§2016. Issuance and use of coupons
(a) Printing
Coupons shall be printed under such arrangements and in such denominations as may be determined by the Secretary to be necessary, and shall be issued only to households which have been duly certified as eligible to participate in the food stamp program.
(b) Approved food stores; receipt of cash in change for coupons used to purchase food
Coupons issued to eligible households shall be used by them only to purchase food in retail food stores which have been approved for participation in the food stamp program at prices prevailing in such stores: Provided, That nothing in this chapter shall be construed as authorizing the Secretary to specify the prices at which food may be sold by wholesale food concerns or retail food stores: Provided further, That eligible households using coupons to purchase food may receive cash in change therefor so long as the cash received does not equal or exceed the value of the lowest coupon denomination issued.
(c) Design of coupons
Coupons issued to eligible households shall be simple in design and shall include only such words or illustrations as are required to explain their purpose and define their denomination. The name of any public official shall not appear on such coupons.
(d) Coupon level inventories; monitorship; monthly operations report
The Secretary shall develop an appropriate procedure for determining and monitoring the level of coupon inventories in the hands of coupon issuers for the purpose of providing that such inventories are at proper levels (taking into consideration the historical and projected volume of coupon distribution by such issuers). Such procedures shall provide that coupon inventories in the hands of such issuers are not in excess of the reasonable needs of such issuers taking into consideration the ease with which such coupon inventories may be resupplied. The Secretary shall require each coupon issuer at intervals prescribed by the Secretary, but not less often than monthly, to send to the Secretary or the Secretary's designee, which may include the State agency, a written report of the issuer's operations during such period. In addition to other information deemed by the Secretary to be appropriate, the Secretary shall require that the report contain an oath, or affirmation, signed by the coupon issuer, or in the case of a corporation or other entity not a natural person, by an appropriate official of the coupon issuer, certifying that the information contained in the report is true and correct to the best of such person's knowledge and belief.
(e) Delivery and control procedures
The Secretary shall prescribe appropriate procedures for the delivery of coupons to coupon issuers and for the subsequent controls to be placed over such coupons by coupon issuers in order to ensure adequate accountability.
(f) State issuance liability
Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the State agency shall be strictly liable to the Secretary for any financial losses involved in the acceptance, storage and issuance of coupons, including any losses involving failure of a coupon issuer to comply with the requirements specified in section 2020(e)(20) of this title, except that in the case of losses resulting from the issuance and replacement of authorizations for coupons and allotments which are sent through the mail, the State agency shall be liable to the Secretary to the extent prescribed in the regulations promulgated by the Secretary.
(g) Alternative system or documents; costs
(1) If the Secretary determines, in consultation with the Inspector General of the Department of Agriculture, that it would improve the integrity of the food stamp program, the Secretary shall require a State agency-
(A) to issue or deliver coupons using alternative methods, including an automatic data processing and information retrieval system; or
(B) to issue, in lieu of coupons, reusable documents to be used as part of an automatic data processing and information retrieval system and to be presented by, and returned to, recipients at retail food stores for the purpose of purchasing food.
(2) The cost of documents or systems that may be required pursuant to this subsection may not be imposed upon a retail food store participating in the food stamp program.
(h) Staggered issuance procedures
(1) The State agency may establish a procedure for staggering the issuance of coupons to eligible households throughout the month. Upon the request of the tribal organization that exercises governmental jurisdiction over the reservation, the State agency shall stagger the issuance of benefits for eligible households located on reservations for at least 15 days of a month.
(2) Any procedure established under paragraph (1) shall not reduce the allotment of any household and shall ensure that no household experiences an interval between issuances of more than 40 days. The procedure may include issuing a household's benefits in more than one issuance.
(i) Electronic benefits issuance
(1)(A) Any State agency may, with the approval of the Secretary, implement an on-line electronic benefit transfer system in which household benefits determined under section 2017(a) of this title are issued from and stored in a central data bank and electronically accessed by household members at the point-of-sale.
(B) No State agency may implement or expand an electronic benefit transfer system without prior approval from the Secretary.
(2) The Secretary shall issue final regulations effective no later than April 1, 1992, that establish standards for the approval of such a system. The standards shall include-
(A) determining the cost-effectiveness of the system to ensure that its operational cost, including the pro rata cost of capital expenditures and other reasonable startup costs, does not exceed, in any 1 year, the operational cost of issuance systems in use prior to the implementation of the on-line electronic benefit transfer system;
(B) defining the required level of recipient protection regarding privacy, ease of use, and access to and service in retail food stores;
(C) the terms and conditions of participation by retail food stores, financial institutions, and other appropriate parties;
(D) system security;
(E) system transaction interchange, reliability, and processing speeds;
(F) financial accountability;
(G) the required testing of system operations prior to implementation; and
(H) the analysis of the results of system implementation in a limited project area prior to expansion.
(3) In the case of a system described in paragraph (1) in which participation is not optional for households, the Secretary shall not approve such a system unless-
(A) a sufficient number of eligible retail food stores, including those stores able to serve minority language populations, have agreed to participate in the system throughout the area in which it will operate to ensure that eligible households will not suffer a significant reduction in their choice of retail food stores or a significant increase in the cost of food or transportation to participating food stores; and
(B) any special equipment necessary to allow households to purchase food with the benefits issued under this chapter is operational-
(i) in the case of a participating retail food store in which coupons are used to purchase 15 percent or more of the total dollar amount of food sold by the store (as determined by the Secretary), at all registers in the store; and
(ii) in the case of other participating stores, at a sufficient number of registers to provide service that is comparable to service provided individuals who are not members of food stamp households, as determined by the Secretary.
(4) Administrative costs incurred in connection with activities under this subsection shall be eligible for reimbursement in accordance with section 2025 of this title, subject to the limitations in section 2025(g) of this title.
(5) The Secretary shall periodically inform State agencies of the advantages of using electronic benefit systems to issue benefits in accordance with this subsection in lieu of issuing coupons to households.
(6) This subsection shall not diminish the authority of the Secretary to conduct projects to test automated or electronic benefit delivery systems under section 2026(f) of this title.
(Pub. L. 88 525, §7, Aug. 31, 1964,
Amendments
1994-Subsec. (h)(1). Pub. L. 103 225 inserted second sentence and struck out former second sentence which read as follows: "The State agency shall establish such a procedure for eligible households residing on reservations."
1990-Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 101 624, §1728, amended subsec. (h) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (h) read as follows: "The State agency may implement a procedure for staggering the issuance of coupons to eligible households throughout the entire month: Provided, That the procedure ensures that, in the transition period from other issuance procedures, no eligible household experiences an interval between coupon issuances of more than 40 days, either through regular issuances by the State agency or through supplemental issuances."
Subsec. (i). Pub. L. 101 624, §1729(a), added subsec. (i).
1988-Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 100 435 struck out par. (1) designation and par. (2) which read as follows: "For any eligible household that applies for participation in the food stamp program during the last fifteen days of a month and is issued benefits within that period, coupons shall be issued for the first full month of participation by the the [sic] eighth day of the first full month of participation."
1985-Subsec. (g)(1). Pub. L. 99 198, §1519, substituted "shall" for "may" in provisions preceding subpar. (A).
Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 99 198, §1518, added subsec. (h).
1982-Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 97 253, §190(c)(2), substituted reference to section 2020(e)(20) of this title for former reference to section 2020(e)(21) of this title.
Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 97 253, §162, added subsec. (g).
1981-Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 97 98 substituted "strictly liable" for "responsible" and inserted provision including any losses involving failure of a coupon issuer to comply with the requirements of section 2020(e)(21) of this title, except that in the case of losses resulting from the issuance and replacement of authorizations for coupons and allotments sent through the mail, State agency liability be to the extent prescribed in regulations.
1977-Pub. L. 95 113 substituted revised provisions relating to issuance and use of coupons for provisions relating to value of the coupon allotment which are now covered by section 2017 of this title.
1976-Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 94 339 designated existing provisions as par. (1) and added pars. (2) to (7).
1973-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 93 125 substituted "for households of a given size unless the increase in the face value" for "for value".
Pub. L. 93 86 substituted provisions relating to determination of semiannual adjustments in face value of coupon allotment for provisions relating to determination of annual adjustments in such allotment.
1971-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 91 671 substituted provision for issuance of coupon allotment in such amount as the Secretary determines to be the cost of a nutritionally adequate diet, adjusted annually to reflect changes in prices of food published by Bureau of Labor Statistics for prior provision for issuance in such amount as will provide households with an opportunity more nearly to obtain a low-cost nutritionally adequate diet and inserted "any" before "households".
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 91 671 substituted provisions respecting charges to households for coupon allotments representing reasonable investment on part of the households, issuance of coupon allotments without charge where monthly income is less than $30 for a family of four, and election of coupon allotment with a lesser face value than the face value authorized to be issued for prior provision for a charge determined to be equivalent to normal expenditures for food.
Effective Date of 1990 Amendment
Amendment by section 1728 of Pub. L. 101 624 effective and implemented first day of month beginning 120 days after publication of implementing regulations to be promulgated not later than Oct. 1, 1991, and amendment by section 1729 of Pub. L. 101 624 effective Nov. 28, 1990, see section 1781(a), (b)(2) of Pub. L. 101 624, set out as a note under section 2012 of this title.
Effective Date of 1988 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 100 435 effective Jan. 1, 1989, except with regard to those States not implementing section 203(a) of Pub. L. 100 435 (amending section 2017 of this title), see section 701(b)(3)(B) of Pub. L. 100 435, set out as a note under section 2012 of this title.
Effective Date of 1982 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 97 253 effective Sept. 8, 1982, see section 193(a) of Pub. L. 97 253, set out as a note under section 2012 of this title.
Effective Date of 1981 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 97 98 effective on earlier of Sept. 8, 1982, or date such amendment became effective pursuant to section 1338 of Pub. L. 97 98, set out as a note under section 2012 of this title, see section 192(b) of Pub. L. 97 253, set out as a note under section 2012 of this title.
Amendment by Pub. L. 97 98 effective upon such date as Secretary of Agriculture may prescribe, taking into account need for orderly implementation, see section 1338 of Pub. L. 97 98, set out as a note under section 2012 of this title.
Effective Date of 1977 Amendment
Section 1301 of Pub. L. 95 113 provided that the amendment made by that section is effective Oct. 1, 1977.
Suspension of Staggered Issuance of Food Stamp Coupons
Pub. L. 102 237, title IX, §908(a)(1), Dec. 13, 1991,
Food Stamp Coupons, Cost Increase Suspension
Pub. L. 94 4, Feb. 20, 1975,
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in sections 2024, 2026, 2027 of this title.