requests. However,
commenters did request exemptions for
certain groups, consideration of
potential barriers to participation in
SNAP before moving inactive account
benefits off-line, and clarification
regarding removal of off-line benefits
from the EBT and AMA systems. The
Department summarizes these
comments and provides its responses
below.
Nine advocate organizations
requested that the Department make
several household categories exempt
from having their benefits taken off-line,
such as the elderly, disabled and/or
households that receive the minimum
benefit allotment. The Department
emphasizes that State agencies are not
required to take benefits off-line prior to
permanent expungement. Moreover,
individual State agencies that choose to
implement the off-line option have the
discretion to exempt certain groups of
households from having their inactive
accounts stored off-line. Therefore, the
Department will not require certain
household exemptions in this final rule.
Instead, any State agency that chooses to
implement the off-line option can
exercise its own discretion as to
whether to apply such exemptions.
Six advocate organizations wanted the
Department to require State agencies to
investigate possible barriers facing the
household before taking benefits offline. Commenters suggested that State
agencies should consider specific
demographics of the SNAP household,
whether the SNAP household received
their EBT card and PIN, whether the
SNAP household is aware of

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transportation community services, and
whether a lack of information exists
regarding the appointment of an
authorized representative.
Currently, only six State agencies
exercise the off-line option, without any
such requirement in place. The
Department does not have supporting
information from those States to justify
requiring States to now take affirmative
steps prior to taking action to determine
if households are experiencing barriers
that prevent them from using their
benefits. Furthermore, the action to take
benefits off-line is not permanent.
Households still have up to six months
to have the benefits reinstated from the
point that benefits are moved off-line.
However, the Department encourages
State agencies that opt to take benefits
off-line to include, in addition to how
to reactivate the account, information in
the off-line notice regarding
transportation options, authorized
representatives, and other assistance
available to households.
Eight advocate organizations wanted
the Department to codify requirements
for a simple and easy-to-use process for
requesting restoration of benefits stored
off-line, including notices that are easy
to understand and an easy way to
contact a SNAP worker to request
reinstatement. The Department is not
swayed by the comments suggesting
simple and easy-to-use processes should
be codified. However, in response to
comments, the Department is requiring
that any unexpired benefits taken offline be restored upon recertification or
reapplication for benefits without the
household having to make a specific
request and that, moreover, a general
request for any type of assistance from
a household that has had benefits
moved off-line be considered a request
for reinstatement of those benefits.
States may continue to establish their
own procedures for restoring benefits
outside of the recertification or
application process. Title 7 CFR
274.2(h) is amended accordingly.
Removing Off-Line Benefits From the
EBT System
The Department proposed to require
that, if a State exercised their option to
take inactive account benefits off-line,
the amount would also need to be
removed from the AMA. The AMA is an
accounting system that interfaces with
the U.S. Department of Treasury to keep
track of benefit authorizations, returned
benefits such as expungements, and
benefit redemptions. An industry
organization opposed this proposed
requirement because it would require all
such benefits to be tracked by the
eligibility system and reissued if

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requested by the household.
Commenters added that this
requirement would complicate AMA
reporting because the accounting
method would understate the true
outstanding SNAP liability of SNAP
benefits for States that move benefits
off-line prior to expungement.
Commenters suggested allowing States
to leave the benefits on the EBT system
and merely make them inaccessible to
the client. Another industry
organization disagreed with the need to
take benefits off-line at all because of
the overall complexity of tracking and
reporting the benefits.
The option for State agencies to take
benefits off-line after three months of
account inactivity is statutory and,
therefore, the Department does not have
the discretion to eliminate this option.
However, we are persuaded by the
commenters that the complexities
associated with removing the benefits
from AMA are unwarranted. Therefore,
in this final rule, the Department is
removing the proposed provision to
require State agencies to remove off-line
benefits from AMA. State agencies may
continue to move benefits off-line after
at least three months of inactivity by
making inactive EBT account benefits
inaccessible to the household without
taking them off the AMA system. The
Department will also clarify the
meaning of taking benefits off-line to
align with this change. Title 7 CFR
274.2(h) is amended accordingly.
Benefit Expungement
The Department proposed keeping the
current expungement process, which is
based on account activity, unchanged.
The Department also specifically asked
commenters to provide feedback on
amending the process so that unused
benefits are expunged based on the
issuance date, regardless of account
activity. This alternative process would
give households a finite period of time
to use their benefits as opposed to
allowing benefits to remain in
household EBT accounts indefinitely, as
long as there is account activity at least
once every 12 months. The Department
also asked for comments on whether
State agencies should have the option to
choose either of the two methods for
determining when benefits get
expunged.
Seventeen commenters in total,
including all 13 advocate organizations,
three State/local agencies, and one EFT
association, preferred maintaining the
current process of expunging only from
inactive accounts. They cited the
technological and financial burden on
State agencies to make the necessary
system changes as well as the view that

