12 2 STA T . 1 87 7 PUBLIC LA W 11 0– 2 46—J U NE 18 , 2008 toc o ver t h ev alu eo fb e n ef i t s that the store or concern m a y in the future acce p tan d redeem in violation of this A ct .‘ ‘ (2)COL L ATER AL. —T he S ecretary also may re q uire a retail food store or w holesale food concern that has been sanctioned for a violation and incurs a subsequent sanction re g ardless of the length of the disqualification period to submit a collateral bond or irrevocable letter of credit. ‘‘( 3 ) B O ND RE QUI RE M ENT S .—The Secretary shall ’ ’
(B) by stri k ing ‘‘ I f the Secretary finds’’ and inserting the following ‘‘( 4 ) F OR F EITURE.—If the Secretary finds’’; and (C) by striking ‘‘Such store or concern’’ and inserting the following
‘‘( 5 ) H EARIN G .—A store or concern described in paragraph (4)’’; (5) in subsection (e) , by striking ‘‘civil money penalty’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘civil penalty’’; and ( 6 ) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘(h) FLAGRANT V IOLATIONS.— ‘‘( 1 ) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation with the Inspector G eneral of the D epartment of Agriculture, shall estab - lish procedures under which the processing of program benefit redemptions for a retail food store or wholesale food concern may be immediately suspended pending administrative action to disqualify the retail food store or wholesale food concern. ‘‘(2) R EQUIREMENTS.— U nder the procedures described in paragraph (1), if the Secretary, in consultation with the Inspector General, determines that a retail food store or whole- sale food concern is engaged in flagrant violations of this Act (including regulations promulgated under this Act), unsettled program benefits that have been redeemed by the retail food store or wholesale food concern— ‘‘(A) may be suspended; and ‘‘(B)(i) if the program disqualification is upheld, may be sub j ect to forfeiture pursuant to section 15(g); or ‘‘(ii) if the program disqualification is not upheld, shall be released to the retail food store or wholesale food con- cern. ‘‘(3) N O LIA B ILIT Y FOR INTEREST.—The Secretary shall not be liable for the value of any interest on funds suspended under this subsection.’’. SEC.413 3. MAJOR S Y S T EMS F A ILU RES. Section 13(b) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2 0 0 8 ( 7 U.S.C. 2022(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘(5) OV ERISSUAN C ES CAUSED BY SYSTEMIC STATE ERRORS.— ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary determines that a State agency overissued benefits to a substantial number of households in a fiscal year as a result of a major systemic error by the State agency, as defined by the Secretary, the Secretary may prohibit the State agency from collecting these overissuances from some or all households. ‘‘(B) P ROCEDURES.— ‘‘(i) INFORMATION RE P ORTING BY STATES.— E very State agency shall provide to the Secretary all informa- tion requested by the Secretary concerning the issuance Procedu re s.
�
