S. 1509 — Strengthening Local Processing Act of 2025

This section establishes requirements under the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA) and Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) for the Secretary of Agriculture to provide Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) guidance and resources—i.e., a food safety system to prevent contamination in meat and poultry processing—to smaller and very small establishments, as defined in USDA's 1996 HACCP final rule (61 Fed. Reg. 38806). Not later than 18 months after enactment, the Secretary must (1) create a free, searchable online database of approved peer-reviewed validation studies for HACCP plans and (2) publish online scale-appropriate model HACCP plans for slaughter-only, processing-only, and combined slaughter-and-processing establishments. Not later than two years after enactment, the Secretary must issue guidance, after notice and comment, on HACCP plan approval requirements for such establishments and must not disclose confidential business information, including any establishment's HACCP plan, in these resources.

This section increases the maximum federal contribution to cooperative state poultry products inspection programs—from 50% to 65%—of the estimated total cost of the program. It makes the same change for cooperative state meat and meat food products inspection programs. (These programs enable states with inspection standards at least equal to federal requirements to inspect poultry or meat processed solely for intrastate distribution.)

This section revises the cooperative interstate shipment (CIS) programs for poultry products under the Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 472) and meat products under the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 683)—which allow small state-inspected establishments to voluntarily ship products interstate bearing federal inspection marks using trained state personnel—by (1) increasing the average employee threshold above which establishments are ineligible from more than 25 to more than 50 employees, and the conditional eligibility range from more than 25 but less than 35 employees to more than 50 but less than 70 employees; and (2) increasing the maximum percentage of annual production eligible for interstate shipment to 80 percent (from 60 percent). The section further directs the Secretary of Agriculture, in each of FY2025 through 2030, to conduct outreach and negotiations with at least 25 percent of states that operate state poultry or meat inspection programs but have no selected establishments under CIS, and to submit annual reports on these activities to the House and Senate Agriculture Committees and Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittees.

This section establishes a processing resilience grant program under the Agricultural Marketing Service to support resiliency and diversification of the small meat and poultry processing sector through competitive grants (maximum $500,000 per grant, not to exceed three years) awarded not later than 60 days after enactment. Eligible entities include smaller or very small establishments (as defined in the 1996 HACCP rule), state-inspected meat or poultry processors under the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) or Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 451 et seq.), custom operations exempt from federal inspection, and persons seeking to establish such operations. The Secretary must provide a simplified online application process (separate for grants of $100,000 or less), publish a notice of funding opportunity 14 days before accepting applications, allow reapplications after denial, and prioritize projects increasing farmer access to slaughter within a 200-mile radius or supporting very small establishments; grant funds (federal share up to 90% for awards of $100,000 or less) may be used for specified activities, including HACCP plans, compliance equipment and facilities, cold storage, PPE and sanitation, humane handling infrastructure, recordkeeping software and training, feasibility studies, and coproduct equipment. The Secretary must conduct outreach to states and eligible entities prior to accepting applications.

This section establishes a competitive grant program under which the Secretary of Agriculture awards grants to junior or community colleges, technical or vocational schools, nonprofit organizations, worker training centers, and land-grant colleges and universities to establish or expand career training programs—including structured apprenticeships—relating to meat and poultry processing, with a focus on smaller establishments (i.e., meat or poultry plants with 500 or fewer employees) and very small establishments (i.e., those with fewer than 25 employees or processing less than 1,000 pounds of meat or poultry per day). A simplified application and reporting process applies for grants of $100,000 or less; and $10 million is authorized annually for FY2025 through FY2030.