[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1101 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1101

 To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to establish a Food 
         Protection Training Institute, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 20, 2009

Ms. Stabenow (for herself and Mr. Levin) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to establish a Food 
         Protection Training Institute, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Food Protection Training Institute 
Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) There is no mandatory Federal training requirement for 
        State, local, tribal, and territorial food protection 
        officials, and training varies by State.
            (2) In June 2000, the Office of the Inspector General 
        (``OIG'') of the Department of Health and Human Services 
        released a report on oversight by the Food and Drug 
        Administration (``FDA'') of State food inspection contracts. In 
        this report the OIG recommended that FDA take steps to promote 
        equivalency among Federal and State food safety standards, 
        inspection programs, and enforcement practices.
            (3) Under contract with the FDA, State employees perform 
        over half of all FDA inspections at domestic food processing 
        plants. Inspections are performed under State laws and 
        authorities, the provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and 
        Cosmetic Act, or both. In fiscal year 2008, States conducted 
        approximately 10,500 FDA food contract inspections. Overall, 
        States conduct nearly 80,000 inspections annually of food 
        processing plants, but the majority of these inspections are 
        not recognized by FDA as meeting any standard.
            (4) No national accreditation process exists to assure 
        State and local food protection programs provide adequate 
        protections to ensure effectiveness or equivalency to Federal 
        programs.

SEC. 3. FOOD PROTECTION TRAINING ACTIVITIES AND INSTITUTE.

    Subchapter D of chapter VII of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic 
Act (21 U.S.C. 379k et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

``SEC. 747. FOOD PROTECTION TRAINING ACTIVITIES AND INSTITUTE.

    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section--
            ``(1) the term `food protection' means government 
        regulatory or public health activities and programs at the 
        Federal, State, or local level that are targeted at ensuring 
        the safety or defense of the food supply--
                    ``(A) from natural, accidental, or intentional 
                contamination; and
                    ``(B) through prevention, intervention, response to 
                food contamination events, or recovery of food systems 
                to restore economic stability and public confidence 
                after a food contamination event;
            ``(2) the term `food protection officials'--
                    ``(A) means government employees at the Federal, 
                State, or local level that have direct responsibilities 
                for food protection; and
                    ``(B) includes environmental health workers, 
                sanitarians, food regulatory officials, investigators, 
                communicable disease workers, epidemiologists, 
                laboratory workers, and toxicologists; and
            ``(3) the term `food regulatory officials' includes 
        inspectors responsible for enforcing the food protection 
        provisions of this Act.
    ``(b) Authority of the Secretary.--
            ``(1) General duties.--The Secretary shall, not later than 
        120 days after the date of enactment of this section--
                    ``(A) create a list of uniform food protection 
                training standards for Federal, State, and local food 
                regulatory officials and food protection officials as a 
                part of overall regulatory program standards in 
                consultation with--
                            ``(i) a national association of food 
                        protection officials that has membership open 
                        to food protection officials from all States;
                            ``(ii) State agencies responsible for food 
                        protection; and
                            ``(iii) local agencies responsible for food 
                        protection; and
                    ``(B) ensure funding is used to advance food 
                protection and the effectiveness and equivalency 
                throughout the food protection system of the Nation 
                through a responsive and preventive controls framework 
                in an effort to build capacity and create a more 
                integrated national food protection system.
            ``(2) Duties with respect to the institute.--The Secretary 
        shall, not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of 
        this section--
                    ``(A) in cooperation with the organization 
                described in paragraph (1)(A)(i), provide financial, 
                technical, and other assistance to establish and 
                maintain a Food Protection Training Institute that--
                            ``(i) conducts training activities that--
                                    ``(I) address food protection 
                                inspection training standards as 
                                directed by the Secretary in paragraph 
                                (1); and
                                    ``(II) meet any program standards 
                                developed by the Secretary under 
                                paragraph (1);
                            ``(ii) prior to fiscal year 2010, applied 
                        for determination as, or had been determined to 
                        be, an entity described in section 501(c)(3) of 
                        the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
                            ``(iii) has demonstrated the resources to 
                        commit to training no less than 750 food 
                        protection officials during fiscal year 2010 
                        and no less than 3,000 food protection 
                        officials during fiscal year 2013; and
                            ``(iv) is governed by a board of directors 
                        that--
                                    ``(I) as of the date of 
                                establishment, includes--
                                            ``(aa) a representative 
                                        from a national association 
                                        which has, as of fiscal year 
                                        2010--