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there are practical and economic
reasons for households to accumulate
benefits which tend to impact the most
vulnerable SNAP recipients—the
elderly, disabled, and those with
transportation, mobility and food access
hurdles. Three advocate organizations
wanted the Department to require State
agencies to expunge benefits on a firstin-first-out (FIFO) basis under the
alternative option to expunge benefits
based on the issuance date.
Four commenters, including two State
agencies, preferred expunging benefits
that have not been used by a specific
timeframe, regardless of account
activity. They believe this approach is
more consistent with the purpose of the
Program and that excessively high
SNAP EBT account balances could
indicate a lack of need or fraudulent
activity, which undermines the public’s
perception of the program’s integrity.
Three other State agencies wanted to
have the option to choose either
expungement method.
If the Department were to require
States to change the current
expungement process to require unused
benefits be expunged based on the date
of issuance, several commenters wanted
the Department to exempt restored
benefits from the expungement process
or allow households a longer period of
time to spend those benefits. Also, many
of the same commenters who wanted
exemptions from taking benefits off-line
for certain households wanted similar
exemptions to apply to benefit
expungement as well.
In the interest of State flexibility, the
Department has decided to give State
agencies the option to implement either
of the two expungement methods
described in the proposed rule. State
agencies must designate which
approach will be used in its State plan
and apply the same approach uniformly
to all households. The Department
would also like to take this opportunity
to clarify that State agencies are already
required to apply household
transactions against SNAP benefits on a
FIFO basis and that, under either of the
two expungement options, by
definition, State agencies will continue
to expunge the oldest benefits first.
In accordance with Section 4006 of
the 2018 Farm Bill, this final rule
amends the expungement timeframe
from 12 months to nine months. The
Department considers nine months to be
equal to 274 days. Therefore, State
agencies may opt to either expunge
households’ individual benefit
allotments, or any remaining portion
thereof, nine months after the allotment
was issued (i.e., made available to the
household) or wait until the account has

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been inactive for nine months before
expunging any benefits at the allotment
level. In this final rule, the amended
expungement provisions are at 7 CFR
274.2(i) and the proposed paragraph (i)
is now paragraph (j).
If expunging benefits based on the
issuance date, the Department was
interested in feedback with regard to
lump sum benefits issued as a result of
a fair hearing determination to
determine if an exception process was
feasible or practical. Since then, the
Department has determined that an
exception process that allows
households additional time beyond nine
months to access their benefits would
not be consistent with the 2018 Farm
Bill requirement and, therefore, is not
allowable. However, State agencies that
choose the option to expunge benefits
based on the issuance date could
mitigate the potential problem of lump
sum issuances by splitting up the
retroactive payments and issuing them
in separate months. The 2008 Farm Bill
provision specifically makes an
exception to the split issuance
prohibition in cases where a benefit
correction is necessary. No changes
have been made in the final rule
regarding this issue.
Section 4006 of the 2018 Farm Bill
also requires States to provide notice to
individual households prior to
expunging that household’s SNAP
benefits, including benefits stored offline, so that the household has the
opportunity to access the benefits and
avoid expungement. Currently, State
agencies are required to notify
individual households prior to taking
benefits off-line, but not prior to
permanently expunging unused
benefits.
Because the 2018 Farm Bill
specifically requires the notice to
include the date upon which benefits
must be expunged, the Department is
requiring State agencies to provide
individual notification that is closely
tied to the expungement date, but not
later than 30 days before the first
benefits get expunged. General
notification of the change in the
expungement timeframes should be
done at certification/recertification and
in training materials, as has been the
case before this requirement. This
general notification, however, cannot
replace the individual notification to
households whose benefits are
scheduled to be expunged within at
least 30 days.
As proposed and as currently
required, benefits must be expunged
individually at the monthly allotment
level; however a notice is only being
required prior to expunging the first

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allotment. State agencies are not being
required to provide monthly
expungement notices prior to expunging
each benefit allotment. If the
expungement process stops for a
household for any reason, including
when the household accesses their
benefits or requests restoration of
remaining off-line benefits, the State
would need to provide the household
with a new expungement notice if the
household’s benefits become subject to
expungement again.
Consistent with other required formal
notices to households, the Department
is requiring that this notice must be
written in easily understandable
language and include the date that
benefit expungement will begin, the
action needed to prevent the
expungement, and the household’s right
to request a fair hearing. This
expungement notification provision is
being codified at 7 CFR 274.2(i)(2).
Expunging Benefits of Deceased
Households
In general, commenters did not
oppose the proposed requirement to
expunge benefits when all certified
household members are determined to
be deceased in accordance with 7 CFR
272.14, regardless of account activity or
the benefit issuance date. However, two
State/local agencies wanted the
Department to allow State agencies to
merely make benefits of deceased
households inaccessible until they age
off, rather than permanently expunging
them at the time of the death match, to
avoid possible misidentification of
deceased individuals. The same two
State agencies cited concerns with
necessary system programming changes
and the need to make benefits quickly
available again in instances when the
death match is erroneous.
While the Department understands
concerns that a household account
might erroneously be expunged due to
a false death match, several State
agencies have already been expunging
benefits of deceased one-person
households under the Agency’s waiver
authority. Under 7 CFR 272.14, State
agencies are required to independently
verify death matches and provide the
household notice and the opportunity to
respond prior to terminating benefits.
To date, the Agency has not had any
indication that false death matches have
created an issue that would justify
allowing benefits to remain in the EBT
accounts of deceased single-person
households.
Furthermore, State agencies are
already required to close single-person
household cases when a death match is
verified. Therefore, requiring States to

