32 CFR Part 199

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certain tangible property. A taxpayer
may elect to determine the tax book
value of its tangible property that is
depreciated under section 168 (section
168 property) using the rules provided
in this paragraph (the alternative tax
book value method). The alternative tax
book value method applies solely for
purposes of apportioning expenses
(including the calculation of the
alternative minimum tax foreign tax
credit pursuant to section 59(a)) under
the asset method described in paragraph
(g) of this section.
(i) The tax book value of section 168
property placed in service during or
after the first taxable year to which the
election to use the alternative tax book
value method applies shall be
determined as though such property
were subject to the alternative
depreciation system under section
168(g) for the entire period that such
property has been in service.
(ii) In the case of section 168 property
placed in service prior to the first
taxable year to which the election to use
the alternative tax book value method
applies, the tax book value of such
property shall be determined under the
depreciation method, convention, and
recovery period provided for under
section 168(g) for the first taxable year
to which the election applies.
(iii) If a taxpayer revokes an election
to use the alternative tax book value
method (‘‘the prior election’’) and later
makes another election to use the
alternative tax book value method (the
‘‘subsequent election’’) that is effective
for a taxable year that begins within 3
years of the end of the last taxable year
to which the prior election applied, the
taxpayer shall determine the tax book
value of its section 168 property as
though the prior election has remained
in effect.
(iv) The tax book value of section 168
property shall be determined without
regard to the election to expense certain
depreciable assets under section 179.
(v) Examples. The provisions of this
paragraph (i)(1) are illustrated in the
following examples:
Example 1. In 2000, a taxpayer purchases
and places in service section 168 property
used solely in the United States. In 2005, the
taxpayer elects to use the alternative tax book
value method, effective for the current
taxable year. For purposes of determining the
tax book value of its section 168 property, the
taxpayer’s depreciation deduction is
determined by applying the method,
convention, and recovery period rules of the
alternative depreciation system under section
168(g)(2) as in effect in 2005 to the taxpayer’s
original cost basis in such property. In 2006,
the taxpayer acquires and places in service in
the United States new section 168 property.
The tax book value of this section 168

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property is determined under the rules of
section 168(g)(2) applicable to property
placed in service in 2006.
Example 2. Assume the same facts as in
Example 1, except that the taxpayer revokes
the alternative tax book value method
election effective for taxable year 2010.
Additionally, in 2011, the taxpayer acquires
new section 168 property and places it in
service in the United States. If the taxpayer
elects to use the alternative tax book value
method effective for taxable year 2012, the
taxpayer must determine the tax book value
of its section 168 property as though the prior
election still applied. Thus, the tax book
value of property placed in service prior to
2005 would be determined by applying the
method, convention, and recovery period
rules of the alternative depreciation system
under section 168(g)(2) applicable to
property placed in service in 2005. The tax
book value of section 168 property placed in
service during any taxable year after 2004
would be determined by applying the
method, convention, and recovery period
rules of the alternative depreciation system
under section 168(g)(2) applicable to
property placed in service in such taxable
year.

(2) Timing and scope of election. (i)
Except as provided in this paragraph
(i)(2), a taxpayer may elect to use the
alternative tax book value method with
respect to any taxable year beginning on
or after March 26, 2004. However,
pursuant to § 1.861–8T(c)(2), a taxpayer
that has elected the fair market value
method must obtain the consent of the
Commissioner prior to electing the
alternative tax book value method. Any
election made pursuant to this
paragraph (i)(2) shall apply to all
members of an affiliated group of
corporations as defined in §§ 1.861–
11(d) and 1.861–11T(d). Any election
made pursuant to this paragraph (i)(2)
shall apply to all subsequent taxable
years of the taxpayer unless revoked by
the taxpayer. Revocation of such an
election, other than in conjunction with
an election to use the fair market value
method, for a taxable year prior to the
sixth taxable year for which the election
applies requires the consent of the
Commissioner.
(ii) Example. The provisions of this
paragraph (i)(2) are illustrated in the
following example:
Example. Corporation X, a calendar year
taxpayer, elects on its original, timely filed
tax return for the taxable year ending
December 31, 2007, to use the alternative tax
book value method for its 2007 year. The
alternative tax book value method applies to
X’s 2007 year and all subsequent taxable
years. X may not, without the consent of the
Commissioner, revoke its election and
determine tax book value using a method
other than the alternative tax book value
method with respect to any taxable year
beginning before January 1, 2012. However,
X may automatically elect to change from the

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alternative tax book value method to the fair
market value method for any open year.

