(a) Contents of the plan. The State agency must submit for approval by the appropriate FNS Regional Office a plan which contains:

(1) A designation of the State agency responsible for distributing commodities and administrative funds provided under this part, and the address of such agency;

(2) A plan of operation and administration to expeditiously distribute commodities received under this part;

(3) A description of the standards of eligibility for recipient agencies, including any subpriorities within the two-tier priority system;

(4) A description of the criteria established in accordance with §251.5(b) which must be used by eligible recipient agencies in determining the eligibility of households to receive the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) commodities for home consumption;

(5) At the option of the State agency, a plan of operation for one or more projects in partnership with one or more emergency feeding organizations located in the State to harvest, process, package, or transport donated commodities received under section 203D(d) of the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983. The plan must include all items listed in paragraphs (a)(5)(i) through (iv) of this section:

(i) A list of emergency feeding organizations within the State that will operate the project in partnership with the State agency.

(ii) A list of any State agencies that will operate the project as a part of a cooperative agreement.

(iii) A description of the purpose of the Farm to Food Bank Project that includes how the Project will:

(A) Reduce food waste at the agricultural production, processing, or distribution level through the donation of food;

(B) Provide food to individuals in need; and

(C) Build relationships between agricultural producers, processors, and distributors and emergency feeding organizations through the donation of food.

(iv) The fiscal year in which the Project will begin operating; and

(6) A plan, which may include the use of a State advisory board established under §251.4(h)(4), that provides emergency feeding organizations or eligible recipient agencies within the State an opportunity to provide input on the commodity preferences and needs of the emergency feeding organization or eligible recipient agency.

(b) Plan submission and amendments. Once approved, State plans are permanent. State agencies must submit amendments to the distribution plan when necessary to reflect any changes in program operations or administration as described in the plan, or at the request of FNS, to the appropriate FNS Regional Office.

(c) Amendments. State agencies must submit amendments to the distribution plan to the extent that such amendments are necessary to reflect any changes in program operations or administration as described in the plan, or at the request of FNS, to the appropriate FNS Regional Office.

[64 FR 72905, Dec. 29, 1999, as amended at 74 FR 62474, Nov. 30, 2009; 84 FR 53002, Oct. 4, 2019]