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expunge the account of such households
does not add any additional risks which
do not already exist. Should such an
error occur, the State agency could
correct the mistake by reissuing the
benefits as a new benefit just as when
off-line benefits are reinstated if they
have been removed from the EBT
system or when lump sum benefits are
restored as a result of a fair hearing
determination.
In contrast, having benefits of a
deceased household remain in the
account, even if deactivated, would
leave such benefits susceptible to fraud,
such as being activated by unauthorized
individuals. Since there are no longer
any certified individuals entitled to the
benefits of deceased households, these
benefits cannot be reinstated. Leaving
these benefits in EBT accounts would
also misrepresent the outstanding
liability to the Federal government. For
all these reasons, the Department is
maintaining the provision to
permanently expunge benefits upon the
verified death match of all certified
members of the household at 7 CFR
274.2(i)(4).
Implementation Deadline
The implementation deadline for all
provisions in this rule is 12 months
from the rule’s effective date. With
respect to the expungement provisions,
no later than 12 months from the
effective date of this rule, State agencies
must issue individual notices to
households who will have benefits
scheduled for expungement within at
least 30 days, based on the new ninemonth expungement timeframe.
Therefore, actual benefit expungement
under the new nine-month timeframe
must begin no later than 13 months
from the effective date of this rule, after
providing the minimum 30-day notices
to the affected individual households.
Procedural Matters
Executive Order 12866 and Executive
Order 13563
Executive Orders 12866 and 13563,
direct agencies to assess all costs and
benefits of available regulatory
alternatives and, if regulation is
necessary, to select regulatory
approaches that maximize net benefits
(including potential economic,
environmental, public health and safety
effects, distributive impacts, and
equity). Executive Order 13563
emphasizes the importance of
quantifying both costs and benefits, of
reducing costs, of harmonizing rules
and of promoting flexibility. This final
rule has been determined to be not
significant and was not reviewed by the

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Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) in conformance with Executive
Order 12866.
Regulatory Impact Analysis
This final rule has been designated as
not significant by the Office of
Management and Budget; therefore, no
Regulatory Impact Analysis is required.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Regulatory Flexibility Act (5
U.S.C. 601–612) requires Agencies to
analyze the impact of rulemaking on
small entities and consider alternatives
that would minimize any significant
impacts on a substantial number of
small entities. Pursuant to that review,
this final rule is certified not to have a
significant impact on a substantial
number of small entities.
This final rule would not have an
impact on small entities because the
provisions only impact State agencies
responsible for administering the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program.
Congressional Review Act
Pursuant to the Congressional Review
Act (5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.), the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs
designated this rule as not a major rule
as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).
Executive Order 13771
Executive Order 13771 directs
agencies to reduce regulation and
control regulatory costs and provides
that the cost of planned regulations be
prudently managed and controlled
through a budgeting process.
This rule is not an E.O. 13771
regulatory action because it is not
significant under E.O. 12866.

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Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
Title II of the Unfunded Mandates
Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA), Public
Law 104–4, 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,
the Department generally must prepare
a written statement, including a cost
benefit analysis, for proposed and final
rules with ‘‘Federal mandates’’ that may
result in expenditures by State, local or
tribal governments, in the aggregate, or
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 the
Department to identify and consider a
reasonable number of regulatory
alternatives and adopt the most cost
effective or least burdensome alternative
that achieves the objectives of the rule.

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This final rule does not contain
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, the rule is
not subject to the requirements of
sections 202 and 205 of the UMRA.
Executive Order 12372
The Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program is listed in the
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
under Number 10.551 and is not subject
to Executive Order 12372, which
requires intergovernmental consultation
with State and local officials.
Federalism Summary Impact Statement
Executive Order 13132 requires
Federal agencies to consider the impact
of their regulatory actions on State and
local governments. Where such actions
have federalism implications, agencies
are directed to provide a statement for
inclusion in the preamble to the
regulations describing the agency’s
considerations in terms of the three
categories called for under Section
(6)(b)(2)(B) of Executive Order 13132.
The Department has considered the
impact of this rule on State and local
governments and has determined that
this rule does not have federalism
implications. Therefore, under section
6(b) of the Executive order, a federalism
summary is not required.
Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice
Reform
This final rule has been reviewed
under Executive Order 12988, Civil
Justice Reform. This rule is intended to
have preemptive effect with respect to
any State or local laws, regulations or
policies which conflict with its
provisions or which would otherwise
impede its full and timely
implementation. This rule is not
intended to have retroactive effect
unless so specified in the Effective Dates
section of the final rule. Prior to any
judicial challenge to the provisions of
the final rule, all applicable
administrative procedures must be
exhausted.
Civil Rights Impact Analysis
The Department has reviewed this
final rule in accordance with USDA
Regulation 4300–4, ‘‘Civil Rights Impact
Analysis,’’ to identify any major civil
rights impacts the rule might have on
program participants on the basis of age,
race, color, national origin, sex or
disability.
Although the 2018 Farm Bill reduces
the amount of time from 12 months to
nine months, during which all

