U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Services
USDA Food and Nutrition Service
65 Fed. Reg. 70134 (2000)
- Written by Samantha Arena, JD
Facts
In 1995, the US Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (DAFNS) published a final rule amending 7 U.S.C. § 2014(g)(5), which required state agencies to create standards for identifying “inaccessible resources,” defined as those resources that the household is unable to sell for any significant return. Such resources may be excluded from the financial-resource calculation for food-stamp eligibility determinations. The secretary of the DAFNS had further determined that the inaccessible-resource provision did not apply to vehicles. In 2000, the DAFNS solicited public comment on proposed changes to the secretary’s interpretation of the rule. The proposed changes would (1) completely exclude a vehicle from the resource test if the vehicle was necessary for producing income or transporting a disabled household member, used as a home, or fit the definition of an inaccessible resource likely to produce less than $1,000 or $1,500 after a sale, depending on the applicable household limit; (2) subject any vehicles used for employment purposes, plus one vehicle no matter the intended use, to the fair market value test only; and (3) subject any additional vehicles to a dual test, counting towards a household’s financial resources the higher of the fair market value exceeding $4,650 or the equity value. After the public-comment period, DAFNS adopted most of the proposed changes, except that DAFNS identified a $1,500 limit on equity value, after which a vehicle may no longer be deemed inaccessible. DAFNS also disposed of the equity test described in the third step of the proposed changes.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning ()
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