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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 1046
January Session, 2023
LCO No. 4289
Referred to Committee on COMMITTEE ON CHILDREN
Introduced by:
(KID)
AN ACT CONCERNING THE REDUCTION OF FOOD WASTE IN
SCHOOLS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 22a-226e of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2023): 2
(a) (1) On and after January 1, 2014, each commercial food wholesaler 3
or distributor, industrial food manufacturer or processor, supermarket, 4
resort or conference center that is located not more than twenty miles 5
from an authorized source-separated organic material composting 6
facility and that generates an average projected volume of not less than 7
one hundred four tons per year of source-separated organic materials 8
shall: (A) Separate such source-separated organic materials from other 9
solid waste; and (B) ensure that such source-separated organic materials 10
are recycled at any authorized source-separated organic material 11
composting facility that has available capacity and that will accept such 12
source-separated organic material. 13
(2) On and after January 1, 2020, each commercial food wholesaler or 14
distributor, industrial food manufacturer or processor, supermarket, 15 Raised Bill No. 1046
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resort or conference center that is located not more than twenty miles 16
from an authorized source-separated organic material composting 17
facility and that generates an average projected volume of not less than 18
fifty-two tons per year of source-separated organic materials shall: (A) 19
Separate such source-separated organic materials from other solid 20
waste; and (B) ensure that such source-separated organic materials are 21
recycled at any authorized source-separated organic material 22
composting facility that has available capacity and that will accept such 23
source-separated organic material. 24
(3) On and after January 1, 2022, each commercial food wholesaler or 25
distributor, industrial food manufacturer or processor, supermarket, 26
resort or conference center, and, on and after January 1, 2024, any local 27
or regional board of education for a school district that is located not 28
more than twenty miles from an authorized source-separated organic 29
material composting facility and that generates an average projected 30
volume of not less than twenty-six tons per year of source-separated 31
organic materials shall: (A) Separate such source-separated organic 32
materials from other solid waste; and (B) ensure that such source-33
separated organic materials are recycled at any authorized source-34
separated organic material composting facility that has available 35
capacity and that will accept such source-separated organic material. 36
(b) Any such wholesaler, distributor, manufacturer, processor, 37
supermarket, resort, [or] conference center or local or regional board of 38
education that performs composting of source-separated organic 39
materials on site or treats source-separated organic materials via on-site 40
organic treatment equipment permitted pursuant to the general statutes 41
or federal law shall be deemed in compliance with the provisions of this 42
section. 43
(c) Any permitted source-separated organic material composting 44
facility that receives such source-separated organic materials shall 45
report to the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection, as 46
part of such facility's reporting obligations, a summary of fees charged 47
for receipt of such source-separated organic materials. 48 Raised Bill No. 1046
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(d) (1) Not later than January 1, 2022, the Commissioner of Energy 49
and Environmental Protection shall establish a voluntary pilot program 50
for any municipality that seeks to separate source-separated organic 51
materials and ensure that such source-separated organic materials are 52
recycled at authorized source-separated organic material composting 53
facilities that have available capacity and that will accept such source-54
separated organic material. 55
(2) Not later than January 1, 2024, the Commissioner of Energy and 56
Environmental Protection shall establish a voluntary pilot program for 57
any local or regional board of education that seeks to separate source-58
separated organic materials and ensure that such source-separated 59
organic materials are recycled at authorized source-separated organic 60
material composting facilities that have available capacity and that will 61
accept such source-separated organic material. 62
Sec. 2. Subsection (a) of section 10-158a of the general statutes is 63
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 64
2023): 65
(a) Any two or more boards of education may, in writing, agree to 66
establish cooperative arrangements to provide school accommodations 67
services, programs or activities, special education services, health care 68
services, alternative education, as defined in section 10-74j, [or] 69
administrative and central office duties, or for the composting of source-70
separated organic materials pursuant to section 22a-226e, as amended 71
by this act, to enable such boards to carry out the duties specified in the 72
general statutes. Such arrangements may include the establishment of a 73
committee to supervise such programs, the membership of the 74
committee to be determined by the agreement of the cooperating 75
boards. Such committee shall have the power, in accordance with the 76
terms of the agreement, to (1) apply for, receive directly and expend on 77
behalf of the school districts which have designated the committee an 78
agent for such purpose any state or federal grants which may be 79
allocated to school districts for specified programs, the supervision of 80
which has been delegated to such committee, provided such grants are 81 Raised Bill No. 1046
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payable before implementation of any such program or are to reimburse 82
the committee pursuant to subsection (d) of this section for 83
transportation provided to a school operated by a cooperative 84
arrangement; (2) receive and disburse funds appropriated to the use of 85
such committee by the cooperating school districts, the state or the 86
United States, or given to the committee by individuals or private 87
corporations; (3) hold title to real or personal property in trust, or as 88
otherwise agreed to by the parties, for the appointing boards; (4) employ 89
personnel; (5) enter into contracts; and (6) otherwise provide the 90
specified programs, services and activities. Teachers employed by any 91
such committee shall be subject to the provisions of the general statutes 92
applicable to teachers employed by the board of education of any town 93
or regional school district. For purposes of this section, the term 94
"teacher" shall include each professional employee of a committee below 95
the rank of superintendent who holds a regular certificate issued by the 96
State Board of Education and who is in a position requiring such 97
certification. 98
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2023) (a) For the purposes of this 99
section, "composting station" means a designated location in a school 100
cafeteria where students and employees of the school may deposit 101
unconsumed organic material for composting. 102
(b) Not later than January 1, 2024, the Department of Education shall, 103
in consultation with the Department of Energy and Environmental 104
Protection, develop guidelines concerning the implementation of a 105
composting station program at schools. Such guidelines shall include, 106
but need not be limited to, (1) the types of organic material that may be 107
deposited in a composting station, (2) best practices for food and 108
beverage management and safety with respect to the items deposited at 109
a composting station, and (3) processes for the disposal of any organic 110
material not used for composting. Such guidelines shall be consistent 111
with the rules and regulations of the Department of Public Health, the 112
United States Food and Drug Administration and the United States 113
Department of Agriculture. 114 Raised Bill No. 1046
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(c) For the school year commencing July 1, 2023, and each school year 115
thereafter, any school under the jurisdiction of a local or regional board 116
of education may implement a composting station program at such 117
school in accordance with the guidelines developed pursuant to 118
subsection (b) of this section. 119
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2023 22a-226e
Sec. 2 July 1, 2023 10-158a(a)
Sec. 3 July 1, 2023 New section
Statement of Purpose:
To reduce the amount of food waste in schools by including school
districts among the entities responsible for the composting of source-
separated organic material and permitting schools to establish
composting stations in cafeterias.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]