(a) General. State agencies and school food authorities shall comply with the requirements of this part and 2 CFR part 200, subpart D and USDA implementing regulations 2 CFR part 400 and part 415, as applicable, which implement the applicable requirements, concerning the procurement of all goods and services with nonprofit school food service account funds.

(b) Contractual responsibilities. The standards contained in this part and 2 CFR part 200, subpart D and USDA implementing regulations 2 CFR part 400 and part 415, as applicable, do not relieve the State agency or school food authority of any contractual responsibilities under its contracts. The State agency or school food authority is the responsible authority, without recourse to FNS, regarding the settlement and satisfaction of all contractual and administrative issues arising out of procurements entered into in connection with the Program. This includes, but is not limited to source evaluation, protests, disputes, claims, or other matters of a contractual nature. Matters concerning violation of law are to be referred to the local, State, or Federal authority that has proper jurisdiction.

(c) Procedures. The State agency may elect to follow either the State laws, policies and procedures as authorized by 2 CFR 200.317, or the procurement standards for other governmental grantees and all governmental subgrantees in accordance with 2 CFR 200.318 through 2 CFR 200.326. Regardless of the option selected, States must ensure that all contracts include any clauses required by Federal statutes and executive orders and that the requirements 2 CFR 200.236 and Appendix II, Contract Provisions for Non-Federal Entity Contracts Under Federal Award are followed. A school food authority may use its own procurement procedures which reflect applicable State and local laws and regulations, provided that procurements made with nonprofit school food service account funds adhere to the standards set forth in this part and in 2 CFR part 200, subpart D, as applicable. School food authority procedures must include a written code of standards of conduct meeting the minimum standards of 2 CFR 200.318, as applicable.

(1) Pre-issuance review requirement. The State agency may impose a pre-issuance review requirement on a school food authority's proposed procurement. The school food authority must make available, upon request by the State agency, its procurement documents, including but not limited to solicitation documents, specifications, evaluation criteria, procurement procedures, proposed contracts and contract terms. School food authorities shall comply with State agency requests for changes to procurement procedures and solicitation and contract documents to ensure that, to the State agency's satisfaction, such procedures and documents reflect applicable procurement and contract requirements and the requirements of this part.

(2) Prototype solicitation documents and contracts. The school food authority must obtain the State agency's prior written approval for any change made to prototype solicitation or contract documents before issuing the revised solicitation documents or execution of the revised contract.

(3) Prohibited expenditures. No expenditure may be made from the nonprofit school food service account for any cost resulting from a procurement failing to meet the requirements of this part.

(d) Buy American—(1) Definitions. For the purpose of this paragraph (d):

(i) Domestic commodity or product means:

(A) An agricultural commodity that is produced in the United States; and

(B) A food product that is processed in the United States substantially using agricultural commodities that are produced in the United States.

(ii) Substantially using agriculture commodities that are produced in the United States means over 51 percent of a food product must consist of agricultural commodities that were grown domestically.

(2) In general. Subject to paragraph (d)(4) of this section, a school food authority must purchase, to the maximum extent practicable, domestic commodities or products.

(3) Required language. School food authorities must include language requiring the purchase of foods that meet the Buy American requirements in paragraph (d)(1) of this section in all procurement procedures, solicitations, and contracts.

(4) Limitations. Paragraphs (d)(2) and (3) of this section apply only to:

(i) A school food authority located in the contiguous United States; and

(ii) A purchase of domestic commodity or product for the school lunch program under this part.

(5) Exceptions. The purchase of foods not meeting the definition in paragraph (d)(1) of this section is only permissible when the following criteria are met:

(i) The school food authority determines that one of the following limited exceptions is met:

(A) The product is listed in the Federal Acquisitions Regulations (FAR) at 48 CFR 25.104 and/or is not produced or manufactured in the U.S. in sufficient and reasonably available quantities of a satisfactory quality; or

(B) Competitive bids reveal the cost of a United States product is significantly higher than the non-domestic product.

