(a) Guidance; rulemakingThe Secretary shall—
(1) issue guidance to State agencies, on an ongoing basis, as informed by the process outlined in paragraph (4), that describes security measures that—
(2)
promulgate regulations through notice-and-comment rulemaking to require State agencies to take the security measures described in the guidance issued under paragraph (1);
(4) coordinate with the Administrator of the Administration for Children and Families of the Department of Health and Human Services, the Attorney General of the United States, State agencies, retail food stores, and EBT contractors—
(A) to determine—
(i)
how benefits are being stolen through card skimming, card cloning, and other similar fraudulent methods;
(B)
to establish measures, including equipment enhancements for retail food stores, to prevent benefits from being stolen through card skimming, card cloning, and other similar fraudulent methods; and
(5) not later than October 1, 2024, submit to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives a report that includes—
(b) Replacement of benefitsThe Secretary shall use funds appropriated under section 2027 of this title to require States to replace benefits that are determined by the State agency to have been stolen through card skimming, card cloning, or similar fraudulent methods, subject to the conditions that—
(1) the State agency shall submit to the Secretary not later than 60 days after December 29, 2022, for prior approval a plan for the replacement of stolen benefits that—
(A) includes appropriate procedures, as determined by the Secretary, for the timely submission of claims to, timely validation of claims by, and replacement issuance by the State agency that includes—
(i)
a signed statement by the affected household on the benefit theft, consistent with the signature requirements and options provided by section 2020(e)(2)(C) of this title;
(iii)
procedures for the documentation of replacement issuances, including the submitted claims and findings from the validation;
(v)
procedures to inform households of their right to a fair hearing, consistent with those already established by section 2020(e) of this title and corresponding regulations concerning replacement issuances; and
(vi)
the State agency’s use and planned use of benefit theft prevention measures, including any additional guidance that may be issued under subsection (a)(1);
(B)
includes appropriate procedures, as determined by the Secretary, for reporting the scope and frequency of card skimming affecting households within the State to the Secretary;
(C)
upon approval shall be incorporated into the State plan of operation required under section 2020(e) of this title; and
(2) the replacement of stolen benefits for a household—
(B)
shall not occur more than 2 times per Federal fiscal year per household by a single State agency; and
(C)
shall only apply to benefits stolen during the period beginning on October 1, 2022, and ending on September 30, 2024;
(3)
plans approved under paragraph (1) will remain in effect until the effective date of the rule promulgated pursuant to subsection (a)(3); and
(4)
replacements of benefits under this section shall not be regarded as losses for the purpose of section 2016(e) of this title to the extent such replacements are made in accordance with an approved plan that complies with this subsection.
(c) Definitions
In this section, the terms “allotment”, “benefit”, “household”, “retail food store”, and “State agency” have the meaning given those terms in section 2012 of this title.
(d) Rescission
Of the unobligated balances made available for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program as authorized by section 1101(b)(1) of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117–2), $8,000,000 is hereby rescinded.