Food Recovery Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5841 To decrease the incidence of food waste, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 11, 2020 Ms. PINGREE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and Labor, Energy and Commerce, Oversight and Re- form, and House Administration, for a period to be subsequently deter- mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To decrease the incidence of food waste, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Food Recovery Act of 2020’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6 this Act is as follows: 7 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Definition of Secretary. TITLE I—FARMS VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Feb 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H5841.IH H5841 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5841 IH Sec. 101. Use of Rural Energy for America Program to reduce food and crop waste. Sec. 102. Farm storage facility loan program. Sec. 103. Composting as conservation practice. Sec. 104. Study and report on methods to decrease incidence of food waste. TITLE II—RETAIL AND RESTAURANTS Sec. 201. Good Samaritan food donation. Sec. 202. Report on food donation by retail food stores. Sec. 203. Use of Commodity Credit Corporation funds to cover Emergency Food Assistance Program storage and distribution costs. Sec. 204. Expansion of charitable deduction for contributions of food inventory. TITLE III—SCHOOLS AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS Sec. 301. Amendments to Federal Food Donation Act. Sec. 302. School Food Recovery Program. Sec. 303. Food and agriculture service learning program. Sec. 304. Modification of National School Lunch Program procurement require- ments to encourage purchase of lower-price, nonstandard-size or -shape produce. TITLE IV—FOOD DATE LABELING Sec. 401. Short title. Sec. 402. Definitions. Sec. 403. Quality dates and discard dates. Sec. 404. Misbranding. Sec. 405. Regulations. Sec. 406. Delayed applicability. TITLE V—CONSUMERS AND LOCAL INFRASTRUCTURE Sec. 501. Support for national media campaigns to decrease incidence of food waste. Sec. 502. Increase in resources for community facilities loans directed at composting and anaerobic digestion food waste-to-energy oper- ations. Sec. 503. Expansion of rural utilities service water and waste disposal program to provide loans and grants for rural communities to adapt waste disposal facilities to incorporate anaerobic digestion food waste-to-energy operations. Sec. 504. Grants for composting and anaerobic digestion food waste-to-energy projects. Sec. 505. Government Accountability Office audit. Sec. 506. Food waste recovery transportation grants. Sec. 507. Food waste research program. Sec. 508. Grants to research centers or non-profit organizations. SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF SECRETARY. 1 In this Act, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec- 2 retary of Agriculture. 3 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Feb 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5841.IH H5841 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5841 IH TITLE I—FARMS 1 SEC. 101. USE OF RURAL ENERGY FOR AMERICA PROGRAM 2 TO REDUCE FOOD AND CROP WASTE. 3 (a) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO INSTALLATION OF 4 ANAEROBIC DIGESTERS.—Section 9007(c) of the Farm 5 Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 6 8107(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(5) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO INSTALLA- 8 TION OF ANAEROBIC DIGESTERS.—In the case of a 9 loan guarantee or grant provided under this sub- 10 section to an agricultural producer or rural small 11 business to support the installation of an anaerobic 12 digester that will use food waste in addition to ma- 13 nure to produce renewable energy, the Secretary 14 shall obtain from the recipient of the loan guarantee 15 or grant— 16 ‘‘(A) a written commitment that the recipi- 17 ent has read and agrees to comply with the 18 Food Recovery Hierarchy of the Environmental 19 Protection Agency, particularly as applied to 20 apparently wholesome food (as defined in sec- 21 tion 22(b) of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 22 (42 U.S.C. 1791(b))) that may be provided to, 23 or received by, the recipient; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5841.IH H5841 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5841 IH ‘‘(B) a written end-product recycling plan 1 that provides for the beneficial use of the mate- 2 rial resulting from the anaerobic digester, in a 3 manner that meets all applicable Federal, 4 State, Tribal, and local laws safeguarding 5 human health and the environment.’’. 6 (b) FUNDING.—Section 9007(g)(1) of the Farm Se- 7 curity and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8 8107(g)(1)) is amended— 9 (1) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 10 the end; 11 (2) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘fiscal 12 year 2014 and each fiscal year thereafter.’’ and in- 13 serting ‘‘each of fiscal years 2014 through 2020; 14 and’’; and 15 (3) by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘(F) $70,000,000 for fiscal year 2021 and 17 each fiscal year thereafter, of which not less 18 than $20,000,000 shall be reserved for use for 19 loan guarantees and grants described in sub- 20 section (c)(5).’’. 21 SEC. 102. FARM STORAGE FACILITY LOAN PROGRAM. 22 Section 1614(a) of the Food, Conservation, and En- 23 ergy Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 8789(a)) is amended by strik- 24 ing ‘‘to construct or upgrade storage and handling facili- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Feb 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5841.IH H5841 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5841 IH ties’’ and inserting ‘‘to acquire, construct, or upgrade stor- 1 age, handling, and transportation facilities, which may in- 2 clude refrigerated vehicles to improve storage and mar- 3 keting and other means to reduce food waste,’’. 4 SEC. 103. COMPOSTING AS CONSERVATION PRACTICE. 5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 1201(a) of the Food Se- 6 curity Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3801(a)) is amended— 7 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through 8 (27) as paragraphs (4) through (28), respectively; 9 and 10 (2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol- 11 lowing: 12 ‘‘(3) COMPOSTING PRACTICE.—The term 13 ‘composting practice’ means— 14 ‘‘(A) an activity (including an activity that 15 does not require the use of a composting facil- 16 ity) to produce compost from organic waste 17 that is— 18 ‘‘(i) generated on a farm; or 19 ‘‘(ii) brought to a farm from the near- 20 by community; and 21 ‘‘(B) the use of compost on a farm to im- 22 prove water retention and soil health, subject to 23 the condition that such a use shall be in compli- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Feb 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5841.IH H5841 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5841 IH ance with applicable Federal, State, Tribal, and 1 local laws.’’. 2 (b) CONSERVATION STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM.—Sec- 3 tion 1238D(2)(B)(i) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 4 U.S.C. 3838d(2)(B)(i)) is amended by inserting ‘‘and 5 composting practices’’ after ‘‘agriculture drainage man- 6 agement systems’’. 7 (c) ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY INCENTIVES PRO- 8 GRAM.—Section 1240A(4)(A)(ii) of the Food Security Act 9 of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–1(4)(A)(ii)) is amended by in- 10 serting ‘‘, including composting practices’’ before the semi- 11 colon at the end. 12 (d) DELIVERY OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Section 13 1242(h) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 14 3842(h)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(4) DEVELOPMENT OF COMPOSTING PRACTICE 16 STANDARD.—In addition to conducting a review of 17 any composting facilities practice standard under 18 this subsection, the Secretary shall develop and im- 19 plement a composting practice standard.’’. 20 SEC. 104. STUDY AND REPORT ON METHODS TO DECREASE 21 INCIDENCE OF FOOD WASTE. 22 (a) DEFINITION OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT.—In 23 this section, the term ‘‘agricultural product’’ has the 24 meaning given the term ‘‘agricultural products’’ in section 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Feb 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5841.IH H5841 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 5841 IH 207 of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1 1626). 2 (b) STUDY.—The Secretary shall conduct a study re- 3 garding— 4 (1) new technologies to increase the period dur- 5 ing which an agricultural product may be stored be- 6 fore the agricultural product is considered adulter- 7 ated under State or Federal law; and 8 (2) a method to measure the quantity of agri- 9 cultural product that is not harvested or sent to 10 market each year by the farms that produce the ag- 11 ricultural product. 12 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 13 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to 14 Congress a report that includes— 15 (1) the results of the study conducted under 16 subsection (b); and 17 (2) the recommendations of the Secretary with 18 respect to methods of decreasing the incidence of 19 food waste. 20 TITLE II—RETAIL AND 21 RESTAURANTS 22 SEC. 201. GOOD SAMARITAN FOOD DONATION. 