I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3652 

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a food waste research 

and technical assistance program and grant program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 1, 2021 

Mrs. AXNE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a food 

waste research and technical assistance program and 

grant program, 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 ‘‘National Food Waste 

5 Reduction Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FOOD WASTE RESEARCH PROGRAM. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Food Loss and Waste 

8 Reduction Liaison of the Department of Agriculture (in 

9 this section referred to as the ‘‘Liaison’’) shall establish 

10 a partnership with 5 regional partner institutions, selected 


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1 under subsection (c), to carry out a Food Waste Research 

2 Program (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Program’’). 

3 (b) FOOD WASTE RESEARCH PROGRAM REQUIRE4 MENTS.— 

5 (1) DUTIES.—In carrying out the Program, the 

6 Liaison, in partnership with the 5 regional partner 

7 institutions selected under subsection (c), shall— 

8 (A) plan, conduct, and arrange for public 

9 research, data, education, and recommendations 

10 within the areas of study specified in paragraph 

11 (2), as such areas relate to food waste reduction 

12 and food recovery issues nationwide, regionally, 

13 and locally; 

14 (B) carry out the activities of the Program 

15 within a variety of regions in the United States, 

16 which are identified and categorized by the Li17 aison based on the specific food recovery and 

18 food waste reduction issues of such regions; 

19 (C) identify areas to increase efficiency in 

20 the allocation of resources, coordination, co21 operation, and consolidation of efforts as they 

22 relate to local, statewide, Tribal, regional, and 

23 Federal food recovery and food waste reduction 

24 efforts; 


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1 (D) create a Program website, as described 

2 in paragraph (4), to disseminate information to 

3 the public; and 

4 (E) collaborate with other colleges, univer5 sities, and nonprofit organizations in the re6 gions selected by the Liaison that have dem7 onstrated capability for research, information 

8 dissemination, and professional training in 

9 order to develop regional networks that are 

10 knowledgeable in food waste reduction issues. 

11 (2) AREAS OF STUDY.—In carrying out the du12 ties listed in subsection (a), the Liaison and the re13 gional partner institutions shall consider the fol14 lowing areas of study: 

15 (A) Reducing the volume of surplus food 

16 produced. 

17 (B) Feeding individuals in need to utilize 

18 excess food, including through the use of dona19 tions of surplus food. 

20 (C) Diverting food unusable for purposes 

21 of subparagraph (B) to feed animals. 

22 (D) Utilizing food waste to create renew23 able energy sources. 

24 (E) Composting food waste to create nutri25 ent rich soil. 


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1 (F) Diminishing the deposits of food waste 

2 in landfills and reducing the incineration of 

3 food waste. 

4 (3) USE OF FUNDS.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Liaison may make 

6 funds available under this section to improve 

7 the facilities of the regional partner institutions 

8 to a level that meets the requirements of the 

9 role of a regional partner institution. 

10 (B) PLAN.—A regional partner institution 

11 may not receive any funding for any facility up12 grade under subparagraph (A), unless— 

13 (i) the regional partner institution 

14 submits to the Liaison a plan detailing the 

15 type of facility construction or improve16 ments to take place (including any land ac17 quisition, engineering, design, and staffing 

18 and equipment needs, in addition to other 

19 information as required by the Liaison); 

20 and 

21 (ii) the Liaison approves such plan. 

22 (C) NON-FEDERAL COST SHARE FOR FA23 CILITY IMPROVEMENT.—A regional partner in24 stitutions shall be required to provide at least 

25 a 20 percent non-Federal cost share for facility 


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1 improvement or construction projects pursued 

2 by a regional partner institution under subpara3 graph (A). 

4 (D) MATCHING FUNDS FOR OPERATING

5 EXPENSES.—A regional partner institution shall 

6 be required to provide at least a 30 percent 

7 non-Federal cost share for all Program oper8 ating expenses related to such regional partner 

9 institution. 

10 (E) WAGE RATE REQUIREMENTS.—A con11 struction activity carried out pursuant to this 

12 section shall meet Federal prevailing wage re13 quirements as determined by the Secretary of 

14 Labor in accordance with subchapter IV of 

15 chapter 31 of part A of subtitle II of title 40, 

16 United States Code, (commonly referred to as 

17 the ‘‘Davis-Bacon Act’’). 

18 (4) FOOD WASTE RESEARCH PROGRAM

19 WEBSITE.—The Liaison shall establish a website 

20 that shall contain at least the following information: 

21 (A) Key findings and best practices. 

22 (B) A list of collaborations and partner23 ships carried out pursuant to this section. 

24 (C) Annual reports and other pertinent in25 formation on the duties of the Program. 


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1 (D) The location and contact information 

2 for regional partner institutions. 

3 (E) Federal, State, local, and regionally 

4 specific public research, data, education, and 

5 policy recommendations that shall be updated 

6 in a timely manner with new information. 

7 (F) Tools for tracking reduction efforts 

8 and measuring food waste production. 

9 (c) SELECTION OF REGIONAL PARTNER INSTITU10 TIONS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

12 after the date of the enactment of this section, the 

13 Liaison shall select 5 regional partner institutions to 

14 partner with to carry out the requirements of the 

15 Program. 

16 (2) CRITERIA FOR REGIONAL PARTNER INSTI17 TUTIONS.—In making a selection under paragraph 

18 (1), the Liaison shall select an institution of higher 

19 education that— 

20 (A) has a focus or expertise in at least one 

21 of the areas of study described in subsection 

22 (b)(2); 

23 (B) has the ability to plan, conduct, and 

24 arrange for public research, data, education, 

25 and recommendations related to food waste reVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:29 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3652.IH H3652

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1 duction and the areas of study described in sub2 section (b)(2); 

3 (C) can assist the Liaison in fulfilling the 

4 duties listed in subsection (b)(1); 

5 (D) can contribute the required non-Fed6 eral funding to maintain a regional partner in7 stitution center; and 

8 (E) satisfies any other criteria determined 

9 by the Liaison. 

10 (3) ELIGIBLE SUB-AWARDEES.—A State, Trib11 al, or local government, local educational agency, ag12 ricultural or commodity organization, farmer, or 

13 other organization focused on food waste prevention 

14 may serve as an eligible sub-awardee of a regional 

15 partner institution if the entity meets the require16 ments of subparagraphs (A) through (C) of para17 graph (2). 

18 (4) EMPLOYMENT STATUS.—Members of re19 gional partner institutions shall not be considered 

20 Federal employees for any purpose. 

21 (d) COLLABORATION WITH FEDERAL, REGIONAL, 

22 STATE, TRIBAL, AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND ORGA23 NIZATIONS.—The Liaison, in conjunction with the 5 re24 gional partner institutions selected under subsection (c) 

25 shall collaborate and share best practices on regional, 


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1 State, Tribal, and locally specific food waste and food 

2 waste reduction issues with— 

3 (1) State and county governments; 

4 (2) Tribal governments; 

5 (3) units of local government; 

6 (4) local educational entities; 

7 (5) colleges and universities; 

8 (6) agricultural and commodity organizations; 

9 (7) farmers; and 

10 (8) organizations focused on food waste preven11 tion. 

12 (e) INFORMATION COLLECTION AND DISSEMINA13 TION.— 

14 (1) REPORT OF REGIONAL PARTNER INSTITU15 TIONS.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the 

16 enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, 

17 the regional partnership institutions shall submit to 

18 the Liaison a report containing the activities, part19 nerships, collaborations, Federal policy recommenda20 tions, previous and continuing budgets, findings, and 

21 any other applicable information carried out under 

22 the Program. 

23 (2) LIAISON REPORT.—Not later than 15 

24 months after the date of the enactment of this sec25 tion, and annually thereafter, the Liaison shall subVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:29 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3652.IH H3652

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1 mit to the Committee on Agriculture of the House 

2 of Representatives and the Committee on Agri3 culture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and 

4 publish on the Program website an annual report 

5 containing a compilation of the activities, partner6 ships, collaborations, Federal policy recommenda7 tions, previous and continuing budgets, findings, and 

8 any other applicable information relating to the Pro9 gram. 

10 (3) REVIEW OF REPORT.—The Liaison shall re11 view the annual report from the regional partner in12 stitutions to ensure that funds are being used effi13 ciently according to the duties of the Program and 

14 that the Program is producing utilizable public re15 search, data, education, and recommendations re16 lated to food waste and food waste reduction issues. 

17 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

18 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

19 $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2022. 

20 SEC. 3. GRANTS TO RESEARCH CENTERS OR NON-PROFIT 

21 ORGANIZATIONS. 

22 (a) GRANT AUTHORITY.—Not later than 180 days 

23 after the date of the enactment of this section, the Food 

24 Loss and Waste Reduction Liaison of the Department of 

25 Agriculture (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Liaison’’) 


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1 shall establish a grant program under which the Liaison 

2 shall make grants to eligible entities, on a competitive 

3 basis, to establish contracts or cooperative agreements de4 scribed in subsection (c) of section 224 of the Department 

5 of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 

6 6924(c)) with such eligible entities to carry out the duties 

7 described in subsection (b) of such section. 

8 (b) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

9 under this section, an eligible entity shall submit to the 

10 Liaison an application at such time and in such manner 

11 as the Liaison may require. 

12 (c) CRITERIA.—In making grants under this section, 

13 the Liaison shall consider, with respect to each applicant, 

14 the following: 

15 (1) The alignment of food loss and recovery 

16 programs and resources developed by such applicant 

17 with the Environmental Protection Agency Food Re18 covery Hierarchy. 

19 (2) The ability of the facilities and resources of 

20 such applicant to develop and deliver food loss re21 duction and recovery programs. 

22 (3) The experience of such applicant in devel23 oping high-impact food loss reduction and recovery 

24 programs and resources at the State, Tribal, re25 gional, or national scale. 


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1 (4) Previous collaboration of such applicant 

2 with other food loss reduction and recovery focused 

3 organizations in the private, nonprofit, and govern4 ment sectors. 

5 (5) Any other information that the Liaison 

6 shall require. 

7 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that receives 

8 a grant under this section shall use such grant to carry 

9 out the activities described in subsection (c) of section 224 

10 of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 

11 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6924(c)) to accomplish the duties de12 scribed in subsection (b) of such section. 

13 (e) DURATION.—Each grant under this section shall 

14 be for a period of 3 years. 

15 (f) GRANT RENEWAL.—The Liaison may renew a 

16 grant under this section for an additional period of 3 

17 years. 

18 (g) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of a grant 

19 under this section shall not exceed 70 percent of the costs 

20 of the activities carried out under this section. 

21 (h) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 

22 after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 

23 thereafter, the Liaison shall submit to Congress a report 

24 describing the activities conducted under this section and 


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1 the effects of such activities on food loss and waste reduc2 tion nationally. 

3 (i) ELIGIBLE ENTITY DEFINED.—The term ‘‘eligible 

4 entity’’ means a research center or nonprofit organization 

5 described in section 224(c) of the Department of Agri6 culture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6924(c)). 

7 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

8 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

9 $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2022. 

Æ 


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