PUBLIC LAW 104-193—AUG. 22, 1996 110 STAT. 2329 SEC. 835. OPERATION OF FOOD STAMP OFFICES. Section 11 of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2020), as amended by sections 809(b) and 819(b), is amended— (1) in subsection (e)— (A) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following: "(2)(A) that the State agency shall establish procedures Regulations, governing the operation of food stamp offices that the State agency determines best serve households in the State, including households with special needs, such as households with elderly or disabled members, households in rural areas with low-income members, homeless individuals, households residing on reservations, and households in areas in which a substantial number of members of low-income households speak a language other than English. "(B) In carrying out subparagraph (A), a State agency— "(i) shall provide timely, accurate, and fair service to applicants for, and participants in, the food stamp program; " (ii) shall develop an application containing the information necessary to comply with this Act; "(iii) shall permit an applicant household to apply to participate in the program on the same day that the household first contacts a food stamp office in person during office hours; "(iv) shall consider an application that contains the name, address, and signature of the applicant to be filed on the date the applicant submits the application; "(v) shall require that an adult representative of each applicant household certify in writing, under penalty of perjury, that— "(I) the information contained in the application is true; and "(II) all members of the household are citizens or are aliens eligible to receive food stamps under section 6(f); "(vi) shall provide a method of certifying and issuing coupons to eligible homeless individuals, to ensure that participation in the food stamp program is limited to eligible households; and "(vii) may establish operating procedures that vary for local food stamp offices to reflect regional and local differences within the State. "(C) Nothing in this Act shall prohibit the use of signatures provided and maintained electronically, storage of records using automated retrieval systems only, or any other feature of a State agency's application system that does not rely exclusively on the collection and retention of paper applications or other records. "(D) The signature of any adult under this paragraph shall be considered sufficient to comply with any provision of Federal law requiring a household member to sign an application or statement;"; (B) in paragraph (3)— (i) by striking "shall—" and all that follows through "provide each" and inserting "shall provide each"; and (ii) by striking "(B) assist" and all that follows through "representative of the State agency;";
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