II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1885 

To encourage the effective use of community resources to combat hunger 

and the root causes of hunger by creating opportunity through food 

recovery and job training. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 18, 2005 

Mr. LAUTENBERG (for himself, Mrs. DOLE, Mrs. LINCOLN, Mr. SMITH, Mr. 

DURBIN, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. CORZINE, and Mr. LEAHY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To encourage the effective use of community resources to 

combat hunger and the root causes of hunger by creating 

opportunity through food recovery and job training. 

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 ‘‘Food Employment 

5 Empowerment and Development Program Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 
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1 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti2 ty’’ means an entity that meets the requirements of 

3 section (3)(b). 

4 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

5 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

6 (3) VULNERABLE SUBPOPULATION.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘vulnerable 

8 subpopulation’’ means low-income individuals, 

9 unemployed individuals, and other subpopula10 tions identified by the Secretary as being likely 

11 to experience special risks from hunger or a 

12 special need for job training. 

13 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘vulnerable 

14 subpopulation’’ includes— 

15 (i) addicts (as defined in section 102 

16 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 

17 U.S.C. 802)); 

18 (ii) at-risk youths (as defined in sec19 tion 1432 of the Elementary and Sec20 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

21 6472)); 

22 (iii) individuals that are basic skills 

23 deficient (as defined in section 101 of the 

24 Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 

25 U.S.C. 2801)); 
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1 (iv) homeless individuals (as defined 

2 in section 17(b) of the Child Nutrition Act 

3 of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786(b)); 

4 (v) homeless youths (as defined in sec5 tion 387 of the Runaway and Homeless 

6 Youth Act (42 U.S.C. 5732a)); 

7 (vi) individuals with disabilities (as 

8 defined in section 3 of the Americans with 

9 Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

10 12102)); 

11 (vii) low-income individuals (as de12 fined in section 101 of the Workforce In13 vestment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2801)); 

14 and 

15 (viii) older individuals (as defined in 

16 section 102 of the Older Americans Act of 

17 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3002)). 

18 SEC. 3. FOOD EMPLOYMENT EMPOWERMENT AND DEVEL19 OPMENT PROGRAM. 

20 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 

21 a food employment empowerment and development pro22 gram under which the Secretary shall make grants to eligi23 ble entities to encourage the effective use of community 

24 resources to combat hunger and the root causes of hunger 
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1 by creating opportunity through food recovery and job 

2 training. 

3 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible to receive a 

4 grant under this section, an entity shall be a public agen5 cy, or private nonprofit institution, that conducts, or will 

6 conduct, 2 or more of the following activities as an integral 

7 part of the normal operation of the entity: 

8 (1) Recovery of donated food from area res9 taurants, caterers, hotels, cafeterias, farms, or other 

10 food service businesses. 

11 (2) Distribution of meals or recovered food to— 

12 (A) nonprofit organizations described in 

13 section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code 

14 of 1986; 

15 (B) entities that feed vulnerable sub16 populations; and 

17 (C) other agencies considered appropriate 

18 by the Secretary. 

19 (3) Training of unemployed and underemployed 

20 adults for careers in the food service industry. 

21 (4) Carrying out of a welfare-to-work job train22 ing program in combination with— 

23 (A) production of school meals, such as 

24 school meals served under the Richard B. Rus25 sell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 
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1 1751 et seq.) or the Child Nutrition Act of 

2 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.); or 

3 (B) support for after-school programs, 

4 such as programs conducted by community 

5 learning centers (as defined in section 4201(b) 

6 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

7 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7171(b))). 

8 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity may use a 

9 grant awarded under this section for— 

10 (1) capital investments related to the operation 

11 of the eligible entity; 

12 (2) support services for clients, including staff, 

13 of the eligible entity and individuals enrolled in job 

14 training programs; 

15 (3) purchase of equipment and supplies related 

16 to the operation of the eligible entity or that improve 

17 or directly affect service delivery; 

18 (4) building and kitchen renovations that im19 prove or directly affect service delivery; 

20 (5) educational material and services; 

21 (6) administrative costs, in accordance with 

22 guidelines established by the Secretary; and 

23 (7) additional activities determined appropriate 

24 by the Secretary. 
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1 (d) PREFERENCES.—In awarding grants under this 

2 section, the Secretary shall give preference to eligible enti3 ties that perform, or will perform, any of the following 

4 activities: 

5 (1) Carrying out food recovery programs that 

6 are integrated with— 

7 (A) culinary worker training programs, 

8 such as programs conducted by a food service 

9 management institute under section 21 of the 

10 Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act 

11 (42 U.S.C. 1769b–1); 

12 (B) school education programs; or 

13 (C) programs of service-learning (as de14 fined in section 101 of the National and Com15 munity Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

16 12511)). 

