COVID-19 Child Nutrition Response Act

To provide for certain waivers of program requirements under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to appropriately address safety measures with respect to COVID–19, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the COVID–19 Child Nutrition Response Act 2. National school lunch program requirement waivers addressing COVID–19 (a) Nationwide waiver (1) In general Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary may establish a waiver for all States under section 12(l) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1760(l) (A) providing meals and meal supplements under a qualified program; and (B) carrying out subparagraph (A) with appropriate safety measures with respect to COVID–19, as determined by the Secretary. (2) State election A waiver established under paragraph (1) shall— (A) notwithstanding paragraph (2) of section 12(l) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1760(l) (B) not be subject to the requirements under paragraph (3) of such section. (b) Child and adult care food program waiver Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary may grant a waiver under section 12(l) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1760(l) 42 U.S.C. 1766 (1) providing meals and meal supplements under such child and adult care food program; and (2) carrying out paragraph (1) with appropriate safety measures with respect to COVID–19, as determined by the Secretary. (c) Meal pattern waiver Notwithstanding paragraph (4)(A) of section 12(l) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1760(l) (1) such waiver is necessary to provide meals and meal supplements under a qualified program; and (2) there is a supply chain disruption with respect to foods served under such a qualified program and such disruption is due to COVID–19. (d) Reports Each State that receives a waiver under subsection (a), (b), or (c), shall, not later than 1 year after the date such State received such waiver, submit a report to the Secretary that includes the following: (1) A summary of the use of such waiver by the State and eligible service providers. (2) A description of whether such waiver resulted in improved services to children. (e) Sunset The authority of the Secretary to establish or grant a waiver under this section shall expire on July 31, 2020. (f) Definitions In this section: (1) Qualified program The term qualified program (A) The school lunch program under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1751 (B) The school breakfast program under section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 ( 42 U.S.C. 1773 (C) The child and adult care food program under section 17 of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1766 (D) The summer food service program for children under section 13 of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1761 (2) Secretary The term Secretary

Summary: COVID-19 Child Nutrition Response Act This bill modifies food and nutrition programs of the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to allow certain waivers of program requirements with respect to COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019). Specifically, through July 31, 2020, USDA may establish a single waiver of child nutrition program requirements for all states under the National School Lunch Program for purposes of providing meals and snacks with appropriate safety measures due to COVID-19 (States may elect to be subject to a waiver without USDA's approval.), issue a waiver of requirements to allow non-congregate feeding in the Child and Adult Care Food Program, and grant a waiver of requirements related to the nutritional content of meals served in child nutrition programs if it determines the waiver is necessary to provide meals and snacks and there is a food supply chain disruption due to COVID-19.