(1) The department, through the center, must develop and administer grant programs to support activities that reduce emissions from landfills and waste-to-energy facilities through the diversion of organic materials and food waste prevention, rescue, and recovery. The department must seek stakeholder input in the design, criteria, and logistics associated with each grant program. The department must allocate grant funding across the eligible categories specified in subsection (2) of this section in a manner consistent with legislative appropriations, and that achieves the following priorities: (a) Maximizing greenhouse gas emission reductions; (b) Eliminating barriers to the rescue and consumption of edible food that would otherwise be wasted; (c) Developing stable funding programs for the department to administer and stable funding opportunities for potential fund recipients to be aware of; and (d) Preferences the following management options, in order of most preferred to least preferred: (i) Prevents wasted food; (ii) Donates or upcycles food; (iii) Feeds animals or leaves food unharvested; (iv) Composts or anaerobically digests materials with beneficial use of the compost, digestate, or biosolids; (v) Anaerobically digests materials with the disposal of digestate or biosolids, or applies material to the land; (vi) Sends materials down the drain, to landfills, or incinerates material, with or without accompanying energy recovery. (2) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, grants under this section may be awarded to the following categories of activities: (a) Projects to prevent the surplus of unsold, uneaten food from food businesses or to standardize and improve the operating procedures associated with food donations, including efforts to standardize collection bins, provide staff training for food donors or food rescue organizations, or make other changes to increase the efficiency or efficacy of food donation procedures. Local governments, federally recognized Indian tribes and federally recognized Indian tribal government entities, nonprofit organizations, and generators of unwanted edible food are eligible applicants for grants under this subsection. Equipment and infrastructure purchases, training costs, costs associated with the development and deployment of operating protocols, and employee staff time reimbursement are eligible uses of grant funding under this subsection; (b)(i) Projects to improve and reduce the transportation of donated foods and management of cold chains across the donated food supply chain, including through food rescue organizations. Local governments, federally recognized Indian tribes and federally recognized Indian tribal government entities, nonprofit organizations, transporters of unwanted edible food, and generators of unwanted edible food are eligible applicants for grants under this subsection. Eligible uses of grant funding under this subsection include the acquisition of vehicles, cold-storage equipment, real estate, and technology to support donated food storage and transportation system improvements. (ii) Grants under this subsection (2)(b) may not be used for the purchase or lease of equipment that relies on a fuel source other than electricity or the purchase or lease of vehicles other than zero emission vehicles; (c)(i) Grant programs to support the establishment and expansion of wasted food reduction programs to benefit vulnerable communities. This grant program must be developed in consultation with the department of health and food policy stakeholders. (ii) Nonprofit organizations, businesses, associations, federally recognized Indian tribes and federally recognized Indian tribal government entities, and local governments are eligible to receive grants under this subsection. Eligible uses of the funds may include community food hub development projects, cold food storage capacity, refrigerated transport capacity, convenings to inform innovation in wasted food reduction in retail and food service establishments, and pilot projects to reduce wasted food. No more than 20 percent of funds allocated under this subsection (2)(c) may be awarded to a single grant recipient; and (d) Food waste tracking and analytics pilot project grants. Local governments, federally recognized Indian tribes and federally recognized Indian tribal government entities, nonprofit organizations, transporters of unwanted edible food, and generators of unwanted edible food are eligible applicants for grants under this subsection. Eligible uses of grant funding under this subsection include staff time and technology to improve food waste prevention or improve tracking of food donations through the food supply chain and to provide data useful to enabling more efficient and effective outcomes for the provision of food available for rescue. (3) The department may establish additional eligibility criteria or application process requirements beyond those described in subsection (2) of this section for a category or categories of activity. The department may, as a condition of the award of a grant under this section, require the reporting of information to the department regarding the outcomes of the funded activities. (4) The department may award grants to eligible applicants meeting the minimum qualifying criteria on a competitive basis, or to applicants on a noncompetitive basis, or both. Within each category of activity described in subsection (2) of this section, the department must prioritize grant applications that benefit overburdened communities as defined in RCW 70A.02.010 as identified by the department in accordance with RCW 70A.02.050 .
