§1776. State administrative expenses

(a) Amount available; formula for computation of payment; improved program integrity and meal quality; use for costs of administration of programs for which allocation made; retention of funds by Secretary

(1) Each fiscal year, the Secretary shall make available to the States for their administrative costs an amount equal to not less than 1½ percent of the Federal funds expended under sections 4, 11, and 17 of the National School Lunch Act [42 U.S.C. 1753, 1759a, 1766] and 1772 and 1773 of this title during the second preceding fiscal year. The Secretary shall allocate the funds so provided in accordance with paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) of this subsection. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this section.

(2) The Secretary shall allocate to each State for administrative costs incurred in any fiscal year in connection with the programs authorized under the National School Lunch Act [42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.] or under this chapter, except for the programs authorized under section 13 or 17 of the National School Lunch Act [42 U.S.C. 1761, 1766] or under section 1786 of this title, an amount equal to not less than 1 percent and not more than 1½ percent of the funds expended by each State under sections 4 and 11 of the National School Lunch Act [42 U.S.C. 1753, 1759a] and sections 1772 and 1773 of this title during the second preceding fiscal year. In no case shall the grant available to any State under this subsection be less than the amount such State was allocated in the fiscal year ending September 30, 1981, or $100,000, whichever is larger.

(3) The Secretary shall allocate to each State for its administrative costs incurred under the program authorized by section 17 of the National School Lunch Act [42 U.S.C. 1766] in any fiscal year an amount, based upon funds expended under that program in the second preceding fiscal year, equal to (A) 20 percent of the first $50,000, (B) 10 percent of the next $100,000, (C) 5 percent of the next $250,000, and (D) 2½ percent of any remaining funds. If an agency in the State other than the State educational agency administers such program, the State shall ensure that an amount equal to no less than the funds due the State under this paragraph is provided to such agency for costs incurred by such agency in administering the program, except as provided in paragraph (5). The Secretary may adjust any State's allocation to reflect changes in the size of its program.

(4) The remaining funds appropriated under this section shall be allocated among the States by the Secretary in amounts the Secretary determines necessary for the improvement in the States of the administration of the programs authorized under the National School Lunch Act [42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.] and this chapter, except for section 1786 of this title, including, but not limited to, improved program integrity and the quality of meals served to children.

(5)(A) Not more than 25 percent of the amounts made available to each State under this section for the fiscal year 1991 and 20 percent of the amounts made available to each State under this section for the fiscal year 1992 and for each succeeding fiscal year may remain available for obligation or expenditure in the fiscal year succeeding the fiscal year for which such amounts were appropriated.

(B)(i) In the fiscal year 1991 and each succeeding fiscal year, any amounts appropriated that are not obligated or expended during such fiscal year and are not carried over for the succeeding fiscal year under subparagraph (A) shall be returned to the Secretary. From any amounts returned to the Secretary under the preceding sentence:

(I) The Secretary shall allocate, for the purpose of providing grants on an annual basis to public entities and private nonprofit organizations participating in projects under section 17B of the National School Lunch Act [42 U.S.C. 1766b], not more than $4,000,000 in fiscal year 1995 and each subsequent fiscal year. Subject to the maximum allocation for the projects for each fiscal year, at the beginning of fiscal year 1995 and each subsequent fiscal year, the Secretary shall allocate, from funds available under this section that have not been otherwise allocated to the States, an amount equal to the estimates by the Secretary of funds to be returned under this clause, but not less than $1,000,000 in each fiscal year. To the extent that amounts returned to the Secretary are less than estimated or are insufficient to meet the needs of the projects, the Secretary may, subject to the maximum allocations established in this subclause, allocate amounts to meet the needs of the projects from funds available under this section that have not been otherwise allocated to States.

(II) After making the allocations under subclause (I), the Secretary shall allocate, for purposes of administrative costs, any remaining amounts among States that demonstrate a need for such amounts.

(ii) In any fiscal year in which amounts returned to the Secretary under the first sentence of clause (i) are insufficient to provide the complete allocation described in clause (i)(I), all of such amounts shall be allocated for the purpose described in clause (i)(I).

