H.R. 484 — Food Deserts Act

This section establishes a capitalization grant program administered by the Secretary (likely of Agriculture) under which states receive grants to create revolving loan funds for grocery stores in underserved communities. Eligible uses of revolving fund loans include financing the opening of new grocery stores (excluding new construction), supporting operations of existing stores, providing access to healthy food, or aiding operations of stores in communities that would otherwise be underserved. Eligible grocery stores must meet required criteria, including emphasizing unprocessed healthful foods and providing fruits, vegetables, and staples at affordable prices with a 20% nonfederal match, and states must prioritize applicants that hire locally, offer dietary education, source from local farms, or have supply chain ties. Loans are at or below market rates (potentially interest-free), with terms up to 30 years or the project's useful life; capped at 10% of the fund's annual lending capacity per recipient; require dedicated repayment revenue sources; and receive repayments that recycle into the fund, with states charging up to a 4% administrative fee. (Thus, the revolving structure enables sustained lending.) The Secretary provides technical assistance; loans receive bankruptcy precedence; communities losing underserved status bar further loans but preserve existing terms; and nonprofit or municipal recipients must reinvest earnings.

This section establishes a capitalization grant program to fund state revolving funds, requiring eligible states to (1) establish a revolving fund that complies with the Act and (2) develop a process and criteria for making loans from the fund, subject to section 2(d); requires states to deposit grants into such revolving funds; and directs the Secretary to apportion available grant amounts among eligible states based on the ratio of each state's population of underserved communities to the total population of underserved communities in all eligible states.

This section defines terms used in the Act, including “capitalization grant” (i.e., a grant made to a State under the program), “healthful food” (i.e., food that reflects the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans), “grocery store” (i.e., a retail store that derives income primarily from the sale of food for home preparation and consumption), “program” (i.e., the program described in section 2(a)), “program participant” (i.e., an entity that has received a loan under the program), “revolving fund” (i.e., a fund established by a State for use as a depository for a capitalization grant), “Secretary” (i.e., the Secretary of Agriculture), “staple food” (as defined in 7 U.S.C. 6953(b)), “State” (i.e., the 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands), and “underserved community” (as defined in 7 U.S.C. 1932(g)(9)(A)).