II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 876 

To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require 

the Secretary of Agriculture to make loan guarantees and grants to 

finance certain improvements to school lunch facilities, to train school 

food service personnel, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 18, 2021 

Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Ms. SMITH) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 

and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 

Act to require the Secretary of Agriculture to make 

loan guarantees and grants to finance certain improvements to school lunch facilities, to train school food 

service personnel, 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 ‘‘School Food Mod5 ernization Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. LOAN GUARANTEES AND GRANTS TO FINANCE CER2 TAIN IMPROVEMENTS TO SCHOOL LUNCH FA3 CILITIES. 

4 The Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act 

5 is amended by inserting after section 26 (42 U.S.C. 

6 1769g) the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 27. LOAN GUARANTEES AND GRANTS TO FINANCE 

8 CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS TO SCHOOL 

9 LUNCH FACILITIES. 

10 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 ‘‘(1) DURABLE EQUIPMENT.—The term ‘dura12 ble equipment’ means durable food preparation, han13 dling, cooking, serving, and storage equipment great14 er than $500 in value. 

15 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en16 tity’ means— 

17 ‘‘(A) a local educational agency or a school 

18 food authority administering or operating a 

19 school meal program; 

20 ‘‘(B) a tribal organization; or 

21 ‘‘(C) a consortium that includes a local 

22 educational agency or school food authority de23 scribed in subparagraph (A), a tribal organiza24 tion, or both. 

25 ‘‘(3) INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term ‘infrastruc26 ture’ means a food storage facility, kitchen, food 


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1 service facility, cafeteria, dining room, or food prepa2 ration facility. 

3 ‘‘(4) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

4 ‘local educational agency’ has the meaning given the 

5 term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec6 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

7 ‘‘(5) SCHOOL FOOD AUTHORITY.—The term 

8 ‘school food authority’ has the meaning given the 

9 term in section 210.2 of title 7, Code of Federal 

10 Regulations (or a successor regulation). 

11 ‘‘(6) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘tribal 

12 organization’ has the meaning given the term in sec13 tion 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu14 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

15 ‘‘(b) LOAN GUARANTEES FOR ASSISTANCE TO

16 SCHOOLS FOR INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS AND

17 DURABLE EQUIPMENT NECESSARY TO PROVIDE

18 HEALTHY MEALS THROUGH SCHOOL MEAL PRO19 GRAMS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability 

21 of appropriations provided in advance in an appro22 priations Act specifically for the purpose of carrying 

23 out this subsection, the Secretary shall issue a loan 

24 guarantee to an eligible entity for purposes of fi25 nancing the construction, remodeling, or expansion 


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1 of infrastructure or the purchase of durable equip2 ment that will assist the eligible entity in providing 

3 healthy meals through the school meal program 

4 under this Act. 

5 ‘‘(2) PREFERENCES.—In issuing a loan guar6 antee under this subsection, the Secretary shall give 

7 a preference to an eligible entity that, as compared 

8 with other eligible entities seeking a loan guarantee 

9 under this subsection, the Secretary determines 

10 demonstrates substantial or disproportionate— 

11 ‘‘(A) need for infrastructure improvement; 

12 or 

13 ‘‘(B) durable equipment need or impair14 ment. 

15 ‘‘(3) OVERSIGHT.—The Secretary, acting 

16 through the Under Secretary for Rural Develop17 ment, shall establish procedures to oversee any 

18 project or purchase for which a loan guarantee is 

19 issued under this subsection. 

20 ‘‘(4) GUARANTEE AMOUNT.—A loan guarantee 

21 issued under this subsection may not guarantee 

22 more than 80 percent of the principal amount of the 

23 loan. 

24 ‘‘(5) FEES AND COSTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

2 establish fees for loan guarantees under this 

3 subsection that, to the maximum extent prac4 ticable, are equal to the total cost of the loan 

5 guarantees (as defined in section 502(5) of the 

6 Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 

7 661a(5))), as determined by the Secretary. 

8 ‘‘(B) FEE SHORTFALL.—If the fees estab9 lished under subparagraph (A) are not equal to 

10 the total cost of the loan guarantees described 

11 in that subparagraph, the Secretary may use 

12 the funds made available under paragraph 

13 (6)(A) to pay for the costs of loan guarantees 

14 not covered by the fees. 

15 ‘‘(6) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to 

17 be appropriated to carry out this subsection 

18 $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 

19 through 2026. 

20 ‘‘(B) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Sec21 retary may use not more than 5 percent of the 

22 amount made available to carry out this sub23 section for each fiscal year to provide technical 

24 assistance to applicants and prospective appli25 cants in preparing applications and creating fiVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S876.IS S876

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1 nancing packages that leverage a mix of public 

2 and private funding sources. 

