7 U.S.C. § 7503 — State plan

(a) Plans. (1) In general: To receive commodities under this program, a State must send the Secretary a plan. The plan must explain how the State will run and administer the program. (2) Updates: If the State wants to change how it runs or administers the program, it must send the Secretary an amendment. The Secretary must approve the amendment first. (b) Requirements. Each plan must do six things. (1) Name the state agency that will distribute the commodities. (2) Lay out a plan to distribute commodities quickly. (3) Set eligibility standards for recipient agencies — the local groups that hand out the food. (4) Set eligibility standards for individual or household recipients. These standards must require that (A) the individuals or households are needy, and (B) they live in the area served by the distributing agency when they apply. (5) The State may choose to describe a plan for partnering with one or more emergency feeding organizations in the State. This partnership would harvest, process, package, or transport donated commodities received under section 7507(d). (6) Describe a plan that lets emergency feeding organizations or eligible recipient agencies give input on what commodities they need and prefer. This plan may use a state advisory board set up under subsection (c). (c) State advisory board. The Secretary must encourage each State that gets commodities to set up an advisory board. The board should include public and private representatives interested in how commodities are distributed.