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52029

households must use or access their
benefits before benefits are permanently
expunged, mitigation efforts are
imbedded in the legislation and this
rule by requiring that each individual
household be given notice prior to
expungement. The notice must be
provided at least 30 days in advance,
state the date when expungement will
begin, and specify the action the
household must take to prevent the
expungement from occurring. There is
no expungement notice requirement
under the current requirement to
expunge benefits after 12 months of
SNAP account inactivity.
Without prior notification, the
Department estimates that, on average,
approximately 16 percent of SNAP
households currently get some amount
of benefits expunged from their SNAP
accounts. The Department estimates
that, on average, one month’s allotment
is expunged for each household
affected. The Department anticipates
that the new notification requirement
will reduce the number of
expungements despite the reduced
timeframe for using benefits.
Currently, only six States are opting to
take benefits off-line prior to
expungement after six months of
account inactivity. The 2018 Farm bill
now allows States to take benefits offline after three months of inactivity. In
the States that take benefits off-line, the
Department estimates that 14 percent of
households have their benefits taken offline and that six percent of those
households have those benefits
reinstated prior to expungement.
Providing individual household
notification prior to taking benefits offline is required under both the current
regulation and the regulation being
implemented by this rule.
Because of the new requirement to
notify households prior to
expungement, the Department estimates
that a greater percentage of households
that get their benefits taken off-line will
get their benefits reinstated than under
the new regulation, mitigating the
impact of the reduced timeframe for
taking benefits off-line due to account
inactivity.
The Department is also codifying in
this rule that States should
automatically restore any off-line
benefits upon a household’s
recertification or reapplication, and that
a general request for assistance should
be considered a request for
reinstatement of off-line benefits.
While specific demographic data is
not readily available, after a careful
review of the rule’s intent and
provisions and based on the above
analysis the Department has determined

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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 164 / Monday, August 24, 2020 / Rules and Regulations

that this final rule is not expected to
affect the participation of protected
individuals in SNAP.
Executive Order 13175
Executive Order 13175 requires
Federal agencies to consult and
coordinate with Tribes on a
government-to-government basis on
policies that have Tribal implications,
including regulations, legislative
comments or proposed legislation, and
other policy statements or actions that
have substantial direct effects on one or
more Indian Tribes, on the relationship
between the Federal Government and
Indian Tribes, or on the distribution of
power and responsibilities between the
Federal Government and Indian Tribes.
We are unaware of any current Tribal
laws that could be in conflict with this
rule.

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Paperwork Reduction Act
The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(44 U.S.C. chap. 35; see 5 CFR part
1320) requires the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) approve all
collections of information by a Federal
agency before they can be implemented.
Respondents are not required to respond
to any collection of information unless
it displays a current valid OMB control
number.
In accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995, this final rule
contains information collections that are
subject to review and approval by the
Office of Management and Budget.
These existing requirements impact a
current collection that has been used
without a valid OMB control number or
expiration date. The Department plans
to bring these burden requirements into
compliance, contingent upon OMB
approval under the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995. FNS plans to
account for and maintain these burden
hours under a new OMB control number
assigned by OMB. Because the changes
in the information collection burden
that will result from adoption of
provisions in this final rule were not
submitted for public comment in the
proposed rule, a separate 60-day notice
was published on February 11, 2020, in
the Federal Register at 85 FR 7716.
All responses received to this
published notice will be summarized
and included in the information
collection request for OMB approval.
All comments are also a matter of public
record. These changes are contingent
upon OMB approval under the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
When the information collection

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requirements associated with this
rulemaking have been approved, the
Department will publish a separate
notice in the Federal Register
announcing OMB’s approval.
Title: SNAP Benefit Storage and
Expungement: Notices and Off-Line
Benefit Reinstatement.
OMB Number: 0584–NEW.
Expiration Date: N/A.
Type of Request: New.
Abstract: This is a new information
collection request. Although the agency
has been collecting this information, we
were unware that collecting this
information is in violation of the
Paperwork Reduction Act. This final
rule implements benefit issuance
provisions of the Food, Conservation
and Energy Act of 2008, Public Law
110–234 (2008 Farm Bill) and the
Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018,
Public Law 115–334, (2018 Farm Bill).
Both Farm Bills amend the Food and
Nutrition Act of 2008 (the Act), which
includes benefit issuance, storage and
expiration requirements for
administering the program. State
agencies are responsible for issuing
benefits to those households entitled to
benefits under the Act. This burden
request covers activities associated with
the required notices sent to individuals/
household SNAP participants related to
taking benefits off-line prior to
permanent expungement after three
months of SNAP EBT account inactivity
and permanently expunging benefits
after nine months of account inactivity.
In addition, this burden request covers
the activities associated with reinstating
the off-line benefits to those SNAP
participants upon contact by the
household.
Respondents: 53 State agencies and
2,961,834 individuals/households
SNAP participants. The respondents
and activities are broken out below
based on activities.
Respondents: State/Local/Tribal
Government Burden (53).
Off-Line Benefit Storage Notice
Estimated Number of Respondents: 6.
Estimated Number of Responses per
Respondent: 90,136.33.
Estimated Total Annual Responses:
540,818.00.
Estimated Average Hours per
Response Annually: 0.05 minutes or
0.0083 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on
Respondents: 4,515.83.
Expungement Notice
Estimated Number of Respondents:
53.

