I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7656 

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to make competitive grants to certain 

agricultural producers and other food-related businesses to carry out 

activities to support health and safety, or to adapt production, processing, 

distribution, and sales systems, in response to COVID–19, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 16, 2020 

Ms. SCHRIER (for herself and Mr. LARSEN of Washington) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to make competitive 

grants to certain agricultural producers and other foodrelated businesses to carry out activities to support 

health and safety, or to adapt production, processing, 

distribution, and sales systems, in response to COVID– 

19, 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 ‘‘Food and Farm Emer5 gency Assistance Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FOOD BUSINESS INFRASTRUCTURE AND EQUIP2 MENT RESPONSE GRANTS. 

3 (a) GRANTS.—The Secretary of Agriculture, acting 

4 through the Administrator of the Agriculture Marketing 

5 Service, shall make grants to eligible entities, on a com6 petitive basis, to carry out activities to support worker and 

7 public health and safety, or to adapt production, proc8 essing, distribution, and sales systems, in response to 

9 COVID–19. 

10 (b) ELIGIBLE USES.—Amounts received by an eligi11 ble entity under a grant under this section shall be used 

12 for activities directly relating to COVID–19 response and 

13 recovery, including— 

14 (1) costs incurred during the COVID–19 emer15 gency period that are associated with protecting em16 ployee and consumer health and safety, such as for 

17 personal protective equipment; 

18 (2) costs incurred during such period that are 

19 associated with transitioning to a different busi20 nesses model, such as direct-to-consumer, online 

21 sales, or delivery; 

22 (3) costs incurred during such period to pur23 chase or lease equipment for food processing, stor24 age, or refrigeration; and 


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1 (4) other similar costs incurred during such pe2 riod that arise from adjusting to the COVID–19 

3 pandemic. 

4 (c) APPLICATIONS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity seeking a 

6 grant under this section shall submit to the Sec7 retary an application in such manner, at such time, 

8 and containing such information as the Secretary 

9 may require. 

10 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall en11 sure that the application required under paragraph 

12 (1) is— 

13 (A) as simple as is practicable; 

14 (B) accessible online; and 

15 (C) also available through all local offices 

16 of the Department of Agriculture. 

17 (3) DECISIONS.—Not later than 7 days after 

18 the date on which the Secretary receives an applica19 tion under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall notify 

20 the eligible entity that submitted the application— 

21 (A) whether the application is approved or 

22 denied; 

23 (B) if the application is approved, the date 

24 on which the eligible entity will receive the 

25 grant funds; and 


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1 (C) if denied, the reason for denial and 

2 whether the application may be revised and re3 submitted. 

4 (4) PREFERENCES.—In reviewing applications 

5 submitted under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 

6 give preference to applications containing proposals 

7 intended to— 

8 (A) expand access to food for participants 

9 in— 

10 (i) the supplemental nutrition assist11 ance program established under section 4 

12 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 

13 U.S.C. 2013); and 

14 (ii) a program authorized under the 

15 Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 

16 Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) or Child Nu17 trition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et 

18 seq.), including the national school lunch 

19 program, the national school breakfast pro20 gram, the summer food service program 

21 for children, the special supplemental nu22 trition program for women, infants, and 

23 children, and the child and adult care food 

24 program; 


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1 (B) enhance food distribution in high-need 

2 or underserved areas; 

3 (C) address local agricultural product over4 supply issues and reduce food waste; or 

5 (D) benefit young farmers or ranchers, be6 ginning farmers of ranchers (as defined in sec7 tion 2501(a) of the Food, Agriculture, Con8 servation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 

9 2279(a))), or socially disadvantaged farmers or 

10 ranchers (as defined in such section 2501(a)). 

11 (d) LIMITATIONS ON AMOUNTS.—The amount of a 

12 grant under this section shall not exceed— 

13 (1) in the case of an eligible entity described in 

14 subsection (f)(1), $15,000; and 

15 (2) in the case of any other eligible entity, 

16 $35,000. 

17 (e) OUTREACH.—The Secretary shall conduct out18 reach to States and eligible entities with respect to the 

19 availability of grants under this section. 

20 (f) ELIGIBLE ENTITY DEFINED.—In this section, the 

21 term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means— 

22 (1) an individual agricultural producer; 

23 (2) a group of agricultural producers, includ24 ing— 

25 (A) a cooperative; and 


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1 (B) a network or association of individual 

2 farms; 

3 (3) a small or very small processor of agricul4 tural products with less than 150 employees, as de5 termined by the Secretary; 

6 (4) a local distributor, including a food hub and 

7 a farmers market; and 

8 (5) any other business that is critical to main9 taining a resilient agricultural supply chain in the 

10 United States, as determined by the Secretary. 

11 (g) FUNDING.—Of the funds of the Commodity Cred12 it Corporation, the Secretary shall use $100,000,000 to 

13 carry out this section for fiscal year 2020, to remain avail14 able until expended. 

15 (h) COVID–19 EMERGENCY PERIOD.—The term 

16 ‘‘COVID–19 emergency period’’ has the meaning given 

17 the term ‘‘emergency period’’ in section 1135(g)(1)(B) of 

18 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b–5(g)(1)(B)). 

Æ 


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