Sec. 5. Processing resilience grant program

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Subtitle A of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 ( 7 U.S.C. 1621 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: In this section, the term eligible entity means— a small or very small establishment, as defined in the final rule entitled ‘Pathogen Reduction; Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) Systems’ (61 Fed. Reg. 33806 (July 25, 1996)); a slaughtering or processing establishment operating under a State inspection program that meets the criteria specified in section 301(a) of the Federal Meat Inspection Act ( 21 U.S.C. 661 ) or section 5 of the Poultry Products Inspection Act ( 21 U.S.C. 454 ); a person, firm, or corporation exempt from inspection under the Federal Meat Inspection Act ( 21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) pursuant to section 23 of such Act ( 21 U.S.C. 623 ); and a retail dealer, poultry producer, or person exempt from inspection under the Poultry Products Inspection Act ( 21 U.S.C. 451 et seq.) pursuant to section 15 of such Act ( 21 U.S.C. 464 ); and an entity seeking to establish and operate an establishment that would meet the criteria specified in paragraph (1), (2), or (3).

The Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service, shall provide competitive grants with a term of not more than three years to eligible entities for activities to adapt production, processing, distribution, and sales systems to respond to and recover from the effects of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (referred to in this section as COVID–19 ) pandemic, including activities that— support the health and safety of plant employees, suppliers, and customers; support increased processing capacity; or otherwise support the resilience of the small meat and poultry processing sector in the future.

An eligible entity selected to receive a grant under this section may use funds received through such grant for activities, including— the cost of developing and issuing (other than the cost of labor), directly incurred or incurred by a consultant, a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points plan for the eligible entity; the actual costs of any facilities, equipment, processes, or operations necessary for the establishment to comply with the Federal Meat Inspection Act ( 21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) or Poultry Products Inspection Act ( 21 U.S.C. 451 et seq.); cold storage, equipment, or transportation services or equipment needed to respond to COVID–19 demand; purchasing test kits for the presence of COVID–19, temperature screening supplies, disinfectant, sanitation systems, hand washing stations, and other sanitizing supplies; purchasing and decontaminating personal protective equipment; constructing or acquiring humane handling infrastructure, including holding space for livestock holding prior to slaughter, shade structures, and knock box structures; purchasing software and computer equipment for record keeping, production data, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points record review, and facilitating marketing and sales of products in a manner consistent with Center for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and training for using this software; the costs of staff time and training for implementing and monitoring healthy and safety procedures; the development of a feasibility study or business plan for those interested in expanding or starting a new small establishment; and other costs associated with expanding or establishing a small establishment or very small establishment, as determined by the Secretary.

An eligible entity seeking a grant under this section shall submit to the Secretary an application in accordance with an application process established by the Secretary. In establishing the application process under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall establish a simplified, separate application process for eligible entities requesting less than $100,000. The Secretary shall ensure that the application required under paragraph

(1)is— as simple as is practicable; accessible online; and available through local staff of the Department of Agriculture. The amount of a grant under this subsection shall be not more than $500,000. The administration of this subsection, including the promulgation of regulations to carry out this subsection, shall be without regard to— the notice and comment provisions of section 553 of title 5, United States Code; and chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code. Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall provide grants under this section. Not later than 14 days before the date on which the Secretary begins to accept applications under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall publish a notice of funding opportunity for grants under this section. During the period beginning on the date on which the Secretary publishes the notice under paragraph

(2)and ending on the date on which the Secretary begins to accept applications under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall perform outreach to States and eligible entities relating to grants under this section. In the case of a denial of an application under this section, the eligible entity submitting such application may submit a revised application, as specified by the Secretary in regulations. In reviewing applications submitted under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give priority to proposals that would— increase farmer and rancher access to animal slaughter options within a 200 mile radius; support a small or very small plant with less than 150 employees; or support minority-owned businesses that are defined as for-profit businesses where not less than 51 percent of such business is owned by 1 or more Black American, Native American, Hispanic American, or Asian American individuals. Except as provided in paragraph (2), an eligible entity selected to receive a grant under this section shall provide non-Federal matching funds as follows: With respect to the first $100,000 awarded to such entity, not less than 10 percent of such amount. With respect to any amounts received after receipt of $100,000, not less than 25 percent of such amount. An eligible entity selected to receive a grant under this section shall not be required to provide non-Federal matching funds with respect to a grant awarded during fiscal year 2021. Of the funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation, the Secretary shall use to carry out this section $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2030. There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2030. .

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