II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2389 

To require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to 

provide grants to reduce the quantity of food waste, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 20, 2021 

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

to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to provide grants to reduce the quantity 

of food 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 ‘‘Zero Food Waste Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FOOD WASTE REDUCTION GRANTS. 

6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis8 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ9 mental Protection Agency. 


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1 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti2 ty’’ means— 

3 (A) a State, a local government, a terri4 torial government, or a Tribal government; 

5 (B) a nonprofit organization; and 

6 (C) a partnership of 2 or more of any of 

7 the entities described in subparagraphs (A) and 

8 (B). 

9 (3) FOOD WASTE.—The term ‘‘food waste’’ 

10 means any uneaten food and inedible parts of food. 

11 (4) FOOD WASTE REDUCTION ACTIVITY.—The 

12 term ‘‘food waste reduction activity’’ means any 

13 method or activity that reduces the quantity of food 

14 waste disposed of in landfills or incinerated, includ15 ing through prevention, rescue, upcycling, and recy16 cling. 

17 (5) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term 

18 ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means an organization de19 scribed in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue 

20 Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation under sec21 tion 501(a) of that Code. 

22 (6) PREVENT.—The term ‘‘prevent’’ means to 

23 forestall the generation of food waste. 


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1 (7) RECYCLE.—The term ‘‘recycle’’ means to 

2 reuse food waste as a feedstock for a nonfood prod3 uct. 

4 (8) RESCUE.—The term ‘‘rescue’’ means to re5 direct surplus food for consumption. 

6 (9) SOURCE SEPARATED ORGANICS.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘source sepa8 rated organics’’ means organic waste that is 

9 separated from other waste by the waste gener10 ator. 

11 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘source sepa12 rated organics’’ includes materials that are cer13 tified to meet ASTM standard D6400 or 

14 D6868. 

15 (C) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘source sepa16 rated organics’’ does not include mixed solid 

17 waste. 

18 (10) UPCYCLE.—The term ‘‘upcycle’’ means to 

19 make new food from ingredients that otherwise 

20 would become food waste. 

21 (b) PROGRAM.— 

22 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall 

23 establish and carry out a program to award competi24 tive grants in accordance with paragraph (3). 


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1 (2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the program es2 tablished under paragraph (1) is to help reduce the 

3 quantity of food waste by 50 percent by 2030, rel4 ative to that quantity in 2010. 

5 (3) GRANTS.— 

6 (A) STUDY ON FOOD WASTE GENERATION

7 AND FOOD WASTE MANAGEMENT PLANNING.— 

8 Under the program established under para9 graph (1), the Administrator may award a 

10 grant to an eligible entity, excluding any eligible 

11 entity that is a nonprofit organization— 

12 (i) to study— 

13 (I) the generation of food waste 

14 in the State or area in which the eligi15 ble entity is located or otherwise 

16 serves; and 

17 (II) policies and programs that 

18 significantly reduce the quantity of 

19 food waste, including policies and pro20 grams to carry out food waste reduc21 tion activities; and 

22 (ii) to develop a plan under which the 

23 eligible entity will carry out at least 1 food 

24 waste reduction activity, prioritizing pre25 vention to the extent practicable. 


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1 (B) FOOD WASTE DATA AND REPORTS.— 

2 Under the program established under para3 graph (1), the Administrator may award a 

4 grant to an eligible entity, excluding any eligible 

5 entity that is a nonprofit organization— 

6 (i) to collect data on the quantity of 

7 food waste generated in the State or area 

8 in which the eligible entity is located or 

9 otherwise serves; and 

10 (ii) to publish, on any publicly avail11 able website (which may include the 

12 website of a nongovernmental organiza13 tion), a monthly or quarterly report on the 

14 data collected under clause (i). 

15 (C) FOOD WASTE REDUCTION

16 PROJECTS.—Under the program established 

17 under paragraph (1), the Administrator may 

18 award a grant to an eligible entity— 

19 (i)(I) to carry out or otherwise sup20 port a food waste reduction activity; 

21 (II) to implement a differential pric22 ing policy on the disposal of food waste— 

23 (aa) to disincentivize disposing of 

24 food waste by incineration or deposit 

25 in a landfill; and 


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1 (bb) to incentivize carrying out 

2 food waste reduction activities; 

3 (III) to pay for or provide technical 

4 assistance to carry out a food waste reduc5 tion activity; 

6 (IV) to implement restrictions on dis7 posing of food waste by incineration or de8 posit in a landfill; 

9 (V) to implement food waste reduction 

10 activity requirements; 

11 (VI) to implement demand-stimulating 

12 policies for recycling end-markets; or 

13 (VII) to carry out any other activity 

14 the Administrator determines will reduce 

15 the quantity of food waste in the applicable 

16 area; and 

17 (ii) to collect data and publish reports 

18 as described in subparagraph (B). 

