Title: Farm to Food Bank Enhancement Act of 2020
Policy area: Agriculture and Food

Summary:
Farm to Food Bank Enhancement Act of 2020
This bill authorizes the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide enhanced funding to states to pay for projects to harvest, process, package, or transport donated commodities.
USDA must issue guidance to states to encourage them to carry out projects that work with agricultural producers, processors, and distributors who grow or market products that have seen decreased demand due to the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) outbreak and cannot easily be repackaged for grocery or retail sale.
To be eligible for funding, a state must submit a plan of operation for a project that includes (1) a list of emergency feeding organizations in the state that are willing to partner with the state; (2) a list of priority agricultural products located in the state that are for donation to emergency feeding organizations and ready for transport; (3) a description of how the project will serve certain purposes, including to provide food to individuals in need; and (4) a timeline for the project.
USDA may reallocate unexpended funds to other eligible states if it determines that a state will not use all of its allocated funds.
The bill allows states to enter into cooperative agreements with other states to maximize the use of donated commodities.
USDA must make specified documents publicly available on its website, including any guidance issued to states in accordance with the bill.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6757 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6757

    To provide additional agricultural products for distribution by 
   emergency feeding organizations during the COVID-19 public health 
                               emergency.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 8, 2020

 Ms. Fudge (for herself, Mr. Costa, Ms. Plaskett, Mrs. Axne, Ms. Bass, 
 Mr. Bera, Mr. Blumenauer, Mrs. Bustos, Mr. Butterfield, Mr. Carbajal, 
 Mr. Carson of Indiana, Mr. Case, Mr. Clay, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Correa, Mr. 
  Cox of California, Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Mr. DeFazio, Ms. 
   DeLauro, Mr. Harder of California, Mr. Hastings, Mrs. Hayes, Mr. 
    Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Keating, Mr. Kennedy, Mrs. 
  Kirkpatrick, Mr. Lawson of Florida, Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney of New 
 York, Mr. McEachin, Mr. McNerney, Mr. Meeks, Ms. Moore, Mr. Norcross, 
  Ms. Norton, Mr. O'Halleran, Ms. Omar, Mr. Panetta, Ms. Pingree, Ms. 
 Pressley, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. Rush, Mr. Ryan, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. 
    David Scott of Georgia, Ms. Sewell of Alabama, Mr. Ted Lieu of 
   California, Mr. Soto, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Ms. Titus, Ms. 
Tlaib, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mrs. Torres of California, Ms. Johnson of 
   Texas, and Mr. Cardenas) introduced the following bill; which was 
   referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the 
Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by 
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To provide additional agricultural products for distribution by 
   emergency feeding organizations during the COVID-19 public health 
                               emergency.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Farm to Food Bank Enhancement Act of 
2020''.

SEC. 2. ENHANCED PROJECTS TO HARVEST, PROCESS, PACKAGE, OR TRANSPORT 
              DONATED COMMODITIES.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) COVID-19.--The term ``COVID-19'' means the 2019 Novel 
        Coronavirus or 2019-nCoV.
            (2) Emergency feeding organization.--The term ``emergency 
        feeding organization'' has the meaning given the term in 
        section 201A of the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 (7 
        U.S.C. 7501).
            (3) Project.--The term ``project'' has the meaning given 
        the term in section 203D(d)(1) of the Emergency Food Assistance 
        Act of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 7507(d)(1)).
            (4) Priority agricultural product.--The term ``priority 
        agricultural product'' means a dairy, meat, or poultry product, 
        or a specialty crop--
                    (A) packaged or marketed for sale to commercial or 
                food service industries;
                    (B) for which decreased demand exists for such a 
                product due to the COVID-19 outbreak; and
                    (C) the repurposing of which would be impractical 
                for grocery or retail sale.
            (5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Agriculture.
            (6) State.--The term ``State'' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 203D of the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 
        1983 (7 U.S.C. 7507).
            (7) State agency.--The term ``State agency'' has the 
        meaning given the term in section 203D of the Emergency Food 
        Assistance Act of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 7507).
    (b) Enhanced Projects.--
            (1) In general.--Subject to paragraphs (3) and (4), using 
        funds made available under subsection (d), the Secretary may 
        provide funds to States to pay for harvesting, processing, 
        packaging, or transportation costs of carrying out a project.
            (2) Guidance.--Not later than 30 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue guidance to 
        States--
                    (A) to carry out this section;
                    (B) to inform States of their allocations under 
                paragraph (3); and
                    (C) to encourage States to carry out projects that 
                work with agricultural producers, processors, and 
                distributors with priority agricultural products.
            (3) Allocation.--
                    (A) Eligibility for allocation.--The Secretary 
                shall allocate funds made available under subsection 
                (d) based on the formula in effect under section 214(a) 
                of the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 
                7515(a)), among States that timely submit a State plan 
                of operation for a project that includes--
                            (i) a list of emergency feeding 
                        organizations in the State that will operate 
                        the project in partnership with the State 
                        agency;
                            (ii) at the option of the State, a list of 
                        priority agricultural products located in the 
                        State that are for donation to emergency 
                        feeding organizations and ready for transport;
                            (iii) a description of how the project will 
                        meet the purposes described in section 
                        203D(d)(3) of the Emergency Food Assistance Act 
                        of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 7507(d)(3)); and
                            (iv) a timeline of when the project will 
                        begin operating.
                    (B) Reallocation.--If the Secretary determines that 
                a State will not expend all the funds allocated to the 
                State under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall 
                reallocate the unexpended funds to other eligible 
                States.
                    (C) Report.--Each State that receives funds 
                allocated under this paragraph shall submit to the 
                Secretary financial reports on a regular basis 
                describing the use of the funds.
            (4) Use of funds.--
                    (A) In general.--A State that receives funds under 
                section 203D(d)(5) of the Emergency Food Assistance Act 
                of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 7507(d)(5)) may--
                            (i) receive funds under this section; and
                            (ii) use funds received under this 
                        section--
                                    (I) to expand projects for which 
                                funds are received under such section 
                                203D(d)(5); and
                                    (II) to carry out new projects with 
                                agricultural producers, processors, or 
                                distributors participating in projects 
                                for which funds are received under such 
                                section 203D(d)(5).
                    (B) Federal share.--Funds received under this 
                section shall not be subject to the Federal share 
                limitation described in section 203D(d)(2)(B) of the 
                Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 
                7507(d)(2)(B)).
    (c) Cooperative Agreements.--
            (1) In general.--A State agency that carries out a project 
        using Federal funds received under this section may enter into 
        cooperative agreements with State agencies of other States 
        under section 203B(d) of the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 
        1983 (7 U.S.C. 7507(d)) to maximize the use of commodities 
        donated under the project.
            (2) Submission.--Not later than 15 days after entering into 
        a cooperative agreement under subparagraph (A), a State agency 
        shall submit such agreement to the Secretary.
    (d) Appropriation of Funds.--Out of funds in the Treasury not 
otherwise appropriated, there is appropriated to carry out this section 
$25,000,000 to remain available until September 30, 2021. Such funds 
are designated by Congress as being for an emergency requirement 
pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Balanced Budget and 
Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 901(b)(2)(A)(i)).
    (e) Public Availability.--Not later than 10 days after the date of 
the receipt or issuance of each document listed in paragraphs (1), (2), 
or (3) of this subsection, the Secretary shall make publicly available 
on the website of the Department of Agriculture the following 
documents:
            (1) Any guidance issued under subsection (b)(2).
            (2) A State plan or operation or report submitted in 
        accordance with subsection (b)(3).
            (3) A cooperative agreement submitted in accordance with 
        subsection (c).
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