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Estimated Number of Responses per
Respondent: 55,883.66.
Estimated Total Annual Responses:
2,961,834.00.
Estimated Average Hours per
Response Annually: 0.05 minutes or
0.0083 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on
Respondents: 24,731.31.
Off-Line Benefit Reinstatement
Estimated Number of Respondents: 6.
Estimated Number of Responses per
Respondent: 5,543.33.
Estimated Total Annual Responses:
33,260.00.
Estimated Average Hours per
Response Annually: 3 minutes or 0.0501
hours.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on
Respondents: 1,666.33.
Respondents: Individual/Household
Notice.
Off-Line Storage Notice
Estimated Number of Respondents:
540,818.00.
Estimated Number of Responses per
Respondent: 1.
Estimated Total Annual Responses:
540,818.00.
Estimated Average Hours per
Response Annually: 3.5 minutes or
0.0583 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on
Respondents: 31,529.69.
Expungement Notice
Estimated Number of Respondents:
2,961,834.
Estimated Number of Responses per
Respondent: 1.
Estimated Total Annual Responses:
2,961,834.00.
Estimated Average Hours per
Response Annually: 2 minutes or 0.0334
hours.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on
Respondents: 98,925.26.
Off-line Benefit Reinstatement
Estimated Number of Respondents:
33,260.
Estimated Number of Responses per
Respondent: 1.
Estimated Total Annual Responses:
33,260.00.
Estimated Average Hours per
Response Annually: 5 minutes or 0.0835
hours.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on
Respondents: 2,777.21.
The total burden for this rulemaking
is 5,923,668.00 total annual responses
and 163,970.49 burden hours.

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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 164 / Monday, August 24, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
Estimated
avg. number
of hours per
response
annually

Total
annualized
cost of
respondent
burden

Estimated
annual number
respondent

Responses
annually per
respondent

2,961,834.00

1.00

2,961,834.00

0.0334

98,925.26

$7.25

$717,208.14

540,818.00

1.00

540,818.00

0.0583

31,529.69

7.25

228,590.25

33,260.00

1.00

33,260.00

0.0835

2,777.21

7.25

20,134.77

2,961,834.00

1.00

2,961,834.00

0.1752

133,232.16

7.25

965,933.16

53.00

55,883.66

2,961,834.00

0.0083

24,583.22

23.50

577,705.67

Off-Line Benefit Storage
Notice.
Off-Line Benefit Reinstatement.

6.00

90,136.33

540,818.00

0.0083

4,488.79

23.50

105,486.57

6.00

5,543.33

33,260.00

0.0501

1,666.33

23.50

39,158.76

Sub-Total of State
Agencies.

........................................

53.00

55,883.66

2,961,834.00

0.0677

30,738.34

23.50

722,351.00

Grand Total
Reporting
Burden with
both Affect
Public.

........................................

2,961,887.00

2.0000

5,923,668.00

0.0277

163,970.49

....................

1,688,284.16

Respondent

Individuals or Households SNAP Recipients.

Activity

Benefit Expungement
Notice.
Off-Line Benefit Storage
Notice.
Off-Line Benefit Reinstatement.

Sub-Total of Individual/Households
SNAP Recipients.
State Agencies ..............

........................................

Benefit Expungement
Notice.

Total annual
responses

Estimated
annual total
hours

52031

Hourly wage
rate

Note: * Each State Eligibility worker is counted once as all State Agency employees.
** Based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2020 Occupational and Wage Statistics (http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/)—the salaries of the case managers are
considered to be ‘‘Social Workers—other’’ (21–1029) functions valued at $30.12 per staff hour. The salaries of the eligibility workers are considered to be ‘‘Eligibility
Interviewers, government programs’’ (43–4061) functions valued at $22.34. The salaries of Office and Administrative Support Workers, All other (43–9199) is $18.02
per hour. Assuming an applicant staff person with an average salary of $23.50 is needed to complete the applications, the total annualized dollars spent on respondent burden with fully loaded wages is $2,245,417.93. The base cost to respondents is $1,688,284.16 (× 1.33 fringe benefit cost) as depicted in the table above.
*** The $7.25 used to calculate a cost to SNAP applicants (individuals/households) is the Federal minimum wage.

