Safe School Meals for Kids Act

Bill: 116-s-1187
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY]
Introduced: 2019-04-11
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Subjects: Child health

Elementary and secondary education

Food assistance and relief

Food supply, safety, and labeling

Fruit and vegetables

Government studies and investigations

Hazardous wastes and toxic substances

Pest management
Latest action: action_date: 2019-04-11
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

Summaries:
action_date: 2019-04-11
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><b>Safe School Meals for Kids Act</b></p> <p>This bill directs the Department of Agriculture to ban from the school meal programs all food that has been treated with chlorpyrifos or has a chlorpyrifos residue greater than 0.001 micrograms per kilogram of food. (Chlorpyrifos is a pesticide that some studies have linked to developmental disabilities in children.)</p>

tv_txt: II 116th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1187 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES April 11, 2019 Mrs. Gillibrand introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry A BILL To prevent childhood exposure to chlorpyrifos through certain school meal programs.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Safe School Meals for Kids Act . 2. Preventing childhood dietary exposure to chlorpyrifos (a) In general Beginning with the 2018–2019 school year, the Secretary of Agriculture (referred to in this section as the Secretary ) shall phase out all food that has been treated with, or has levels in excess of the threshold established by the Secretary under subsection (b)(1) of, chlorpyrifos residue in food— (1) in school meals provided under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.); (2) in school meals provided under the school breakfast program established by section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 ( 42 U.S.C. 1773 ); and (3) provided by the Department of Defense Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program. (b) Requirements In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary shall— (1) establish a threshold for chlorpyrifos for the food described in subsection (a) of not more than .001 micrograms of chlorpyrifos per kilogram of food, as the Secretary determines to be necessary; (2) provide guidance, in consultation with State and local educational agencies, to eliminate chlor­pyr­i­fos from meals provided by schools, which may include guidance or criteria related to food procurement or supply contract policies; (3) periodically update the guidance described in paragraph (2); and (4) provide technical assistance to State and local educational agencies to enforce the requirements of this section. (c) Review by the Secretary Not later than January 1, 2020, and every 2 years thereafter until January 1, 2028, the Secretary shall conduct a review to evaluate whether, based on reports provided by State and local educational agencies, any of the food described in subsection (a) exceeds the threshold for chlorpyrifos established by the Secretary under subsection (b)(1).