(a) Authority. Title II of Public Law 98-8 creates the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). By agreement with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Texas Department of Human Services (DHS) administers TEFAP for the state of Texas. DHS manages and operates the program as the Texas Commodity Assistance Program (TEXCAP), in accordance with federal regulations at 7 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 251 and, as applicable, 7 CFR Part 250. Public Law 98-8, as amended, authorizes USDA to:   (1) purchase and donate surplus food to states for distribution to needy persons by recipient agencies (RAs), as approved by the state; and   (2) provide states with administrative funds, as appropriated annually by Congress, to be used to reimburse the state and RAs, in whole or in part, their costs of distributing donated commodities. (b) Purpose. The purpose of TEXCAP is to supply meals or distribute food to unemployed and indigent people. (c) Definitions and terms.   (1) Additional commodities--Commodities purchased and distributed to the states by USDA under authority of the TEFAP Act (TEFAP or TEXCAP commodities).   (2) Allocation--A process of distributing fair shares of USDA commodities and administrative funds. Allocation methods may vary. For example, USDA allocates commodities and funds to each state, each state allocates to eligible contractors, and contractors allocate (or distribute) to other agencies which serve needy persons, or in some cases, distribute directly to needy persons.   (3) Bonus commodities--Special USDA commodity purchases which are uncertain from year to year. When bonus commodities are purchased and distributed to the states, USDA will designate which recipient agencies are eligible for a share of the commodities. DHS allocates the commodities according to USDA's designation.   (4) Charitable institution (CI)--A public or private agency or organization, including a private hospital, which meets community needs by providing meal service to needy persons on a regular basis. CIs must be nonpenal, noneducational, non-profit, and tax-exempt.   (5) Commodities (or donated commodities)--A term identifying food donated to the states by USDA for distribution to needy persons and households. If so specified, the term also includes food donated from non-USDA sources.   (6) Commodity recipient--See recipient.   (7) DHS policy--A reference to a specific state rule or a body of state rules. DHS policy for operating and administering an assistance program, such as TEXCAP, is based on federal laws and regulations. Federal requirements for TEXCAP are included as state rules in the Texas Administrative Code. TEXCAP policy may be communicated by handbook revisions, policy alerts, bulletins, notices, forms and forms instructions, and other types of communication. DHS may implement changes prior to amending state rules, as required by federal laws and regulations or as needed to implement an option allowed by federal laws, federal regulations, or state rules.   (8) Distribution site--A place at which an emergency feeding organization distributes donated commodities to needy persons, including food for home consumption and prepared meals consumed on site.   (9) Emergency feeding organization--A public or private, non-profit organization providing nutrition assistance to relieve situations of emergency and distress by providing food to needy persons, including low-income and unemployed persons (such as CIs, food banks, food pantries, hunger relief centers, soup kitchens, or other similar operations).   (10) Food bank--A public or charitable institution that regularly provides donated food or food products to other institutions that prepare meals or distribute food to needy persons on a regular basis as an integral part of its normal operations. Other institutions include food pantries, soup kitchens, hunger relief centers, and other food or feeding centers.   (11) Food pantry--A public or private non-profit organization that distributes commodities, donated by USDA or others, to low-income and unemployed households to relieve situations of emergency and distress.   (12) Homeless--A person without a fixed and regular nighttime residence or whose primary nighttime residence is a:     (A) supervised shelter, designed to be temporary;     (B) halfway house or similar institution;     (C) temporary accommodation in the residence of another individual; or     (D) place not designated for, or ordinarily used for, sleeping accommodations.   (13) Household--An individual or group of related or non-related individuals (excluding boarders and residents of institutions) who live together as a single economic unit and customarily purchase and prepare food in common.   (14) In-kind replacement--The replacement of USDA-donated food losses with a quantity of the same food, of U.S. origin, that is of equal or better quality than the lost food and that is of at least equal monetary value to USDA's cost of replacing the lost food.   (15) Means-tested--A term, as used in TEXCAP, for determining a household's eligibility for receipt of USDA-commodities on the basis of gross income. Maximum income levels set by recipient agencies must be based on household size and must not exceed 185%, or another percentage, as specified, of the official federal poverty line. See household, needy person, and recipient.   (16) Needy person--A person who because of economic status is eligible to receive food assistance from a public or private, non-profit institution. A homeless person qualifies for meals containing USDA-donated commodities. Household members qualify for USDA-donated commodities, distributed for home consumption, on the basis of a means-test. See homeless, household, and recipient.   (17) Recipient--A person or household receiving USDA-donated commodities, or if used with the word agency, refers to agencies and organizations that are eligible to receive and distribute USDA-donated commodities. See homeless, needy person, and household.   (18) Recipient agency (RA)--A public or non-profit agency or organization eligible to receive distributions of USDA-donated food. RAs include DHS commodity contractors and agencies or organizations that are subagencies or subcontractors of DHS commodity contractors. Examples of RAs are emergency feeding organizations, charitable institutions (to the extent they serve needy people), summer camps/nutrition programs for children, nutrition programs for the elderly, and disaster relief programs.   (19) Soup kitchen--A public or charitable institution that maintains an established feeding operation to provide food to needy homeless persons on a regular basis as an integral part of its normal activities.   (20) Subagency or subcontractor--As used in TEXCAP, subagencies or subcontractors are terms used to identify various agencies and organizations which obtain USDA-donated commodities through agreements or contracts with DHS contractors, such as food banks. Subagency and subcontractor agreements and contracts with food banks must include terms and conditions, as required by DHS, for receiving and using USDA-donated commodities.   (21) Subcontractor--See subagency.   (22) Tax-exempt--Refers to a non-profit agency's or organization's status with the United States Internal Revenue Service (INS), such as §501(c)(3) of the IRS Code, which exempts the agency or organization from paying income tax.   (23) Texas Administrative Code (TAC)--State rules governing the administration and operation of a program, such as, TEXCAP.

Source Note: The provisions of this §24.601 adopted to be effective October 1, 1997, 22 TexReg 9488; transferred effective April 1, 2004, as published in the Texas Register July 2, 2004, 29 TexReg 6359; transferred effective October 1, 2007, as published in the Texas Register September 28, 2007, 32 TexReg 6793