Bill Summary
The above legislation is a proposed Bill that aims to establish a grant program to support eligible entities engaged in food recovery. This program would provide funding for the purchase of vehicles and equipment, travel costs, and food preparation, storage, and transportation for donated food. The Secretary of Agriculture would be responsible for distributing the grants and determining eligibility based on an application process. Eligible entities include public food program service providers, tribal organizations, and private nonprofit entities with experience in food recovery and distribution, job training and business development, or efforts to reduce food insecurity. The term "gleaner" is defined as a person or group that collects leftover crops from farms for donation. The Bill proposes an initial funding of $10 million for the fiscal year 2020.
Possible Impacts
1. This legislation could benefit small and medium-sized farms by providing them with funding for purchasing vehicles and equipment for food recovery. 2. It could also benefit low-income communities by providing job training and business development opportunities related to food. 3. The limitation of only one grant per eligible entity could potentially limit the number of organizations that are able to receive funding, potentially affecting their ability to implement food recovery projects.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4541 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4541
To establish a grant program to provide certain eligible entities
engaged in food recovery with grants to support certain costs.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 27, 2019
Mr. McKinley (for himself and Ms. Kaptur) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a grant program to provide certain eligible entities
engaged in food recovery with grants to support certain costs.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FOOD WASTE RECOVERY TRANSPORTATION GRANTS.
(a) Authority To Provide Assistance.--
(1) In general.--From amounts made available to carry out
this section, the Secretary of Agriculture shall make grants to
assist an eligible entity with--
(A) purchasing, leasing, or otherwise acquiring
vehicles, including refrigerated vehicles, or other
equipment to carry out activities related to food
recovery;
(B) reimbursing travel costs related to food
recovery at the per mile rate established by the
Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service; and
(C) the costs of preparing, storing, and
transporting donated food.
(2) Limitation.--An eligible entity may only receive one
grant under this section.
(b) Application.--To be eligible to receive a grant under
subsection (a), an eligible entity shall submit an application to the
Secretary of Agriculture, at such time, in such manner, and containing
such information as the Secretary of Agriculture may require.
(c) Eligible Entity.--To be eligible for a grant under subsection
(a), a public food program service provider, a tribal organization, or
a private nonprofit entity (including a gleaner) shall--
(1) have experience in the area of--
(A) food recovery and distribution, particularly
concerning small and medium-sized farms;
(B) job training and business development
activities for food-related activities in low-income
communities; or
(C) efforts to reduce food insecurity in the
community, including food recovery and distribution,
improving access to services, or coordinating services
and programs; and
(2) demonstrate competency to implement a project, provide
fiscal accountability, collect data, and prepare reports and
other necessary documentation.
(d) Gleaner Defined.--In this section, the term ``gleaner'' has the
meaning given the term in section 25(a)(2) of the Food and Nutrition
Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2034(a)(2)).
(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to carry
out this section $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2020.
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