Federal

Strengthening Local Processing Act of 2023

Source: Congress.gov · 3,875 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill changes federal rules to help small and very small meat and poultry processing businesses. It gives these businesses guidance, resources, grants, and training to improve their operations and help them follow food safety rules. ##

Who It Affects

- Small and very small meat processing establishments - Small and very small poultry processing establishments - Custom meat and poultry operations - State meat and poultry inspection programs - Junior colleges, community colleges, technical schools, and universities - Farmers and ranchers needing local slaughter options - Socially and economically disadvantaged business owners (those who face extra barriers to starting businesses) ##

Key Provisions

- The federal government will create a free searchable database of approved studies and publish model safety plans for small and very small establishments within 18 months of the law taking effect (Sec. 2) - The federal government will publish guidance within 2 years about what small and very small establishments need to do to get approval for their safety plans (Sec. 2) - Federal funding for state inspection programs increases from 50 percent to 65 percent of costs (Sec. 3) - The definition of businesses that can ship meat and poultry across state lines expands from those with 25 employees to those with 50 employees (Sec. 4) - The federal government will award grants up to $500,000 to eligible small businesses for equipment, facility improvements, safety training, and business planning (Sec. 5) - Junior colleges, community colleges, technical schools, and land-grant universities can receive grants to start or expand meat and poultry processing training programs (Sec. 6) - Small businesses can receive grants to offset the cost of training new workers in meat and poultry processing (Sec. 6) ##

What Changes

If this bill becomes law, small and very small meat and poultry businesses will have easier access to federal resources, training, and financial help. The federal government will do the work of creating safety plan examples and research databases instead of each small business creating these from scratch. More businesses will be able to ship meat and poultry across state lines. States will receive more federal money to help run their inspection programs. ##

Important Definitions

**Smaller establishment and very small establishment:** These have the meanings given in the final rule titled "Pathogen Reduction; Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) Systems" from 1996 (Sec. 2, Sec. 5, Sec. 6) **Eligible entity:** Includes smaller and very small establishments, state-inspected slaughtering or processing businesses, custom operations exempt from inspection, and people planning to start these types of businesses (Sec. 5) **Business enterprise owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals:** Has the meaning given in the State Small Business Credit Initiative Act of 2010 (Sec. 5) ##

