2005 West Virginia Code - §18-2-17. — Pilot program for delivery of leftover prepared foods from schools and penal institutions to the homeless and needy; commission for distribution of surplus foods; powers and duties; definitions; program continuance.

§18-2-17. Pilot program for delivery of leftover prepared foods from schools and penal institutions to the homeless and needy; commission for distribution of surplus foods; powers and duties; definitions; program continuance.

(a) The purpose of the Legislature in enacting this section is to establish a framework for the distribution of excess and leftover foods in West Virginia public school cafeterias and in correctional facilities to community agencies that serve homeless and needy people in this state and to address findings that:
(1) Many homeless, destitute and needy people are without sufficient food to meet minimum requirements for daily living;
(2) Many school cafeterias and prison cafeterias prepare a large number of meals each day;
(3) Despite state and federal policies and guidelines and proper efforts of personnel at such institutions which attempt to eliminate or minimize the waste of unserved prepared food at such public institutions, that some surplusage of leftover food does in fact occur; and
(4) Various community agencies are trying to feed the homeless and needy people and that leftover foods from the aforesaid public institutions is an obvious resource to help provide food for the homeless and needy people of the state.
(b) For purposes of this section the following terms shall have the following meanings:
(1) "Leftover food" means food prepared for immediate human consumption but not served, that cannot be refrigerated or preserved to be served at a later time, nor used in the preparation of other foods, or unopened packaged foods, unopened cartons of milk and parcels of whole fruit which are taken by consumers at the institution, but not eaten, or is not subject to being reserved according to policies or rules governing the service of food at the institution;
(2) "Agency" means any nonprofit, religious or charitable organization which is exempt from taxation pursuant to 26 U.S.C. §501(c)(3) or (4) whose purposes include the feeding of homeless and needy persons.
(3) "Commission" means the commission distribution of surplus food established in subsection (c) of this section.
(c) There is hereby established a commission for the distribution of surplus prepared foods. The superintendent of the state board of education, or his or her designee, shall serve as chair of the commission. The executive director of the regional jail and prison authority, or his or her designee, and the commissioner of the division of corrections, of the department of public safety, or his or her designee, shall serve as members of the commission.
(d) The commission shall develop and establish a pilot program in Ohio County for the distribution of leftover foods from secondary school cafeterias, the county jail in Ohio County and the regional jail located in Marshall County to community agencies in Ohio County to be distributed to homeless and needy persons in Ohio County, consistent with the goals and purposes established in this section. The pilot program shall provide that an agency pay any cost of transporting the leftover food. In no event may the pilot program provide that the state bear any of the cost of transporting the leftover food.
(e) The commission shall have the following powers and duties in carrying out the provisions of this section:
(1) Propose for promulgation legislative rules in accordance with article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code which are necessary to carry out the purposes of this section;
(2) Suggest modification of policies and propose amendments to current rules of the state board of education, the division of corrections and the regional jail authority which are in conflict with the purpose and goals of this section, only as such are applicable to the public institutions included in this pilot program;
(3) Coordinate and cooperate with all appropriate federalagencies, including, but not limited to, the United States department of agriculture to approve the distribution of leftover foods under controlled conditions;
(4) Draft cooperative and mutually beneficial agreements between the respective agencies and the local school or district or correctional facilities;
(5) Develop a comprehensive plan of food distribution to agencies including consideration of any input or suggestions from agencies interested in participation in the plan; such plan shall address the care of environmental resources and human needs. Any plan or program for food distribution shall require that the cost of transporting the food is to be paid by a community agency. The commission has no authority to develop a comprehensive plan of food distribution which would provide that the state pay all or any part of the cost of transporting the food to be distributed.
(f) The pilot program shall commence no later than the first day of September, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four, and continue until the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-seven, unless sooner terminated by the Legislature. On the first Wednesday after the second Monday of each January, the commission shall report to the governor and the Legislature on the progress of the program whether it should be continued or discontinued, any recommended modifications in the program's scope and mission and whether any action is necessary by the Legislature to improve the success of the program. At the end of the pilot program, the commission shall make a final report to the governor and the Legislature as to whether the findings in this section are being addressed and recommend whether or not the program shall be expanded statewide, with specific recommendations for program support and administration, development and other relevant policy issues.