In its performance of EBT Services, the Awarded Vendor shall comply with the following rules and regulations that govern EBT systems and operations.
(A) State Rules
The Awarded Vendor shall follow all applicable State of Texas laws, rules or policies including, without limitation, those relating to EBT and to information security,
confidentiality, and privacy. Rather than following Quest Rules, Texas follows the Lone Star Operating Rules, which are available
at http://www.hhsc.state.tx.us/providers/lonestar/Library/Documents.html.
All technological solutions offered by the Respondent must comply with the requirements of Texas Government Code §531.0162. This includes, but is not limited to providing technological solutions that meet federal accessibility standards for persons with disabilities, as applicable, or demonstrating why compliance would impose a significant difficulty or expense to HHSC. Descriptions or versions of products or services that Respondent submits to HHSC for accessibility review purposes must be equivalent in functionality and features to those under consideration for purchase. HHSC in its sole discretion will determine level of compliance with state and federal accessibility
requirements.
Bidders must comply with the HHS Electronic and Information Resources (EIR) Accessibility Policy Manual
at http://architecture.hhsc.state.tx.us/myweb/Accessibility/policy_htm/default.htm. Bidders must comply with relevant state accessibility requirements of the Texas Administrative Code at http://info.sos.state.tx.us/pls/pub/readtac$ext.TacPage?sl=R&app=9&p_dir=&p_rloc= &p_tloc=&p_ploc=&pg=1&p_tac=&ti=1&pt=10&ch=206&rl=50 and http://info.sos.state.tx.us/pls/pub/readtac$ext.ViewTAC?tac_view=4&ti=1&pt=10&ch=21 3. (B) Federal Rules
1. The Awarded Vendor shall comply with the following federal SNAP EBT regulations and all related changes, updates, revisions, and policy interpretations:
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Federal Regulations at 7 CFR Parts 272, 274, 276, 277, 278, 279, and 280. These regulations are available on the Government Printing Office website at:http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&tpl=%2Findex.tpl .
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Final Rules as published in the Federal Register are available on theFNS website
at: http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/ebt/ebt_regulations.htm
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The May 24, 2013, USDA Nondiscrimination Statement Update:The U.S. Department of Agriculture prohibits discrimination against its customers, employees, and applicants for employment on the bases of race, color, national origin, age, disability, sex, gender identity, religion, reprisal and, where applicable, political beliefs, marital status, familial or parental status, sexual orientation, or all or part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program, or protected genetic information in employment or in any program or activity conducted or funded by the Department. (Not all prohibited bases will apply to all programs and/or employment activities.) If you wish to file a Civil Rights program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, found online at http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html, or at any USDA office, or call (866) 632-9992 to request the form. You may also write a letter containing all of the information requested in the form. Send your completed complaint form or letter to us by mail at U.S. Department of Agriculture, Director, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, by fax (202) 690-7442 or email at [email protected].
Individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have speech disabilities may contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877- 8339; or (800) 845-6136 (Spanish).
For any other information dealing with Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP) issues, persons should either contact the USDA SNAP Hotline Number at (800) 221-5689, which is also in Spanish or call the State Information/Hotline Numbers (click the link for a listing of hotline numbers by State); found online
at http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/contact_info/hotlines.htm. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
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Any waiver to the federal regulations granted to the State of Texas by FNS for EBT purposes. RFP Appendix 6.3 lists waivers to thefederal SNAP regulations that will be applicable to the EBT-4 contract.
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Bidders should be aware of all FNS SNAP and EBT guidelines,including the EBT Reconciliation Guidance for State Agencies, EBT Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Guidance, EBT Security Guidelines Handbook, and the EBT System Transition Guide published by FNS.
2. The Awarded Vendor shall comply with the following federal TANF EBT regulations and all related changes, updates, revisions, and policy interpretations:
• Federal Regulations at 45 CFR Part 264. These regulations are available on the Government Printing Office website at:
http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&tpl=%2Findex.tpl. • Final Rules and Proposed Rules as published in the Federal
• Any waiver to the federal regulations granted to the State of Texas by HHS ACF for EBT purposes. As of the publication date for this RFP, there are no waivers to the federal TANF regulations that will be applicable to the EBT-4 contract.
