I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8486 
To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to provide 
for technical assistance relating to nutrition standards for school meal 
programs, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 22, 2022 
Mr. MRVAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 
Act to provide for technical assistance relating to nutri-
tion standards for school meal programs, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Nutrition Tech-
nical Assistance Act of 2022’’. 
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SEC. 2. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR SCHOOL FOOD SERV-
ICE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Richard B. Russell National 
School Lunch Act is amended by inserting after section 
21 (42 U.S.C. 1769b–1) the following: 
‘‘SEC. 21A. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR SCHOOL FOOD 
SERVICE. 
‘‘(a) 
THIRD
PARTY
TECHNICAL
ASSISTANCE 
GRANTS.— 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall 
award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible enti-
ties to provide technical assistance to food service 
personnel to assist such personnel in meeting the 
nutrition standards for the school lunch program 
under this Act and the school breakfast program es-
tablished by section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 
1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773). 
‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY DEFINED.—In this sub-
section, the term ‘eligible entity’ means an entity 
that— 
‘‘(A) is— 
‘‘(i) a nonprofit organization; 
‘‘(ii) a land-grant college and univer-
sity or cooperative extension service (as 
such terms are defined in section 1404 of 
the National Agricultural Research, Exten-
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sion, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 
U.S.C. 3103)); 
‘‘(iii) a technical or vocational school; 
or 
‘‘(iv) an institution of higher edu-
cation (as such term is defined in section 
101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a))); 
‘‘(B) has demonstrated success in pro-
viding, or has capacity for, teaching through 
online learning, including by— 
‘‘(i) providing online courses; 
‘‘(ii) using online forums for partici-
pant interaction; 
‘‘(iii) using online teaching tools; and 
‘‘(iv) providing online educational con-
tent; and 
‘‘(C) has experience working with food 
service personnel that are participating in the 
school lunch program under this Act and the 
school breakfast program established by section 
4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 
1773). 
‘‘(3) REGIONAL
REQUIREMENT.—In awarding 
grants to eligible entities under subsection (a), the 
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Secretary shall select at least 1 eligible entity located 
in a State in each of the following regions: 
‘‘(A) The Mid-Atlantic Region. 
‘‘(B) The Midwest Region. 
‘‘(C) The Mountain Plains Region. 
‘‘(D) The Northeast Region. 
‘‘(E) The Southern Region. 
‘‘(F) The Southwest Region. 
‘‘(G) The Western Region. 
‘‘(4) GRANT USES.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that 
receives a grant under this subsection shall use 
such grant funds to provide technical assistance 
to food service personnel in accordance with 
subparagraph (B). 
‘‘(B) 
TECHNICAL
ASSISTANCE
PRO-
VIDED.—Technical assistance provided by such 
eligible entity shall— 
‘‘(i) assist food service personnel with 
meeting the quantitative recommendations 
from the most recent Dietary Guidelines 
for Americans published under section 301 
of the National Nutrition Monitoring and 
Related Research Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 
5341); 
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‘‘(ii) emphasize meeting the nutrition 
requirements relating to— 
‘‘(I) sodium; 
‘‘(II) whole grains; and 
‘‘(III) added sugars; and 
‘‘(iii) provide— 
‘‘(I) standardized recipes and 
menus and assistance with menu plan-
ning; 
‘‘(II) information on procurement 
of products that meet the nutrition 
standards, including assistance with 
vendors, food companies, and bid 
preparation; 
‘‘(III) culinary training, food 
presentation, and the promotion and 
marketing of menu items that support 
selection and consumption of such 
menu items; and 
‘‘(IV) best practices, trainings 
(including peer-to-peer trainings), and 
other resources. 
‘‘(b) EVALUATION GRANTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 
grants to eligible entities to evaluate the effective-
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ness of the technical assistance grants awarded 
under subsection (a). 
‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY DEFINED.—In this sub-
section, the term ‘eligible entity’ means an entity 
that— 
‘‘(A) is— 
‘‘(i) a land-grant college and univer-
sity or cooperative extension service (as 
such terms are defined in section 1404 of 
the National Agricultural Research, Exten-
sion, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 
U.S.C. 3103)); or 
‘‘(ii) an institution of higher education 
(as such term is defined in section 101(a) 
of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 1001(a))); and 
‘‘(B) has not received funds under sub-
section (a). 
