[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 7, Volume 4]
[Revised as of January 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 7CFR272.8]

[Page 606-608]
 
                          TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
 
    CHAPTER II--FOOD AND NUTRITION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 
PART 272--REQUIREMENTS FOR PARTICIPATING STATE AGENCIES--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 272.8  State income and eligibility verification system.

    (a) General. (1) State agencies may maintain and use an income and 
eligibility verification system (IEVS), as specified in this section. By 
means of the IEVS, State agencies may request wage and benefit 
information from the agencies identified in this paragraph (a)(1) and 
use that information in verifying eligibility for and the amount of food 
stamp benefits due to eligible households. Such information may be 
requested and used with respect to all household members, including any 
considered excluded household members as specified in Sec. 273.11(c) of 
this chapter whenever the SSNs of such excluded household members are 
available to the State agency. If not otherwise documented, State 
agencies must obtain written agreements from these information provider 
agencies affirming that they must not record any information about 
individual food stamp households and that staff in those agencies are 
subject to the disclosure restrictions of the information provider 
agencies and Sec. 272.1(c). The information provider agencies, at a 
minimum, are:
    (i) The State Wage Information Collection Agency (SWICA) which 
maintains wage information;

[[Page 607]]

    (ii) The Social Security Administration (SSA) which maintains 
information about net earnings from self-employment, wages, and payments 
of retirement income, which is available pursuant to section 
6103(1)(7)(A) of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Code; and 
information which is available from SSA regarding Federal retirement, 
and survivors, disability, SSI and related benefits;
    (iii) The IRS from which unearned income information is available 
pursuant to section 6103(1)(7)(B) of the IRS Code; and
    (iv) The agency administering Unemployment Insurance Benefits (UIB) 
which maintains claim information and any information in addition to 
information about wages and UIB available from the agency which is 
useful for verifying eligibility and benefits, subject to the provisions 
and limitations of section 303(d) of the Social Security Act.
    (2) State agencies may exchange with State agencies administering 
certain other programs in the IEVS information about food stamp 
households' circumstances which may be of use in establishing or 
verifying eligibility or benefit amounts under the Food Stamp Program 
and those programs. State agencies may exchange such information with 
these agencies in other States when they determine that the same 
objectives are likely to be met. These programs are:
    (i) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families;
    (ii) Medicaid;
    (iii) Unemployment Compensation (UC);
    (iv) Food Stamps; and
    (v) Any State program administered under a plan approved under title 
I, X, or XIV (the adult categories), or title XVI of the Social Security 
Act.
    (3) State agencies must provide information to those administering 
the Child Support Program (title IV-D of the Social Security Act) and 
titles II (Federal Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance 
Benefits) and XVI (Supplemental Security Income for the Aged, Blind, and 
Disabled) of the Social Security Act.
    (4) Prior to requesting or exchanging information with other 
agencies, State agencies must execute data exchange agreements with 
those agencies. The agreements must specify the information to be 
exchanged and the procedures which will be used in the exchange of 
information. These agreements are not part of the State agency's Plan of 
Operation.
    (b) Alternate data sources. A State agency may continue to use 
income information from an alternate source or sources to meet any 
requirement under paragraph (a) of this section.
    (c) Actions on recipient households. (1) State agency action on 
information items about recipient households shall include:
    (i) Review of the information and comparison of it to case record 
information;
    (ii) For all new or previously unverified information received, 
contact with the households and/or collateral contacts to resolve 
discrepancies as specified in Secs. 273.2(f)(4)(iv) and 273.2 
(f)(9)(iii) and (f)(9)(iv); and
    (iii) If discrepancies warrant reducing benefits or terminating 
eligibility, notices of adverse action.
    (2) State agencies must initiate and pursue the actions on recipient 
households specified in paragraph (c)(1) of this section so that the 
actions are completed within 45 days of receipt of the information 
items. Actions may be completed later than 45 days from the receipt of 
information if:
    (i) The only reason that the actions cannot be completed is the 
nonreceipt of verification requested from collateral contacts; and
    (ii) The actions are completed as specified in Sec. 273.12 of this 
chapter when verification from a collateral contact is received or in 
conjunction with the next case action when such verification is not 
received, whichever is earlier.
    (3) When the actions specified in paragraph (c)(1) of this section 
substantiate an overissuance, State agencies must establish and take 
actions on claims as specified in Sec. 273.18 of this chapter.
    (4) State agencies must use appropriate procedures to monitor the 
timeliness requirements in paragraph (c)(2) of this section.

[[Page 608]]

    (5) Except for the claims actions specified in paragraph (c)(3) of 
this section, State agencies may exclude from the actions required in 
paragraph (c) of this section information items pertaining to household 
members who are participating in one of the other programs listed in 
paragraph (a)(2) of this section.
    (d) IEVS information and quality control. The requirements of this 
section do not relieve the State agency of its responsibility for 
determining erroneous payments and/or its liability for such payments as 
specified in part 275 of this chapter (which pertains to quality 
control) and in guidelines on quality control established under that 
part.
    (e) Documentation. The State agency must document, as required by 
Sec. 273.2(f)(6) of this chapter, information obtained through the IEVS 
both when an adverse action is and is not instituted.

[65 FR 70192, Nov. 21, 2000]