Section 001-3-1.3 - ADMINISTRATIONA. The Division shall have the following duties and responsibilities. The Division shall: 1. Request the commodity foods from the United States Department of Agriculture promptly as required.2. Request commodity foods made available to the State of Maine which can be utilized without waste in the food assistance program and distribute to the emergency feeding organizations all the commodity foods which have been delivered to the State; provided, however, that the Division shall refuse to order or distribute honey and any other commodity which the Division, after careful consideration of all available facts, determines to pose a significant real or potential threat to the health, safety or welfare of the people of the State of Maine.3. Ensure that no emergency feeding organization receives commodities in excess of its anticipated use or in excess of its ability to accept and store such commodities.4. Be responsible for intrastate handling, storage, transportation, and the charges associated therewith, required to place the commodities in the hands of the emergency feeding organizations.5. Develop and provide the application and any other forms required by these rules or the sub-grant agreement between the Division and the emergency feeding organizations, or approve any such forms developed by the emergency feeding organizations and submitted as part of its distribution plan.6. Monitor emergency feeding organizations for compliance with the Act, federal and state regulations and their agreements with the Division in accordance with the Division's Distribution Plan for the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program as approved by the Federal Office of Food and Nutrition Services.7. Provide technical assistance to any emergency feeding organization which is experiencing difficulties in administering the program.8. Be responsible for auditing the food assistance program,9. Comply with the provisions of the Act, 7 CFR Part 251 and 7 CFR Part 25O as applicable.B. Emergency feeding organizations shall have the following duties and responsibilities. Emergency feeding organizations shall:1. Distribute all commodity foods made available to it by the Division, except that commodities which are determined to be unfit for human consumption because of spoilage or damage shall be disposed of only in accordance with instructions from the Division.1-A On forms provided by the Division, request commodity food in sufficient quantities to meet the needs of the eligible households in its service area. 2. Send a flyer to all its HEAP recipients in sufficient time to provide notification of the date of distribution, which flyer shall be sent at least seven calendar days prior to the date of distribution. For distributions held prior to June 1, the flyer must be sent to all HEAP recipients who received a benefit during the HEAP program year ending the previous September 30. The emergency feeding organization shall make all reasonable efforts to supplement the list with HEAP recipients in a current HEAP program. For distributions held after June 1, the flyer must be sent to all HEAP recipients who received a benefit during the current HEAP program year, beginning the previous September. The flyer shall contain at least the following information: a. The name, address and phone number of the emergency feeding organization;b. The name of the food assistance program;c. The time, date and place of distribution;d. The approximate weight of food the household is eligible to receive;e. An indication of whether the household is a large, medium or small household, if that information is readily available to the emergency feeding organization;f. A statement of nondiscrimination;g. A statement that presentation of the flyer at the distribution site will facilitate the process.3. Prior to distribution, publish notice in newspapers (and issue public service radio announcements as necessary) to inform all potentially eligible households in the service area of the emergency feeding organization. This notice shall include at least the following:a. The name, address and phone number of the emergency feeding organization;b. The name of the food assistance program;c. The eligibility criteria set forth in Section 1.4A:d. The documentation required by Section 1.4B;e. The date, time and place of distribution;f. A statement of nondiscrimination;g. The procedures for filing a complaint as provided for in Section 1.7B(1).4. At least fifteen (15) working days prior to beginning each distribution, submit to the Division for approval a schedule of distribution sites in a form provided by the Division and a budget for costs of said distribution.4A. Submit to the Division for approval a distribution plan in a form provided by the Division by September 1 of each year.5. In the case of emergency feeding organizations which do not offer HEAP assistance to all residents within its service area, make positive efforts to cooperate with the appropriate Indian tribe and municipal HEAP program operators to notify HEAP recipients of the availability of the food assistance program.6. Not diminish their normal expenditures for food because of receipt of commodities.7. Immediately report to the Division loss or damage to commodities from any cause whatsoever.8. Provide facilities for the proper care, handling, storage and distribution of the commodities accepted. An emergency feeding organization must enter into an agreement with all municipalities and other sub-distributing entities which have responsibility for the distribution of commodities. The agreement to be used is attached hereto as Appendix B. Full restitution shall be made to the Division for any loss or damage to commodities resulting from failure to provide such facilities or from any acts of negligence on the part of the emergency feeding organization or sub-distributing entity.9. Be responsible for distributing any commodities remaining at the end of the planned distribution. Such distribution shall be: a. An immediate extension of the initial distribution to eligible households;b. Storing the commodities until the next scheduled distribution at which time the stored commodities shall be added to the new commodities; orc. Distributing the commodities to eligible food banks, food pantries, soup kitchens, temporary emergency shelters or, with the prior approval of the Division, to other eligible recipient agencies as defined in the Act. An emergency feeding organization must enter into an agreement with all such eligible recipient agencies. The agreement to be used is attached hereto as Appendix C. The emergency feeding organization shall inform the Division in writing the amount of commodities thus distributed and the method of distribution.
