| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 2496 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to establish a dairy nutrition |
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| 6 | 6 | | incentive program, and for other purposes. |
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| 7 | 7 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 8 | 8 | | MARCH31, 2025 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Mr. C |
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| 10 | 10 | | OSTA(for himself, Mr. LANGWORTHY, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. NEWHOUSE, |
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| 11 | 11 | | Mr. P |
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| 12 | 12 | | ANETTA, Mr. ROUZER, Mr. VANORDEN, Mr. MILLERof Ohio, Mr. |
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| 13 | 13 | | R |
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| 14 | 14 | | OGERSof Alabama, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr. RILEYof New |
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| 15 | 15 | | York, and Mr. E |
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| 16 | 16 | | VANSof Colorado) introduced the following bill; which |
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| 17 | 17 | | was referred to the Committee on Agriculture |
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| 18 | 18 | | A BILL |
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| 19 | 19 | | To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to establish |
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| 20 | 20 | | a dairy nutrition incentive program, and for other purposes. |
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| 21 | 21 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 22 | 22 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 23 | 23 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 24 | 24 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Dairy Nutrition Incen-4 |
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| 25 | 25 | | tive Program Act of 2025’’. 5 |
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| 26 | 26 | | SEC. 2. DAIRY NUTRITION INCENTIVE PROGRAM. 6 |
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| 27 | 27 | | (a) I |
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| 28 | 28 | | NGENERAL.—The Food and Nutrition Act of 7 |
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| 29 | 29 | | 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) is amended by adding at 8 |
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| 30 | 30 | | the end the following: 9 |
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| 33 | 33 | | •HR 2496 IH |
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| 34 | 34 | | ‘‘SEC. 31. DAIRY NUTRITION INCENTIVE PROGRAM. 1 |
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| 35 | 35 | | ‘‘(a) D |
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| 36 | 36 | | EFINITIONS.—In this section: 2 |
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| 37 | 37 | | ‘‘(1) D |
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| 38 | 38 | | AIRY PRODUCT.—The term ‘dairy prod-3 |
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| 39 | 39 | | uct’ means a product for which cow’s milk is listed 4 |
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| 40 | 40 | | as— 5 |
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| 41 | 41 | | ‘‘(A) the first ingredient on the labeled in-6 |
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| 42 | 42 | | gredients list of the product; or 7 |
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| 43 | 43 | | ‘‘(B) the second ingredient on the labeled 8 |
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| 44 | 44 | | ingredients list of the product, if the first listed 9 |
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| 45 | 45 | | ingredient is water. 10 |
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| 46 | 46 | | ‘‘(2) E |
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| 47 | 47 | | LIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en-11 |
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| 48 | 48 | | tity’ means— 12 |
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| 49 | 49 | | ‘‘(A) a State or local governmental entity; 13 |
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| 50 | 50 | | and 14 |
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| 51 | 51 | | ‘‘(B) a nonprofit organization. 15 |
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| 52 | 52 | | ‘‘(3) F |
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| 53 | 53 | | LUID MILK.—The term ‘fluid milk’ 16 |
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| 54 | 54 | | means any variety of pasteurized cow’s milk that— 17 |
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| 55 | 55 | | ‘‘(A) is packaged in liquid form; and 18 |
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| 56 | 56 | | ‘‘(B) contains vitamins A and D at levels 19 |
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| 57 | 57 | | consistent with the Food and Drug Administra-20 |
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| 58 | 58 | | tion standards, and applicable State and local 21 |
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| 59 | 59 | | standards, for fluid milk. 22 |
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| 60 | 60 | | ‘‘(4) N |
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| 61 | 61 | | ATURALLY NUTRIENT -RICH DAIRY.—The 23 |
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| 62 | 62 | | term ‘naturally nutrient-rich dairy’ means— 24 |
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| 63 | 63 | | ‘‘(A) fluid milk; 25 |
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| 66 | 66 | | •HR 2496 IH |
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| 67 | 67 | | ‘‘(B) yogurt and other cultured cow’s milk 1 |
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| 68 | 68 | | dairy products; and 2 |
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| 69 | 69 | | ‘‘(C) cheese (including nonstandardized 3 |
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| 70 | 70 | | cheese) made from cow’s milk. 4 |
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| 71 | 71 | | ‘‘(5) P |
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| 72 | 72 | | ROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ means 5 |
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| 73 | 73 | | the dairy nutrition incentive program established 6 |
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| 74 | 74 | | under subsection (b). 7 |
