Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

67th Legislature                                                                                                    SB 199.1
                                                   SENATE BILL NO. 199
                                                INTRODUCED BY G. HERTZ
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   A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: “AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE MONTANA LOCAL FOOD CHOICE ACT;
   EXEMPTING CERTAIN HOMEMADE FOOD PRODUCERS FROM FOOD LICENSURE, PERMITTING,
   CERTIFICATION, PACKAGING, LABELING, AND INSPECTION REGULATIONS AS WELL AS CERTAIN
   OTHER STANDARDS AND REQUIREMENTS; PROVIDING EXCEPTIONS TO CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS;
   REVISING RULEMAKING AUTHORITY; AND AMENDING SECTIONS 30-12-301, 50-31-104, 50-31-106, 50-
   31-108, 50-31-201, 50-50-301, 81-2-101, 81-2-102, 81-2-105, 81-9-201, 81-9-218, 81-21-101, 81-21-102, 81-
   21-103, 81-22-101, 81-22-102, 81-22-201, 81-22-303, 81-22-304, 81-22-401, 81-22-405, 81-22-412, 81-22-
   413, 81-22-416, 81-22-420, 81-22-421, 81-22-503, 81-23-103, 81-23-401, AND 81-23-405, MCA.”
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   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
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              NEW SECTION. Section 1.        Short title -- purpose. (1) This chapter may be cited as the "Montana
   Local Food Choice Act".
              (2)   The purpose of this act is to allow for the sale and consumption of homemade food and food
   products and to encourage the expansion of agricultural sales by ranches, farms, and home-based producers
   and the accessibility of homemade food and food products to informed end consumers by:
              (a)   facilitating the purchase and consumption of fresh and local agricultural products;
              (b)   enhancing the agricultural economy; and
              (c)   providing Montana citizens with unimpeded access to healthy food from known sources.
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              NEW SECTION. Section 2.        Definitions. For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:
              (1)   "Deliver" means to transfer a product as a result of a transaction between a producer and an
   informed end consumer. The action may be performed by the producer or the producer's designated agent at a
   farm, ranch, home, office, traditional community social event, or another location agreed to between the
   producer or agent and the informed end consumer.
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              (2)   "Home consumption" means:
              (a)   the consumption of food or a food product in a private home; or
              (b)   the consumption of food or a food product from a private home.
              (3)   "Homemade" means food or a food product that is prepared in a private home and that is not
   licensed, permitted, certified, packaged, labeled, or inspected per any official regulations.
              (4)   "Informed end consumer" means a person who is the last person to purchase a product, does not
   resell the product, and has been informed that the product is not licensed, permitted, certified, packaged,
   labeled, or inspected per any official regulations.
              (5)   (a) "Producer" means a person who harvests, produces, or prepares a product that may be
   consumed as homemade food or a homemade food product. The term includes a person operating a small
   dairy, as defined in 81-21-101.
              (b)   The term does not include the entities listed in [section 3(1)(c)].
              (6)   "Traditional community social event" means an event at which people gather as part of a
   community for the benefit of those gathering or for the benefit of the community, including but not limited to a:
              (a)   wedding;
              (b)   funeral;
              (c)   church or religious social;
              (d)   school event;
              (e)   farmer's market;
              (f)   potluck;
              (g)   neighborhood gathering; or
              (h)   club meeting or social.
              (7)   "Transaction" means an exchange of buying and selling, including the transfer of a product by
   delivery.
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              NEW SECTION. Section 3.         Exemptions from regulations -- transactions -- information required
   -- exceptions. (1) (a) A state agency or an agency of a political subdivision of the state may not require
   licensure, permitting, certification, packaging, labeling, or inspection that pertains to the preparation, serving,
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   use, consumption, delivery, or storage of homemade food or a homemade food product under this chapter.
              (b)   This chapter does not preclude an agency from providing assistance, consultation, or inspection
   requested by a producer.
              (c)   A producer as defined in this chapter is not:
              (i)   a retail food establishment, a cottage food operation, or a temporary food establishment, as each
   term is defined in 50-50-102;
              (ii) a wholesale food manufacturing establishment, as defined in 50-57-102; or
              (iii) a dairy or a manufactured dairy products plant, as defined in 81-22-101.
