I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4833 

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to make grants to States to support 

the establishment and operation of grocery stores in underserved communities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 22, 2016 

Mr. CARSON of Indiana (for himself, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. CLAY, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. MOORE, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. PLASKETT, and Ms. 

WILSON of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to make grants 

to States to support the establishment and operation 

of grocery stores in underserved communities, 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 Deserts Act of 

5 2016’’. 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 4833 IH

1 SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM TO ESTABLISH GROCERY STORES 

2 IN UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF GRANT PROGRAM.—The 

4 Secretary shall establish a program to provide capitaliza5 tion grants to States for the purpose of establishing re6 volving funds to support the establishment and operation 

7 of grocery stores in underserved communities. 

8 (b) ADMINISTRATION.—A State receiving funds 

9 under this Act shall administer the revolving fund of the 

10 State through an instrumentality of the State with such 

11 powers and limitations as may be required to operate such 

12 fund in accordance with the requirements of this Act. 

13 (c) PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES ELIGIBLE FOR AS14 SISTANCE.—Amounts in a revolving fund shall be used for 

15 the purpose of making loans— 

16 (1) to open a grocery store in an underserved 

17 community, except that such loan may not be used 

18 for the purpose of new construction; 

19 (2) to support the operations of an existing gro20 cery store in an underserved community; 

21 (3) to facilitate the fair market value purchase 

22 of an existing grocery store in an underserved com23 munity; or 

24 (4) to support the operations of a program par25 ticipant that is located in a community that would 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 4833 IH

1 be an underserved community if the program partici2 pant was not located in such community. 

3 (d) GROCERY STORES ELIGIBLE FOR ASSISTANCE.— 

4 (1) REQUIRED CRITERIA.—A State receiving a 

5 capitalization grant under this Act may only make 

6 a loan from the revolving fund of the State to an en7 tity that the State determines— 

8 (A) is a grocery store or will be a grocery 

9 store after opening; 

10 (B) emphasizes or will emphasize unproc11 essed, healthful foods; 

12 (C) provides or will provide a variety of 

13 raw fruits and vegetables; 

14 (D) provides or will provide staple foods; 

15 (E) has a plan to keep such foods in stock 

16 to the extent possible; 

17 (F) charges or will charge prices at or 

18 below municipal averages; and 

19 (G) is sufficiently qualified to operate a 

20 grocery store. 

21 (2) PRIORITY CRITERIA.— 

22 (A) NONPROFIT OR MUNICIPALLY OWNED

23 ENTITIES.—A State shall prioritize an applica24 tion for a loan from the revolving fund of the 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 4833 IH

1 State from a nonprofit organization or munici2 pally owned entity that the State determines— 

3 (i) hires or plans to hire workers who 

4 reside within the underserved community 

5 that would be served by the entity; 

6 (ii) provides or plans to provide class7 es or other educational information about 

8 a healthful diet; 

9 (iii) sources or plans to source food 

10 from local urban farms and gardens; 

11 (iv) does not or will not sell alcohol or 

12 tobacco products; 

13 (v) demonstrates existing supply chain 

14 relationships in the grocery industry; or 

15 (vi) demonstrates expertise in the gro16 cery industry. 

17 (B) FOR-PROFIT ENTITIES.—A State shall 

18 prioritize an application for a loan from the re19 volving fund of the State from a for-profit enti20 ty that the State determines meets any of the 

21 requirements in clauses (i) through (iv) of sub22 paragraph (A). 

23 (e) APPLICATION.—An entity that desires a loan 

24 from a revolving fund of a State shall submit an applicaVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 Mar 23, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4833.IH H4833

SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 4833 IH

1 tion to the State at such time, in such manner, and con2 taining such information as the State may require. 

3 (f) LOAN CONDITIONS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—A loan distributed from a 

5 revolving fund by a State may be used by a program 

6 participant only for the purposes specified in sub7 section (c). 

8 (2) INTEREST RATES.—A loan distributed by a 

9 State from a revolving fund shall be made at or 

10 below market interest rates, including an interest 

11 free loan, at terms not to exceed the lesser of 30 

12 years or the projected useful life (as determined by 

13 the State) of the project to be financed with the pro14 ceeds of the loan. 

15 (3) STRUCTURE OF LOAN.—A loan may be dis16 tributed from a revolving fund by a State to a pro17 gram participant in a lump sum or in multiple dis18 tributions over a period of years. 

19 (4) LOAN AMOUNT.—A State may not provide 

20 a loan to a program participant from the revolving 

21 fund of the State in a fiscal year that exceeds 10 

22 percent of the amount available from the fund for 

23 making distributions in that fiscal year. 