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| 75 | 75 | | ‘‘(b) E |
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| 76 | 76 | | STABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days 8 |
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| 77 | 77 | | after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary 9 |
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| 78 | 78 | | shall establish a dairy nutrition incentive program under 10 |
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| 79 | 79 | | which the Secretary shall develop and test methods to in-11 |
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| 80 | 80 | | crease the purchase and consumption of naturally nutri-12 |
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| 81 | 81 | | ent-rich dairy by members of households that receive bene-13 |
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| 82 | 82 | | fits under the supplemental nutrition assistance program 14 |
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| 83 | 83 | | by providing an incentive for the purchase of naturally nu-15 |
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| 84 | 84 | | trient-rich dairy at the point of purchase to members of 16 |
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| 85 | 85 | | households purchasing food using those benefits. 17 |
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| 86 | 86 | | ‘‘(c) G |
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| 87 | 87 | | RANTS ORCOOPERATIVEAGREEMENTS.— 18 |
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| 88 | 88 | | ‘‘(1) I |
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| 89 | 89 | | N GENERAL.—To carry out the program, 19 |
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| 90 | 90 | | the Secretary shall enter into cooperative agreements 20 |
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| 91 | 91 | | with, or provide grants to, eligible entities, on a com-21 |
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| 92 | 92 | | petitive basis, for projects that meet the purpose of 22 |
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| 93 | 93 | | the program described in subsection (b). 23 |
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| 94 | 94 | | ‘‘(2) A |
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| 95 | 95 | | PPLICATION.—An eligible entity seeking 24 |
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| 96 | 96 | | to enter into a cooperative agreement or receive a 25 |
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| 99 | 99 | | •HR 2496 IH |
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| 100 | 100 | | grant under the program shall submit to the Sec-1 |
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| 101 | 101 | | retary an application at such time, in such manner, 2 |
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| 102 | 102 | | and containing such information as the Secretary 3 |
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| 103 | 103 | | may require. 4 |
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| 104 | 104 | | ‘‘(3) S |
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| 105 | 105 | | ELECTION CRITERIA .—The Secretary 5 |
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| 106 | 106 | | shall develop and make public criteria for evaluating 6 |
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| 107 | 107 | | proposed projects in applications submitted under 7 |
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| 108 | 108 | | paragraph (2), which shall incorporate a scientif-8 |
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| 109 | 109 | | ically based strategy designed to improve diet quality 9 |
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| 110 | 110 | | and nutritional outcomes through the increased pur-10 |
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| 111 | 111 | | chase of naturally nutrient-rich dairy. 11 |
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| 112 | 112 | | ‘‘(4) P |
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| 113 | 113 | | RIORITY.—In entering into cooperative 12 |
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| 114 | 114 | | agreements and awarding grants under the program, 13 |
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| 115 | 115 | | the Secretary shall give priority to projects that— 14 |
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| 116 | 116 | | ‘‘(A) maximize the percentage of funds 15 |
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| 117 | 117 | | used for direct incentives for participants in the 16 |
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| 118 | 118 | | supplemental nutrition assistance program; 17 |
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| 119 | 119 | | ‘‘(B) include a project design— 18 |
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| 120 | 120 | | ‘‘(i) that provides incentives when nat-19 |
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| 121 | 121 | | urally nutrient-rich dairy is purchased 20 |
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| 122 | 122 | | using benefits under the supplemental nu-21 |
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| 123 | 123 | | trition assistance program; and 22 |
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| 124 | 124 | | ‘‘(ii) in which the incentives earned 23 |
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| 125 | 125 | | may be used only to purchase naturally nu-24 |
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| 126 | 126 | | trient-rich dairy; 25 |
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| 130 | 130 | | ‘‘(C) include project sites that serve mem-1 |
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| 131 | 131 | | bers of households that participate in the sup-2 |
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| 132 | 132 | | plemental nutrition assistance program; and 3 |
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| 133 | 133 | | ‘‘(D) incorporate the use of point-of-sale 4 |
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| 134 | 134 | | systems that can electronically issue incentives 5 |
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| 135 | 135 | | earned under the program. 6 |
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| 136 | 136 | | ‘‘(5) A |
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| 137 | 137 | | DDITIONAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE .—An 7 |
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| 138 | 138 | | eligible entity may request funds from the Secretary, 8 |
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| 139 | 139 | | pursuant to section 16, to offset initial costs to en-9 |
