II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3146 

To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to establish a voluntary 

program to reduce food loss and waste, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 26, 2023 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself and Mr. GRASSLEY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to establish a voluntary program to reduce food loss and waste, 

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 ‘‘Reduce Food Loss and 

5 Waste Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FOOD LOSS AND WASTE CERTIFICATION PROGRAM. 

7 Subtitle A of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 

8 (7 U.S.C. 1621 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

9 the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 210B. FOOD LOSS AND WASTE CERTIFICATION PRO2 GRAM. 

3 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 ‘‘(1) APPARENTLY WHOLESOME FOOD.—The 

5 term ‘apparently wholesome food’ has the meaning 

6 given the term in subsection (b) of the Bill Emerson 

7 Good Samaritan Food Donation Act (42 U.S.C. 

8 1791(b)). 

9 ‘‘(2) CERTIFIED PARTICIPANT.—The term ‘cer10 tified participant’ means an eligible participant that 

11 has been certified under subsection (d). 

12 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE PARTICIPANT.—The term ‘eligi13 ble participant’ means— 

14 ‘‘(A) a contractor that has entered into a 

15 contract with an executive agency, the Senate, 

16 or the House of Representatives for the provi17 sion, service, or sale of food in the United 

18 States; 

19 ‘‘(B) a State, local, municipal, or Tribal 

20 government; 

21 ‘‘(C) a corporation, partnership, organiza22 tion, or association; 

23 ‘‘(D) a farm or a food producer, manufac24 turer, processor, holder, or packer; 

25 ‘‘(E) a retail grocer; 


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1 ‘‘(F) a restaurant or similar food service 

2 establishment; 

3 ‘‘(G) an institution of higher education or 

4 a consortium of those institutions; or 

5 ‘‘(H) a primary or secondary school or a 

6 consortium of those institutions. 

7 ‘‘(4) EXCESS.—The term ‘excess’, with respect 

8 to food, means that the food would otherwise be dis9 carded. 

10 ‘‘(5) FOOD.—The term ‘food’ means food (as 

11 defined in section 201 of the Federal Food, Drug, 

12 and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 321)) that is intended 

13 for human consumption. 

14 ‘‘(6) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ means 

15 the Food Loss and Waste Reduction Certification 

16 Program established under subsection (b). 

17 ‘‘(7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

18 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

19 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab20 lish a voluntary program, to be known as the ‘Food Loss 

21 and Waste Reduction Certification Program’— 

22 ‘‘(1) to certify eligible participants in accord23 ance with subsection (d); and 

24 ‘‘(2) to promote certified participants in accord25 ance with subsection (e). 


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1 ‘‘(c) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the program are— 

2 ‘‘(1) to reduce food loss and waste; 

3 ‘‘(2) to increase donations of excess, apparently 

4 wholesome food to nonprofit organizations that pro5 vide food assistance to individuals in need; and 

6 ‘‘(3) to increase the use of alternative disposal 

7 methods for food, such as redirection to animal feed, 

8 anaerobic digestion, and composting. 

9 ‘‘(d) CERTIFICATION.— 

10 ‘‘(1) CRITERIA.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.— 

12 ‘‘(i) ESTABLISHMENT AND PUBLICA13 TION.—Not later than 18 months after the 

14 date of enactment of the Reduce Food 

15 Loss and Waste Act, the Secretary shall 

16 establish and publish in the Federal Reg17 ister criteria for the certification of an eli18 gible participant under the program. 

19 ‘‘(ii) INCLUSIONS.—Criteria described 

20 in clause (i) shall include the submission to 

21 a third-party certifier accredited under 

22 paragraph (3) of documentation from 12 

23 consecutive months on the quantity of food 

24 that the eligible participant— 


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1 ‘‘(I) has donated to nonprofit or2 ganizations that provide food assist3 ance for individuals in need; or 

4 ‘‘(II) has sent to be disposed of. 