19 (c) APPLICATIONS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—To apply for a grant under 

21 this section, an eligible entity shall submit to the 

22 Administrator an application at such time and in 

23 such form as the Administrator may require, which 

24 shall demonstrate how the eligible entity will use the 

25 grant in accordance with subsection (b)(3). 


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1 (2) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS.—In the case 

2 of an application under paragraph (1) from an eligi3 ble entity that is a nonprofit organization, the appli4 cation shall include— 

5 (A) a letter of support for the proposed 

6 use of the grant from— 

7 (i) the relevant local government, ter8 ritorial government, Tribal government, or 

9 State; or 

10 (ii) another nonprofit organization 

11 that— 

12 (I) has a demonstrated history of 

13 undertaking work in the geographic 

14 region where the proposed use of the 

15 grant is to take place, as determined 

16 by the Administrator; and 

17 (II) would not be involved in the 

18 proposed use of the grant; and 

19 (B) any other information the Adminis20 trator may require. 

21 (3) PRIORITIZATION.—In awarding grants 

22 under this section, the Administrator shall— 

23 (A) seek to award grants for use in diverse 

24 locations and for diverse uses; and 

25 (B) prioritize awarding grants to— 


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1 (i) any eligible entity, excluding any 

2 eligible entity that is a nonprofit organiza3 tion, that— 

4 (I) implements a program to 

5 carry out food waste reduction activi6 ties; or 

7 (II) has a demonstrated need, as 

8 determined by the Administrator, for 

9 additional investment in infrastruc10 ture or other resources to be able to 

11 implement a program to carry out 

12 food waste reduction activities; or 

13 (ii) an eligible entity that will use the 

14 grant in accordance with subsection 

15 (b)(3)(C)(i) in a community of color, low16 income community, or Tribal community 

17 that has been disproportionately affected 

18 by adverse human health or environmental 

19 effects. 

20 (4) ANAEROBIC DIGESTION PROJECTS.—With 

21 respect to any grant awarded under subsection 

22 (b)(3)(C) to carry out an anaerobic digestion 

23 project, the Administrator shall— 

24 (A) require the applicant to submit to the 

25 Administrator a plan for end-product recycling 


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1 that, in accordance with guidelines the Adminis2 trator shall establish— 

3 (i) provides for the use of the material 

4 resulting from the project as a soil amend5 ment; and 

6 (ii) ensures that the use of the mate7 rial resulting from the project does not cre8 ate an environmental hazard; and 

9 (B) require the eligible entity that is car10 rying out the project— 

11 (i) to limit its use of animal waste to 

12 not more than 20 percent of the total feed13 stock of the project; and 

14 (ii) to only use source separated 

15 organics as the portion of the total feed16 stock that is not animal waste. 

17 (d) REPORTING.— 

18 (1) EFFECT OF USE OF GRANT.—Each eligible 

19 entity that receives a grant under this section shall 

20 submit to the Administrator a report, at such time 

21 and in such form as the Administrator may require, 

22 on the results of the use of the grant, which shall 

23 include any relevant data requested by the Adminis24 trator for purposes of tracking the effectiveness of 

25 the program established under subsection (b)(1). 


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1 (2) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Administrator shall 

2 submit to Congress and make publicly available on 

3 the website of the Environmental Protection Agency 

4 an annual report describing— 

5 (A) the effectiveness of the program estab6 lished under subsection (b)(1) in reducing the 

7 quantity of food waste by 50 percent by 2030, 

8 relative to that quantity in 2010, including in9 formation on the progress of that reduction; 

10 and 

11 (B) the means by which the Administrator 

12 is promoting learning among grantees and 

13 other stakeholders to better achieve results. 

14 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

15 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

16 $650,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2031, 

17 to remain available until expended. 

Æ 


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