Effective Date

Not specified in bill text

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 945 To amend the Poultry Products Inspection Act and the Federal Meat Inspec- tion Act to support small and very small meat and poultry processing establishments, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 9, 2023 Ms. PINGREE (for herself, Mr. BAIRD, and Ms. KUSTER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To amend the Poultry Products Inspection Act and the Fed- eral Meat Inspection Act to support small and very small meat and poultry processing establishments, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strengthening Local 4 Processing Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H945.IH H945 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 945 IH SEC. 2. HACCP GUIDANCE AND RESOURCES FOR SMALLER 1 AND VERY SMALL POULTRY AND MEAT ES- 2 TABLISHMENTS. 3 (a) POULTRY ESTABLISHMENTS.—The Poultry Prod- 4 ucts Inspection Act is amended by inserting after section 5 14 (21 U.S.C. 463) the following: 6 ‘‘SEC. 14A. SMALLER AND VERY SMALL ESTABLISHMENT 7 GUIDANCE AND RESOURCES. 8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS OF SMALLER ESTABLISHMENT 9 AND VERY SMALL ESTABLISHMENT.—In this section, the 10 terms ‘smaller establishment’ and ‘very small establish- 11 ment’ have the meanings given those terms in the final 12 rule entitled ‘Pathogen Reduction; Hazard Analysis and 13 Critical Control Point (HACCP) Systems’ (61 Fed. Reg. 14 38806 (July 25, 1996)). 15 ‘‘(b) DATABASE OF STUDIES; MODEL PLANS.—Not 16 later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this 17 section, the Secretary shall— 18 ‘‘(1) establish a free, searchable database of ap- 19 proved peer-reviewed validation studies accessible to 20 smaller establishments and very small establish- 21 ments subject to inspection under this Act for use 22 in developing a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control 23 Points plan; and 24 ‘‘(2) publish online scale-appropriate model 25 Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points plans 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H945.IH H945 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 945 IH for smaller establishments and very small establish- 1 ments, including model plans for— 2 ‘‘(A) slaughter-only establishments; 3 ‘‘(B) processing-only establishments; and 4 ‘‘(C) slaughter and processing establish- 5 ments. 6 ‘‘(c) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 2 years after the 7 date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall pub- 8 lish a guidance document, after notice and an opportunity 9 for public comment, providing information on the require- 10 ments that need to be met for smaller establishments and 11 very small establishments to receive approval for a Hazard 12 Analysis and Critical Control Points plan pursuant to this 13 Act. 14 ‘‘(d) DATA CONFIDENTIALITY.—In carrying out sub- 15 sections (b) and (c), the Secretary shall not publish con- 16 fidential business information, including a Hazard Anal- 17 ysis and Critical Control Points plan of an establish- 18 ment.’’. 19 (b) MEAT ESTABLISHMENTS.—The Federal Meat In- 20 spection Act is amended by inserting after section 25 (21 21 U.S.C. 625) the following: 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H945.IH H945 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 945 IH ‘‘SEC. 26. SMALLER AND VERY SMALL ESTABLISHMENT 1 GUIDANCE AND RESOURCES. 2 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS OF SMALLER ESTABLISHMENT 3 AND VERY SMALL ESTABLISHMENT.—In this section, the 4 terms ‘smaller establishment’ and ‘very small establish- 5 ment’ have the meanings given those terms in the final 6 rule entitled ‘Pathogen Reduction; Hazard Analysis and 7 Critical Control Point (HACCP) Systems’ (61 Fed. Reg. 8 38806 (July 25, 1996)). 9 ‘‘(b) DATABASE OF STUDIES; MODEL PLANS.—Not 10 later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this 11 section, the Secretary shall— 12 ‘‘(1) establish a free, searchable database of ap- 13 proved peer-reviewed validation studies accessible to 14 smaller establishments and very small establish- 15 ments subject to inspection under this Act for use 16 in developing a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control 17 Points plan; and 18 ‘‘(2) publish online scale-appropriate model 19 Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points plans 20 for smaller establishments and very small establish- 21 ments, including model plans for— 22 ‘‘(A) slaughter-only establishments; 23 ‘‘(B) processing-only establishments; and 24 ‘‘(C) slaughter and processing establish- 25 ments. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H945.IH H945 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 945 IH ‘‘(c) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 2 years after the 1 date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall pub- 2 lish a guidance document, after notice and an opportunity 3 for public comment, providing information on the require- 4 ments that need to be met for smaller establishments and 5 very small establishments to receive approval for a Hazard 6 Analysis and Critical Control Points plan pursuant to this 7 Act. 8 ‘‘(d) DATA CONFIDENTIALITY.