5 ‘‘(B) STAKEHOLDER INPUT.—The Sec6 retary shall solicit comments from interested 

7 parties prior to the establishment or revision of 

8 the criteria described in subparagraph (A). 

9 ‘‘(C) REVISIONS.— 

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

11 shall revise the criteria described in sub12 paragraph (A) on a periodic basis. 

13 ‘‘(ii) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary 

14 shall publish in the Federal Register cri15 teria revised under clause (i) not later than 

16 270 days before the effective date of the 

17 revised criteria, including an explanation of 

18 the revisions. 

19 ‘‘(2) ACCREDITATION BODIES.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 

21 months after the date of enactment of the Re22 duce Food Loss and Waste Act, the Secretary 

23 shall establish a process to recognize accredita24 tion bodies to accredit third-party certifiers 

25 under paragraph (3)(A). 


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1 ‘‘(B) STANDARDS.—The Secretary shall 

2 recognize an accreditation body under subpara3 graph (A) if the accreditation body meets such 

4 standards as the Secretary shall establish. 

5 ‘‘(3) THIRD-PARTY CERTIFIERS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 

7 months after the date of enactment of the Re8 duce Food Loss and Waste Act, the Secretary 

9 shall establish a process for accreditation bodies 

10 recognized under paragraph (2) to accredit 

11 third-party certifiers to review and certify eligi12 ble participants under the program. 

13 ‘‘(B) STANDARDS.—An accreditation body 

14 recognized under paragraph (2) shall accredit a 

15 third-party certifier under subparagraph (A) if 

16 the third-party certifier meets such standards 

17 as the Secretary shall establish. 

18 ‘‘(C) PREFERENCE.—In accrediting third19 party certifiers under subparagraph (A), an ac20 creditation body recognized under paragraph 

21 (2) shall give preference to institutions of high22 er education that have expertise in food loss 

23 and waste reduction. 

24 ‘‘(D) CERTIFICATION.—A third-party cer25 tifier accredited under subparagraph (A) shall 


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1 review and certify an eligible participant under 

2 the program if the eligible participant meets the 

3 criteria established under paragraph (1). 

4 ‘‘(4) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall main5 tain on a publicly available website of the Depart6 ment of Agriculture— 

7 ‘‘(A) a list of accreditation bodies recog8 nized under paragraph (2); and 

9 ‘‘(B) a list of third-party certifiers accred10 ited under paragraph (3). 

11 ‘‘(e) PROMOTION.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall pro13 mote a certified participant under the program, in14 cluding through— 

15 ‘‘(A) voluntary labeling established under 

16 paragraph (2); and 

17 ‘‘(B) such other communications as the 

18 Secretary determines to be appropriate relating 

19 to the products, buildings, practices, and poli20 cies of the certified participant, such as— 

21 ‘‘(i) publication on the website of the 

22 Department of Agriculture of information 

23 relating to the certified participant; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) holding events to promote the 

2 certified participant or otherwise relating 

3 to the program. 

4 ‘‘(2) VOLUNTARY LABELING.—The Secretary 

5 shall establish 1 or more voluntary labels that indi6 cate that a certified participant is certified under the 

7 program. 

8 ‘‘(f) INTERAGENCY COORDINATION.—The Secretary 

9 shall carry out this section in coordination with the Com10 missioner of Food and Drugs and the Administrator of 

11 the Environmental Protection Agency, in accordance with 

12 the memorandum of understanding revised under section 

13 3 of the Reduce Food Loss and Waste Act. 

14 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

15 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

16 including for the hiring of additional personnel, 

17 $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028, 

18 to remain available until expended.’’. 

19 SEC. 3. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING. 

20 The Secretary of Agriculture, the Commissioner of 

21 Food and Drugs, and the Administrator of the Environ22 mental Protection Agency shall revise, in accordance with 

23 section 210B of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 

24 (as added by section 2), the agreement signed on DecemVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:36 Oct 28, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3146.IS S3146

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1 ber 17, 2020, relating to cooperation and coordination on 

2 food loss and waste. 

Æ 


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