II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4625 

To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to improve 

nutrition in tribal areas, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 26, 2022 

Mr. HEINRICH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 

Act to improve nutrition in tribal areas, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tribal Nutrition Im5 provement Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CATEGORICAL ELIGIBILITY. 

7 Section 9(b)(5) of the Richard B. Russell National 

8 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(5)) is amended— 

9 (1) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

10 the end; 


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1 (2) in subparagraph (E)(ii), by striking the pe2 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

3 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(F) a child who is an enrolled member, or 

5 who has 1 or more parents who are enrolled 

6 members, of an Indian tribe (as defined in sec7 tion 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and 

8 Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)).’’. 

9 SEC. 3. REIMBURSEMENT RATES. 

10 Section 12(f) of the Richard B. Russell National 

11 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1760(f)) is amended— 

12 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ before ‘‘the Common13 wealth’’; 

14 (2) by inserting ‘‘and geographic areas that 

15 serve Bureau-funded schools (as defined in section 

16 1141 of the Education Amendments of 1978 (25 

17 U.S.C. 2021)) and elementary schools and secondary 

18 schools (as those terms are defined in section 8101 

19 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

20 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)) on or near an Indian res21 ervation’’ before ‘‘the Secretary’’; 

22 (3) by inserting ‘‘or area, as applicable,’’ after 

23 ‘‘such State’’; and 

24 (4) by inserting ‘‘or areas, as applicable,’’ after 

25 ‘‘those States’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. TRIBALLY OPERATED MEAL PILOT PROGRAM. 

2 Section 18 of the Richard B. Russell National School 

3 Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1769) is amended by inserting after 

4 subsection (c) the following: 

5 ‘‘(d) TRIBALLY OPERATED MEAL PILOT PRO6 GRAM.— 

7 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

8 ‘‘(A) COVERED SCHOOL.—The term ‘cov9 ered school’ means— 

10 ‘‘(i) a Bureau-funded school (as de11 fined in section 1141 of the Education 

12 Amendments of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 2021)); 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(ii) an elementary school or sec15 ondary school (as those terms are defined 

16 in section 8101 of the Elementary and 

17 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

18 U.S.C. 7801)) on or near an Indian res19 ervation. 

20 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligi21 ble entity’ means— 

22 ‘‘(i) an Indian tribe or tribal organiza23 tion approved by an Indian tribe; 

24 ‘‘(ii) a tribal educational agency; 

25 ‘‘(iii) a consortium of Indian tribes; 

26 and 


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1 ‘‘(iv) a partnership between— 

2 ‘‘(I) an Indian tribe; and 

3 ‘‘(II)(aa) a State educational 

4 agency; 

5 ‘‘(bb) a local educational agency; 

6 ‘‘(cc) a tribal educational agency; 

7 or 

8 ‘‘(dd) the Bureau of Indian Edu9 cation. 

10 ‘‘(C) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian 

11 tribe’ has the meaning given the term in section 

12 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu13 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

14 ‘‘(D) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ 

15 means the pilot program established under 

16 paragraph (2). 

17 ‘‘(E) TRIBAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.— 

18 The term ‘tribal educational agency’ has the 

19 meaning given the term in section 6132(b) of 

20 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

21 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7452(b)). 

22 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es23 tablish a pilot program to award grants to 10 eligi24 ble entities to operate and implement in covered 

25 schools 1 or more of the following programs: 


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1 ‘‘(A) The school lunch program authorized 

2 under this Act. 

3 ‘‘(B) The summer food service program for 

4 children established under section 13. 

5 ‘‘(C) The child and adult care food pro6 gram established under section 17. 

7 ‘‘(D) The school breakfast program estab8 lished by section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act 

9 of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773). 

10 ‘‘(3) TERMS OF GRANT.— 

11 ‘‘(A) AMOUNT.—The amount of a grant 

12 awarded to an eligible entity under the program 

13 shall be negotiated with the eligible entity, but 

14 shall be not less than $10,000 and not more 

15 than $100,000 for each fiscal year. 

16 ‘‘(B) TERM.—A grant awarded to an eligi17 ble entity under the program shall be available 

18 for a period of 2 years after the date on which 

19 the grant is received by the eligible entity. 

20 ‘‘(4) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 

21 grant under the program, an eligible entity shall 

22 submit to the Secretary an application at such time, 

23 in such manner, and containing such information as 

24 the Secretary may require. 


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1 ‘‘(5) CRITERIA FOR SELECTION.—In selecting 

2 eligible entities to receive grants under the program, 

3 the Secretary shall select eligible entities that— 

4 ‘‘(A) are located in diverse geographic 

5 areas; and 

6 ‘‘(B) serve Indian tribes of varying popu7 lation size. 

8 ‘‘(6) REIMBURSEMENTS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 

10 other provision of law, an eligible entity that re11 ceives a grant under the program to operate 

12 and implement a program described in subpara13 graphs (A) through (D) of paragraph (2) 

14 shall— 

15 ‘‘(i) with respect to the program de16 scribed in subparagraph (A) of that para17 graph, be reimbursed under that program 

18 as if the eligible entity were a State de19 scribed in section 12(f); 

20 ‘‘(ii) with respect to the program de21 scribed in subparagraph (B) of that para22 graph, be reimbursed under that program 

23 as if the eligible entity were a State under 

24 section 13; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) with respect to the program de2 scribed in subparagraph (C) of that para3 graph, be reimbursed under that program 

4 as if the eligible entity were a State under 

5 section 17; and 

6 ‘‘(iv) in the case of the program de7 scribed in subparagraph (D) of that para8 graph, shall be reimbursed under that pro9 gram as if the eligible entity were a State 

10 educational agency. 

11 ‘‘(B) ADMINISTRATIVE FUNDS.—An eligi12 ble entity that receives a grant under the pro13 gram shall receive administrative funds at a 

14 rate that is consistent with the amount received 

15 by a State under section 7 of the Child Nutri16 tion Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1776).’’. 

Æ 


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