ENCOURAGEMENT OF FOOD PROCESSING AND DISTRIBUTION BY ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT AGENCIES.

SEC. 220. ENCOURAGEMENT OF FOOD PROCESSING AND DISTRIBUTION BY ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT AGENCIES. (a) Solicitation of Applications.— (1) In general.—Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall, to the extent that the Commodity Credit Corporation’s inventory levels permit, solicit applications, in accordance with paragraph (2), for surplus commodities available for distribution under section 202 of the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 612c note). (2) Requirements.— The solicitation by the Secretary of Agriculture under paragraph (1) shall be in the form of a request that any eligible recipient agency (as defined in section 201A of the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983) submit an application to the Secretary that shall include an assurance that such agency will— (A) process any agricultural commodity received in response to such application into end-use products suitable for distribution through the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program; 102 STAT. 1660 (B) package such products for use by individual households; and (C) distribute such products to State agencies responsible for the administration of the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program, at no cost to the State agency, for distribution through the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program. (3) Prohibition on payment of processing costs.—Funds made available under section 204 of the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 612c note) or funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation shall not be used to pay any costs incurred for the processing, storage, transportation or distribution of the commodities or end-use products prior to their delivery to the State agency. (b) Review of Applications.— (1) Time of review.—Not later than 60 days after the Secretary of Agriculture receives an application solicited under subsection (a), the Secretary shall approve or disapprove such application. (2) Notice of disapproval—If the Secretary disapproves the application submitted under subsection (a), the Secretary shall inform the applicant of the reasons for such disapproval.