Senate Bill No. 605

(By Senator Hunter)

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[Introduced February 21, 2000; referred to the Committee on Education.]
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A BILL to amend article two, chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section six-b, relating to providing that only foods free from genetically modified components, herbicide and pesticide residue may be served in public schools; requiring state board of education to propose legislative rules to require compliance with prohibition against foods with genetically modified components, pesticide or herbicide residue; requiring vendors to certify foods are free of genetically modified components, pesticide or herbicide residue; requiring vendors to reimburse county boards for costs associated with providing prohibited foods; and providing county boards certify to parents that foods served in the schools are free from the aforementioned banned components and residues.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article two, chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section six-b, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-2-6b. State board to require foods to be free from genetically modified components.

(a) The state board shall propose legislative rules in accordance with article three, chapter twenty-nine-a designed to prescribe minimum standards for the foods that are offered for consumption by students in all schools in this state. The rules shall require that no food offered for consumption contains any genetically modified component and that it is free from any herbicide or pesticide residue. The proposed rules shall also establish guidelines that the county boards shall follow in contracting for foods and food services with vendors. The rules shall require that any vendor providing foods or food services to
any school in this state shall certify that any foods provided are free from genetically modified components, as well as any herbicide or pesticide residue. Contracts entered into for food or food service shall require vendors to reimburse the county board for expenses incurred as the result of violating the requirement that food and food services be free of genetically modified components, or of herbicide or pesticide residue. The rules shall also include a mechanism for county boards of education to test any food or food service supplied by any vendor to insure compliance with the re quirements of this section.
(b) Any parent or guardian of a child attending a school under the authority of any county board of education shall be entitled, upon request, for certification from the county board that the food and food services offered for consumption at the particular school attended by the child is free from genetically modified components, herbicide and pesticide residue.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that only foods free from genetically modified components, herbicide and pesticide residue may be served in public schools. The bill, additionally requires the state board of education to propose legislative rules to require compliance with the prohibition against foods with genetically modified components, or pesticide or herbicide residue while requiring vendors to certify foods are free of genetically modified components, pesticide or herbicide residue. Finally, the bill requires vendors to reimburse county boards for costs associated with providing prohibited foods while providing county boards certify to parents that foods served in the schools are free from the aforementioned banned components and residues.

This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.