SAN FRANCISCO, March 2, 2026 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced today that households impacted by the power outages as a result of winter storms in California could be eligible for replacement of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. This is one of many recent steps USDA has taken to ensure California residents in need have food to eat.

Rather than require SNAP households to report food losses individually, USDA allowed the state of California to approve automatic mass replacements of 50 percent benefits for residents who lost food as a result of the winter storm. The waiver applies to 22 counties (Amador, Butte, Calaveras, El Dorado, Fresno, Humboldt, Mariposa, Mendocino, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, Yolo, Yuba) and 74 zip codes (95689, 95666, 95629, 95978, 95930, 95942, 95954, 9594, 95248, 95223, 95226, 95232, 95224, 95257, 95720, 95684, 95709, 95726, 95634, 95636, 95233, 95255, 95251, 93664, 93628, 93621, 93664, 93651, 95556, 95555, 95558, 95570, 95546, 93623, 95389  95417, 95986, 95715, 95714, 95701, 95717, 95631, 95983, 95934, 95947, 95984, 92341, 92280, 93426, 94060, 94074, 94020, 96125, 95910, 95944, 95936, 95568, 95419, 95497, 95527, 93633, 93603, 95364, 95375, 95335, 95346, 95383, 95321, 95679, 95637, 95925, 95922, 95919, 95981).

More details will be made available through the California Department of Social Services.

SNAP participants in areas hardest hit by the disaster may have a portion of their February benefits replaced. SNAP recipients residing in other affected areas may request replacement benefits by filing an affidavit with the local office attesting to disaster-related loss.

For more information about assistance available to residents of California impacted by the winter storm, visit https://www.cdss.ca.gov/.

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