(3) Effective date. (i) Paragraph (i) of
this section applies to taxable years
beginning on or after March 26, 2004.
(ii) The applicability of this paragraph
(i) expires on or before March 26, 2007.
*
*
*
*
*
Mark E. Matthews,
Deputy Commissioner for Services and
Enforcement.
Approved: March 16, 2004.
Gregory Jenner,
Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.
[FR Doc. 04–6619 Filed 3–25–04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4830–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Office of the Secretary
32 CFR Part 199
RIN 0720–AA75

TRICARE; Civilian Health and Medical
Program of the Uniformed Services
(CHAMPUS); Special Supplemental
Food Program for Women, Infants, and
Children Overseas
Office of the Secretary,
Department of Defense.
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:

SUMMARY: This final rule implements
section 674 of the National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000.
Section 674 directed the Department of
Defense to establish a program to
provide supplemental food and
nutrition education services to members
of the armed forces on duty at stations
outside the United States (and its
territories and possessions) and to
eligible civilians serving with,
employed by, or accompanying the
armed forces to these locations.
Congress directed that the Department
implement the special supplemental
nutrition program for Women, Infants,
and Children (WIC) in a manner that
provides a benefit that is ‘‘similar’’ to
the benefit provided to participants in
the Special Supplemental Nutrition
Program for Women, Infants and
Children administered by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Receipt of benefits under both the
domestic WIC and the DoD programs is
conditioned on applicants meeting
specified eligibility criteria, i.e.,
categorical (pregnant, postpartum,
breastfeeding women, infants or
children up to age 5), residency, income
and nutritional risk. The Department
was directed to use the USDA eligibility

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criteria to the extent practicable. This
final rule specifies eligibility
requirements, describes the benefits
available under the program, and
provides administrative guidance on
program operation. The Department is
publishing this rule as a final rule in
order to meet the statutory directive that
the Secretary of Defense prescribes
regulations to administer the program.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Danita F. Hunter, Operations
Directorate, TRICARE Management
Activity, 5111 Leesburg Pike, Suite 810,
Falls Church, VA, 22041, telephone
(703) 681–0039.
EFFECTIVE DATE: This rule is effective
March 16, 2004.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Public
Comments: We published the interim
final rule on July 22, 2003 (68 FR
43299), and provided a 60 day comment
period. We received no public
comments.
A. Introduction
In the National Defense Authorization
Act for Fiscal Year 2000, Congress
mandated that the Department establish
and fund a program to provide a special
supplemental food and nutrition
education program to eligible lowincome families overseas whose
members have been determined to be at
nutritional risk. This program is known
as the Women, Infants, and Children
Overseas (WIC Overseas) program. This
final rule implements section 674 of this
Act.
B. Eligibility
To be eligible for the DoD special
supplemental food program, a person
must be a member of the armed forces
on duty at stations outside the U.S. (and
its territories and possessions) or an
eligible civilian serving with, employed
by, or accompanying the armed forces
outside the U.S. (and its territories and
possessions). Additionally, the person
must be found to be at nutritional risk.
Specifically, to be certified as eligible to
receive benefits under the program, a
person must:
• Meet specified program income
guidelines published by the Secretary of
Health and Human Services, and
• Meet one of the criteria listed in
this regulation as indicative of
nutritional risk. Determinations of
income eligibility and nutritional risk
will be made to the extent practicable
using applicable standards used by the
USDA in determining eligibility for the
domestic Women, Infants, and Children
(WIC) program. In determining income
eligibility, the Department will use the
Department of Health and Human

