MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS AND DEFINITIONS.

SEC. 112. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS AND DEFINITIONS. (a) Technical Amendment to Definition of School.— (1) In general.— Section 12(d)(5) of the National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1760(d)(5)) is amended— (A) in the first sentence— (i) in clause (A), by inserting “and” at the end; (ii) in clause (B), by striking “, and” and inserting a period; and (iii) by striking clause (C); and (B) in the second sentence, by striking “of clauses (A) and (B)”. (2) Effective date.—The amendments made by paragraph (1) shall become effective on October 1, 1995. (b) Reimbursement for Meals, Supplements, and Milk Under Certain Programs Contingent on Timely Submission of Claims and Final Program Operations Report.— Section 12 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1760) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: “(j) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Secretary may provide reimbursements for final claims for service of meals, supplements, and milk submitted to State agencies by eligible schools, summer camps, family day care homes, institutions, and service institutions only if— “(A) the claims have been submitted to the State agencies not later than 60 days after the last day of the month for which the reimbursement is claimed; and “(B) the final program operations report for the month is submitted to the Secretary not later than 90 days after the last day of the month. “(2) The Secretary may waive the requirements of paragraph (1) at the discretion of the Secretary.”. (c) Expedited Rulemaking.— Section 12 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1760) (as amended by subsection (b)) is further amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: “(k) (1) Prior to the publication of final regulations that implement changes that are intended to bring the meal pattern requirements of the school lunch and breakfast programs into conformance with the guidelines contained in the most recent ‘Dietary Guidelines for Americans’ that is published under section 301 of the National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5341) (referred to in this subsection as the ‘Guidelines’), the Secretary shall issue proposed regulations permitting the use of food-based menu systems. “(2) Notwithstanding chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, not later than 45 days after the publication of the proposed regulations permitting the use of food-based menu systems, the Secretary shall publish notice in the Federal Register of, and hold, a public meeting with— 108 STAT. 4709 “(A) representatives of affected parties, such as Federal, State, and local administrators, school food service administrators, other school food service personnel, parents, and teachers; and “(B) organizations representing affected parties, such as public interest antihunger organizations, doctors specializing in pediatric nutrition, health and consumer groups, commodity groups, food manufacturers and vendors, and nutritionists involved with the implementation and operation of programs under this Act and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.); to discuss and obtain public comments on the proposed rule. “(3) Not later than June 1, 1995, the Secretary shall issue final regulations to conform the nutritional requirements of the school lunch and breakfast programs with the Guidelines. The final regulations shall include— “(A) rules permitting the use of food-based menu systems; and “(B) adjustments to the rule on nutrition objectives for school meals published in the Federal Register on June 10, 1994 (59 Fed. Reg. 30218). “(4) No school food service authority shall be required to implement final regulations issued pursuant to this subsection until the regulations have been final for at least 1 year. “(5) The final regulations shall reflect comments made at each phase of the proposed rulemaking process, including the public meeting required under paragraph (2).”. (d) Authority of Secretary to Waive Statutory and Regulatory Requirements.— Section 12 of the National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1760) (as amended by subsection (c)) is further amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: “(l) (1) (A) Except as provided in paragraph (4), the Secretary may waive any requirement under this Act or the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.), or any regulation issued under either such Act, for a State or eligible service provider that requests a waiver if— “(i) the Secretary determines that the waiver of the requirement would facilitate the ability of the State or eligible service provider to carry out the purpose of the program; “(ii) the State or eligible service provider has provided notice and information to the public regarding the proposed waiver; and “(iii) the State or eligible service provider demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Secretary that the waiver will not increase the overall cost of the program to the Federal Government, and, if the waiver does increase the overall cost to the Federal Government, the cost will be paid from non-Federal funds. “(B) The notice and information referred to in subparagraph (A)(ii) shall be provided in the same manner in which the State or eligible service provider customarily provides similar notices and information to the public. “(2) (A) To request a waiver under paragraph (1), a State or eligible service provider (through the appropriate administering State agency) shall submit an application to the Secretary that— “(i) identifies the statutory or regulatory requirements that are requested to be waived; 108 STAT. 4710 “(ii) in the case of a State requesting a waiver, describes actions, if any, that the State has undertaken to remove State statutory or regulatory barriers; “(iii) describes the goal of the waiver to improve services under the program and the expected outcomes if the waiver is granted; “(iv) includes a description of the impediments to the efficient operation and administration of the program; “(v) describes the management goals to be achieved, such as fewer hours devoted to, or fewer number of personnel involved in, the administration of the program; “(vi) provides a timetable for implementing the waiver; and “(vii) describes the process the State or eligible service provider will use to monitor the progress in implementing the waiver, including the process for monitoring the cost implications of the waiver to the Federal Government. “(B) An application described in subparagraph (A) shall be developed by the State or eligible service provider and shall be submitted to the Secretary by the State. “(3) (A) The Secretary shall act promptly on a waiver request contained in an application submitted under paragraph (2) and shall either grant or deny the request. The Secretary shall state in writing the reasons for granting or denying the request. “(B) If the Secretary grants a waiver request, the Secretary shall state in writing the expected outcome of granting the waiver. “(C) The result of the decision of the Secretary shall be disseminated by the State or eligible service provider through normal means of communication. “(D) (i) Except as provided in clause (ii), a waiver granted by the Secretary under this subsection shall be for a period not to exceed 3 years. “(ii) The Secretary may extend the period if the Secretary determines that the waiver has been effective in enabling the State or eligible service provider to carry out the purposes of the program. “(4) The Secretary may not grant a waiver under this subsection of any requirement relating to— “(A) the nutritional content of meals served; “(B) Federal reimbursement rates; “(C) the provision of free and reduced price meals; “(D) offer versus serve provisions; “(E) limits on the price charged for a reduced price meal; “(F) maintenance of effort; “(G) equitable participation of children in private schools; “(H) distribution of funds to State and local school food service authorities and service institutions participating in a program under this Act and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.); “(I) the disclosure of information relating to students receiving free or reduced price meals and other recipients of benefits; “(J) prohibiting the operation of a profit producing program; “(K) the sale of competitive foods; “(L) the commodity distribution program under section 14; “(M) the special supplemental nutrition program authorized under section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786); and 108 STAT. 4711 “(N) enforcement of any constitutional or statutory right of an individual, including any right under— “(i) title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.); “(ii) section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794); “(iii) title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.); “(iv) the Age Discrimination Act of 1975 (42 U.S.C. 6101 et seq.); “(v) the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.); and “(vi) the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.). “(5) The Secretary shall periodically review the performance of any State or eligible service provider for which the Secretary has granted a waiver under this subsection and shall terminate the waiver if the performance of the State or service provider has been inadequate to justify a continuation of the waiver. The Secretary shall terminate the waiver if, after periodic review, the Secretary determines that the waiver has resulted in an increase in the overall cost of the program to the Federal Government and the increase has not been paid for in accordance with paragraph (1)(A)(iii). “(6) (A) (i) An eligible service provider that receives a waiver under this subsection shall annually submit to the State a report that— “(I) describes the use of the waiver by the eligible service provider; and “(II) evaluates how the waiver contributed to improved services to children served by the program for which the waiver was requested. “(ii) The State shall annually submit to the Secretary a report that summarizes all reports received by the State from eligible service providers. “(B) The Secretary shall annually 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— “(i) summarizing the use of waivers by the State and eligible service providers; “(ii) describing whether the waivers resulted in improved services to children; “(iii) describing the impact of the waivers on providing nutritional meals to participants; and “(iv) describing how the waivers reduced the quantity of paperwork necessary to administer the program. “(7) As used in this subsection, the term ‘eligible service provider’ means— “(A) a local school food service authority; “(B) a service institution or private nonprofit organization described in section 13; or “(C) a family or group day care home sponsoring organization described in section 17.”.