23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Bill Emerson Good Samari- 24 tan Food Donation Act (42 U.S.C. 1791) is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Feb 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5841.IH H5841 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 5841 IH (1) in subsection (b)— 1 (A) in paragraph (1)— 2 (i) by striking ‘‘quality and labeling’’ 3 and inserting ‘‘safety and safety-related la- 4 beling’’; and 5 (ii) by inserting ‘‘passage of a date on 6 a date label,’’ after ‘‘surplus,’’; 7 (B) in paragraph (2)— 8 (i) by striking ‘‘quality and labeling’’ 9 and inserting ‘‘safety and safety-related la- 10 beling’’; and 11 (ii) by inserting ‘‘passage of a date on 12 a date label,’’ after ‘‘surplus,’’; 13 (C) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘not re- 14 quired to give anything of monetary value’’ and 15 inserting ‘‘not required to give anything of 16 monetary value or charged a good Samaritan 17 reduced price’’; 18 (D) by redesignating paragraphs (6), (7), 19 (8), (9), and (10) as paragraphs (7), (8), (9), 20 (10), and (11), respectively; and 21 (E) by inserting after paragraph (5) the 22 following: 23 ‘‘(6) GOOD SAMARITAN REDUCED PRICE.—The 24 term ‘good Samaritan reduced price’ means the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Feb 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5841.IH H5841 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 5841 IH price of an apparently wholesome food or an appar- 1 ently fit grocery product that is an amount not 2 greater than the cost of handling, administering, and 3 distributing the apparently wholesome food or ap- 4 parently fit grocery product.’’; and 5 (2) in subsection (c)— 6 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘or sells 7 at a good Samaritan reduced price’’ after ‘‘do- 8 nates in good faith’’; 9 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘or 10 from a sale at a good Samaritan reduced price’’ 11 after ‘‘donation in good faith’’; 12 (C) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 13 paragraph (4); 14 (D) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 15 following: 16 ‘‘(3) DIRECT DONATIONS TO NEEDY INDIVID- 17 UALS.— 18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A qualified direct 19 donor described in subparagraph (B) shall not 20 be subject to civil or criminal liability arising 21 from the nature, age, packaging, or condition of 22 apparently wholesome food or an apparently fit 23 grocery product that the qualified direct donor 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Feb 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5841.IH H5841 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 5841 IH donates in good faith or sells at a good Samari- 1 tan reduced price to a needy individual. 2 ‘‘(B) QUALIFIED DIRECT DONOR DE- 3 SCRIBED.—A qualified direct donor referred to 4 in subparagraph (A) is a retail grocer, whole- 5 saler, agricultural producer, restaurant, caterer, 6 school food authority, or institution of higher 7 education (as defined in section 102 of the 8 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 9 1002)).’’; and 10 (E) in paragraph (4) (as redesignated by 11 subparagraph (C)), by striking ‘‘Paragraphs (1) 12 and (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘Paragraphs (1), (2), 13 and (3)’’. 14 (b) REGULATIONS; GUIDANCE.—Not later than 180 15 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 16 shall— 17 (1) in consultation with the Secretary of Health 18 and Human Services, issue regulations with respect 19 to the safety and safety-related labeling standards of 20 an apparently wholesome food and an apparently fit 21 grocery product under the Bill Emerson Good Sa- 22 maritan Food Donation Act (42 U.S.C. 1791) (as 23 amended by subsection (a)); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Feb 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5841.IH H5841 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 5841 IH (2) promote awareness of food donation under 1 that Act (as amended by subsection (a)); and 2 (3) issue guidance with respect to the amend- 3 ments made by subsection (a). 4 SEC. 202. REPORT ON FOOD DONATION BY RETAIL FOOD 5 STORES. 6 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 7 of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a re- 8 port describing the recommendations of the Secretary with 9 respect to methods of increasing food donation by retail 10 food stores, as defined by the Secretary. 11 SEC. 203. USE OF COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION 12 FUNDS TO COVER EMERGENCY FOOD ASSIST- 13 ANCE PROGRAM STORAGE AND DISTRIBU- 14 TION COSTS. 15 Section 204 of the Emergency Food Assistance Act 16 of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 7508) is amended— 17 (1) by striking the section designation and 18 heading and all that follows through ‘‘available to 19 the States’’ in the first sentence of subsection (a)(1) 20 and inserting the following: 21 ‘‘SEC. 204. FUNDS FOR STATE STORAGE AND DISTRIBUTION 22 COSTS. 23 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Feb 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5841.IH H5841 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 5841 IH ‘‘(1) PROCESSING, STORAGE, TRANSPORT, AND 1 DISTRIBUTION.— 2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Using funds of the 3 Commodity Credit Corporation, the Secretary 4 shall make available to the States $100,000,000 5 for fiscal year 2021 and each fiscal year there- 6 after’’; 7 (2) in subsection (a)(1)— 8 (A) [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]