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Services income poverty table for the
State of Alaska.
C. Scope of Benefit
The purpose of the program is to
provide supplemental foods and
nutrition education to serve as an
adjunct to good health care during
critical times of growth and
development, in order to prevent the
occurrence of health problems,
including drug and other substance
abuse, and to improve the health status
of program participants. The benefit is
similar to the benefit provided under
the domestic WIC program.
Under the program, eligible
participants are provided with drafts
(paper food instruments, similar to
vouchers) that may be redeemed at
specified intervals for food packages.
Participants access the food benefit by
redeeming drafts at designated
commissaries and NEXMARTS
overseas. Food packages are prescribed
by program staff who choose from a
range of available food packages to tailor
the benefit to the needs of program
participants.
The program also provides nutrition
education and counseling services to all
participants at specified intervals.
Nutrition education sessions are
designed to stress the relationship
between proper nutrition and good
health with special emphasis on the
nutritional needs of pregnant,
postpartum, and breastfeeding women,
infants, and children less than five years
of age and to achieve a positive change
in food habits, resulting in improved
nutrition status and the prevention of
nutrition-related health problems.
Nutrition education promotes
breastfeeding as the optimal method of
infant nutrition. Nutritional education
includes educating women participating
in the program about the harmful effects
of substance abuse. Nutrition education
is an integral element of the WIC
Overseas program; however, a
participant may not be denied
supplemental food benefits for failure to
attend or participate in nutrition
education activities. Nutrition education
sessions are conducted in the context of
the ethnic, cultural, and geographical
preferences of participants.
D. Financial and Administrative
Requirements
The Secretary of Defense will
establish a system for verifying
appropriate use of the WIC Overseas
Program funds. This will include
procedures to verify that draft
redemption complies with applicable
date-to-use, dollar amount, and other
relevant criteria.

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15677

To leverage available funding to make
the WIC Overseas program available to
the maximum number of participants,
the Secretary of Defense may enter into
agreement up to three years in length to
procure a particular brand of a food item
to provide to Program participants. The
agreement would specify the
procurement of the competitively
selected brand exclusive of other brands
of the same or similar food. Competitive
selection of the contract brand would
conform to competitive contracting
procedures specified in title 10, chapter
137, U.S. Code. The agreement would
provide for the manufacturer of the
contract brand to rebate to the Secretary
an amount that is an agreed ratio of the
amounts paid by the Secretary for the
procurement of the contract brand.
Rebates collected under the agreements
will be credited to the appropriation
available for carrying out the WIC
Overseas program and will be available
for the program in the same period as
the other sums in the appropriation.
The Secretary will provide for an
appeals process that will allow
individuals who are denied certification
or recertification to appeal those
decisions. The process will include a
requirement that individuals denied
certification or recertification be advised
of their right of appeal, the relevant time
limits, and the procedures to effect an
appeal and will further provide a
second level of review to individuals
adversely impacted by an appeals
decision.
E. Regulatory Procedures
This rule will impose additional
information collection requirements to
the public under the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501–
3511). Individuals will be required to
apply for certification and periodic
recertification to receive benefits.
This rule is being issued as a final
rule. The interim final rule was
published July 22, 2003, there were no
comments received from the public.
Executive Order 12866 requires
certain regulatory assessments for any
‘‘significant regulatory action’’ which is
defined in part as one that raises novel
policy issues arising out of legal
mandates. The Regulatory Flexibility
Act (RFA) requires that each federal
agency prepare, and make available for
public comment, a regulatory flexibility
analysis when the agency issues a
regulation which would have a
significant impact on a substantial
number of small entities. This final rule
is a significant regulatory action and has
been reviewed by the Office of
Management and Budget under
Executive Order 12866. The annual cost

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of this program is estimated to be about
$24 million per year, beginning in Fiscal
Year 2002. This rule is not economically
significant and will not significantly
affect a substantial number of small
entities. The information collection
notice was published on March 21, 2003
(68 FR 13906).
List of Subjects in 32 CFR Part 199
Department of Defense; Food
assistance programs; Women, infants
and children.
Accordingly, 32 CFR Part 199 is
amended as follows:

■

PART 199—[AMENDED]
1. The authority citation for Part 199
continues to read as follows:

■

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301 and 10 U.S.C.
Chapters 53 and 55.

2. Title 32, CFR Part 199 is amended
by revising § 199.23 to read as follows:

■

§ 199.23 Special Supplemental Food
Program.