(ii) Non-domestic food purchases (those that do not meet the definition of domestic commodity or product, as defined in paragraph (d)(1) of this section) must not exceed the following caps by the established deadlines:

(A) By July 1, 2025, non-domestic food purchases must not exceed 10 percent of total annual commercial food costs that a school food authority purchases per school year.

(B) By July 1, 2028, non-domestic food purchases must not exceed 8 percent of total annual commercial food costs that a school food authority purchases per school year.

(C) By July 1, 2031, non-domestic food purchases must not exceed 5 percent of total annual commercial food costs that a school food authority purchases per school year.

(iii) School food authorities must maintain documentation, except when the item purchased is found on the FAR at 48 CFR 25.104 when using an exception under paragraph (d)(5)(i) of this section.

(iv) School food authorities must maintain documentation, to demonstrate that when using an exception under paragraph (d)(5)(i) of this section their non-domestic food purchases do not exceed the annual threshold specified in paragraph (d)(5)(ii) of this section.

(6) Harvested fish. To meet the definition of a domestic commodity or product, harvested fish must meet the following requirements:

(i) Farmed fish must be harvested within the United States or any territory or possession of the United States; and

(ii) Wild caught fish must be harvested within the Exclusive Economic Zone of the United States or by a United States flagged vessel.

(7) Applicability to Hawaii. Paragraph (d)(2) of this section applies to school food authorities in Hawaii with respect to domestic commodities or products that are produced in Hawaii in sufficient quantities to meet the needs of meals provided under the school lunch program under this part.

(8) Temporary accommodation. For school food authorities that demonstrate they cannot meet the threshold, State agencies may provide an accommodation for temporary relief from the requirement as the State agency works with the school food authority to increase domestic purchases.

(e) Restrictions on the sale of milk. A school food authority participating in the Program, or a person approved by a school participating in the Program, must not directly or indirectly restrict the sale or marketing of fluid milk (as described in § 210.10(d)(4) of this chapter) at any time or in any place on school premises or at any school-sponsored event.

(f) Cost reimbursable contracts—(1) Required provisions. The school food authority must include the following provisions in all cost reimbursable contracts, including contracts with cost reimbursable provisions, and in solicitation documents prepared to obtain offers for such contracts:

(i) Allowable costs will be paid from the nonprofit school food service account to the contractor net of all discounts, rebates and other applicable credits accruing to or received by the contractor or any assignee under the contract, to the extent those credits are allocable to the allowable portion of the costs billed to the school food authority;

(ii)(A) The contractor must separately identify for each cost submitted for payment to the school food authority the amount of that cost that is allowable (can be paid from the nonprofit school food service account) and the amount that is unallowable (cannot be paid from the nonprofit school food service account); or

(B) The contractor must exclude all unallowable costs from its billing documents and certify that only allowable costs are submitted for payment and records have been established that maintain the visibility of unallowable costs, including directly associated costs in a manner suitable for contract cost determination and verification;

(iii) The contractor's determination of its allowable costs must be made in compliance with the applicable Departmental and Program regulations and Office of Management and Budget cost circulars;

(iv) The contractor must identify the amount of each discount, rebate and other applicable credit on bills and invoices presented to the school food authority for payment and individually identify the amount as a discount, rebate, or in the case of other applicable credits, the nature of the credit. If approved by the State agency, the school food authority may permit the contractor to report this information on a less frequent basis than monthly, but no less frequently than annually;

(v) The contractor must identify the method by which it will report discounts, rebates and other applicable credits allocable to the contract that are not reported prior to conclusion of the contract; and

(vi) The contractor must maintain documentation of costs and discounts, rebates and other applicable credits, and must furnish such documentation upon request to the school food authority, the State agency, or the Department.

(2) Prohibited expenditures. No expenditure may be made from the nonprofit school food service account for any cost resulting from a cost reimbursable contract that fails to include the requirements of this section, nor may any expenditure be made from the nonprofit school food service account that permits or results in the contractor receiving payments in excess of the contractor's actual, net allowable costs.

