§ 7507 — State And Local Supplementation Of Commodities

(a) The Secretary shall establish procedures under which State and local agencies, charitable institutions, or any other persons may supplement the commodities distributed under the program authorized by this chapter for use by emergency feeding organizations with nutritious and wholesome commodities that such entities or persons donate to State agencies and emergency feeding organizations for distribution, in all or part of the State, in addition to the commodities otherwise made available under this chapter. (b) States and emergency feeding organizations may use the funds appropriated under this chapter and equipment, structures, vehicles, and all other facilities involved in the storage, handling, or distribution of commodities made available under this chapter, and the personnel, both paid or volunteer, involved in such storage, handling, or distribution, to store, handle or distribute commodities donated for the use of emergency feeding organizations under subsection (a). (c) State and emergency feeding organizations shall continue, to the maximum extent practicable, to use volunteer workers and commodities and other foodstuffs donated by charitable and other organizations in the operation of the program authorized by this section. (1) In this subsection, the term “project” means the harvesting, processing, packaging, or transportation of unharvested, unprocessed, or unpackaged commodities donated by agricultural producers, processors, or distributors for use by emergency feeding organizations under subsection (a). (A) Subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C) and paragraph (3), using funds made available under paragraph (5), the Secretary may provide funding to States to pay for the costs of carrying out a project. (B) The Federal share of the cost of a project under subparagraph (A) shall not exceed 50 percent of the total cost of the project. (i) Each fiscal year, the Secretary shall allocate the funds made available under subparagraph (A), based on a formula determined by the Secretary, to States that have submitted a State plan describing a plan of operation for a project under section 7503(b)(5) of this title. (ii) If the Secretary determines that a State will not expend all of the funds allocated to the State for a fiscal year under clause (i), the Secretary shall reallocate the unexpended funds to other States that have submitted under section 7503(b)(5) of this title a State plan describing a plan of operation for a project during that fiscal year or the subsequent fiscal year, as the Secretary determines appropriate. (iii) Each State to which funds are allocated for a fiscal year under this subparagraph shall, on a regular basis, submit to the Secretary financial reports describing the use of the funds. (3) A State may only use Federal funds received under paragraph (2) for a project the purposes of which are— (A) to reduce food waste at the agricultural production, processing, or distribution level through the donation of food; (B) to provide food to individuals in need; and (C) to build relationships between agricultural producers, processors, and distributors and emergency feeding organizations through the donation of food. (4) The Secretary may encourage a State agency that carries out a project using Federal funds received under paragraph (2) to enter into cooperative agreements with State agencies of other States under section 7505(d) of this title to maximize the use of commodities donated under the project. (5) Out of funds not otherwise appropriated, the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer to the Secretary to carry out this subsection $4,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2031, to remain available until the end of the subsequent fiscal year. (e) The Secretary shall issue guidance outlining best practices to minimize the food waste of the commodities donated under subsection (a). (1) In this subsection: (A) The term “apparently wholesome food” has the meaning given the term in section 1791(b) of title 42. (B) The term “institution of higher education” has the meaning given the term in section 1002 of title 20. (C) The term “qualified direct donor” means a retail food store, wholesaler, agricultural producer, restaurant, caterer, school food authority, or institution of higher education. (A) Not later than 180 days after December 20, 2018, the Secretary shall issue guidance to promote awareness of donations of apparently wholesome food protected under section 1791(c) of title 42 by qualified direct donors in compliance with applicable State and local health, food safety, and food handling laws (including regulations). (B) The Secretary shall encourage State agencies and emergency feeding organizations to share the guidance issued under subparagraph (A) with qualified direct donors.