(a) General provisions. This section
prescribes guidelines and policies for
the delivery and administration of the
Special Supplemental Food Program for
Women, Infants, and Children Overseas
(WIC Overseas Program). The purpose of
the WIC Overseas Program is to provide
supplemental foods and nutrition
education, at no cost, to eligible persons
and to serve as an adjunct to good
health care during critical times of
growth and development, in order to
prevent the occurrence of health
problems, including drug and other
substance abuse, and to improve the
health status of program participants.
The benefit is similar to the benefit
provided under the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) administered
Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
Program.
(b) Definitions. For most definitions
applicable to the provisions of this
section, refer to sec. 199.2. The
following definitions apply only to this
section:
(1) Applicant. Pregnant women,
breastfeeding women, postpartum
women, infants, and children who are
applying to receive WIC Overseas
benefits, and the breastfed infants of
applicant breastfeeding women. This
term also includes individuals who are
currently participating in the Program
but are re-applying because their
certification is about to expire.
(2) Breastfeeding women. Women up
to 1-year postpartum who are
breastfeeding their infants. Their
eligibility will end on the last day of the
month of their infant’s first birthday.

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(3) Certification. The implementation
of criteria and procedures to assess and
document each applicant’s eligibility for
the Program.
(4) Children. Persons who have had
their first birthday but have not yet
attained their fifth birthday. Their
eligibility will end on the last day of the
month of their fifth birthday.
(5) Competent Professional Authority
(CPA). An individual on the staff of the
WIC Overseas office authorized to
determine nutritional risk, prescribe
supplemental foods, and design
nutrition education programs. The
following are authorized to serve as a
competent professional authority:
physicians, nutritionists, registered
nurses, and dieticians may serve as a
competent professional authority.
Additionally, a CPA may be other
persons designated by the regional
program manager who meet the
definition of CPA prescribed by the
USDA as being professionally
competent to evaluate nutritional risk.
The definition also applies to an
individual who is not on the staff of the
WIC Overseas office but who is
qualified to provide data upon which
nutritional risk determinations are made
by a competent professional authority
on the staff of the local WIC Overseas
office.
(6) Contract brand. The brand of a
particular food item that has been
competitively selected by the DoD to be
the exclusive supplier of that type of
food item to the program.
(7) Date-to-use. The date by which the
drafts must be used to purchase food
items.
(8) Department. The Department of
Defense (DoD), unless otherwise noted.
(9) Dependent. (i) A spouse, or (ii) An
unmarried child who is:
(A) Under 21 years of age; or
(B) Incapable of self-support because
of mental or physical incapacity and is
in fact dependent on the member for
more than 1⁄2 of the child’s support; or
(C) Is under 23 years of age, is
enrolled in a full-time course of study
in an institution of higher education and
is in fact dependent on the member for
more than one-half of the child’s
support.
(10) Drafts. Paper food instruments,
similar to vouchers, issued in the WIC
Overseas offices to program
participants. Participants may redeem
their drafts at participating
commissaries and NEXMARTs for the
types and quantities of foods specified
on the face of the draft.
(11) Economic unit. All individuals
contributing to or subsidizing the
income of a household, whether they

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physically reside in that household or
not.
(12) Eligible civilian. An eligible
civilian is a person who is not a member
of the armed forces and who is:
(i) A dependent of a member of the
armed forces residing with the member
outside the United States, whether or
not that dependent is command
sponsored, or
(ii) An employee of a military
department who is a national of the
United States and is residing outside the
United States in connection with such
individual’s employment or a
dependent of such individual residing
with the employee outside the United
States; or
(iii) An employee of a Department of
Defense contractor who is a national of
the United States and is residing outside
the United States in connection with
such individual’s employment or a
dependent of such individual residing
with the employee outside the United
States.
(13) Family. A group of related or
non-related individuals who are one
economic unit.
(14) Hematological test. A test of an
applicant’s or participant’s blood as
described in 7 CFR part 246.7(e).
(15) Income guidelines. Income
poverty guidelines published by the
U.S. DHHS. These guidelines are
adjusted annually by the Department of
Health and Human Services (DHHS),
with each annual adjustment effective
July 1 of each year. For purposes of WIC
Overseas Program income eligibility
determinations, income guidelines shall
mean the income guidelines published
by the DHHS pertaining to the State of
Alaska.
(16) Infants. Persons under 1 year of
age.
(17) National of the U.S. A person
who:
(i) Is a citizen of the U.S.; or
(ii) Is not a citizen of the United
States, but who owes permanent
allegiance to the United States, as
determined in accordance with the
Immigration and Nationality Act.
(18) NEXMART. Navy Exchange
Market.
(19) Nutrition education. Individual
or group sessions and the provision of
materials designed to improve health
status, achieve positive change in
dietary habits, and emphasize
relationships between nutrition and
health, all in keeping with the
individual’s personal, cultural, and
socioeconomic preferences.
(20) Nutritional risk.
(i) The presence of detrimental or
abnormal nutritional conditions
detectable by biochemical, physical,

