Farm to Food Bank Enhancement Act of 2020
This bill authorizes the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide enhanced funding to states to pay for projects to harvest, process, package, or transport donated commodities.
USDA must issue guidance to states to encourage them to carry out projects that work with agricultural producers, processors, and distributors who grow or market products that have seen decreased demand due to the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) outbreak and cannot easily be repackaged for grocery or retail sale.
To be eligible for funding, a state must submit a plan of operation for a project that includes (1) a list of emergency feeding organizations in the state that are willing to partner with the state; (2) a list of priority agricultural products located in the state that are for donation to emergency feeding organizations and ready for transport; (3) a description of how the project will serve certain purposes, including to provide food to individuals in need; and (4) a timeline for the project.
USDA may reallocate unexpended funds to other eligible states if it determines that a state will not use all of its allocated funds.
The bill allows states to enter into cooperative agreements with other states to maximize the use of donated commodities.
USDA must make specified documents publicly available on its website, including any guidance issued to states in accordance with the bill.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6757 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6757
To provide additional agricultural products for distribution by
emergency feeding organizations during the COVID-19 public health
emergency.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 8, 2020
Ms. Fudge (for herself, Mr. Costa, Ms. Plaskett, Mrs. Axne, Ms. Bass,
Mr. Bera, Mr. Blumenauer, Mrs. Bustos, Mr. Butterfield, Mr. Carbajal,
Mr. Carson of Indiana, Mr. Case, Mr. Clay, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Correa, Mr.
Cox of California, Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Mr. DeFazio, Ms.
DeLauro, Mr. Harder of California, Mr. Hastings, Mrs. Hayes, Mr.
Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Keating, Mr. Kennedy, Mrs.
Kirkpatrick, Mr. Lawson of Florida, Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney of New
York, Mr. McEachin, Mr. McNerney, Mr. Meeks, Ms. Moore, Mr. Norcross,
Ms. Norton, Mr. O'Halleran, Ms. Omar, Mr. Panetta, Ms. Pingree, Ms.
Pressley, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. Rush, Mr. Ryan, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr.
David Scott of Georgia, Ms. Sewell of Alabama, Mr. Ted Lieu of
California, Mr. Soto, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Ms. Titus, Ms.
Tlaib, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mrs. Torres of California, Ms. Johnson of
Texas, and Mr. Cardenas) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the
Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide additional agricultural products for distribution by
emergency feeding organizations during the COVID-19 public health
emergency.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Farm to Food Bank Enhancement Act of
2020''.
SEC. 2. ENHANCED PROJECTS TO HARVEST, PROCESS, PACKAGE, OR TRANSPORT
DONATED COMMODITIES.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) COVID-19.--The term ``COVID-19'' means the 2019 Novel
Coronavirus or 2019-nCoV.
(2) Emergency feeding organization.--The term ``emergency
feeding organization'' has the meaning given the term in
section 201A of the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 (7
U.S.C. 7501).
(3) Project.--The term ``project'' has the meaning given
the term in section 203D(d)(1) of the Emergency Food Assistance
Act of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 7507(d)(1)).
(4) Priority agricultural product.--The term ``priority
agricultural product'' means a dairy, meat, or poultry product,
or a specialty crop--
(A) packaged or marketed for sale to commercial or
food service industries;
(B) for which decreased demand exists for such a
product due to the COVID-19 outbreak; and
(C) the repurposing of which would be impractical
for grocery or retail sale.
(5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Agriculture.
(6) State.--The term ``State'' has the meaning given the
term in section 203D of the Emergency Food Assistance Act of
1983 (7 U.S.C. 7507).
(7) State agency.--The term ``State agency'' has the
meaning given the term in section 203D of the Emergency Food
Assistance Act of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 7507).
(b) Enhanced Projects.--
(1) In general.--Subject to paragraphs (3) and (4), using
funds made available under subsection (d), the Secretary may
provide funds to States to pay for harvesting, processing,
packaging, or transportation costs of carrying out a project.
(2) Guidance.--Not later than 30 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue guidance to
States--
(A) to carry out this section;
(B) to inform States of their allocations under
paragraph (3); and
(C) to encourage States to carry out projects that
work with agricultural producers, processors, and
distributors with priority agricultural products.
(3) Allocation.--
(A) Eligibility for allocation.--The Secretary
shall allocate funds made available under subsection
(d) based on the formula in effect under section 214(a)
of the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 (7 U.S.C.
7515(a)), among States that timely submit a State plan
of operation for a project that includes--
(i) a list of emergency feeding
organizations in the State that will operate
the project in partnership with the State
agency;
(ii) at the option of the State, a list of
priority agricultural products located in the
State that are for donation to emergency
feeding organizations and ready for transport;
(iii) a description of how the project will
meet the purposes described in section
203D(d)(3) of the Emergency Food Assistance Act
of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 7507(d)(3)); and
(iv) a timeline of when the project will
begin operating.
(B) Reallocation.--If the Secretary determines that
a State will not expend all the funds allocated to the
State under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall
reallocate the unexpended funds to other eligible
States.
(C) Report.--Each State that receives funds
allocated under this paragraph shall submit to the
Secretary financial reports on a regular basis
describing the use of the funds.
(4) Use of funds.--
(A) In general.--A State that receives funds under
section 203D(d)(5) of the Emergency Food Assistance Act
of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 7507(d)(5)) may--
(i) receive funds under this section; and
(ii) use funds received under this
section--
(I) to expand projects for which
funds are received under such section
203D(d)(5); and
(II) to carry out new projects with
agricultural producers, processors, or
distributors participating in projects
for which funds are received under such
section 203D(d)(5).
(B) Federal share.--Funds received under this
section shall not be subject to the Federal share
limitation described in section 203D(d)(2)(B) of the
Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 (7 U.S.C.
7507(d)(2)(B)).
(c) Cooperative Agreements.--
(1) In general.--A State agency that carries out a project
using Federal funds received under this section may enter into
cooperative agreements with State agencies of other States
under section 203B(d) of the Emergency Food Assistance Act of
1983 (7 U.S.C. 7507(d)) to maximize the use of commodities
donated under the project.
(2) Submission.--Not later than 15 days after entering into
a cooperative agreement under subparagraph (A), a State agency
shall submit such agreement to the Secretary.
(d) Appropriation of Funds.--Out of funds in the Treasury not
otherwise appropriated, there is appropriated to carry out this section
$25,000,000 to remain available until September 30, 2021. Such funds
are designated by Congress as being for an emergency requirement
pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Balanced Budget and
Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 901(b)(2)(A)(i)).
(e) Public Availability.--Not later than 10 days after the date of
the receipt or issuance of each document listed in paragraphs (1), (2),
or (3) of this subsection, the Secretary shall make publicly available
on the website of the Department of Agriculture the following
documents:
(1) Any guidance issued under subsection (b)(2).
(2) A State plan or operation or report submitted in
accordance with subsection (b)(3).
(3) A cooperative agreement submitted in accordance with
subsection (c).
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line