—In carrying out sub- 9 sections (b) and (c), the Secretary shall not publish con- 10 fidential business information, including a Hazard Anal- 11 ysis and Critical Control Points plan of an establish- 12 ment.’’. 13 SEC. 3. INCREASING MAXIMUM FEDERAL SHARE FOR EX- 14 PENSES OF STATE INSPECTION. 15 (a) POULTRY PRODUCTS.—Section 5(a)(3) of the 16 Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 454(a)(3)) is 17 amended in the second sentence by striking ‘‘50 per cen- 18 tum’’ and inserting ‘‘65 percent’’. 19 (b) MEAT AND MEAT FOOD PRODUCTS.—Section 20 301(a)(3) of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 21 661(a)(3)) is amended in the second sentence by striking 22 ‘‘50 per centum’’ and inserting ‘‘65 percent’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H945.IH H945 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 945 IH SEC. 4. COOPERATIVE INTERSTATE SHIPMENT OF POUL- 1 TRY AND MEAT. 2 (a) POULTRY PRODUCTS.—Section 31 of the Poultry 3 Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 472) is amended— 4 (1) in subsection (b)— 5 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘25 em- 6 ployees’’ each place it appears and inserting 7 ‘‘50 employees’’; and 8 (B) in paragraph (3)— 9 (i) in the paragraph heading, by strik- 10 ing ‘‘25’’ and inserting ‘‘50’’; 11 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 12 ‘‘25’’ and inserting ‘‘50’’; and 13 (iii) in subparagraph (B)— 14 (I) in clause (i), by striking 15 ‘‘more than 25 employees but less 16 than 35 employees’’ and inserting 17 ‘‘more than 50 employees but less 18 than 70 employees’’; and 19 (II) in clause (ii), by striking 20 ‘‘subsection (i)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub- 21 section (j)’’; 22 (2) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘60 percent’’ 23 and inserting ‘‘80 percent’’; 24 (3) in subsection (e)(1), by striking ‘‘subsection 25 (i)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (j)’’; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H945.IH H945 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 945 IH (4) by redesignating subsections (f) through (i) 1 as subsections (g) through (j), respectively; and 2 (5) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol- 3 lowing: 4 ‘‘(f) FEDERAL OUTREACH.— 5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In each of fiscal years 6 2023 through 2028, for the purpose of State partici- 7 pation in the Cooperative Interstate Shipment pro- 8 gram, the Secretary shall conduct outreach to, and, 9 as appropriate, subsequent negotiation with, not 10 fewer than 25 percent of the States that— 11 ‘‘(A) have a State poultry product inspec- 12 tion program pursuant to section 5; but 13 ‘‘(B) do not have a selected establishment. 14 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—At the conclusion of each of fis- 15 cal years 2023 through 2028, the Secretary shall 16 submit a report detailing the activities and results of 17 the outreach conducted during that fiscal year under 18 paragraph (1) to— 19 ‘‘(A) the Committee on Agriculture of the 20 House of Representatives; 21 ‘‘(B) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutri- 22 tion, and Forestry of the Senate; 23 ‘‘(C) the Subcommittee on Agriculture, 24 Rural Development, Food and Drug Adminis- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H945.IH H945 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 945 IH tration, and Related Agencies of the Committee 1 on Appropriations of the House of Representa- 2 tives; and 3 ‘‘(D) the Subcommittee on Agriculture, 4 Rural Development, Food and Drug Adminis- 5 tration, and Related Agencies of the Committee 6 on Appropriations of the Senate.’’. 7 (b) MEAT AND MEAT FOOD PRODUCTS.—Section 8 501 of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 683) 9 is amended— 10 (1) in subsection (b)— 11 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘25 em- 12 ployees’’ each place it appears and inserting 13 ‘‘50 employees’’; and 14 (B) in paragraph (3)— 15 (i) in the paragraph heading, by strik- 16 ing ‘‘25’’ and inserting ‘‘50’’; 17 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 18 ‘‘25’’ and inserting ‘‘50’’; and 19 (iii) in subparagraph (B)(i), by strik- 20 ing ‘‘more than 25 employees but less than 21 35 employees’’ and inserting ‘‘more than 22 50 employees but less than 70 employees’’; 23 (2) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘60 percent’’ 24 and inserting ‘‘80 percent’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H945.IH H945 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 945 IH (3) in subsection (f), by adding at the end the 1 following: 2 ‘‘(3) FEDERAL OUTREACH.