PUBLIC LAW 105-336 —OCT. 31, 1998 112 STAT. 3165 "(A) IN GENERAL.—^A State agency may permit a vendor that, but for this paragraph, would be disquahfied under paragraph (1), to continue to participate in the program if the State agency determines, in its sole discretion according to criteria established by the Secretary, that— "(i) disqualification of the vendor would cause hardship to participants in the program authorized under this section; or "(ii)(I) the vendor had, at the time of the violation under paragraph (1), an effective policy and program in effect to prevent violations described in paragraph (l);and "(II) the ownership of the vendor was not aware of, did not approve of, and was not involved in the conduct of the violation. "(B) CIVIL PENALTY. — If a State agency under subparagraph (A) permits a vendor to continue to participate in the program in lieu of disqualification, the State agency shall assess the vendor a civil penalty in an amount determined by the State agency, in accordance with criteria established by the Secretary, except that— "(i) the amount of the civil penalty shall not exceed $10,000 for each violation; and "(ii) the amount of civil penalties imposed for violations investigated as part of a single investigation may not exceed $40,000.". (2) REGULATIONS. — The Secretary of Agriculture shall Deadlines. promulgate— ILF^^ ^'^^ (A) not later than March 1, 1999, proposed regulations to carry out section 17(o) of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786(o)), as added by paragraph (1); and (B) not later than March 1, 2000, final regulations to carry out section 17(o) of that Act. (q) CRIMINAL FORFEITURE.— Section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786), as amended by subsection (p)(l), is amended by adding at the end the following: "(p) CRIMINAL FORFEITURE.— "(1) IN GENERAL. —Notwithstanding any provision of State law and in addition to any other penalty authorized by law, a court may order a person that is convicted of a violation of a provision of law described in paragraph (2), with respect to food instruments (including any item described in subsection (o)(l)(A) issued in heu of a food instrument under this section), funds, assets, or property that have a value of $100 or more and that are the subject of a grant or other form of assistance under this section, to forfeit to the United States all property described in paragraph (3). "(2) APPLICABLE LAWS. — ^A provision of law described in this paragraph is— "(A) section 12(g) of the National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1760(g)); and "(B) any other Federal law imposing a penalty for embezzlement, willful misapplication, stealing, obtaining by fraud, or trafficking in food instruments (including any item described in subsection (o)(l)(A) issued in lieu of a food instrument under this section), funds, assets, or property. note.
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