              (d)   A producer is not subject to labeling, licensure, inspection, sanitation, or other requirements or
   standards of 30-12-301; Title 50, chapter 31; or Title 81, chapters 2, 9, 21, or 22.
              (2)   Transactions pursuant to this chapter:
              (a)   must be directly between the producer and the informed end consumer;
              (b)   must be only for home consumption or consumption at a traditional community social event; and
              (c) must occur only in this state and may not involve interstate commerce.
              (3)   Except as provided in subsection (7), a producer shall inform an end consumer that any
   homemade food or homemade food product sold through ranch, farm, or home-based sales pursuant to this
   chapter has not been licensed, permitted, certified, packaged, labeled, or inspected per any official regulations.
              (4)   Except for raw, unprocessed fruit and vegetables, homemade food shall not be sold or used in a
   retail food establishment, as defined in 50-50-102, unless the food has been licensed, permitted, certified,
   packaged, labeled, and inspected as required by law.
              (5)   Except as provided in subsection (6) and pursuant to [sections 1 through 3], a producer may
   donate homemade food or homemade food products to a traditional community social event.
              (6)   A producer may not donate milk to a traditional community social event.
              (7)   (a) Meat or meat products sold pursuant to [sections 1 through 3] must be processed at a state-
   licensed or federally approved meat establishment.
              (b)   Subsection (7)(a) does not apply to a producer, as defined in [section 2], who slaughters fewer
   than 1,000 poultry birds a year.
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67th Legislature                                                                                                   SB 199.1
              Section 4. Section 30-12-301, MCA, is amended to read:
              "30-12-301. Method of sale of commodities -- general. (1) Commodities in liquid form may be sold
   only by liquid measure or by weight, and, except as otherwise provided in parts 1 through 5, commodities not in
   liquid form may be sold only by weight, by measure of length or area, or by count. Liquid commodities may be
   sold by weight and commodities not in liquid form may be sold by count only if those methods give accurate
   information as to the quantity of commodity sold. This section does not apply to:
              (a)   commodities when sold for immediate consumption on the premises where sold;
              (b)   vegetables when sold by the head or bunch;
              (c)   commodities in containers standardized by a law of this state or by federal law;
              (d)   commodities in package form when there exists a general consumer usage to express the quantity
   in some other manner;
              (e)   concrete aggregates, concrete mixtures, and loose solid materials such as earth, soil, gravel,
   crushed stone, and the like, when sold by cubic measure;
              (f)   unprocessed vegetable and animal fertilizer when sold by cubic measure; or
              (g)   cottage food products as defined in 50-50-102; or
              (h)   homemade food or homemade food products sold pursuant to [sections 1 through 3].
              (2)   The department may adopt reasonable rules necessary to ensure that amounts of commodity sold
   are determined in accordance with good commercial practice and are determined and represented as to be
   accurate and informative to all parties at interest."
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              Section 5. Section 50-31-104, MCA, is amended to read:
              "50-31-104. Department authorized to adopt rules. (1) The department may adopt rules for the
   efficient enforcement of this chapter. The department may adopt by reference the regulations adopted by the
   food and drug administration under the federal act and the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (15 U.S.C. 1451, et
   seq.).
              (2)   No hearing is required for adoption by reference of those regulations adopted under the federal
   act and the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (15 U.S.C. 1451, et seq.).
              (3)   The department may not establish rules related to enforcement of this chapter for homemade food
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   or a homemade food product sold pursuant to [sections 1 through 3]."
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              Section 6. Section 50-31-106, MCA, is amended to read:
              "50-31-106. Inspections and taking of samples authorized. (1) The department or its authorized
   agents have free access at all reasonable hours to any factory, warehouse, or establishment in which foods,
   drugs, devices, or cosmetics are manufactured, processed, packed, or held for introduction into commerce or to
   any vehicle being used to transport or hold the foods, drugs, devices, or cosmetics in commerce, for the
   purpose of:
              (a)   inspecting the factory, warehouse, establishment, or vehicle to determine if any of the provisions
   of this chapter are being violated; and
              (b)   securing samples or specimens of any food, drug, device, or cosmetic after paying or offering to
   pay for the sample.
              (2)   The department shall make or cause to be made examinations of samples secured under the
   provisions of this section to determine whether or not any provision of this chapter is being violated.