3 ‘‘(c) EQUIPMENT GRANTS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability 

5 of appropriations provided in advance in an appro6 priations Act specifically for the purpose of carrying 

7 out this subsection, the Secretary shall award com8 petitive grants to State agencies to award subgrants 

9 to eligible entities to purchase the durable equipment 

10 needed to serve healthy meals, improve food safety, 

11 and help support the establishment, maintenance, or 

12 expansion of school meal programs. 

13 ‘‘(2) PREFERENCES.—In awarding a subgrant 

14 under this subsection, the State agency shall give 

15 preference to an eligible entity that, as compared 

16 with other eligible entities seeking a subgrant under 

17 this subsection, the State agency determines dem18 onstrates substantial or disproportionate— 

19 ‘‘(A) need for infrastructure improvement; 

20 or 

21 ‘‘(B) durable equipment need or impair22 ment. 

23 ‘‘(3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized 

25 to be appropriated such sums as may be necVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S876.IS S876

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1 essary to carry out this subsection for each of 

2 fiscal years 2022 through 2026. 

3 ‘‘(B) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Sec4 retary may use not more than 5 percent of the 

5 amount made available to carry out this sub6 section for each fiscal year to provide technical 

7 assistance to applicants and prospective appli8 cants in preparing applications and creating fi9 nancing packages that leverage a mix of public 

10 and private funding sources.’’. 

11 SEC. 3. TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR 

12 SCHOOL FOOD SERVICE PERSONNEL. 

13 The Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act 

14 is amended by inserting after section 21 (42 U.S.C. 

15 1769b–1) the following: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 21A. TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR 

17 SCHOOL FOOD SERVICE PERSONNEL. 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out a 

19 grant program under which the Secretary shall award 

20 grants, on a competitive basis, to provide support to eligi21 ble third-party training institutions described in sub22 section (b) to develop and administer training and tech23 nical assistance for school food service personnel to meet 

24 or exceed nutrition standards under section 4(b)(3) and 

25 improve efficacy and efficiency of the school meal program 


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1 under this Act and the school breakfast program estab2 lished by section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 

3 U.S.C. 1773). 

4 ‘‘(b) CRITERIA FOR ELIGIBLE THIRD-PARTY INSTI5 TUTIONS.—The Secretary shall establish specific criteria 

6 that eligible third-party training institutions shall meet to 

7 qualify to receive grants under this section, which shall 

8 include— 

9 ‘‘(1) a demonstrated capacity to administer ef10 fective training and technical assistance program11 ming to school food service personnel; 

12 ‘‘(2) prior, successful experience in providing or 

13 engaging in training and technical assistance pro14 gramming or applied research activities involving eli15 gible entities, school food service administrators, or 

16 directors; 

17 ‘‘(3) prior, successful experience in developing 

18 relevant educational training tools or course mate19 rials or curricula on topics addressing child and 

20 school nutrition or the updated nutrition standards 

21 under section 4(b)(3); and 

22 ‘‘(4) the ability to deliver effective and cost-effi23 cient training and technical assistance programming 

24 to school food service personnel— 


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1 ‘‘(A) at training sites that are located 

2 within a proximate geographic distance to 

3 schools, central kitchens, or other worksites; or 

4 ‘‘(B) through an online training and assist5 ance program on topics that do not require in6 person attendance. 

7 ‘‘(c) PROGRAM ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall as8 sist the institutions receiving grants under this section in 

9 publicizing and disseminating training and other project 

10 materials and online tools to the maximum extent prac11 ticable. 

12 ‘‘(d) FEDERAL SHARE.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of costs 

14 for training and technical assistance funded through 

15 a grant awarded under this section shall not exceed 

16 80 percent of the total cost of the training and tech17 nical assistance. 

18 ‘‘(2) MATCHING.—As a condition of receiving a 

19 grant under this section, the eligible third-party 

20 training institution shall provide matching support 

21 in the form of cash or in-kind contributions. 

22 ‘‘(e) OVERSIGHT.—The Secretary shall establish pro23 cedures to enable the Secretary— 


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1 ‘‘(1) to oversee the administration and oper2 ation of training and technical assistance funded 

3 through grants awarded under this section; and 

4 ‘‘(2) to ensure that the training and assistance 

5 is operated consistent with the goals and require6 ments of this Act. 

7 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

9 appropriated such sums as may be necessary to 

10 carry out this section for each of fiscal years 2022 

11 through 2026. 

12 ‘‘(2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 

13 may use not more than 5 percent of the amount 

14 made available to carry out this section for each fis15 cal year to provide technical assistance to applicants 

16 and prospective applicants in preparing applications 

17 and creating financing packages that leverage a mix 

18 of public and private funding sources.’’. 

19 SEC. 4. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

20 Not later than 1 year after funds are made available 

21 to carry out the amendments made by this Act, and annu22 ally thereafter, the Secretary of Agriculture shall submit 

23 to Congress a report on the progress of the Secretary in 

24 implementing the amendments made by this Act. 

Æ 


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