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developmental or anthropometric data,
or
(ii) Other documented nutritionally
related medical conditions, or
(iii) Documented evidence of dietary
deficiencies that impair or endanger
health, or
(iv) Conditions that directly affect the
nutritional health of a person, such as
alcoholism or drug abuse, or
(v) Conditions that predispose
persons to inadequate nutritional
patterns, habits of poor nutritional
choices or nutritionally related medical
conditions.
(21) Participants. Pregnant women,
breastfeeding women, postpartum
women, infants, and children who are
receiving supplemental foods or food
instruments under the WIC Overseas
Program, and the breastfed infants of
participant breastfeeding women.
(22) Postpartum Women. Women up
to 6 months after the end of their
pregnancy. Their eligibility will end on
the last day of the sixth month after
their delivery.
(23) Pregnant Women. Women
determined to have one or more
embryos or fetuses in utero. Pregnant
women are eligible to receive WIC
benefits through 6 weeks postpartum, at
which time they reapply for the program
as postpartum or breastfeeding women.
(24) Rebate. The amount of money
refunded under cost containment
procedures to the Department from the
manufacturer of a contract brand food
item.
(25) Regional Lead Agent. The
designated major military medical
center that acts as the regional lead
agent, having tri-service responsibility
for the development and execution of a
single, integrated health care network.
(26) Supplemental foods. Foods
containing nutrients determined by
nutritional research to be lacking in the
diets of certain pregnant, breastfeeding,
and postpartum women, infants, and
children. WIC Overseas may substitute
different foods providing the nutritional
equivalent of foods prescribed by
Domestic WIC programs, as required by
10 U.S.C. 1060a(c)(1)(B).
(27) Verification. Verification of drafts
is a review before payment out of
Defense Health Program funds to
determine whether the commissary or
NEXMART complied with applicable
date-to-use, food specification, and
other redemption criteria.
(c) Certification of eligibility. (1) to the
extent practicable, participants shall be
certified as eligible to receive Program
benefits according to income and
nutritional risk certification guidelines
contained in regulations published by
the USDA pertaining to the Women,

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Infants, and Children program required
under 7 CFR 246.7(d)(2)(iv)(B).
Applicants must meet the following
eligibility criteria:
(i) Meet one of the participant type
requirements: be a member of the armed
forces on duty overseas; a family
member/dependent of a member of the
armed forces on duty overseas; a U.S.
national employee of a military
department serving overseas; a family
member of a U.S. national employee of
a DoD contractor serving overseas; a
family member of a U.S. national
employee of a DoD contractor serving
overseas;
(ii) Reside in the geographic area
served by the WIC Overseas office;
(iii) Meet the income criteria specified
in this section; and
(iv) Meet the nutrition risk criteria
specified in this section.
(2) In terms of income eligibility, the
following apply:
(i) The Department of Defense shall
use the Alaska income poverty
guidelines published by the DHHS for
making determinations regarding
income eligibility for the Program.
(ii) Program income eligibility
guidelines shall be adjusted annually to
conform to annual adjustments made by
the DHHS.
(iii) For income eligibility, the
Program may consider the income of the
family during the past 12 months and
the family’s current rate of income to
determine which indicator accurately
reflects the family’s status.
(iv) A pregnant woman who is
ineligible for participation in the
Program because she does not meet
income criteria shall be deemed eligible
if the criteria would be met by
increasing the number of individuals in
her family (economic unit) by the
number of children in utero.
(v) The Program shall define income
according to USDA regulations with
regard to the USDA-administered WIC
Program. In particular—
(A) A basic allowance for housing is
excluded from income as required by
section 674 of the National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000.
(B) The value of in-kind housing
benefits is excluded from income as
required under USDA regulations.
(C) Cost of living allowances for duty
outside the continental U.S. (OCONUS)
is excluded from income as required
under 7 CFR 246.7(d)(2)(iv)(A)(2).
(D) Public assistance and welfare
payments are included in income.
(3) Participants must be found to be
at nutritional risk to be eligible for
program benefits.
(i) A Competent Professional
Authority (CPA) shall determine if an
applicant is at nutritional risk.

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(ii) At the request of the program,
applicants shall provide, according to
schedules set by the USDA in 7 CFR
246.7(e) (unless deemed impracticable),
nutritional risk data as a condition of
certification in the Program. Such data
includes:
(A) Anthropometric measurements,
(B) The results of hematological tests,
(C) Physical examination,
(D) Dietary information, or
(E) Developmental testing
(iii) A pregnant woman who meets all
other eligibility criteria and for whom a
nutritional risk assessment cannot
immediately be completed will be
considered presumptively eligible to
participate in the Program for a period
up to 60 days.
(iv) Infants under 6 months of age
may be deemed to be at nutritional risk
if the infant’s mother was a Program
participant during pregnancy or if
medical records document that the
mother was at nutritional risk during
pregnancy.
(v) Unless otherwise specified herein
or in 7 CFR 246.7(e), required
nutritional risk data shall be provided
to, or obtained by, the WIC Overseas
Program office within 90 days of
enrollment.
(4) In the event that it is impracticable
for the WIC Overseas Program to adhere
to the income and nutritional risk
eligibility guidelines contained in
USDA regulations, the Director,
TRICARE Management Activity (TMA)
may waive the Department’s use of
USDA WIC Program eligibility criteria
by determining that it is impracticable
to use these standards to certify
participants in the WIC Overseas
Program.
(i) Such determination shall consider
relevant practical, administrative,
national security, financial factors and
existing Department policies and their
application to the population served by
the WIC Overseas Program.
(ii) Absent a written finding of
impracticability described in section
199.23(c)(4), the eligibility criteria for
the WIC program, contained in USDA
regulations shall apply.
(5) An applicant for the WIC Overseas
Program who presents a valid WIC
Program Verification of Certification
card, which is issued to participants in
the domestic WIC Program when they
intend to move, shall be considered
eligible for participation in the WIC
Overseas Program for the duration of the
individual’s current domestic WIC
certification period, as long as he/she is
an eligible service/family member or
eligible civilian/family member.
(d) Program benefits. (1) Drafts. WIC
participants shall be issued drafts that

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may be redeemed for supplemental food
prescribed under the program.
(i) Drafts shall at a minimum list the
food items to be redeemed and the dateto-use.
(ii) Food items listed on the draft
must be approved for use under the
Program.
(iii) Drafts generally shall allow for a
three-month supply of food items for
each participant, unless the
participant’s nutritional status
necessitates more frequent contacts with
the WIC Overseas office.
(iv) Participating commissaries and
NEXMARTS shall accept the drafts in
exchange for approved food items.
(v) Commissary and NEXMART
personnel shall be trained on
verification and processing of drafts.
(vi) Program guidelines shall provide
for training of new participants in how
to redeem drafts.
(2) Supplemental Food. Participants
shall redeem drafts for appropriate food
packages at intervals determined in
accordance with the USDA regulations.
(i) The Director, TMA shall identify to
the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA)
and NEXCOM a list of food items
approved for the WIC Overseas Program.
This list shall be developed in
consultation with the USDA and shall
include information regarding the
appropriate package and/or container
sizes and quantities available for
participants, as well as the frequency
with which food items can be acquired.
Additions and/or deletions of food
items from this list shall be
communicated to the commissaries and
NEXMARTS on an ongoing basis.
(ii) A CPA shall prescribe appropriate
foods from among the approved list to
be included in food packages.
(iii) A CPA shall coordinate
documentation of medical need when
such documentation is a prerequisite for
prescribing certain food items.
(iv) The Director, TMA may authorize
changes regarding the supplemental
foods to be made available in the WIC
Overseas Program when local
conditions preclude strict compliance or
when such compliance is impracticable.
(3) Nutrition Education. Nutrition
education shall be provided to all
participants at intervals prescribed in
USDA regulations at 7 CFR Part 246.11.
(i) The WIC Overseas nutrition
education program shall be locally
overseen by a CPA based on guidance
and materials provided by TMA.
(ii) Nutrition education and its means
of delivery be tailored to the greatest
extent practicable to the specific
nutritional, cultural, practical, and other
needs of the participant. Participant
profiles created during certification may

