Food Supply Protection Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3840 To protect the continuity of the food supply chain of the United States in response to COVID–19, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 21, 2020 Ms. STABENOW (for herself, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. BROWN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. BENNET, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. CASEY, Ms. SMITH, Mr. DURBIN, and Mr. SCHUMER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry A BILL To protect the continuity of the food supply chain of the United States in response to COVID–19, 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 ‘‘Food Supply Protec- 4 tion Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) COVID–19 EMERGENCY.—The term 8 ‘‘COVID–19 emergency’’ means the public health 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3840.IS S3840 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3840 IS emergency declared by the Secretary of Health and 1 Human Services under section 319 of the Public 2 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) on January 3 31, 2020, with respect to COVID–19. 4 (2) DONATION PERIOD.—The term ‘‘donation 5 period’’ means the period— 6 (A) beginning on January 31, 2020; and 7 (B) ending on the later of— 8 (i) December 31, 2020; and 9 (ii) a date after December 31, 2020, 10 if there are remaining food surpluses relat- 11 ing to the COVID–19 emergency, as deter- 12 mined by the Secretary. 13 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 14 the Secretary of Agriculture. 15 SEC. 3. INFRASTRUCTURE GRANTS TO NONPROFIT FEED- 16 ING ORGANIZATIONS. 17 (a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are— 18 (1) to reduce food waste by supporting the dis- 19 tribution of perishable food that would otherwise go 20 to waste or be left unharvested; 21 (2) to provide food and meals to individuals in 22 need during the COVID–19 emergency; 23 (3) to improve the ability of food banks and 24 other nonprofit feeding organizations to process, re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3840.IS S3840 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3840 IS pack, store, or distribute perishable food in response 1 to the COVID–19 emergency; and 2 (4) to facilitate partnerships with local and re- 3 gional organizations to store, repackage, prepare, 4 process, or distribute food and meals. 5 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 6 (1) ELIGIBLE ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘eligi- 7 ble organization’’ means an organization providing 8 free food or meals during the donation period, in- 9 cluding— 10 (A) a nonprofit organization, such as a 11 food bank, a school, and an emergency feeding 12 organization; 13 (B) a faith-based organization that distrib- 14 utes food or meals, and any other similar pro- 15 gram, as determined by the Secretary; 16 (C) a tribal organization that distributes 17 food or meals; 18 (D) a child or adult care center; and 19 (E) any other similar feeding entity, as de- 20 termined by the Secretary. 21 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 22 the Secretary, acting through the Administrator of 23 the Food and Nutrition Service. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3840.IS S3840 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3840 IS (3) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘tribal 1 organization’’ has the meaning given the term in 2 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu- 3 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 4 (c) REIMBURSEMENT FOR STORAGE AND DISTRIBU- 5 TION OF PERISHABLE COMMODITIES.— 6 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 15 days 7 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec- 8 retary shall establish a program under which the 9 Secretary shall reimburse costs incurred during the 10 donation period by an eligible organization for the 11 distribution and temporary storage of perishable 12 commodities, without regard to the source of those 13 commodities. 14 (2) REIMBURSEMENT RATE.—Under the pro- 15 gram established under paragraph (1), the Secretary 16 shall reimburse eligible organizations at a rate of 17 $0.10 per pound of perishable food stored and dis- 18 tributed during the donation period. 19 (3) ADVANCE REIMBURSEMENT.—The Sec- 20 retary shall provide an advance reimbursement to an 21 eligible organization under paragraph (1) if the Sec- 22 retary approves a plan submitted by the eligible or- 23 ganization that— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3840.IS S3840 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3840 IS (A) estimates the pounds of perishable 1 food expected to be distributed during the sub- 2 sequent 30 days; and 3 (B) demonstrates the ability of the eligible 4 organization to accomplish that distribution. 5 (4) FUNDING.—Of the funds of the Commodity 6 Credit Corporation, the Secretary shall use not more 7 than $500,000,000 to carry out this subsection, of 8 which not more than 3 percent may be used for ad- 9 ministrative expenses. 10 (d) GRANTS FOR INFRASTRUCTURE, EQUIPMENT, 11 AND SUPPLIES.— 12 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 30 days 13 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec- 14 retary shall establish a program under which the 15 Secretary shall award grants to eligible organiza- 16 tions to improve, construct, rent, lease, or purchase 17 infrastructure, equipment, and supplies that support 18 the distribution of surplus perishable food or meals 19 prepared with that food and the purposes described 20 in subsection (a). 21 (2) APPLICATIONS.— 22 (A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive 23 a grant under paragraph (1), an eligible organi- 24 zation shall submit to the Secretary an applica- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3840.IS S3840 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3840 IS tion at such time, in such manner, and con- 1 taining such information as the Secretary may 2 require, including the information described in 3 subparagraph (C). 4 (B) REVIEW AND SUBMISSION.—The Sec- 5 retary shall approve or deny an application re- 6 ceived under subparagraph (A)— 7 (i) not later than 30 days after the 8 date of receipt of the application; and 9 (ii) in the case of an application for a 10 grant amount of less than $80,000 or an 11 application that may be reviewed quickly 12 otherwise, as determined by the Secretary, 13 in accordance with the timeline in a fast- 14 track review process established by the 15 Secretary for such applications. 16 (C) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In determining 17 whether to approve or deny an application of an 18 eligible organization under subparagraph (B), 19 the Secretary shall consider whether the eligible 20 organization— 21 (i) to the extent practicable, will use 22 local and regional food business and small 23 and medium businesses to carry out activi- 24 ties under the grant; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3840.IS S3840 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3840 IS (ii) will divert perishable food that 1 would otherwise be wasted or unharvested; 2 (iii) will develop innovative partner- 3 ships with institutions that have available, 4 underutilized cold storage, food prepara- 5 tion, or other existing resources or facili- 6 ties; 7 (iv) will make investments in infra- 8 structure or equipment that have short- or 9 long-term value, have multiple uses, and 10 would improve preparedness for future 11 surges in donations of perishable foods; 12 and 13 (v) demonstrates an ability to use the 14 grant for the purposes described in para- 15 graph (1). 16 (3) USE OF FUNDS.—Activities carried out by 17 eligible organizations using grant funds awarded 18 under paragraph (1) may include the following: 19 (A) Purchasing new or temporary pack- 20 aging materials and food labels. 21 (B) Converting industrial-sized products to 22 consumer-sized products. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3840.IS S3840 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 3840 IS (C) Purchasing, renting, or leasing storage 1 or preparation space, cold storage, equipment, 2 or vehicles, trailers, or transportation services. 3 (D) Purchasing test kits, disinfectant, 4 sanitation systems, or hand washing stations. 5 (E) Training relating to— 6 (i) equipment purchased, rented, or 7 leased with the grant funds; and 8 (ii) new procedures established by the 9 eligible organization that are supported by 10 the grant funds. 11 (F) Purchasing and decontaminating per- 12 sonal protective equipment. 13 (G) Purchasing equipment and supplies to 14 facilitate food or meal distribution. 15 (4) OWNERSHIP OF INFRASTRUCTURE, EQUIP- 16 MENT, AND SUPPLIES.—Any infrastructure, equip- 17 ment, or supplies purchased by an eligible organiza- 18 tion using a grant awarded under paragraph (1)— 19 (A) shall be required to support the pur- 20 poses of the grant but need not be exclusively 21 used for those purposes; 22 (B) shall not have Federal property track- 23 ing and inventory requirements applied beyond 24 the end of the grant term; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3840.IS S3840 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 3840 IS (C) shall remain under the ownership of 1 the eligible organization for future use or pan- 2 demic or food crisis preparedness. 3 (5) PUBLIC GRANT ANNOUNCEMENTS.—Not 4 later than 10 days after the date on which a grant 5 is awarded under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 6 publicly announce the grant on the website of the 7 Food and Nutrition Service, including a summary of 8 the activities funded by the grant and the projected 9 volume of food or meal distribution supported by the 10 grant. 11 (6) FUNDING.—Of the funds of the Commodity 12 Credit Corporation, the Secretary shall use not more 13 than $500,000,000 to carry out this subsection, of 14 which not more than 3 percent may be used for ad- 15 ministrative expenses. 16 (e) OUTREACH.—The Secretary shall conduct out- 17 reach to eligible organizations, including tribal organiza- 18 tions, that serve underserved communities or have mini- 19 mal or no participation in Federal programs to ensure that 20 those organizations are informed of the programs estab- 21 lished under this section. 22 (f) DUPLICATION AND RELATION TO OTHER PRO- 23 GRAMS.—An eligible organization may not receive reim- 24 bursements, payments, or grants from Federal sources for 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3840.IS S3840 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 3840 IS activities carried out under this section in an amount that 1 exceeds 100 percent of the costs incurred by the eligible 2 organization in carrying out those activities. 3 (g) ADDITIONAL FUNDING.—In addition to the funds 4 used under subsections (c)(4) and (d)(6), of the funds of 5 the Commodity Credit Corporation, the Secretary shall 6 use such sums as are necessary to carry out this section. 7 SEC. 4. FOOD PURCHASE PARTNERSHIPS. 8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 9 (1) ELIGIBLE FEEDING ORGANIZATION.—The 10 term ‘‘eligible feeding organization’’ means a public 11 or private nonprofit organization (including a tribal 12 organization (as defined in section 4 of the Indian 13 Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act 14 (25 U.S.C. 5304))), or a restaurant operating an 15 emergency feeding or food relief program, that dis- 16 tributes donated eligible food or meals prepared, at 17 least in part, from eligible food. 18 (2) ELIGIBLE FOOD.—The term ‘‘eligible food’’ 19 means meat, poultry, eggs, fluid milk, dairy prod- 20 ucts, fruit, vegetables, seafood, and other unproc- 21 essed or minimally processed food that— 22 (A) is produced and processed in the 23 United States; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3840.IS S3840 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 3840 IS (B) would otherwise be unharvested or sur- 1 plus if not donated. 2 (3) FOOD VALUE.—The term ‘‘food value’’— 3 (A) means the typical wholesale value of 4 food being donated in a nonsurplus situation; 5 and 6 (B) may be adjusted to reflect the typical 7 premium associated with local food, organic 8 food, or other premiums. 9 (4) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 10 has the meaning given the term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ in 11 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu- 12 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 13 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 14 the Secretary, acting through the Administrator of 15 the Agricultural Marketing Service. 16 (6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 17 (A) each of the several States of the 18 United States; 19 (B) the District of Columbia; 20 (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 21 (D) the United States Virgin Islands; 22 (E) Guam; 23 (F) American Samoa; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3840.IS S3840 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 3840 IS (G) the Commonwealth of the Northern 1 Mariana Islands. 2 (b) ESTABLISHMENT; PURPOSES.— 3 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 15 days 4 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec- 5 retary shall establish— 6 (A) the State and Tribal surplus food pur- 7 chase program in accordance with subsection 8 (c); and 9 (B) the Federal surplus food reimburse- 10 ment program in accordance with subsection 11 (d). 12 (2) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the programs 13 established under paragraph (1) shall be— 14 (A) to facilitate the purchase and donation 15 of eligible food; 16 (B) to provide nutrition assistance to indi- 17 viduals facing food insecurity; 18 (C) to encourage the use of available infra- 19 structure and resources to respond to COVID– 20 19-related food supply chain disruptions; and 21 (D) to reduce food waste. 22 (c) STATE AND TRIBAL SURPLUS FOOD PURCHASE 23 PROGRAM.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3840.IS S3840 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 3840 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—To advance the purposes de- 1 scribed in subsection (b)(2), the Secretary shall 2 carry out a State and Tribal surplus food purchase 3 program, under which the Secretary shall provide 4 funding to States and Indian Tribes to administer a 5 grant or other reimbursement program to purchase 6 surplus eligible food a [Text truncated for display. 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