Sponsors (5)
The bill commits large, multiyear federal funds and technical support to scale local food-waste reduction and prioritize disadvantaged communities—improving infrastructure, transparency, and markets—but does so at substantial taxpayer cost and with eligibility, regulatory, and reporting rules that may disadvantage nonprofits and impose burdens on small governments and project developers.
State and local governments can receive federal grants to build or expand food-waste reduction infrastructure and operations, enabling local collection, processing, and program scaling.
Low-income communities, communities of color, and Tribal communities are prioritized for grant-funded on-the-ground food-waste reduction activities, increasing equity in who benefits from new programs.
Federal funding is provided on a multi-year predictable basis ($650 million per year through 2035), giving sustained support and planning certainty for long-term food-waste reduction efforts.
Taxpayers are responsible for $650 million per year through 2035, substantially increasing federal spending obligations over the long term.
Nonprofit organizations and the underserved populations they serve may be excluded or disadvantaged because some studies and grant opportunities bar nonprofit eligibility or favor non‑nonprofit applicants and require government/partner endorsements.
Applicants for anaerobic digestion projects face feedstock and end-product restrictions (e.g., ≤20% animal waste and end‑use plans), which could limit feedstock flexibility and raise project costs for municipalities and small businesses.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a federal competitive grant program to fund planning, data collection, and projects to cut food waste 50% by 2035 (baseline 2015).
Introduced December 12, 2025 by Julia Brownley · Last progress December 12, 2025
Creates a federal competitive grant program to fund state- and area-level food-waste planning, data collection/reporting, and implementation projects aimed at cutting food waste 50% by 2035 compared with 2015. Grants can support studies and planning, routine data collection with public reports, and on-the-ground actions such as pricing policies, technical assistance, recycling and composting infrastructure, restrictions on incineration/landfilling, and other Administrator-approved activities. States, local or area governments, Tribal entities, and qualifying nonprofits can apply under conditions set by the Administrator. The bill prioritizes geographic and use diversity in awards and gives extra priority to non‑nonprofit implementers or infrastructure projects and to projects serving communities of color, low‑income populations, or Tribal communities when funds will be used for implementation activities. Nonprofit applicants must include local government or other qualifying support letters when applying.