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498 (07/2026) Chapter 2:Eligibility • Section 8: Disaster (Emergency) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (DSNAP) Disaster (Emergency) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (DSNAP) Following a natural disaster, people may be unable to supply their everyday needs for food, clothing, and shelter. Services and facilities may be available to victims from volunteer agencies on either an individual basis or through emergency group shelters or feeding stations. In Oregon, in cases of natural disaster, local governments and volunteer agencies provide the immediate response. State resources are not committed until, or unless, the Governor declares a state of emergency. At the state’s request, and the President’s concurrence that a major disaster exists, the federal government will also participate and provide additional services. Where more than one agency or level of government provide similar assistance, close communication will be maintained to avoid duplication and to assure the best level of assistance to the victims. Background The Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act of 1988 allows distribution of emergency SNAP benefits to victims of a Presidentially-declared major disaster. In areas affected by a Presidential declaration, the only two requirements that must be met are that commercial channels of food distribution are available so that SNAP benefits can be used, and that the ongoing SNAP program is unable to handle the increased number of households needing assistance. Under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, the Secretary of Agriculture can authorize emergency food assistance to areas not declared a major disaster by the President if a disaster has caused the disruption and subsequent restoration of commercial channels of food distribution. A disruption in the commercial channels of food distribution will include conditions that limit households’ access to food outlets as well as the closing and reopening of retail and wholesale food outlets. Evidence of disrupted food distribution would include significantly curtailed business hours; impassable roads; significantly hampered delivery of commodities to food outlets; unusually heavy demand on food outlets to the extent that the normal opportunity to purchase food is significantly hampered due to households replacing food supplies damaged or destroyed by the disaster; or power failure which significantly restricts the operation of food outlets. Commercial channels of food distribution will be considered restored when conditions or operations have improved to the extent that households in the disaster area have reasonable access to food outlets. The three conditions which must be met before disaster SNAP assistance can be authorized are (1) that commercial channels of food distribution have been disrupted; (2) that commercial channels of food distribution have been restored; and (3) that the normal, ongoing SNAP program is unable to expeditiously handle the number of households affected by the disaster who are in need of emergency SNAP assistance. The FNS Regional Disaster Task Force will serve as the primary coordinator for SNAP disaster activities, gathering data, evaluating the need for emergency food assistance, and providing information and/or recommendations to the FNS National Disaster Task Force.