E-Government Act Compliance
The Food and Nutrition Service is
committed to complying with the EGovernment Act, to promote the use of
the internet and other information
technologies to provide increased
opportunities for citizen access to
Government information and services,
and for other purposes.
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Parts 271 and
274
Food stamps, Grant programs-social
programs, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements.
For reason set forth in the preamble,
7 CFR chapter II is amended as follows:
SUBCHAPTER C—[AMENDED]

1. Under the authority of 7 U.S.C
2011, in the heading of subchapter C of
chapter II, remove the words ‘‘Food
Stamp’’ and add in their place the
words ‘‘Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance’’.

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■

2. The authority citation for 7 CFR
parts 271 and 274 continues to read as
follows:

■

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 2011–2036.

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PART 271—GENERAL INFORMATION
AND DEFINITIONS
§ 271.1

[Amended]

3. In § 271.1:
a. Remove the word ‘‘coupons’’ from
the fourth sentence of paragraph (b) and
add in its place ‘‘SNAP benefits’’; and
■ b. Remove the word ‘‘coupon’’ from
the tenth sentence of paragraph (b) and
add in its place ‘‘benefit’’.
■ 4. In § 271.2:
■ a. Amend the definition of Allotment
by removing the word ‘‘coupons’’ and
adding in its place the word ‘‘benefits’’;
■ b. Remove the definition of
Authorization to participate card (ATP);
■ c. Add definitions for Benefit and
Benefit issuer in alphabetical order;
■ d. Remove the definitions of Bulk
storage point, Coupon issuer, and Direct
access system;
■ e. Add definitions for Electronic
Benefit Transfer (EBT) account,
Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card,
Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT)
contractor or vendor, and Electronic
Benefit Transfer (EBT) system in
alphabetical order;
■ f. Amend the definition of Eligible
foods by removing the word ‘‘coupons’’
where it appears twice in paragraph (3)
of the definition and adding in its place
the words ‘‘SNAP benefits’’;
■
■

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g. Amend the definition of Firm’s
practice by removing the words ‘‘food
coupons’’ and adding in their place the
words ‘‘SNAP benefits’’;
■ h. Add definitions for Interoperability,
Manual transaction, and Manual
voucher in alphabetical order;
■ i. Amend the definition of
Overissuance by removing the word
‘‘coupons’’ and adding in its place the
word ‘‘benefits’’;
■ j. Add definitions for Personal
identification number (PIN), Point-ofsale (POS) terminal, and Primary
account number (PAN) in alphabetical
order;
■ k. Remove the definition of Program;
and
■ l. Add definitions for Retailer EBT
Data Exchange (REDE) system and
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP or Program) in
alphabetical order.
The additions read as follows:
■

§ 271.2

Definitions.

*

*
*
*
*
Benefit means the value of
supplemental nutrition assistance
provided to a household by means of an
EBT system or other means of providing
assistance, as determined by the
Secretary.
Benefit issuer means any office of the
State agency or any person, partnership,

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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 164 / Monday, August 24, 2020 / Rules and Regulations

corporation, organization, political
subdivision or other entity with which
a State agency has contracted for, or to
which it has delegated functional
responsibility, in connection with the
issuance of benefits to households.
*
*
*
*
*
Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT)
account means a set of records
containing demographic, card, benefit,
transaction and balance data for an
individual household within the EBT
system that is maintained and managed
by a State or its contractor as part of the
client case record.
Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card
means a method to access EBT benefits
issued to a household member or
authorized representative through the
EBT system by a benefit issuer. This
method may include an on-line
magnetic stripe card, an off-line smart
card, a chip card, a contactless digital
wallet with a stored card, or any other
similar benefit access technology
approved by FNS.
Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT)
contractor or vendor means an entity
that is selected to perform EBT–related
services for the State agency.
Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT)
system means an electronic payments
system under which household benefits
are issued from and stored in a central
databank, maintained and managed by a
State or its contractor, and uses
electronic funds transfer technology for
the delivery and control of food and
other public assistance benefits.
*
*
*
*
*
Interoperability means a system that
enables program benefits issued to be
redeemed outside the State that issued
the benefits.
*
*
*
*
*
Manual transaction means an EBT
transaction that is processed with the
use of a paper manual voucher when
there is an EBT system outage.
Manual voucher means a paper
document signed by the EBT cardholder
that allows a retailer to redeem benefits
through a manual transaction.
*
*
*
*
*
Personal identification number (PIN)
means a numeric code selected by or
assigned to a household and used to
verify the identity of an EBT cardholder
when performing an EBT transaction.
*
*
*
*
*
Point-of-Sale (POS) terminal means a
range of devices deployed at authorized
retail food stores for redeeming benefits
by initiating electronic debits and
credits of household EBT accounts and
retailer bank accounts.
Primary account number (PAN)
means a number embossed or printed on

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the EBT card and encoded onto the card
to identify the State and EBT account
holder.
*
*
*
*
*
Retailer EBT Data Exchange (REDE)
system means the FNS system that
allows the automated exchange of
authorized retailer demographic data
between FNS and the State and/or EBT
contractor for notification of changes in
retailer Program participation.
*
*
*
*
*
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP or Program) means the
program operated pursuant to the Food
and Nutrition Act of 2008.
*
*
*
*
*
§ 271.4