(1) The department, through the center, must develop and administer grant programs to support activities that reduce emissions from landfills and waste-to-energy facilities through the diversion of organic materials and food waste prevention, rescue, and recovery. The department must seek stakeholder input in the design, criteria, and logistics associated with each grant program. The department must allocate grant funding across the eligible categories specified in subsection (2) of this section in a manner consistent with legislative appropriations, and that achieves the following priorities:
(a) Maximizing greenhouse gas emission reductions;
(b) Eliminating barriers to the rescue and consumption of edible food that would otherwise be wasted;
(c) Developing stable funding programs for the department to administer and stable funding opportunities for potential fund recipients to be aware of; and
(d) Preferences the following management options, in order of most preferred to least preferred:
(i) Prevents wasted food;
(ii) Donates or upcycles food;
(iii) Feeds animals or leaves food unharvested;
(iv) Composts or anaerobically digests materials with beneficial use of the compost, digestate, or biosolids;
(v) Anaerobically digests materials with the disposal of digestate or biosolids, or applies material to the land;
(vi) Sends materials down the drain, to landfills, or incinerates material, with or without accompanying energy recovery.
(2) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, grants under this section may be awarded to the following categories of activities:
(a) Projects to prevent the surplus of unsold, uneaten food from food businesses or to standardize and improve the operating procedures associated with food donations, including efforts to standardize collection bins, provide staff training for food donors or food rescue organizations, or make other changes to increase the efficiency or efficacy of food donation procedures. Local governments, federally recognized Indian tribes and federally recognized Indian tribal government entities, nonprofit organizations, and generators of unwanted edible food are eligible applicants for grants under this subsection. Equipment and infrastructure purchases, training costs, costs associated with the development and deployment of operating protocols, and employee staff time reimbursement are eligible uses of grant funding under this subsection;
(b)(i) Projects to improve and reduce the transportation of donated foods and management of cold chains across the donated food supply chain, including through food rescue organizations. Local governments, federally recognized Indian tribes and federally recognized Indian tribal government entities, nonprofit organizations, transporters of unwanted edible food, and generators of unwanted edible food are eligible applicants for grants under this subsection. Eligible uses of grant funding under this subsection include the acquisition of vehicles, cold-storage equipment, real estate, and technology to support donated food storage and transportation system improvements.
(ii) Grants under this subsection (2)(b) may not be used for the purchase or lease of equipment that relies on a fuel source other than electricity or the purchase or lease of vehicles other than zero emission vehicles;
(c)(i) Grant programs to support the establishment and expansion of wasted food reduction programs to benefit vulnerable communities. This grant program must be developed in consultation with the department of health and food policy stakeholders.
(ii) Nonprofit organizations, businesses, associations, federally recognized Indian tribes and federally recognized Indian tribal government entities, and local governments are eligible to receive grants under this subsection. Eligible uses of the funds may include community food hub development projects, cold food storage capacity, refrigerated transport capacity, convenings to inform innovation in wasted food reduction in retail and food service establishments, and pilot projects to reduce wasted food. No more than 20 percent of funds allocated under this subsection (2)(c) may be awarded to a single grant recipient; and
(d) Food waste tracking and analytics pilot project grants. Local governments, federally recognized Indian tribes and federally recognized Indian tribal government entities, nonprofit organizations, transporters of unwanted edible food, and generators of unwanted edible food are eligible applicants for grants under this subsection. Eligible uses of grant funding under this subsection include staff time and technology to improve food waste prevention or improve tracking of food donations through the food supply chain and to provide data useful to enabling more efficient and effective outcomes for the provision of food available for rescue.
(3) The department may establish additional eligibility criteria or application process requirements beyond those described in subsection (2) of this section for a category or categories of activity. The department may, as a condition of the award of a grant under this section, require the reporting of information to the department regarding the outcomes of the funded activities.
(4) The department may award grants to eligible applicants meeting the minimum qualifying criteria on a competitive basis, or to applicants on a noncompetitive basis, or both. Within each category of activity described in subsection (2) of this section, the department must prioritize grant applications that benefit overburdened communities as defined in RCW 70A.02.010 as identified by the department in accordance with RCW 70A.02.050 .
