California Welfare and Institutions Code § 10072.3

(a) This section shall be known, and may be cited, as the California Fruit and Vegetable EBT Pilot Project. (b) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply: (1) “Authorized pilot retailer” means any retail establishment that is authorized to accept CalFresh benefits, including, but not limited to, grocery stores, corner stores, farmers’ markets, farm stands, and mobile markets. (2) “Fresh fruits and vegetables” means any variety of whole or cut fruits and vegetables without added sugars, fats, oils, or salt and that have not been processed with heat, drying, canning, or freezing. (3) “Supplemental benefits” means additional funds delivered to a CalFresh recipient’s EBT card upon purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables using CalFresh benefits, and to be redeemed only for purchases allowed under the CalFresh program at an authorized retailer. (c) The department, in consultation with the Department of Food and Agriculture, county CalFresh administrators, and stakeholders with experience operating CalFresh nutrition incentive programs, shall include within the EBT system a supplemental benefits mechanism that allows an authorized pilot retailer to deliver and redeem supplemental benefits. The supplemental benefits mechanism shall be compatible with operational procedures at farmers’ markets with centralized point-of-sale terminals and at grocery stores with integrated point-of-sale terminals. The supplemental benefits mechanism shall ensure all of the following: (1) Supplemental benefits can be transferable across any CalFresh program authorized retailer. (2) Supplemental benefits can be accrued, tracked, and redeemed by CalFresh recipients in a seamless, integrated process through the EBT system. (3) Supplemental benefits can only be accrued by CalFresh recipients through the purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables from an authorized pilot retailer. (4) Supplemental benefits can only be redeemed to make eligible purchases under the CalFresh program from an authorized retailer. (5) The supplemental benefits mechanism complies with all applicable state and federal laws governing procedures to ensure privacy and confidentiality. (6) Authorized pilot retailers that use EBT-only point-of-sale terminals, such as farmers’ markets, and those that use integrated point-of-sale terminals, such as grocery stores, shall be able to integrate the new supplemental benefits mechanism into their existing systems, including the free state-issued hardware provided to certified farmers’ markets and farmers. (7) The supplemental benefits mechanism provides a CalFresh benefits to supplemental benefits match ratio of at least 1:1. (8) A CalFresh household may only accrue up to a limited amount of supplemental benefits, as determined by the department. (9) There shall be no expiration date for use of supplemental benefits, but the benefits may be expunged in accordance with federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) regulations. (d) There is hereby created in the State Treasury the California Fruit and Vegetable EBT Grant Fund. The fund shall consist of moneys from state, federal, and other public and private sources to provide grants pursuant to subdivision (e). (e) Upon the deposit of sufficient moneys into the California Fruit and Vegetable EBT Grant Fund, as determined by the department, and upon the appropriation of moneys from the fund by the Legislature for this purpose, the department shall provide grants for pilot projects to implement and test the supplemental benefits mechanism in existing retail settings. The goal of the pilot project is to develop and refine a scalable model for increasing the purchase and consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables by delivering supplemental benefits to CalFresh recipients in a way that can be easily adopted by authorized retailers of various types, sizes, and locations in the future. The department, in consultation with the Department of Food and Agricul

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