[Amended]

5. In § 271.4(a)(2), remove the word
‘‘coupons’’ and add in its place ‘‘SNAP
benefits and EBT cards’’.

■

§ 271.5

[Amended]

6. In § 271.5:
a. Remove ‘‘Coupons’’, ‘‘Coupon’’,
‘‘coupon’’, and ‘‘coupons’’ wherever
they appear and add in their place
‘‘Benefits’’, ‘‘Benefit’’, ‘‘benefit’’, and
‘‘benefits’’, respectively;
■ b. Amend paragraph (a) by adding
‘‘and EBT cards’’ at the end of the last
sentence;
■ c. Amend the introductory text of
paragraph (b) by removing ‘‘ATP’’ and
adding in its place ‘‘EBT’’;
■ d. Remove paragraphs (b)(1) through
(3);
■ e. Amend paragraph (c) by removing
‘‘ATP’s’’ wherever it appear and adding
in its place ‘‘EBT cards’’.
■
■

PART 274—ISSUANCE AND USE OF
BENEFITS
7. In § 274.2:
a. Revise paragraph (c);
b. Amend paragraph (e)(1) by
removing ‘‘of paragraphs (e) through
(h)’’ and removing ‘‘§ 274.6 and § 274.7’’
and adding in its place ‘‘§§ 274.6 and
274.7’’;
■ c. Amend paragraph (g)(3) by
removing ‘‘paragraph (h)(3)’’ and adding
in its place ‘‘paragraph (j)’’;
■ d. Revise paragraph (h);
■ e. Add paragraphs (i) and (j).
The revisions and additions read as
follows:
■
■
■

§ 274.2

Providing benefits to participants.

*

*
*
*
*
(c) Benefit allotments. (1) State
agencies shall not issue ongoing
monthly benefit allotments to a
household in more than one issuance
during a month except with respect to
the issuance of benefits to a resident of
a drug and alcohol treatment and

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rehabilitation program in accordance
with § 273.11(e) of this chapter or when
a benefit correction is necessary.
(2) For those households which are to
receive a combined allotment, the State
agency shall provide the benefits for
both months as an aggregate (combined)
allotment, or as two separate allotments,
made available at the same time in
accordance with the timeframes
specified in § 273.2 of this chapter.
*
*
*
*
*
(h) Off-line storage. If a household’s
EBT account is inactive for three
months (91 days) or longer, State
agencies may elect to store all benefits
in that account off-line.
(1) An EBT account is inactive if the
household has not initiated activity that
affects the balance of the household’s
SNAP EBT account, such as a purchase
or return.
(2) Taking benefits off-line means that
the household’s SNAP EBT account,
including all existing benefits in the
account and any new issuances
deposited into the account, is no longer
accessible to the household unless and
until the account and its benefits are
reinstated upon contact by the
household.
(3) The State agency shall send
written notification to the household up
to 10 days prior to or concurrent with
the action to store benefits off-line. If an
inactive account has a zero balance, a
notice to the household is not required.
At a minimum, the notice shall include
information on:
(i) The steps necessary to bring the
benefits back on-line; and
(ii) The State agency’s permanent
expungement policy.
(4) Benefits stored off-line that have
not been expunged in accordance with
paragraph (i) of this section shall be
reinstated and made available within 48
hours of reapplication or contact by the
household. In addition to a specific
request for benefit restoration,
household contact shall include, but is
not limited to:
(i) Recertification or reapplication for
benefits; and
(ii) A general request for assistance.
(i) Expungement. (1) State agencies
shall apply SNAP transactions against a
household’s SNAP benefits on a first-infirst-out basis. As a result, the oldest
SNAP benefits are used first. On a daily
basis, the State agency shall expunge
benefits from EBT accounts at the
monthly benefit allotment level in
accordance with either paragraph
(i)(1)(i) or (ii) of this section. State
agencies must designate which
approach will be used in its State plan
and use the same approach for all
households within the State.

