I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 652 

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

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 31, 2023 

Ms. BROWNLEY (for herself, Ms. KUSTER, and Ms. PINGREE) introduced the 

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

A BILL 

To provide grants to reduce the amount 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) IN GENERAL.— 

7 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall 

8 establish and carry out a program to award competi9 tive grants as provided in paragraph (3). 

10 (2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the program es11 tablished under paragraph (1) is to help reduce the 


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1 amount of food waste by 50 percent by 2030, rel2 ative to such amount in 2010. 

3 (3) GRANTS.— 

4 (A) STUDY ON FOOD WASTE GENERATION

5 AND FOOD WASTE MANAGEMENT PLANNING.— 

6 Under the program established under para7 graph (1), the Administrator may award a 

8 grant to an eligible entity, excluding any eligible 

9 entity that is a nonprofit organization, to— 

10 (i) study— 

11 (I) the generation of food waste 

12 in the State or area in which the eligi13 ble entity is located or otherwise 

14 serves; and 

15 (II) policies and programs that 

16 significantly reduce the amount of 

17 food waste, including policies and pro18 grams to carry out food waste reduc19 tion activities; and 

20 (ii) develop a plan under which such 

21 eligible entity will carry out at least one 

22 food waste reduction activity, prioritizing 

23 prevention to the extent practicable. 

24 (B) FOOD WASTE DATA AND REPORTS.— 

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1 graph (1), the Administrator may award a 

2 grant to an eligible entity, excluding any eligible 

3 entity that is a nonprofit organization, to— 

4 (i) collect data on the amount of food 

5 waste generated in the State or area in 

6 which the eligible entity is located or other7 wise serves; and 

8 (ii) publish, on any publicly available 

9 website (which may include the website of 

10 a nongovernmental organization), a month11 ly or quarterly report on the data collected 

12 under clause (i). 

13 (C) FOOD WASTE REDUCTION

14 PROJECTS.—Under the program established 

15 under paragraph (1), the Administrator may 

16 award a grant to an eligible entity to— 

17 (i)(I) carry out or otherwise support a 

18 food waste reduction activity; 

19 (II) implement a differential pricing 

20 policy on the disposal of food waste to— 

21 (aa) disincentivize disposing of 

22 food waste by incineration or deposit 

23 in a landfill; and 

24 (bb) incentivize carrying out food 

25 waste reduction activities; 


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1 (III) pay for or provide technical as2 sistance to carry out a food waste reduc3 tion activity; 

4 (IV) implement restrictions on dis5 posing of food waste by incineration or de6 posit in a landfill; 

7 (V) implement food waste reduction 

8 activity requirements; 

9 (VI) implement demand-stimulating 

10 policies for recycling end-markets; or 

11 (VII) carry out any other activity the 

12 Administrator determines will reduce the 

13 amount of food waste in the applicable 

14 area; and 

15 (ii) collect data and publish reports as 

16 described in subparagraph (B). 

17 (b) APPLICATIONS.— 

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

19 this section, an eligible entity shall submit to the 

20 Administrator an application at such time and in 

21 such form as the Administrator may require, which 

22 such application shall demonstrate how the eligible 

23 entity will use the grant in accordance with sub24 section (a)(3). 


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1 (2) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS.—In the case 

2 of an application from an eligible entity that is a 

3 nonprofit organization, the application shall in4 clude— 

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 

14 such grant as provided in subsection 

15 (a)(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 (a)(3)(C) to carry out an anaerobic digestion 

23 project, the Administrator shall— 

24 (A) require that the applicant submit a 

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1 ance with guidelines the Administrator shall es2 tablish— 

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 (c) 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 such 

23 report shall include any relevant data requested by 

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1 tiveness of the program established under subsection 

2 (a)(1). 

3 (2) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Administrator shall 

4 submit to Congress and make publicly available on 

5 the website of the Environmental Protection Agency 

6 an annual report describing— 

7 (A) the effectiveness of the program estab8 lished under subsection (a)(1) at reducing the 

9 amount of food waste by 50 percent by 2030, 

10 relative to such amount in 2010, including in11 formation on the progress of such reduction; 

12 and 

13 (B) how the Administrator is promoting 

14 learning among grantees and other stakeholders 

15 to better achieve results. 

16 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

17 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

18 $650,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2033, 

19 to remain available until expended. 

20 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

21 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis22 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ23 mental Protection Agency. 

24 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti25 ty’’ means— 


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1 (A) a State, a local government, a terri2 torial government, or a Tribal government; 

3 (B) a nonprofit organization; or 

4 (C) a partnership of two or more of any of 

5 the entities described in subparagraphs (A) and 

6 (B). 

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

8 means any uneaten food and inedible parts of food. 

9 (4) FOOD WASTE REDUCTION ACTIVITY.—The 

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

11 method or activity that reduces the amount of food 

12 waste disposed of in landfills or incinerated, includ13 ing through prevention, rescue, upcycling, and recy14 cling. 

15 (5) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term 

16 ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means an organization that 

17 is described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Rev18 enue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3)) and is ex19 empt from taxation under section 501(a) of such 

20 Code. 

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

22 forestall the generation of food waste. 

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

24 reuse food waste as a feedstock for a non-food prod25 uct. 


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1 (8) RESCUE.—The term ‘‘rescue’’ means to re2 direct surplus food for consumption. 

3 (9) SOURCE SEPARATED ORGANICS.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘source sepa5 rated organics’’ means organic waste that is 

6 separated from other waste by the waste gener7 ator. 

8 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘source sepa9 rated organics’’ includes materials that are cer10 tified to meet ASTM standard D6400 or 

11 D6868. 

12 (C) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘source sepa13 rated organics’’ excludes mixed solid waste. 

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

15 make new food from ingredients that otherwise 

16 would become food waste. 

Æ 


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