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2011 SESSION

11100579D
HOUSE BILL NO. 1484
Offered January 12, 2011
Prefiled December 13, 2010
A BILL to amend and reenact § 2.2-1111 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Article 6 of Chapter 2 of Title 2.2 a section numbered 2.2-214.2, relating to food standards for agency meals.
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Patron-- Hope
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Referred to Committee on General Laws
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1.  That § 2.2-1111 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted and that the Code of Virginia is amended by adding in Article 6 of Chapter 2 of Title 2.2 a section numbered 2.2-214.2 as follows:

§ 2.2-214.2. Secretary to develop nutritional standards for foods served by state agencies and institutions; Food Standards Task Force.

The Secretary shall develop, together with the Food Standards Task Force, the Food Standards for Agency Meals, to consist of nutritional standards for foods served by state agencies and institutions and recommendations for the use of Virginia-grown food products to the greatest extent possible, and shall disseminate such standards to the heads of all state agencies that purchase, prepare, or serve meals. The standards shall, at a minimum, meet federal dietary guidelines developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and shall apply to foods purchased, prepared, or served by all state agencies and institutions.

The Secretary shall convene a Food Standards Task Force, to consist of the heads of all state agencies and institutions that purchase, prepare, or serve food, at least one person qualified by experience as a dietician or nutritionist, and such other persons as the Secretary may deem appropriate. The Food Standards Task Force shall be responsible for developing Food Standards for Agency Meals together with the Secretary, and for reviewing and updating the Food Standards for Agency Meals at least triennially to ensure that the standards remain current and science-based.

As used in this section, "Virginia-grown foods" means substances and products used by humans as food and drink that are planted, cultivated, harvested, raised, or collected within Virginia.

§ 2.2-1111. Purchases to be made in accordance with the Virginia Public Procurement Act (§ 2.2-4300 et seq.) and regulations of Division; exempt purchases.

A. All purchases made by any department, division, officer or agency of the Commonwealth shall be made in accordance with the Virginia Public Procurement Act (§ 2.2-4300 et seq.) and such regulations as the Division may prescribe.

B. The regulations adopted by the Division shall:

1. Include a purchasing plan that shall be on file at the Division and shall be available to the public upon request;

2. Require that before any public body procures any computer system, equipment or software, it shall consider whether the proposed system, equipment or software is capable of producing products that facilitate the rights of the public to access official records under the Freedom of Information Act (§ 2.2-3700 et seq.) or other applicable law;

3. Require state public bodies to procure only shielded outdoor light fixtures and provide for waivers of this requirement when the Division determines that a bona fide operational, temporary, safety or specific aesthetic need is indicated or that such fixtures are not cost effective over the life cycle of the fixtures. For the purposes of this subdivision, "shielded outdoor light fixture" means an outdoor light fixture that is (i) fully shielded so that no light rays are emitted by the installed fixture above the horizontal plane or (ii) constructed so that no more than two percent of the total luminaire lumens in the zone of 90 to 180 degrees vertical angle is permitted, if the related output of the luminaire is greater than 3200 lumens. In adopting regulations under this subdivision, the Division shall consider national standards for outdoor lighting as adopted by the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA).

For any project initiated on or after July 1, 2003, the The Virginia Department of Transportation shall design all lighting systems in accordance with current IESNA standards and recommended practices. The lighting system shall utilize fixtures that minimize glare, light trespass, and skyglow, all as defined by the IESNA, while still providing a comfortable, visually effective, safe, and secure outdoor environment in a cost-effective manner over the life cycle of the lighting system;

4. Establish the conditions under which a public body may use, as a basis for the procurement of goods and nonprofessional services, a particular vendor's contract-pricing that has been negotiated and accepted by the U.S. General Services Administration;

5. Establish procurement preferences for products containing recycled oil (including reprocessed and rerefined oil products) and recycled antifreeze no later than December 31, 2002;

6. Establish conditions under which a public body shall demonstrate a good faith effort to ensure that state contracts or subcontracts for goods or services that involve the manual packaging of bulk supplies or the manual assemblage of goods where individual items weigh less than 50 pounds be offered to nonprofit sheltered workshops or other nonprofit organizations that offer transitional or supported employment services serving the handicapped;

7. Require that on or before October 1, 2009, and every two years thereafter, the Director of the Department of General Services shall solicit from each state agency and public institution of higher education a list of procurements falling under the Department's authority that were competed with the private sector that appear on the Commonwealth Competition Council's commercial activities list and were, until that time, being performed by each state agency and public institution of higher education during the previous two years, and the outcome of that competition. The Director shall make the lists available to the public on the Department of General Services' website; and

8. Establish the conditions under which state public bodies may procure diesel fuel containing, at a minimum, two percent, by volume, biodiesel fuel or green diesel fuel, as defined in § 45.1-394, for use in on-road internal combustion engines. The conditions shall take into consideration the availability of such fuel and the variability in cost of biodiesel fuel with respect to unblended diesel fuel; and

9. Establish procurement procedures to ensure that foods purchased for serving by state agencies meet the Food Standards for Agency Meals developed by the Secretary of Health and Human Resources together with the Food Standards Task Force, and to facilitate the purchase of Virginia-grown food products by state agencies and institutions to the maximum extent possible. As used in this subdivision, "Virginia-grown food products" means substances and products used by humans as food and drink that are planted, cultivated, harvested, raised, or collected within Virginia.

C. The Division may make, alter, amend or repeal regulations relating to the purchase of materials, supplies, equipment, nonprofessional services, and printing, and may specifically exempt purchases below a stated amount or particular agencies or specified materials, equipment, nonprofessional services, supplies and printing.