10. Maintain complete and accurate records as required by the Division including, but not limited to, records: a. To document the receipt, disposal and inventory of commodities received under the food assistance program, including, but not limited to, the name, address and size of the household of all eligible households to whom commodities were distributed;b. To document the receipt and disbursement of funds arising from operation of the food assistance program;c. Showing the data and method used to determine the number of eligible persons served by the emergency feeding organization; andd. To the extent feasible, documenting the number of eligible households which did not receive commodities because of insufficient supply. All such records shall be made available for inspection by the U.S.D.A., General Accounting Office, the Division or their authorized representatives and shall be retained for three years from the close of the federal fiscal year to which they pertain.
11. Ensure that each distribution site shall keep accurate and complete records showing the data and method used to determine the number of eligible households served at that site. Each distribution site shall collect from each household participating in the program the name of the household member receiving commodities, the address of the household (to the extent practicable), the number of persons in the household, and the basis for determining that the household is eligible to receive commodities. Emergency feeding organizations shall report to the State agency no later than thirty days following the end of the quarter to which such data pertain, household participation figures which have been collected in accordance with this section.12. Complete and submit in a timely manner all reports required by the Division or by U.S.D.A.13. Cooperate with any monitoring visits or investigations made by the Division or by U.S.D.A.14. Make available to an auditor all materials and documentation necessary to permit a conclusion by the auditor on the allowability of expenditures.15. Comply with all provisions of the Act, 7 CFR 25197 CFR 250 as applicable, these rules, any agreements entered into with the Division and the Division's Distribution Plan.16. Comply with the procedures and policies regarding claims as prescribed by the Division and U.S.D.A. An emergency feeding organization (EFO) must comply, at a minimum, with the following requirement: "Lost foods" with an aggregate value of $100 or more must be reported to the Division for review, and the Division will determine whether a claims action will be pursued. An EFO must provide in writing the following information. The report form to be used is attached hereto as Appendix D.
a. Description and quantity of the lost commodity.b. Time and place of the loss.c. Circumstances of the loss and the apparent cause.d. Date of discovery of the loss.e. Statement indicating efforts to be taken to eliminate future losses.17. Post notices at all distribution sites as required by the Division. These notices shall provide information to applicants on eligibility criteria, income guidelines, penalty provisions, and nondiscrimination.18. Maintain adequate insurance to cover any injury suffered by emergency feeding organization personnel, volunteers, or clients involved in the distribution.19. Ensure that activities conducted at distribution sites and unrelated to TEFAP do not interfere with the operation of the distribution and, further, that such activities are clearly not endorsed by the State or USDA. Ensure that persons conducting activities at distribution sites shall make clear that cooperation is not a condition of the receipt of TEFAP commodities. (Cooperation includes contributing money, signing petitions or conversing with the persons.)01-001 C.M.R. ch. 3, § 1.3