1.This Act may be cited as the
Eating Healthy at School Act of
2010
.
2.Congress finds the following:
(1)Information about school meal quality is
vital to maximizing the national investment in the school meal programs
established under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C.
1751 et seq.) and section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773)
and for measuring the effectiveness of and compliance with Federal school meal
standards.
(2)Assessing
compliance with Federal school meal standards will enhance child health and the
nutritional quality of school meals, contribute to nutrition research and
evaluation of the school meal programs, and improve oversight of the school
meal programs.
(3)According to the
School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study-III of the school meals served under
the school meal programs in school year 2004–2005, the majority of schools
offered breakfasts and lunches that met the standards for the recommended daily
intake of key nutrients, such as vitamins A and C, calcium, protein, and iron,
but that the majority of school lunches were still too high in fat, saturated
fat, and sodium.
(4)Reviews of the nutritional quality of
school meals under the school meals initiative for healthy children (60 Fed.
Reg. 31188 (1995)) assess only the lunches served in 1 school per school food
authority every 5 years and do not include assessments of breakfasts served by
schools participating in the school breakfast program established under section
4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773) or compliance with
nutrition standards for foods sold in schools outside of the school meal
programs.
(5)Reviews of school
meals under the school meals initiative for healthy children are laborious for
State child nutrition programs and local school food authorities. Simplified,
less burdensome, and more effective approaches are needed.
(6)The Institute of Medicine recommends
changes to school meals to reflect the most recent Dietary Guidelines for
Americans published under section 301 of the National Nutrition Monitoring and
Related Research Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5341). The recommendations for new meal
requirements involve significant shifts in the approach of schools to menu
planning and will likely require new mechanisms for monitoring meal
quality.
(7)Food of poor
nutritional value sold in schools outside of the school meal programs can
undermine the national investment in school meals.
(8)Gaps in Federal
requirements for program integrity reviews limit the ability to identify and
address meal counting and claiming errors.
(9)Program integrity reviews are not required
for the school breakfast program. Twenty-one States reported to the Comptroller
General of the United States that they do not review the school breakfast
program.
(10)The percentage of
meal counting and claiming errors is higher in the school breakfast program
than in the school lunch program.
3.Compliance and
accountability study
(a)The Secretary of Agriculture shall conduct a study
to—
(1)assess the
effectiveness and efficiency of administrative review systems to ensure—
(A)each local
educational agency participating in the school lunch program established under
the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.)
complies with the provisions of such Act, including the provisions with respect
to nutrition, eligibility, meal counts, and claims for reimbursement;
(B)each local educational agency participating
in the school breakfast program established under section 4 of the Child
Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773) complies with the provisions of such
Act, including the provisions with respect to nutrition, eligibility, meal
counts, and claims for reimbursement; and
(C)each local educational agency described in
subparagraphs (A) and (B) is accountable for the compliance described in such
subparagraphs;
(2)design and test alternative processes and
procedures that may improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the
administrative review systems described in paragraph (1), and determine the
optimal frequency for carrying out reviews under such systems; and
(3)identify any
alternative processes and procedures for establishing a more effective and
efficient administrative review system which—
(A)reflect the
results of tests of alternative processes and procedures conducted pursuant to
paragraph (2); and
(B)consider the
practicality of implementing such alternative processes and procedures,
including the cost and burden of implementation that would be imposed on local
school food authorities, local educational agencies, and State educational
agencies.
(b)Not
later than 3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary
of Agriculture shall submit to the Committee on Education and Labor of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and
Forestry of the Senate, a report that describes the results and recommendations
of the study conducted pursuant to subsection (a).
(c)The Secretary of Agriculture may prescribe
regulations as may be necessary to implement the processes or procedures
identified pursuant to subsection (a)(3) for establishing an effective and
efficient administrative review system.
(d)
(1)Upon the date of the enactment of this Act, out of any
funds in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the Secretary of the Treasury
shall transfer to the Secretary of Agriculture $3,500,000 to carry out this
section, to remain available until expended.
(2)The Secretary of Agriculture shall be entitled to
receive, shall accept, and shall use to carry out this section the funds
transferred under paragraph (1), without further appropriation.