‘‘(3) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity seeking 
a grant under this subsection shall submit to the 
Secretary an application in such form, at such time, 
and containing such information as the Secretary 
determines appropriate. 
‘‘(4) EVALUATIONS.—Not later than 6 months 
after the date on which an eligible entity receives a 
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grant under this subsection, such eligible entity shall 
submit to the Secretary the evaluation described in 
paragraph (1). 
‘‘(5) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec-
retary to carry out this subsection $35,000,000 for 
each of fiscal years 2023 through 2027. 
‘‘(c) DEPARTMENT
OF AGRICULTURE TECHNICAL 
ASSISTANCE.— 
‘‘(1) DEPARTMENT
OF
AGRICULTURE
TECH-
NICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall— 
‘‘(A) provide technical assistance required 
under section 9(a)(1)(B) and section 21(b) to 
schools administering the school lunch program 
under this Act and the school breakfast pro-
gram established by section 4 of the Child Nu-
trition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773), including 
by— 
‘‘(i) developing and distributing train-
ing and technical assistance material; and 
‘‘(ii) working with the school food in-
dustry in meeting the nutrition standards; 
‘‘(B) provide technical assistance that con-
forms with the quantitative recommendations in 
the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Ameri-
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cans published under section 301 of the Na-
tional Nutrition Monitoring and Related Re-
search Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5341) and that— 
‘‘(i) provides— 
‘‘(I) standardized recipes, menu 
cycles, information regarding nutrient 
standard menu planning, assisted nu-
trient standard menu planning, and 
food-based menu planning; 
‘‘(II) information on strong pro-
curement practices that allow schools 
to bid or write specifications on prod-
ucts that meet the standards; 
‘‘(III) culinary training, food 
presentation, and the promotion and 
marketing of menu items that support 
selection and consumption of such 
menu items; and 
‘‘(IV) best practices, trainings 
(including peer-to-peer trainings), and 
other resources; and 
‘‘(ii) supports the implementation of 
recognition programs that include or are 
similar to the HealthierUS School Chal-
lenge; and 
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‘‘(C) provide grants to State agencies to 
provide technical assistance described in this 
paragraph. 
‘‘(2) SCHOOLS
WITH
CHALLENGES.—In pro-
viding technical assistance under subparagraphs (A) 
and (B) of paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(A) give priority to schools that have— 
‘‘(i) requested technical assistance 
from the Department of Agriculture relat-
ing to sodium, whole grains, or added sug-
ars; 
‘‘(ii) participated in a technical assist-
ance program administered by the Sec-
retary relating to nutrition requirements; 
or 
‘‘(iii) submitted a waiver relating to 
the whole grain-rich requirement; and 
‘‘(B) give priority to schools with a certain 
percentage (as determined by the Secretary) of 
students receiving free or reduced price meals. 
‘‘(3) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
this subsection $35,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
2023 through 2027. 
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‘‘(d) REPORT.—Not later than 5 years after the date 
of the enactment of this section, and every 5 years there-
after, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report 
that— 
‘‘(1) describes the technical assistance provided 
under the programs established under subsections 
(a) and (c); and 
‘‘(2) evaluates, including by using data from an 
evaluation conducted using a grant provided under 
subsection (b), the extent to which schools that re-
ceived technical assistance have met the nutrition re-
quirements established by the Secretary pursuant to 
this Act.’’. 
(b) PERFORMANCE-BASED
REIMBURSEMENT
IN-
CREASE.—Section 4(b)(3) of the Richard B. Russell Na-
tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1753(b)(3)) is amend-
ed— 
(1) in subparagraph (C)(i), by striking ‘‘6 
cents’’ and inserting ‘‘10 cents’’; and 
(2) in subparagraph (D)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘To be eligible’’ and insert-
ing the following: 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—To be eligible’’; 
and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(ii) REPORT.—The Secretary shall 
make publicly available on the website of 
the Department and update on a quarterly 
basis a list of school food authorities cer-
tified to be in compliance in accordance 
with clause (i).’’. 
Æ 
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