(6) Funds available to States under this subsection and under section 13(k)(1) of the National School Lunch Act [42 U.S.C. 1761(k)(1)] shall be used for the costs of administration of the programs for which the allocations are made, except that States may transfer up to 10 percent of any of the amounts allocated among such programs.

(7) Where the Secretary is responsible for the administration of programs under this chapter or the National School Lunch Act [42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.], the amount of funds that would be allocated to the State agency under this section and under section 13(k)(1) of the National School Lunch Act [42 U.S.C. 1761(k)(1)] shall be retained by the Secretary for the Secretary's use in the administration of such programs.

(8) In the fiscal year 1991 and each succeeding fiscal year, in accordance with regulations issued by the Secretary, each State shall ensure that the State agency administering the distribution of commodities under programs authorized under this chapter and under the National School Lunch Act [42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.] is provided, from funds made available to the State under this subsection, an appropriate amount of funds for administrative costs incurred in distributing such commodities. In developing such regulations, the Secretary may consider the value of commodities provided to the State under this chapter and under the National School Lunch Act.

(9)(A) If the Secretary determines that the administration of any program by a State under this chapter (other than section 1786 of this title) or under the National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.), or compliance with a regulation issued pursuant to either this chapter or such Act, is seriously deficient, and the State fails to correct the deficiency within a specified period of time, the Secretary may withhold from the State some or all of the funds allocated to the State under this section or under section 13(k)(1) or 17 of the National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1761(k)(1) or 1766).

(B) On a subsequent determination by the Secretary that the administration of any program referred to in subparagraph (A), or compliance with the regulations issued to carry out the program, is no longer seriously deficient and is operated in an acceptable manner, the Secretary may allocate some or all of the funds withheld under such subparagraph.

(b) Funds, usage: compensation, benefits, and travel expenses of personnel; support services; office equipment; staff development

Funds paid to a State under subsection (a) of this section may be used to pay salaries, including employee benefits and travel expenses, for administrative and supervisory personnel; for support services; for office equipment; and for staff development.

(c) Fund adjustment; State administered programs

If any State agency agrees to assume responsibility for the administration of food service programs in nonprofit private schools or child care institutions that were previously administered by the Secretary, an appropriate adjustment shall be made in the administrative funds paid under this section to the State not later than the succeeding fiscal year.

(d) Unused funds; availability for obligation and expenditure, and reallocation to other States

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, funds made available to each State under this section shall remain available for obligation and expenditure by that State during the fiscal year immediately following the fiscal year for which such funds were made available. For each fiscal year the Secretary shall establish a date by which each State shall submit to the Secretary a plan for the disbursement of funds provided under this section for each such year, and the Secretary shall reallocate any unused funds, as evidenced by such plans, to other States as the Secretary considers appropriate.

(e) Commodity distribution program

The State may use a portion of the funds available under this section to assist in the administration of the commodity distribution program.

(f) State plan; use of funds

Each State shall submit to the Secretary for approval by October 1 of each year an annual plan for the use of State administrative expense funds, including a staff formula for State personnel, system level supervisory and operating personnel, and school level personnel.

(g) State funding requirement

Payments of funds under this section shall be made only to States that agree to maintain a level of funding out of State revenues, for administrative costs in connection with programs under this chapter (except section 1786 of this title) and the National School Lunch Act [42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.] (except section 13 of that Act [42 U.S.C. 1761]), not less than the amount expended or obligated in fiscal year 1977, and that agree to participate fully in any studies authorized by the Secretary.

(h) State participation in study or survey requirement

The Secretary may not provide amounts under this section to a State for administrative costs incurred in any fiscal year unless the State agrees to participate in any study or survey of programs authorized under this chapter or the National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) and conducted by the Secretary.

(i) Authorization of appropriations

For the fiscal year beginning October 1, 1977, and each succeeding fiscal year ending before October 1, 1998, there are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for the purposes of this section.

( Pub. L. 89–642, §7, Oct. 11, 1966, 80 Stat. 888 ; Pub. L. 90–302, §4, May 8, 1968, 82 Stat. 119 ; Pub. L. 91–248, §5, May 14, 1970, 84 Stat. 210 ; Pub. L. 95–166, §14, Nov. 10, 1977, 91 Stat. 1338 ; Pub. L. 95–627, §7(a), Nov. 10, 1978, 92 Stat. 3621 ; Pub. L. 96–499, title II, §201(b), Dec. 5, 1980, 94 Stat. 2600 ; Pub. L. 97–35, title VIII, §§814, 819(e), Aug. 13, 1981, 95 Stat. 531 , 533; Pub. L. 99–500, title III, §§313, 332, Oct. 18, 1986, 100 Stat. 1783–360 , 1783-363, and Pub. L. 99–591, title III, §§313, 332, Oct. 30, 1986, 100 Stat. 3341–363 , 3341-367; Pub. L. 99–661, div. D, title I, §4103, title II, §4212, Nov. 14, 1986, 100 Stat. 4071 , 4075; Pub. L. 101–147, title I, §122(a), Nov. 10, 1989, 103 Stat. 893 ; Pub. L. 102–512, title I, §103, Oct. 24, 1992, 106 Stat. 3363 ; Pub. L. 103–448, title I, §117(a)(2)(B), title II, §202, Nov. 2, 1994, 108 Stat. 4717 , 4737.)

References in Text

The National School Lunch Act, referred to in subsecs. (a)(2), (4), (7), (8), (9)(A), (g), and (h), is act June 4, 1946, ch. 281, 60 Stat. 230 , as amended, which is classified generally to chapter 13 (§1751 et seq.) of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 1751 of this title and Tables.

Codification

Pub. L. 99–591 is a corrected version of Pub. L. 99–500.

Amendments

1994-Subsec. (a)(5)(B)(i)(I). Pub. L. 103–448, §117(a)(2)(B), substituted "projects under section 17B of the National School Lunch Act" for "projects under section 18(c) of the National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1769(c))" and substituted "fiscal year 1995 and each subsequent fiscal year" for "each of fiscal years 1993 and 1994" in two places.

Subsec. (a)(9). Pub. L. 103–448, §202(a), added par. (9).

Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 103–448, §202(c)(2), added subsec. (h). Former subsec. (h) redesignated (i).

Pub. L. 103–448, §202(b), substituted "1998" for "1994".

Subsec. (i). Pub. L. 103–448, §202(c)(1), redesignated subsec. (h) as (i).

1992-Subsec. (a)(5)(B)(i). Pub. L. 102–512, §103(1), substituted a colon for ", the Secretary shall-" in introductory provisions.

Subsec. (a)(5)(B)(i)(I). Pub. L. 102–512, §103(2), added subcl. (I) and struck out former subcl. (I) which read as follows: "first allocate, for the purpose of providing grants on an annual basis to private nonprofit organizations participating in projects under section 18(f) of the National School Lunch Act, not less than $3,000,000 in the fiscal year 1992 and not less than $4,000,000 in each of the fiscal years 1993 and 1994; and".

Subsec. (a)(5)(B)(i)(II). Pub. L. 102–512, §103(3), substituted "After making the allocations under subclause (I), the Secretary shall allocate," for "then allocate,".

1989-Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 101–147, §122(a)(1)(A), inserted after first sentence "If an agency in the State other than the State educational agency administers such program, the State shall ensure that an amount equal to no less than the funds due the State under this paragraph is provided to such agency for costs incurred by such agency in administering the program, except as provided in paragraph (5)."

Subsec. (a)(5) to (8). Pub. L. 101–147, §122(a)(1)(B)–(D), added pars. (5) and (8) and redesignated former pars. (5) and (6) as (6) and (7), respectively.

Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 101–147, §122(a)(2), inserted before period at end ", and that agree to participate fully in any studies authorized by the Secretary".

Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 101–147, §122(a)(3), substituted "For the fiscal year beginning October 1, 1977, and each succeeding fiscal year ending before October 1, 1994," for "For the fiscal years beginning October 1, 1977, and ending September 30, 1989,".

1986-Subsecs. (b) to (g). Pub. L. 99–500 and Pub. L. 99–591, §332, and Pub. L. 99–661, §4212, amended section identically, redesignating subsecs. (c) to (h) as (b) to (g), respectively, and striking out former subsec. (b) which read as follows: "The Secretary, in cooperation with the several States, shall develop State staffing standards for the administration by each State of sections 4, 11, and 17 of the National School Lunch Act [42 U.S.C. 1753, 1759a, 1766], and sections 1772 and 1773 of this title, that will ensure sufficient staff for the planning and administration of programs covered by State administrative expenses."

Subsecs. (h), (i). Pub. L. 99–500 and Pub. L. 99–591, §§313, 332(2), and Pub. L. 99–661, §§4103, 4212(2), amended section identically, redesignating subsec. (i) as (h) and substituting "1989" for "1984". Former subsec. (h) redesignated (g).

1981-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 97–35, §§814(a), 819(e), in par. (1) struck out reference to section 1774 of this title, and in par. (2) substituted "1981" for "1978" and struck out reference to section 1774 of this title.

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 97–35, §819(e), struck out reference to section 1774 of this title.

Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 97–35, §814(b), substituted provisions relating to general availability of unobligated funds during fiscal years following the fiscal years for which such funds were made available for provisions relating to availability of unobligated funds for fiscal year 1979 and for the five succeeding fiscal years.

1980-Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 96–499, §201(b)(1), substituted "and for the five succeeding fiscal years" for "and the succeeding fiscal year".

Subsec. (i). Pub. L. 96–499, §201(b)(2), substituted "September 30, 1984" for "September 30, 1980".

1978-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 95–627 generally revised and restructured subsection and, among other changes, inserted formula for determining State allocations for administrative costs incurred under the program authorized by section 17 of the National School Lunch Act, authorized the State to transfer up to ten percent of any amounts allocated for administrative costs of the programs for which such funds were allocated, and authorized retention by the Secretary for the Secretary's use in administering certain programs, allocations for such programs, under this section and section 13(k)(1) of the National School Lunch Act.

1977-Subsecs. (a) to (i). Pub. L. 95–166 added subsecs. (a) to (i) and struck out prior provisions authorizing the Secretary to utilize appropriated funds for advances to State educational agencies for use for administrative expenses, advancing the fund only in necessary amounts and for administration of certain activities, and authorizing appropriation of necessary sums, now incorporated in subsec. (i) of this section.

1970-Pub. L. 91–248 inserted provisions authorizing Secretary to utilize funds appropriated under this section for advances for administrative expenses of any other designated State agency as well as for those of the State educational agency and in the case of either State agency, for its administrative expenses in supervising and giving technical assistance to service institutions as well as to local school districts.

1968-Pub. L. 90–302 inserted the programs under sections 1759a and 1761 of this title to the enumeration of programs in which appropriated funds could be used for administrative expenses of local school districts in supervising and giving technical assistance and added section 1761 to the enumeration of sections covering programs of additional activities under which funds could be advanced only in amounts and to the extent determined necessary by the Secretary.

Effective Date of 1994 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 103–448 effective Oct. 1, 1994, see section 401 of Pub. L. 103–448, set out as a note under section 1755 of this title.

Effective Date of 1992 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 102–512 effective Sept. 30, 1992, see section 104 of Pub. L. 102–512, set out as a note under section 1769 of this title.

Effective Date of 1989 Amendment

Section 122(b) of Pub. L. 101–147 provided that: "The amendment made by subsection (a)(1)(A) [amending this section] shall be effective as of October 1, 1989."

Effective Date of 1981 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 97–35 effective Oct. 1, 1981, see section 820(a)(4) of Pub. L. 97–35, set out as a note under section 1753 of this title.

Effective Date of 1978 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 95–627 effective Oct. 1, 1978, see section 14 of Pub. L. 95–627, set out as a note under section 1755 of this title.

Section Referred to in Other Sections

This section is referred to in sections 1755, 1766b, 1775, 1776a, 1776b of this title.