— 3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In each of fiscal years 4 2023 through 2028, for the purpose of State 5 participation in the Cooperative Interstate Ship- 6 ment program, the Secretary shall conduct out- 7 reach to, and, as appropriate, subsequent nego- 8 tiation with, not fewer than 25 percent of the 9 States that— 10 ‘‘(i) have a State meat inspection pro- 11 gram pursuant to section 301; but 12 ‘‘(ii) do not have a selected establish- 13 ment. 14 ‘‘(B) REPORT.—At the conclusion of each 15 of fiscal years 2023 through 2028, the Sec- 16 retary shall submit a report detailing the activi- 17 ties and results of the outreach conducted dur- 18 ing that fiscal year under paragraph (1) to— 19 ‘‘(i) the Committee on Agriculture of 20 the House of Representatives; 21 ‘‘(ii) the Committee on Agriculture, 22 Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate; 23 ‘‘(iii) the Subcommittee on Agri- 24 culture, Rural Development, Food and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H945.IH H945 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 945 IH Drug Administration, and Related Agen- 1 cies of the Committee on Appropriations of 2 the House of Representatives; and 3 ‘‘(iv) the Subcommittee on Agri- 4 culture, Rural Development, Food and 5 Drug Administration, and Related Agen- 6 cies of the Committee on Appropriations of 7 the Senate.’’. 8 SEC. 5. PROCESSING RESILIENCE GRANT PROGRAM. 9 Subtitle A of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 10 (7 U.S.C. 1621 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 11 the following: 12 ‘‘SEC. 210B. PROCESSING RESILIENCE GRANT PROGRAM. 13 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 14 ‘‘(1) BUSINESS ENTERPRISE OWNED AND CON- 15 TROLLED BY SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DIS- 16 ADVANTAGED INDIVIDUALS.—The term ‘business en- 17 terprise owned and controlled by socially and eco- 18 nomically disadvantaged individuals’ has the mean- 19 ing given the term in section 3002 of the State 20 Small Business Credit Initiative Act of 2010 (12 21 U.S.C. 5701). 22 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en- 23 tity’ means— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H945.IH H945 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 945 IH ‘‘(A) a smaller establishment or very small 1 establishment (as those terms are defined in the 2 final rule entitled ‘Pathogen Reduction; Hazard 3 Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) 4 Systems’ (61 Fed. Reg. 33806 (July 25, 5 1996))); 6 ‘‘(B) a slaughtering or processing estab- 7 lishment subject to— 8 ‘‘(i) a State meat inspection program 9 pursuant to section 301 of the Federal 10 Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 661); or 11 ‘‘(ii) a State poultry product inspec- 12 tion program pursuant to section 5 of the 13 Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 14 U.S.C. 454); 15 ‘‘(C) a person engaging in custom oper- 16 ations that is exempt from inspection under— 17 ‘‘(i) section 23 of the Federal Meat 18 Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 623); or 19 ‘‘(ii) section 15 of the Poultry Prod- 20 ucts Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 464); and 21 ‘‘(D) a person seeking— 22 ‘‘(i) to establish and operate an estab- 23 lishment described in subparagraph (A) or 24 (B); or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H945.IH H945 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •HR 945 IH ‘‘(ii) to engage in custom operations 1 described in subparagraph (C). 2 ‘‘(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 3 the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Ad- 4 ministrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service. 5 ‘‘(b) GRANTS.— 6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days 7 after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec- 8 retary shall award competitive grants to eligible enti- 9 ties for activities to increase resiliency and diver- 10 sification of the meat processing system, including 11 activities that— 12 ‘‘(A) support the health and safety of meat 13 and poultry plant employees, suppliers, and cus- 14 tomers; 15 ‘‘(B) support increased processing capac- 16 ity; and 17 ‘‘(C) otherwise support the resilience of the 18 small meat and poultry processing sector. 19 ‘‘(2) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The maximum 20 amount of a grant awarded under this section shall 21 not exceed $500,000. 22 ‘‘(3) DURATION.—The term of a grant awarded 23 under this section shall not exceed 3 years. 24 ‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H945.IH H945 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 13 •HR 945 IH ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity desiring a 1 grant under this section shall submit to the Sec- 2 retary an application at such time, in such manner, 3 and containing such information as the Secretary 4 may require. 5 ‘‘(2) APPLICATIONS FOR SMALL GRANTS.—The 6 Secretary shall establish a separate, simpli [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]

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