Substitute Senate Bill No. 466
          Substitute Senate Bill No. 466

               PUBLIC ACT NO. 98-75


AN  ACT  CONCERNING  SOUP KITCHENS AND PERSONS WHO
SERVE MEALS TO SENIOR CITIZENS AT CONGREGATE  MEAL
SITES OR FOR NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS.


    Be it enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of
Representatives in General Assembly convened:
    Section 1. (NEW)  (a)  Any  person  who serves
meals to individuals at registered congregate meal
sites  funded  under   Title   III  of  the  Older
Americans Act of  1965,  as  amended,  which  were
prepared under the supervision of a qualified food
operator, shall be  exempt  from  the  examination
requirement for qualified food operators.
    (b)  Any volunteer  who  serves  meals  for  a
nonprofit organization shall  be  exempt  from the
examination   requirement   for   qualified   food
operators.
    (c)  The Commissioner  of  Public  Health,  in
conjunction  with  the   Commissioner   of  Social
Services, shall adopt  regulations  in  accordance
with the provisions  of  chapter 54 of the general
statutes  to  establish  training  procedures  for
persons exempt from  the  examination  requirement
for qualified food  operators under the provisions
of subsections (a) and (b) of this section.
    Sec. 2. Subsection  (a)  of  section 19a-36 of
the general statutes,  as  amended  by  public act
97-278,  is  repealed   and   the   following   is
substituted in lieu thereof:
    (a) The Commissioner  of  Public  Health shall
establish a Public  Health  Code and, from time to
time, amend the  same.  The Public Health Code may
provide for the  preservation  and  improvement of
the public health.  Drainage and toilet systems to
be installed in  any house or building arranged or
designed for human habitation, or field sanitation
provided  for agricultural  workers  or  migratory
farm   laborers,   shall    conform   to   minimum
requirements prescribed in  said  code.  Said code
may  include  regulations  requiring  toilets  and
handwashing facilities in large stores, as defined
in such regulations,  in  shopping  centers and in
places dispensing food or drink for consumption on
the premises, for  the  use  of  patrons  of  such
establishments, except that the provisions of such
regulations shall not apply to such establishments
constructed  or  altered  pursuant  to  plans  and
specifications approved or building permits issued
prior to October  1,  1977. The provisions of such
regulations (1) WITH RESPECT TO THE REQUIREMENT OF
EMPLOYING  A  QUALIFIED   FOOD  OPERATOR  AND  ANY
REPORTING REQUIREMENTS RELATIVE  TO SUCH OPERATOR,
SHALL NOT APPLY  TO AN OWNER OR OPERATOR OF A SOUP
KITCHEN  WHO  RELIES   EXCLUSIVELY   ON   SERVICES
PROVIDED BY VOLUNTEERS, AND (2) shall not prohibit
the sale of  food at a noncommercial function such
as  an  educational,   religious,   political   or
charitable organization's bake  sale  or  pot luck
supper provided the  seller  maintains  such  food
under the temperature, pH level and water activity
level conditions which  will inhibit the rapid and
progressive  growth  of  infectious  or  toxigenic
microorganisms. For the  purposes of this section,
a "noncommercial function"  means a function where
food is sold  by a person not regularly engaged in
the business of selling such food. Each regulation
adopted by the Commissioner of Public Health shall
state the date  on which it shall take effect, and
a copy thereof,  signed  by  the  Commissioner  of
Public Health, shall be filed in the office of the
Secretary of the  State  and  a  copy sent by said
commissioner to each  director of health, and such
regulation shall be  published  in  such manner as
the Commissioner of  Public  Health may determine.
Any  person who  violates  any  provision  of  the
Public Health Code  shall  be  fined not more than
one hundred dollars  or  imprisoned  not more than
three months or both.

Approved May 19, 1998