Food Stamp Program: Miscellaneous Farm Bill Provisions Relating to the Authorization of Retail Firms and Wholesale Food Concerns

This Food Stamp Program rulemaking implements the three following provisions of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation and Trade Act of 1990 (FACT Act): homeless food stamp households may purchase meals with food stamps in restaurants approved by State agencies for this purpose, and the Department may periodically require authorized retailers and wholesalers to be reauthorized to participate in the Food Stamp Program, and no co-located wholesale/retail food concern may be authorized as a retail food store unless the firm does a substantial level of retail food business, or unless failure to authorize such a firm as a retail food store would cause hardship to food stamp households. This rulemaking is necessary to implement sections 1713, 1733 and 1734 of the FACT Act. The intended effects are: to expand the sources of low-cost food to homeless recipients; to provide the Department with complete and current information on retailers and wholesalers participating in the Food Stamp Program and ensure that only those firms qualified to participate in the program are authorized; and to preclude the authorization of the firms not needed to effectuate the purposes of the program.