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| 140 | 140 | | able electronic benefits transfer technology for elec-10 |
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| 141 | 141 | | tronic point-of-sale systems described in paragraph 11 |
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| 142 | 142 | | (4)(D) for projects sites selected under the program. 12 |
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| 143 | 143 | | ‘‘(d) E |
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| 144 | 144 | | VALUATION.— 13 |
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| 145 | 145 | | ‘‘(1) I |
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| 146 | 146 | | N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 14 |
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| 147 | 147 | | for an independent evaluation of each project carried 15 |
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| 148 | 148 | | out under the program that measures, to the max-16 |
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| 149 | 149 | | imum extent practicable, the effect of incentives on 17 |
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| 150 | 150 | | purchases of naturally nutrient-rich dairy by mem-18 |
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| 151 | 151 | | bers of households that receive benefits under the 19 |
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| 152 | 152 | | supplemental nutrition assistance program. 20 |
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| 153 | 153 | | ‘‘(2) M |
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| 154 | 154 | | ETHODOLOGY REQUIREMENT .—The 21 |
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| 155 | 155 | | independent evaluation under paragraph (1) shall 22 |
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| 156 | 156 | | use rigorous methodologies, such as random assign-23 |
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| 157 | 157 | | ment or other methods that are capable of producing 24 |
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| 160 | 160 | | •HR 2496 IH |
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| 161 | 161 | | scientifically valid information regarding activities 1 |
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| 162 | 162 | | that are effective. 2 |
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| 163 | 163 | | ‘‘(3) D |
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| 164 | 164 | | ISCONTINUANCE.— 3 |
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| 165 | 165 | | ‘‘(A) I |
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| 166 | 166 | | N GENERAL.—Except as provided in 4 |
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| 167 | 167 | | subparagraph (B), subject to availability of 5 |
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| 168 | 168 | | funds, nothing in this section shall limit the 6 |
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| 169 | 169 | | continuation of a project carried out under the 7 |
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| 170 | 170 | | program. 8 |
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| 171 | 171 | | ‘‘(B) N |
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| 172 | 172 | | ONCOMPLIANCE.—The Secretary 9 |
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| 173 | 173 | | may discontinue a project or close a project site 10 |
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| 174 | 174 | | under the program if the project— 11 |
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| 175 | 175 | | ‘‘(i) does not comply with the require-12 |
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| 176 | 176 | | ments under this section; 13 |
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| 177 | 177 | | ‘‘(ii) does not comply with the require-14 |
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| 178 | 178 | | ments of the grant awarded or cooperative 15 |
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| 179 | 179 | | agreement entered into under the program, 16 |
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| 180 | 180 | | as applicable; or 17 |
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| 181 | 181 | | ‘‘(iii) if the Secretary determines that 18 |
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| 182 | 182 | | the results of the independent evaluation of 19 |
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| 183 | 183 | | the project under paragraph (1) are not 20 |
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| 184 | 184 | | satisfactory. 21 |
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| 185 | 185 | | ‘‘(4) P |
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| 186 | 186 | | UBLIC DISSEMINATION .—The Secretary 22 |
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| 187 | 187 | | shall make publicly available the results of each 23 |
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| 188 | 188 | | independent evaluation carried out under paragraph 24 |
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| 189 | 189 | | (1). 25 |
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| 193 | 193 | | ‘‘(e) REPORT.—Not later than December 31 of the 1 |
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| 194 | 194 | | first full calendar year following the date of establishment 2 |
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| 195 | 195 | | of the program, and biennially thereafter, the Secretary 3 |
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| 196 | 196 | | shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 4 |
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| 197 | 197 | | and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on Agri-5 |
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| 198 | 198 | | culture of the House of Representatives a report that in-6 |
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| 199 | 199 | | cludes a description of— 7 |
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| 200 | 200 | | ‘‘(1) the status of each project carried out 8 |
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| 201 | 201 | | under the program; and 9 |
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| 202 | 202 | | ‘‘(2) the results of each completed evaluation 10 |
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| 203 | 203 | | under paragraph (1) during the period covered by 11 |
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| 204 | 204 | | the report. 12 |
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| 205 | 205 | | ‘‘(f) F |
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| 206 | 206 | | UNDING.— 13 |