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be used in designing appropriate
nutrition education. A CPA may
develop individual care plans, as
necessary, consistent with USDA
regulations.
(iii) Nutrition education shall consist
of sessions wherein individual
participants or groups of participants
meet with a CPA in an interactive
setting such that participants can ask,
and the CPA can answer, questions
related to nutrition practices. In
addition, nutrition education shall
utilize prepared educational materials
and/or Internet sites. Both the sessions
and the information materials shall be
designed to improve health status,
achieve positive change in dietary
habits, and emphasize relationships
between nutrition and health.
Individual and group sessions can be
accomplished through, among other
things, face-to-face meetings, remote
tele-videoconferencing, real-time
computer-based distance learning, or
other means.
(iv) Nutrition education services shall
generally be provided to participants
twice during each 6-month certification
period, unless a different schedule is
specified in USDA regulations.
(v) The nutrition education program
shall promote breastfeeding as the
optimal method of infant nutrition,
encourage pregnant participants to
breastfeed unless contraindicated for
health reasons, and educate all
participating women about the harmful
effects of substance abuse.
(vi) Individual participants shall not
be denied supplemental food due to the
failure to attend scheduled nutrition
education sessions.
(e) Financial management. The
Department shall establish procedures
to provide for the verification of drafts
prior to payment.
(i) Verification may utilize sampling
techniques.
(ii) Payment of drafts shall be made
out of Defense Health Program funds.
(f) Rebate agreements. (1) DoD is
authorized to enter into an agreement
with a manufacturer of a particular
brand of a food item that provides for
the exclusive supply to the program of
the same or similar types of food items
by that manufacturer.
(i) The agreement shall identify a
contract brand of food item.
(ii) Under the agreement, the
manufacturer shall rebate to the
Department an agreed portion of the
amounts paid by DoD for the
procurement of the contract brand.
(2) The DoD shall use competitive
procedures under title 10, chapter 137
to select the contract brand.

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(3) Amounts rebated shall be credited
to the appropriation available for
carrying out the program and shall be
applied against expenditures for the
program in the same period as the other
sums in the appropriation.
(g) Administrative appeals and civil
rights. (1) Applicants who are denied
certification or participants that are
denied recertification shall be provided
with a notice of ineligibility. The notice
shall include information on the
applicant’s right to appeal the
determination and instructions on doing
so.
(2) Benefits shall not be provided
while an appeal is pending when an
applicant is denied benefits, a
participant’s certification has expired or
a participant becomes categorically
ineligible.
(3) A request for appeal shall be
submitted in writing within five
working days. If the decision is an
adverse one it shall include notice to the
applicant of his further appeal rights as
reflected in (iii) below, and that he/she
has five working days to effect any such
appeal.
(4) Appeal reviews shall be conducted
in the first instance by the CPA or team
leader in charge of the local WIC
Overseas office.
(i) Written notice of a decision shall
be provided to the applicant within five
working days.
(ii) If the appeal is upheld, retroactive
benefits shall not be provided.
(iii) At an applicant’s request a denied
appeal may be forwarded to the regional
program manager for review, who will
provide a decision on the appeal within
5 working days.
(iv) If the regional program manager
denies the appeal, there shall be no
further right of appeal.
(5) Complaints about discriminatory
treatment shall be handled in
accordance with procedures established
at each local WIC Overseas site.
(h) Operations and Administration.
(1) Information collected about WIC
Overseas applicants and participants
shall be collected, maintained, and
disclosed in accordance with applicable
laws and regulations.
(2) Information and personnel
security requirements shall be
consistent with applicable laws and
regulations.
Dated: March 17, 2004.
L.M. Bynum,
Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison
Officer, Department of Defense.
[FR Doc. 04–6388 Filed 3–25–04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 5001–06–M

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