                                                    ``(AA) tax exempt 
                                                status under section 
                                                501(c)(3) of the 
                                                Internal Revenue Code 
                                                of 1986;

                                                    ``(BB) membership 
                                                open to food protection 
                                                officials from all 
                                                States; and

                                                    ``(CC) governing 
                                                officers who are State 
                                                food regulatory program 
                                                officials;

                                            ``(bb) a representative 
                                        from a private foundation with 
                                        assets in excess of 
                                        $5,000,000,000 as of fiscal 
                                        year 2010; and
                                            ``(cc) a representative of 
                                        a Land Grant university; and
                                    ``(II) as of fiscal year 2010, has 
                                received financial support of at least 
                                $1,000,000 from a private foundation 
                                with assets in excess of 
                                $5,000,000,000; and
                    ``(B) ensure that the activities conducted and 
                assistance provided at such Institute at a minimum 
                include--
                            ``(i) providing career-specific and career-
                        spanning skills training and continuing 
                        education for food protection officials and 
                        food regulatory officials that include--
                                    ``(I) entry level, core job 
                                training;
                                    ``(II) intermediate level and 
                                continuing education training;
                                    ``(III) advanced level training in 
                                specialized areas of food protection; 
                                and
                                    ``(IV) training of elite or expert 
                                level food protection officials;
                            ``(ii) developing and using multiple and 
                        advanced training approaches to reach food 
                        protection officials including face-to-face 
                        courses, on-the-job training, multi-media 
                        approaches, distance learning, web-based 
                        courses, and other innovative and effective 
                        methods;
                            ``(iii) developing criteria and assessing 
                        measurable training outcomes;
                            ``(iv) developing instructor curriculum and 
                        delivery assessment;
                            ``(v) assessing and reporting to the 
                        Secretary of efforts leading to leveraging food 
                        protection capability and capacity to support a 
                        national integrated food protection system; and
                            ``(vi) establishing methods to provide 
                        timely training in response to emerging food 
                        protection events in order to minimize public 
                        health impacts and recovery.
    ``(c) Duties of the Food Protection Training Institute.--The Food 
Protection Training Institute established under subsection (b) shall 
carry out activities to improve the safety of the United States food 
supply, including--
            ``(1) advancing the effectiveness and equivalency 
        throughout the food protection system of the Nation;
            ``(2) improving the response and prevention controls 
        capabilities of the national food protection system;
            ``(3) building capacity and the integration of the national 
        food protection system;
            ``(4) providing training and technical assistance with 
        respect to food establishment inspections that meet any program 
        standards developed by the Secretary under subsection (b)(1);
            ``(5) offering onsite and offsite training for food 
        protection officials from all States;
            ``(6) establishing a national network of trained 
        professionals to present training programs and workshops for 
        food protection officials;
            ``(7) developing training materials for use in such 
        programs and workshops;
            ``(8) acting as a clearinghouse for research, studies, and 
        findings concerning all aspects of food protection programs, 
        including--
                    ``(A) conducting and funding research to improve 
                the effectiveness of food establishment inspection; and
                    ``(B) conducting and funding research to improve 
                the effectiveness of the duties of food protection 
                officials;
            ``(9) training food protection officials to comply with 
        standards established by the Secretary through a national 
        network of instructors or other means;
            ``(10) preparing informational materials to promote more 
        efficient and thorough food protection inspections;
            ``(11) assisting State agencies in providing additional 
        instructions and instructors, including training personnel to 
        comply with the guidance and objectives established by the 
        Secretary; and
            ``(12) any other activities determined appropriate by the 
        Secretary.
    ``(d) Accountability.--
            ``(1) Report to the secretary.--On an annual basis, the 
        board of directors of the Institute established under 
        subsection (b) shall submit to the Secretary a report that 
        describes the activities and progress of such Institute carried 
        out under this section during the previous year.
            ``(2) Report to congress.--On an annual basis, the 
        Secretary shall submit to Congress a report that describes the 
        activities and progress of the Secretary and the Institute 
        established under subsection (b) carried out under this section 
        during the previous year.
    ``(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section--
            ``(1) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2010;
            ``(2) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; and
            ``(3) $30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2012, 2013, and 
        2014.''.
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