17 (2) Providing job skills training, life skills train18 ing, and case management support to vulnerable 

19 subpopulations. 

20 (3) Integrating recovery and distribution of 

21 food with a job training program. 

22 (4) Maximizing the use of an established school, 

23 community, or private food service facility or re24 source in meal preparation and culinary skills train25 ing. 
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1 (5) Providing job skills training, life skills train2 ing, and case management support to vulnerable 

3 subpopulations. 

4 (e) ELIGIBILITY FOR JOB TRAINING.—To be eligible 

5 to receive job training assistance from an eligible entity 

6 using a grant made available under this section, an indi7 vidual shall be a member of a vulnerable subpopulation. 

8 (f) PERFORMANCE INDICATORS.—The Secretary 

9 shall establish, for each year of the program, performance 

10 indicators and expected levels of performance for meal and 

11 food distribution and job training for eligible entities to 

12 continue to receive and use grants under this section. 

13 (g) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 

15 technical assistance to eligible entities that receive 

16 grants under this section to assist the eligible enti17 ties in carrying out programs under this section 

18 using the grants. 

19 (2) FORM.—Technical assistance for a program 

20 provided under this subsection includes— 

21 (A) maintenance of a website, newsletters, 

22 email communications, and other tools to pro23 mote shared communications, expertise, and 

24 best practices; 
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1 (B) hosting of an annual meeting or other 

2 forums to provide education and outreach to all 

3 programs participants; 

4 (C) collection of data for each program to 

5 ensure that the performance indicators and pur6 poses of the program are met or exceeded; 

7 (D) intervention (if necessary) to assist an 

8 eligible entity to carry out the program in a 

9 manner that meets or exceeds the performance 

10 indicators and purposes of the program; 

11 (E) consultation and assistance to an eligi12 ble entity to assist the eligible entity in pro13 viding the best services practicable to the com14 munity served by the eligible entity, including 

15 consultation and assistance related to— 

16 (i) strategic plans; 

17 (ii) board development; 

18 (iii) fund development; 

19 (iv) mission development; and 

20 (v) other activities considered appro21 priate by the Secretary; 

22 (F) assistance considered appropriate by 

23 the Secretary regarding— 

24 (i) the status of program participants; 
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1 (ii) the demographic characteristics of 

2 program participants that affect program 

3 services; 

4 (iii) any new idea that could be inte5 grated into the program; and 

6 (iv) the review of grant proposals; and 

7 (G) any other forms of technical assistance 

8 the Secretary considers appropriate. 

9 (h) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAW.— 

10 (1) BILL EMERSON GOOD SAMARITAN FOOD DO11 NATION ACT.—An action taken by an eligible entity 

12 using a grant provided under this section shall be 

13 covered by the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food 

14 Donation Act (42 U.S.C. 1791). 

15 (2) FOOD HANDLING GUIDELINES.—In using a 

16 grant provided under this section, an eligible entity 

17 shall comply with any applicable food handling 

18 guideline established by a State or local authority. 

19 (3) INSPECTIONS.—An eligible entity using a 

20 grant provided under this section shall be exempt 

21 from inspection under sections 303.1(d)(2)(iii) and 

22 381.10(d)(2)(iii) of volume 9, Code of Federal Regu23 lations (or a successor regulation), if the eligible en24 tity— 
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1 (A) has a hazard analysis and critical con2 trol point (HACCP) plan; 

3 (B) has a sanitation standard operating 

4 procedure (SSOP); and 

5 (C) otherwise complies with the Federal 

6 Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) 

7 and the Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 

8 U.S.C. 451 et seq.). 

9 (i) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount of 

10 a grant provided to an eligible entity for a fiscal year 

11 under this section shall not exceed $200,000. 

12 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

14 appropriated to carry out this section $20,000,000 

15 for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2011. 

16 (2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Of the amount 

17 of funds that are made available for a fiscal year 

18 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall use to pro19 vide technical assistance under subsection (g) not 

20 more than the greater of— 

21 (A) 5 percent of the amount of funds that 

22 are made available for the fiscal year under 

23 paragraph (1); or 

24 (B) $1,000,000. 

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