24 (5) PAYMENTS.—Annual principal and interest 

25 payments on a loan received from a revolving fund 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 4833 IH

1 of a State shall commence not later than 1 year 

2 after the loan is disbursed to the program partici3 pant and all loans will be fully amortized upon the 

4 expiration of the term of the loan. 

5 (6) REVENUE FOR REPAYMENT.—A program 

6 participant shall establish a dedicated source of rev7 enue for repayment of a loan received from a revolv8 ing fund of a State. 

9 (7) CREDITING REVOLVING FUND.—A revolving 

10 fund of a State shall be credited with all payments 

11 of principal and interest on all loans made from the 

12 revolving fund. 

13 (g) ADMINISTRATION COSTS.—A State shall charge 

14 a program participant an administrative fee of not more 

15 than 4 percent of the loan amount. The State shall use 

16 the fees to administer the revolving fund and conduct ad17 ministration activities under this Act. 

18 (h) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall 

19 provide technical assistance to program participants to as20 sist with sourcing of food, food storage, and other oper21 ational requirements. 

22 (i) BANKRUPTCY.—In the case of the bankruptcy of 

23 a program participant, amounts owned on a loan from a 

24 revolving fund shall be afforded precedence over other 

25 debt. 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 4833 IH

1 (j) GROCERY STORE EARNINGS.—Earnings of a non2 profit organization or municipally owned program partici3 pant that are attributable to a loan received from a revolv4 ing fund of a State shall be used for reinvestment into 

5 the program participant or to support the continuity of 

6 operations of the program participant. 

7 SEC. 3. CAPITALIZATION GRANTS TO FUND STATE REVOLV8 ING FUNDS. 

9 (a) ELIGIBILITY OF STATE FOR CAPITALIZATION

10 GRANT.—To be eligible for a capitalization grant, a State 

11 shall— 

12 (1) establish a revolving fund that complies 

13 with the requirements of this Act; 

14 (2) establish a process for applications and cri15 teria for making loans from the revolving fund, sub16 ject to the requirements in section 2(d); and 

17 (3) match no less than 20 percent, from non18 Federal sources, of the amount of the capitalization 

19 grant provided to the State. 

20 (b) UPON RECEIPT OF CAPITALIZATION GRANT.— 

21 Upon the receipt of a capitalization grant, a State shall 

22 deposit such capitalization grant into the revolving fund 

23 of the State. 

24 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

25 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act— 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 4833 IH

1 (1) $150,000,000 for fiscal year 2017; and 

2 (2) such sums as may be necessary for subse3 quent fiscal years. 

4 (d) DISTRIBUTION.—For a fiscal year, the Secretary 

5 shall apportion amounts made available for capitalization 

6 grants under this section among the States eligible under 

7 subsection (a) in the ratio that— 

8 (1) the population of underserved communities 

9 in each State eligible under subsection (a); bears to 

10 (2) the population of underserved communities 

11 in all States eligible under subsection (a). 

12 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

13 In this Act: 

14 (1) CAPITALIZATION GRANT.—The term ‘‘cap15 italization grant’’ means a grant made to a State 

16 under the program. 

17 (2) HEALTHFUL FOOD.—The term ‘‘healthful 

18 food’’ means food that reflects the most recent Die19 tary Guidelines for Americans. 

20 (3) GROCERY STORE.—The term ‘‘grocery 

21 store’’ means a retail store that derives income pri22 marily from the sale of food for home preparation 

23 and consumption. 

24 (4) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

25 the program described in section 2(a). 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 4833 IH

1 (5) PROGRAM PARTICIPANT.—The term ‘‘pro2 gram participant’’ means an entity that has received 

3 a loan under the program. 

4 (6) REVOLVING FUND.—The term ‘‘revolving 

5 fund’’ means a fund established by a State for use 

6 as a depository for a capitalization grant. 

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

8 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

9 (8) STAPLE FOOD.—The term ‘‘staple food’’ 

10 has the meaning given the term in section 243(b) of 

11 the Agricultural Act of 2014 (7 U.S.C. 6953(b)). 

12 (9) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means States of 

13 the Union, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, 

14 the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the 

15 Northern Mariana Islands. 

16 (10) UNDERSERVED COMMUNITY.—The term 

17 ‘‘underserved community’’ has the meaning given 

18 the term in section 301B(g)(9)(A)(ii) of the Consoli19 dated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 

20 1932(g)(9)(A)(ii)). 

Æ 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS