I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1378 

To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation 

with the Secretary of Education, to develop guidelines to be used on 

a voluntary basis to develop plans to manage the risk of food allergy 

and anaphylaxis in schools and early childhood education programs, to 

establish school-based food allergy management grants, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 6, 2009 

Mrs. LOWEY (for herself, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. SESTAK, Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia, Mr. BARROW, Mr. HOYER, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. 

KAPTUR, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. CHANDLER, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mrs. 

BLACKBURN, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. WEXLER, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. 

KIRK, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. PITTS, and Mr. BACA) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and 

in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to 

be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 

concerned 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 

in consultation with the Secretary of Education, to develop guidelines to be used on a voluntary basis to develop plans to manage the risk of food allergy and anaphylaxis in schools and early childhood education programs, to establish school-based food allergy management 

grants, and for other purposes. 


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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 Allergy and Ana5 phylaxis Management Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION PRO9 GRAM.—The term ‘‘early childhood education pro10 gram’’ means— 

11 (A) a Head Start program or an Early 

12 Head Start program carried out under the 

13 Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.); 

14 (B) a State licensed or regulated child care 

15 program or school; or 

16 (C) a State prekindergarten program that 

17 serves children from birth through kinder18 garten. 

19 (2) ESEA DEFINITIONS.—The terms ‘‘local 

20 educational agency’’, ‘‘secondary school’’, ‘‘elemen21 tary school’’, and ‘‘parent’’ have the meanings given 

22 the terms in section 9101 of the Elementary and 

23 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

24 (3) SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘school’’ includes pub25 lic— 


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1 (A) kindergartens; 

2 (B) elementary schools; and 

3 (C) secondary schools. 

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

5 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

6 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF VOLUNTARY FOOD ALLERGY 

7 AND ANAPHYLAXIS MANAGEMENT GUIDE8 LINES. 

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

11 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in 

12 consultation with the Secretary of Education, 

13 shall— 

14 (A) develop guidelines to be used on a vol15 untary basis to develop plans for individuals to 

16 manage the risk of food allergy and anaphylaxis 

17 in schools and early childhood education pro18 grams; and 

19 (B) make such guidelines available to local 

20 educational agencies, schools, early childhood 

21 education programs, and other interested enti22 ties and individuals to be implemented on a vol23 untary basis only. 

24 (2) APPLICABILITY OF FERPA.—Each plan de25 scribed in paragraph (1) that is developed for an inVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:13 Mar 07, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1378.IH H1378

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1 dividual shall be considered an education record for 

2 the purpose of the Family Educational Rights and 

3 Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. 1232g). 

4 (b) CONTENTS.—The voluntary guidelines developed 

5 by the Secretary under subsection (a) shall address each 

6 of the following, and may be updated as the Secretary de7 termines necessary: 

8 (1) Parental obligation to provide the school or 

9 early childhood education program, prior to the start 

10 of every school year, with— 

11 (A) documentation from their child’s physi12 cian or nurse— 

13 (i) supporting a diagnosis of food al14 lergy, and any risk of anaphylaxis, if appli15 cable; 

16 (ii) identifying any food to which the 

17 child is allergic; 

18 (iii) describing, if appropriate, any 

19 prior history of anaphylaxis; 

20 (iv) listing any medication prescribed 

21 for the child for the treatment of anaphy22 laxis; 

23 (v) detailing emergency treatment 

24 procedures in the event of a reaction; 


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1 (vi) listing the signs and symptoms of 

2 a reaction; and 

3 (vii) assessing the child’s readiness for 

4 self-administration of prescription medica5 tion; and 

6 (B) a list of substitute meals that may be 

7 offered to the child by school or early childhood 

8 education program food service personnel. 

9 (2) The creation and maintenance of an indi10 vidual plan for food allergy management, in con11 sultation with the parent, tailored to the needs of 

12 each child with a documented risk for anaphylaxis, 

13 including any procedures for the self-administration 

14 of medication by such children in instances where— 

15 (A) the children are capable of self-admin16 istering medication; and 

17 (B) such administration is not prohibited 

18 by State law. 

19 (3) Communication strategies between indi20 vidual schools or early childhood education programs 

21 and providers of emergency medical services, includ22 ing appropriate instructions for emergency medical 

23 response. 

24 (4) Strategies to reduce the risk of exposure to 

25 anaphylactic causative agents in classrooms and 


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1 common school or early childhood education program 

2 areas such as cafeterias. 

3 (5) The dissemination of general information on 

4 life-threatening food allergies to school or early 

5 childhood education program staff, parents, and chil6 dren. 

7 (6) Food allergy management training of school 

8 or early childhood education program personnel who 

9 regularly come into contact with children with life10 threatening food allergies. 

11 (7) The authorization and training of school or 

12 early childhood education program personnel to ad13 minister epinephrine when the nurse is not imme14 diately available. 

15 (8) The timely accessibility of epinephrine by 

16 school or early childhood education program per17 sonnel when the nurse is not immediately available. 

18 (9) The creation of a plan contained in each in19 dividual plan for food allergy management that ad20 dresses the appropriate response to an incident of 

21 anaphylaxis of a child while such child is engaged in 

22 extracurricular programs of a school or early child23 hood education program, such as non-academic out24 ings and field trips, before- and after-school pro25 grams or before- and after-early child education proVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:13 Mar 07, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1378.IH H1378

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1 gram programs, and school-sponsored or early child2 hood education program-sponsored programs held on 

3 weekends. 

4 (10) Maintenance of information for each ad5 ministration of epinephrine to a child at risk for an6 aphylaxis and prompt notification to parents. 

7 (11) Other elements the Secretary determines 

8 necessary for the management of food allergies and 

9 anaphylaxis in schools and early childhood education 

10 programs. 

11 (c) RELATION TO STATE LAW.—Nothing in this Act 

12 or the guidelines developed by the Secretary under sub13 section (a) shall be construed to preempt State law, in14 cluding any State law regarding whether students at risk 

15 for anaphylaxis may self-administer medication. 

16 SEC. 4. SCHOOL-BASED FOOD ALLERGY MANAGEMENT 

17 GRANTS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may award grants 

19 to local educational agencies to assist such agencies with 

20 implementing voluntary food allergy and anaphylaxis man21 agement guidelines described in section 3. 

22 (b) APPLICATION.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 

24 grant under this section, a local educational agency 

25 shall submit an application to the Secretary at such 


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1 time, in such manner, and including such informa2 tion as the Secretary may reasonably require. 

3 (2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted 

4 under paragraph (1) shall include— 

5 (A) an assurance that the local educational 

6 agency has developed plans in accordance with 

7 the food allergy and anaphylaxis management 

8 guidelines described in section 3; 

9 (B) a description of the activities to be 

10 funded by the grant in carrying out the food al11 lergy and anaphylaxis management guidelines, 

12 including— 

13 (i) how the guidelines will be carried 

14 out at individual schools served by the 

15 local educational agency; 

16 (ii) how the local educational agency 

17 will inform parents and students of the 

18 guidelines in place; 

19 (iii) how school nurses, teachers, ad20 ministrators, and other school-based staff 

21 will be made aware of, and given training 

22 on, when applicable, the guidelines in 

23 place; and 

24 (iv) any other activities that the Sec25 retary determines appropriate; 


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1 (C) an itemization of how grant funds re2 ceived under this section will be expended; 

3 (D) a description of how adoption of the 

4 guidelines and implementation of grant activi5 ties will be monitored; and 

6 (E) an agreement by the local educational 

7 agency to report information required by the 

8 Secretary to conduct evaluations under this sec9 tion. 

10 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—Each local educational agency 

11 that receives a grant under this section may use the grant 

12 funds for the following: 

13 (1) Purchase of materials and supplies, includ14 ing limited medical supplies such as epinephrine and 

15 disposable wet wipes, to support carrying out the 

16 food allergy and anaphylaxis management guidelines 

17 described in section 3. 

18 (2) In partnership with local health depart19 ments, school nurse, teacher, and personnel training 

20 for food allergy management. 

21 (3) Programs that educate students as to the 

22 presence of, and policies and procedures in place re23 lated to, food allergies and anaphylactic shock. 

24 (4) Outreach to parents. 


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1 (5) Any other activities consistent with the 

2 guidelines described in section 3. 

3 (d) DURATION OF AWARDS.—The Secretary may 

4 award grants under this section for a period of not more 

5 than 2 years. In the event the Secretary conducts a pro6 gram evaluation under this section, funding in the second 

7 year of the grant, where applicable, shall be contingent 

8 on a successful program evaluation by the Secretary after 

9 the first year. 

10 (e) LIMITATION ON GRANT FUNDING.—The Sec11 retary may not provide grant funding to a local edu12 cational agency under this section after such local edu13 cational agency has received 2 years of grant funding 

14 under this section. 

15 (f) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF ANNUAL AWARDS.—A 

16 grant awarded under this section may not be made in an 

17 amount that is more than $50,000 annually. 

18 (g) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec19 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to local educational 

20 agencies with the highest percentages of children who are 

21 counted under section 1124(c) of the Elementary and Sec22 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6333(c)). 

23 (h) MATCHING FUNDS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may not 

25 award a grant under this section unless the local 


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1 educational agency agrees that, with respect to the 

2 costs to be incurred by such local educational agency 

3 in carrying out the grant activities, the local edu4 cational agency shall make available (directly or 

5 through donations from public or private entities) 

6 non-Federal funds toward such costs in an amount 

7 equal to not less than 25 percent of the amount of 

8 the grant. 

9 (2) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT OF NON-FED10 ERAL CONTRIBUTION.—Non-Federal funds required 

11 under paragraph (1) may be cash or in-kind, includ12 ing plant, equipment, or services. Amounts provided 

13 by the Federal Government, and any portion of any 

14 service subsidized by the Federal Government, may 

15 not be included in determining the amount of such 

16 non-Federal funds. 

17 (i) ADMINISTRATIVE FUNDS.—A local educational 

18 agency that receives a grant under this section may use 

19 not more than 2 percent of the grant amount for adminis20 trative costs related to carrying out this section. 

21 (j) PROGRESS AND EVALUATIONS.—At the comple22 tion of the grant period referred to in subsection (d), a 

23 local educational agency shall provide the Secretary with 

24 information on how grant funds were spent and the status 


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1 of implementation of the food allergy and anaphylaxis 

2 management guidelines described in section 3. 

3 (k) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Grant funds re4 ceived under this section shall be used to supplement, and 

5 not supplant, non-Federal funds and any other Federal 

6 funds available to carry out the activities described in this 

7 section. 

8 (l) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

9 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

10 $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2010 and such sums as may 

11 be necessary for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years. 

12 SEC. 5. VOLUNTARY NATURE OF GUIDELINES. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The food allergy and anaphylaxis 

14 management guidelines developed by the Secretary under 

15 section 3 are voluntary. Nothing in this Act or the guide16 lines developed by the Secretary under section 3 shall be 

17 construed to require a local educational agency to imple18 ment such guidelines. 

19 (b) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), 

20 the Secretary may enforce an agreement by a local edu21 cational agency to implement food allergy and anaphylaxis 

22 management guidelines as a condition of the receipt of a 

23 grant under section 4. 

Æ 


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