Agriculture Department, Food and Nutrition Service
This final rule amends the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) regulations by lowering the minimum identified student percentage (ISP) from 40 percent to 25 percent. Lowering the minimum ISP will give States and schools greater flexibility to offer meals to all enrolled students at no cost when financially viable. As a result of this rule, more schools are eligible to participate in CEP and experience the associated benefits, such as increasing students' access to healthy, no-cost school meals; eliminating unpaid meal charges; reducing stigma; and streamlining Program administration and meal service operations.
Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service 7 CFR Part 245 [FNS-2022-0044] RIN 0584-AE93 AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), Department of Agriculture (USDA). ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: This final rule amends the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) regulations by lowering the minimum identified student percentage (ISP) from 40 percent to 25 percent. Lowering the minimum ISP will give States and schools greater flexibility to offer meals to all enrolled students at no cost when financially viable. As a result of this rule, more schools are eligible to participate in CEP and experience the associated benefits, such as increasing students' access to healthy, no-cost school meals; eliminating unpaid meal charges; reducing stigma; and streamlining Program administration and meal service operations. DATES: This rule is effective October 26, 2023. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michelle Frey, Branch Chief, Policy Design Branch, School Meals Policy Division—4th Floor, Food and Nutrition Service, 1320 Braddock Place, Alexandria, VA 22314, telephone: 703-305-2590. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Background The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) is an option for eligible schools to offer meals at no cost to all enrolled students without collecting household applications. Authorized by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA) and codified in regulations at 7 CFR 245.9(f) , CEP is a reimbursement alternative for eligible local educational agencies (LEA…
Other Federal Register documents from the same docket.
Citation: 88 FR 65778
