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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