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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 164 / Monday, August 24, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
(i) Inactive EBT accounts. Benefits
allotments, or portion thereof, shall be
expunged from EBT accounts that have
been inactive, per paragraph (h)(1) of
this section, for a period of nine months
(274 days) in accordance with the
following:
(A) When the oldest benefit allotment
has not been accessed by the household
for nine months, the State agency shall
expunge benefits from the EBT account
or off-line storage at the monthly benefit
allotment level as each benefit allotment
ages to nine months since the date of
issuance or since the last date of
account activity, whichever date is later.
(B) The State agency shall not
expunge any benefits from active
accounts even if there are benefit
allotments older than nine months. If at
any time after the expungement process
begins, the household initiates activity
affecting the balance of the account, the
State shall stop expunging benefits from
the account and start the account aging
process over again for the remaining
benefits.
(ii) Unused benefits. The State agency
shall expunge individual benefit
allotments, or portion thereof, that
remain in a household’s EBT account
nine months (274 days) after the date
the allotment was issued to the
household, regardless of any account
activity that may have taken place.
(2) Not later than 30 days before
benefit expungement is scheduled to
begin, State agencies shall provide
notice to the household that benefits in
their EBT account are approaching
expungement due to nonuse/inactivity.
At a minimum, the notice shall include:
(i) The date upon which benefits are
scheduled to be expunged; and
(ii) The steps necessary to prevent the
expungement, including an opportunity
to request that any benefits stored offline be restored to the household in
accordance with paragraph (h) of this
section;
(3) Expunged benefits shall be
removed from the Account Management
Agent and shall not be reinstated.
(4) Notwithstanding paragraph (i)(1)
of this section, in instances when the
State agency verifies a death match for
all certified members of the household
and closes the SNAP case in accordance
with § 272.14 of this chapter, the State
agency shall expunge the remaining
SNAP balance in the household’s EBT
account at that time. In accordance with
§ 273.13(b)(2) of this chapter,
expungement notices, per paragraph
(i)(2) of this section, are not required for
these households.
(j) Procedures to adjust SNAP
accounts. Procedures shall be
established to permit the appropriate

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managers to adjust SNAP benefits that
have already been posted to an EBT
account prior to the household
accessing the account, or to remove
benefits from inactive accounts for offline storage or expungement in
accordance with paragraphs (h) and (i)
of this section.
(1) Whenever benefits are stored offline or expunged, the State agency shall
document the date, amount of the
benefits, and storage location in the
household case file.
(2) Issuance reports shall reflect the
adjustment to the State agency issuance
totals to comply with monthly issuance
reporting requirements prescribed under
§ 274.4.
§ 274.8

[Amended]

8. In § 274.8(f)(8), remove
‘‘§ 274.2(h)(2)’’ and add in its place
‘‘§ 274.2(i)’’.

■

Pamilyn Miller,
Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2020–16403 Filed 8–21–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–30–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Commodity Credit Corporation
7 CFR Part 1400
[Docket ID CCC–2019–0007]
RIN 0560–AI49

Payment Limitation and Payment
Eligibility
Commodity Credit Corporation
and Farm Service Agency, USDA.
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:

This rule implements the
mandatory changes required by the
Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018
(2018 Farm Bill) and other changes
made by the Farm Service Agency (FSA)
on behalf of CCC. Specifically, the
mandatory changes update program
applicability and payment limitations;
and specify that the Secretary may
approve a waiver of the average adjusted
gross income (AGI) limitation for
participants of certain conservation
contracts administered by FSA and the
Natural Resources Conservation Service
(NRCS) on environmentally sensitive
land. Also, the mandatory changes
expand the definition of ‘‘family
member’’ to include first cousins,
nieces, and nephews. This rule also
includes changes that make minor
clarifications and updates throughout
part 1400.
DATES: Effective: August 20, 2020.
SUMMARY:

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Paul
Hanson, telephone: (202) 720–4189,
email: [email protected]. Persons
with disabilities who require alternative
means for communication should
contact the USDA Target Center at (202)
720–2600 (voice).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Background
This rule amends 7 CFR part 1400 to
implement changes made by the 2018
Farm Bill; (Pub. L. 115–334) as well as
makes certain changes, as explained
below. This rule updates the applicable
programs and payment limitations in 7
CFR 1400.1 to reflect current policy and
changes made by the 2018 Farm Bill.
FSA administers the regulations in 7
CFR part 1400 on behalf of CCC.
Payment Limitations
The 2018 Farm Bill and this rule
create two separate payment limitations
for the Noninsured Crop Disaster
Assistance Program (NAP). Previously, a
person or legal entity was subject to a
$125,000 payment limitation regardless
of the level of NAP coverage obtained.
For 2019 and subsequent years, the 2018
Farm Bill provides a separate per crop
year maximum per person and legal
entity limitation of either $125,000 for
payments to those who purchased basic
50/55 NAP coverage or $300,000 for
payments to those who purchased buyup coverage. The 2018 Farm Bill
increased the payment limitation for the
Emergency Conservation Program (ECP)
to $500,000 per program per disaster
event.
The 2018 Farm Bill officially removed
LDPs and MLGs from the combined
payment limit. This rule removes the
payment limits for Marketing Loan
Gains (MLG), Loan Deficiency Payments
(LDP), and the Emergency Assistance for
Livestock, Honeybees and Farm Raised
Fish Program (ELAP) as mandated by
the 2018 Farm Bill (section 1703(a)(2)
and section 1501(e) respectively).
Waiver of AGI Limitation for
Environmentally Sensitive Land of
Special Significance
The 2018 Farm Bill does not change
the AGI limitation of $900,000 for
certain programs; however, it does
authorize the Secretary to waive the AGI
limitation for participants of certain
conservation contracts administered by
FSA or NRCS when the Secretary
determines that environmentally
sensitive land of special significance
will be protected because of the waiver.
The waiver authority allows FSA and
NRCS the discretion, on a case-by-case
basis, to provide benefits to producers
who may not otherwise meet the AGI

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