(g) Geographic preference. (1) A school food authority participating in the Program, as well as State agencies making purchases on behalf of such school food authorities, may apply a geographic preference when procuring unprocessed locally grown or locally raised agricultural products, including the use of “locally grown”, “locally raised”, or “locally caught” as procurement specifications or selection criteria for unprocessed or minimally processed food items. When utilizing the geographic preference to procure such products, the school food authority making the purchase or the State agency making purchases on behalf of such school food authorities have the discretion to determine the local area to which the geographic preference option will be applied, so long as there are an appropriate number of qualified firms able to compete;

(2) For the purpose of applying the optional geographic procurement preference in paragraph (g)(1) of this section, “unprocessed locally grown or locally raised agricultural products” means only those agricultural products that retain their inherent character. The effects of the following food handling and preservation techniques shall not be considered as changing an agricultural product into a product of a different kind or character: Cooling; refrigerating; freezing; size adjustment made by peeling, slicing, dicing, cutting, chopping, shucking, and grinding; forming ground products into patties without any additives or fillers; drying/dehydration; washing; packaging (such as placing eggs in cartons), vacuum packing and bagging (such as placing vegetables in bags or combining two or more types of vegetables or fruits in a single package); the addition of ascorbic acid or other preservatives to prevent oxidation of produce; butchering livestock and poultry; cleaning fish; and the pasteurization of milk.

(h) Procurement training. (1) State directors of school nutrition programs, State directors of distributing agencies, and school nutrition program directors, management, and staff tasked with National School Lunch Program procurement responsibilities must complete annual training on Federal procurement standards annually.

(2) Procurement training may count towards the professional standards training standards at § 210.30(g) of this part and § 235.11(h) of this chapter.

(3) State agencies and school food authorities must retain records to document compliance with the requirement in this section.

(a) General. Unless otherwise exempt, audits at the State and school food authority levels shall be conducted in accordance with 2 CFR part 200, subpart F and Appendix XI (Compliance Supplement) and USDA implementing regulations 2 CFR part 400 and part 415.

(b) Audit procedure. These requirements call for organization-wide financial and compliance audits to ascertain whether financial operations are conducted properly; financial statements are presented fairly; recipients and subrecipients comply with the laws and regulations that affect the expenditures of Federal funds; recipients and subrecipients have established procedures to meet the objectives of federally assisted programs; and recipients and subrecipients are providing accurate and reliable information concerning grant funds. States and school food authorities shall use their own procedures to arrange for and prescribe the scope of independent audits, provided that such audits comply with the requirements set forth in 2 CFR part 200, subpart F and Appendix XI, and USDA implementing regulations 2 CFR part 400 and part 415.

(a) Free and reduced price lunches and afterschool snacks. State agencies and school food authorities must ensure that lunches and afterschool snacks are made available free or at a reduced price to all children who are determined by the school food authority to be eligible for such benefits. The determination of a child's eligibility for free or reduced price lunches and afterschool snacks must made in accordance with part 245 of this chapter.

(b) Civil rights. In the operation of the Program, no child shall be denied benefits or be otherwise discriminated against because of race, color, national origin, age, sex, or disability. State agencies and school food authorities shall comply with the requirements of: Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972; section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; the Age Discrimination Act of 1975; Department of Agriculture regulations on nondiscrimination (7 CFR parts 15, 15a, and 15b); and FNS Instruction 113-1.

(c) Retention of records. State agencies and school food authorities may retain necessary records in their original form or on microfilm. State agency records shall be retained for a period of 3 years after the date of submission of the final Financial Status Report for the fiscal year. School food authority records shall be retained for a period of 3 years after submission of the final Claim for Reimbursement for the fiscal year. In either case, if audit findings have not been resolved, the records shall be retained beyond the 3-year period as long as required for the resolution of the issues raised by the audit.

(d) Program evaluations. States, State agencies, local educational agencies, school food authorities, schools and contractors must cooperate in studies and evaluations conducted by or on behalf of the Department, related to programs authorized under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966.