              (3)   Pursuant to [sections 1 through 3], the department may not conduct inspections of or take
   samples from producers as defined in [section 2]."
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              Section 7. Section 50-31-108, MCA, is amended to read:
              "50-31-108. Regulations concerning additives. (1) The department, upon its own motion or upon
   the petition of any interested party requesting that a rule be established, whenever public health or other
   considerations in the state require, is authorized to adopt, amend, or repeal rules, whether or not in accordance
   with regulations promulgated under the federal act, prescribing tolerances for any added poisonous or
   deleterious substances for food additives, for pesticide chemicals in or on raw agricultural commodities, or for
   color additives, including but not limited to zero tolerances and exemptions from tolerances in the case of
   pesticide chemicals in or on raw agricultural commodities, and prescribing the conditions under which a food
   additive or a color additive may be safely used and exemptions when the food additive or color additive is to be
   used solely for investigational or experimental purposes.
              (2)   A petitioner shall establish by data submitted to the department that a necessity exists for the rule
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   and that its effect will not be detrimental to the public health. If the data furnished by the petitioner is not
   sufficient to allow the department to determine whether the regulation should be promulgated, the department
   may require additional data to be submitted and failure to comply with the request is sufficient grounds to deny
   the request.
              (3)   In adopting, amending, or repealing rules relating to the substances, the department shall consider
   among other relevant factors the following, which the petitioner, if any, shall furnish:
              (a)   the name and all pertinent information concerning the substance, including, when available:
              (i)   its chemical identity and composition;
              (ii) a statement of the conditions of the proposed use, including directions, recommendations, and
   suggestions and including specimens of proposed labeling; and
              (iii) all relevant data bearing on the physical or other technical effect and the quantity required to
   produce the effect;
              (b)   the probable composition of or other relevant exposure from the article and of any substance
   formed in or on a food, drug, or cosmetic resulting from the use of the substance;
              (c)   the probable consumption of the substance in the diet of humans and animals taking into account
   any chemically or pharmacologically related substance in the diet;
              (d)   safety factors that, in the opinion of experts qualified by scientific training and experience to
   evaluate the safety of the substances for the use or uses for which they are proposed to be used, are generally
   recognized as appropriate for the use of animal experimentation data;
              (e)   the availability of any needed practicable methods of analysis for determining the identity and
   quantity of:
              (i)   the substance in or on an article;
              (ii) any substance formed in or on the article because of the use of the substance; and
              (iii) the pure substance and all intermediates and impurities; and
              (f) facts supporting a contention that the proposed use of the substance will serve a useful purpose.
              (4)   The department may not establish rules related to food additives under this section for homemade
   food or a homemade food product sold pursuant to [sections 1 through 3]."
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67th Legislature                                                                                                      SB 199.1
              Section 8. Section 50-31-201, MCA, is amended to read:
              "50-31-201. Department authorized to adopt food standards. (1) Whenever in the judgment of the
   department such action will promote honesty and fair dealing in the interest of consumers, the department shall
   promulgate adopt regulations fixing and establishing for any food or class of food a reasonable definition and
   standard of identity, standard of quality, and/or fill of container.
              (2)   In prescribing a definition and standard of identity for any food or class of food in which optional
   ingredients are permitted, the department shall, for the purpose of promoting honesty and fair dealing in the
   interest of consumers, designate the optional ingredients which shall be named on the label.
              (3)   The definitions and standards so promulgated shall conform so far as much as practicable to the
   definitions and standards promulgated under authority of the federal act, or the department may promulgate
   adopt by reference the definitions and standards promulgated under authority of the federal act.
              (4)   The department may not adopt food standards or regulations under this section for homemade
   food or a homemade food product sold pursuant to [sections 1 through 3]."
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              Section 9. Section 50-50-301, MCA, is amended to read:
              "50-50-301. Health officers and sanitarians to make investigations and inspections -- training
   requirements. (1) State and local health officers, sanitarians-in-training, and registered sanitarians shall make
   investigations and inspections of retail food establishments once a year and make reports to the department as
   required under rules adopted by the department. An inspection may be conducted more often than once a year.
              (2)   A person conducting an inspection must be certified and have completed a food safety training
   program, such as the program administered by the national restaurant association educational foundation or its
   equivalent.
              (3)   (a) A cottage food operation is not subject to inspection under this section unless the state or
   local health officer is investi