3. Regulation E shall govern only if applicable to the type of service being provided.
4. The Awarded Vendor shall comply with 45 CFR 74, 48 CFR 31, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-87, and OMB Circular A-122. 5. Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury 26 CFR Parts 1, 31 and 301,
Information Reporting for Payments Made in Settlement of Payment Card and Third-party Network Transactions. For additional information, refer to: http://www.irs.gov/irb/2010-43_IRB/ar08.html
6. The Awarded Vendor must make the following certifications to comply with EBT contract certification requirements:
(a) Lobbying
The vendor certifies, to the best of his or her knowledge and belief that;
1) No Federal appropriated funds have been paid or will be paid, by or on behalf of the Awarded Vendor, to any person for
influencing or attempting to influence an officer or employee of an agency, a member of Congress, an officer or employee of
Congress, or an employee or a Member of Congress in
connection with the awarding of any Federal contract, the making of any Federal grant, the making of any Federal loan, the entering into any cooperative agreement, and the extension, continuation, renewal, amendment, or modification of any Federal contract, grant, loan, or cooperative agreement.
2) If any funds other than Federal appropriated funds have been paid or will be paid to any person for influencing an officer or employee of any agency, a Member of Congress, an officer or employee of Congress, or an employee of a Member of Congress in connection with this Federal contract, grant, loan or cooperative agreement, the undersigned shall complete and submit Standard Form LLL, “Disclosure form to report lobbying,” in accordance with its instructions.
3) The vendor shall require that the language of this certification be included in the award documents for all sub-awards at all tiers (including subcontracts, sub-grants, and contracts under grants, loans and cooperative agreements) and that all sub-recipients shall certify and disclose accordingly.
(b) Suspension/Debarment
The grantee agrees to ensure that all Contractors and/or subcontractors are neither excluded nor disqualified under the suspension and debarment rules found at 7 CFR Part 3017.300 by doing any of the following:
Checking the Excluded Parties List System (EPLS) at https://sam.gov/portal/public/SAM/.
Collecting a certification that the entity is neither excluded nor disqualified. Since a Federal certification
form is no longer available, the Contractor or subcontractor electing this method must devise its own form.
Including a clause to this effect in the sub-grant agreement; and in any procurement contract expected to equal
or exceed $25,000.
(c) Drug Free Workplace (DFW) Rule
The vendor agrees to (A) make a good faith effort, on a continuing basis to maintain a DFW; and (B) identify all workplace locations where work under the Federal award will be performed. Since Federal entities will no longer collect a paper certificate, this may include the following:
a) Notifying all subcontractors and Contractors of the Drug Free Workplace rules
b) Making conforming changes to internal procedures, directives, training materials, etc.
c) Incorporating the new rules into subcontractors' monitoring practices
(d) For the remaining requirements, the State and its selected vendor only need to agree to the following statement, in the final EBT Contract:
The State and its selected vendor agree to the following provisions found in 7 CFR 277.14:
• Clean Air and Clear Water • Equal opportunity
7. HHSC and the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service retain the right to conduct on-site evaluations and/or inspections of the Awarded Vendor’s records and site(s), including subcontractor facilities, at any time during the Contract period.
8. The Awarded Vendor must comply with federal and state accessibility requirements of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended, and section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended,
athttp://www.section508.gov/Section-508-Of-The-Rehabilitation-Act, as implemented by the Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards (Section 508) (36 C.F.R. Part 1194) (http://www.access- board.gov/guidelines-and-standards/communications-and-it/about-the- section-508-standards/section-508-standards).
(C) National Standards
1. ANSI X9.58 messaging standards published in 2002. These messaging standards are based on International Organization for Standards (ISO) technical standards 8583 and 9510.
2. Code of Practice for Information Security Management, ISO/IEC 17799:2005(E), from ISO and the International Electrotechnical Commission.
3. IEEE Standard for the Application and Management of the Systems Engineering Process, 1120-2005 from IEEE.
4. IEEE – Adoption of Project Management Institute (PMI) Standard – A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, authored by PMI.