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| 207 | 207 | | ‘‘(1) M |
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| 208 | 208 | | ANDATORY FUNDING .—There is appro-14 |
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| 209 | 209 | | priated to the Secretary, out of any funds in the 15 |
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| 210 | 210 | | Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $10,000,000 16 |
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| 211 | 211 | | for each fiscal year to carry out this section. 17 |
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| 212 | 212 | | ‘‘(2) A |
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| 213 | 213 | | UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS .— 18 |
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| 214 | 214 | | ‘‘(A) I |
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| 215 | 215 | | N GENERAL.—In addition to the 19 |
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| 216 | 216 | | funds made available under paragraph (1), 20 |
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| 217 | 217 | | there is authorized to be appropriated to the 21 |
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| 218 | 218 | | Secretary to carry out this section $10,000,000 22 |
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| 219 | 219 | | for fiscal year 2026 and each fiscal year there-23 |
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| 220 | 220 | | after. 24 |
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| 224 | 224 | | ‘‘(B) APPROPRIATIONS IN ADVANCE .— 1 |
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| 225 | 225 | | With respect to any funds made available under 2 |
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| 226 | 226 | | subparagraph (A), only funds appropriated in 3 |
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| 227 | 227 | | advance specifically to carry out this section 4 |
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| 228 | 228 | | shall be available to carry out this section. 5 |
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| 229 | 229 | | ‘‘(3) E |
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| 230 | 230 | | VALUATION COSTS.—Of the funds made 6 |
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| 231 | 231 | | available to carry out this section for a fiscal year, 7 |
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| 232 | 232 | | the Secretary shall use not more than 7 percent to 8 |
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| 233 | 233 | | carry out subsection (d). 9 |
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| 234 | 234 | | ‘‘(4) L |
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| 235 | 235 | | IMITATION ON USE.—Funds made avail-10 |
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| 236 | 236 | | able to carry out this section shall not be used for 11 |
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| 237 | 237 | | any project that limits the use of benefits under the 12 |
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| 238 | 238 | | supplemental nutrition assistance program.’’. 13 |
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| 239 | 239 | | (b) T |
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| 240 | 240 | | RANSITIONFROMHEALTHYFLUIDMILKIN-14 |
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| 241 | 241 | | CENTIVESPROJECTS.— 15 |
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| 242 | 242 | | (1) I |
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| 243 | 243 | | N GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture 16 |
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| 244 | 244 | | (referred to in this subsection as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 17 |
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| 245 | 245 | | shall transition projects carried out under section 18 |
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| 246 | 246 | | 4208 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 19 |
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| 247 | 247 | | (7 U.S.C. 2026a) to be carried out as part of the 20 |
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| 248 | 248 | | dairy nutrition incentive program established under 21 |
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| 249 | 249 | | section 31 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008. 22 |
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| 250 | 250 | | (2) N |
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| 251 | 251 | | O INTERRUPTION.—In carrying out para-23 |
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| 252 | 252 | | graph (1), the Secretary shall ensure that— 24 |
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| 256 | 256 | | (A) there is no interruption in projects 1 |
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| 257 | 257 | | being carried out under section 4208 of the Ag-2 |
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| 258 | 258 | | riculture Improvement Act of 2018 (7 U.S.C. 3 |
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| 259 | 259 | | 2026a) during the transition described in that 4 |
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| 260 | 260 | | paragraph; and 5 |
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| 261 | 261 | | (B) any additional authorities or flexibili-6 |
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| 262 | 262 | | ties under the dairy nutrition incentive program 7 |
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| 263 | 263 | | established under section 31 of the Food and 8 |
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| 264 | 264 | | Nutrition Act of 2008 shall be applied to the 9 |
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| 265 | 265 | | projects described in subparagraph (A). 10 |
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| 266 | 266 | | (3) R |
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| 267 | 267 | | EPEAL.—Effective 1 year after the date 11 |
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| 268 | 268 | | on which the Secretary certifies that the Secretary 12 |
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| 269 | 269 | | has completed carrying out paragraph (1), section 13 |
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| 270 | 270 | | 4208 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 14 |
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| 271 | 271 | | (7 U.S.C. 2026a) is repealed. 15 |
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| 272 | 272 | | Æ |
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