PREPARED Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1442 To amend the Animal Welfare Act to require that covered persons develop and implement emergency contingency plans. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 26, 2021 Ms. TITUS (for herself, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. ALLRED, Mrs. AXNE, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. BEYER, Mr. BISHOP of Geor- gia, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. BROWN, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. BUCHANAN, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. CARSON, Mr. CART- WRIGHT, Mr. CASTEN, Ms. CHU, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CON- NOLLY, Mr. COOPER, Mr. CROW, Ms. DEAN, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. DEFA- ZIO, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. DELGADO, Mrs. DEMINGS, Mr. DEUTCH, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. FOSTER, Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. VICENTE GONZALEZ of Texas, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. NORTON, Ms. HOULAHAN, Ms. JA- COBS of California, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. JONES, Mr. KEATING, Mr. KIM of New Jersey, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. LANGEVIN, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Mr. LEVIN of California, Mr. LIEU, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. LYNCH, Ms. MACE, Mr. MALINOWSKI, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Ms. MANNING, Mr. MAST, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. MENG, Mr. MORELLE, Mrs. MURPHY of Florida, Mr. NADLER, Mr. NEAL, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. O’HALLERAN, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. PAPPAS, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. PETERS, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. POCAN, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. RASKIN, Miss RICE of New York, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Mr. SCHRADER, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. SHERRILL, Mr. SIRES, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. STANTON, Ms. STEVENS, Ms. STRICKLAND, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. SWALWELL, Ms. TENNEY, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. TONKO, Mrs. TORRES of California, Mrs. TRAHAN, Ms. UNDER- WOOD, Mr. VAN DREW, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. VEASEY, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. WELCH, Ms. WILD, and Mr. YARMUTH) in- troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agri- culture VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:07 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H1442.IH H1442 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1442 IH A BILL To amend the Animal Welfare Act to require that covered persons develop and implement emergency contingency plans. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Providing Responsible 4 Emergency Plans for Animals at Risk of Emerging Disas- 5 ters Act’’ or the ‘‘PREPARED Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 7 Congress makes the following findings: 8 (1) Recent natural and man-made disasters 9 have highlighted the need for planning to minimize 10 the impact of disasters. 11 (2) Lack of preparedness in times of disaster 12 can have especially devastating effects on animals 13 and the people who risk their lives to protect them. 14 (3) Local first-responders, nongovernmental 15 agencies, and private individuals most often shoulder 16 the cost and responsibility of animals affected by 17 disasters. 18 (4) It is reasonable to ask those who use ani- 19 mals commercially to demonstrate a level of readi- 20 ness to protect the animals under their care. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:07 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1442.IH H1442 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1442 IH SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT THAT COVERED ENTITIES DEVELOP 1 AND IMPLEMENT EMERGENCY CONTINGENCY 2 PLANS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Animal Welfare Act (7 4 U.S.C. 2131 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 5 the following: 6 ‘‘SEC. 30. ANIMAL EMERGENCY PLANNING. 7 ‘‘(a) COVERED PERSON.—For purposes of this sec- 8 tion, the term ‘covered person’ means a research facility, 9 dealer, exhibitor, intermediate handler, carrier, or Federal 10 research facility. 11 ‘‘(b) CONTINGENCY PLAN.—Each covered person 12 shall develop, document, and follow a contingency plan to 13 provide for the humane handling, treatment, transpor- 14 tation, housing, and care of its animals in the event of 15 an emergency or disaster. Such a contingency plan shall— 16 ‘‘(1) identify situations that the covered person 17 might experience, including natural disasters and 18 emergencies such as electrical outages, faulty HVAC 19 systems, fires, mechanical breakdowns, and animal 20 escapes, that would trigger the need for the meas- 21 ures identified in the contingency plan to be put into 22 action; 23 ‘‘(2) outline specific tasks to be carried out in 24 response to the identified emergencies or disasters, 25 including detailed animal evacuation or shelter-in- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:07 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1442.IH H1442 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1442 IH place instructions and provisions for providing 1 backup sources of food and water as well as sanita- 2 tion, ventilation, bedding, and veterinary care; 3 ‘‘(3) establish a chain of command and identify 4 the individuals responsible for fulfilling the tasks de- 5 scribed in paragraph (2); and 6 ‘‘(4) address how response and recovery will be 7 handled in terms of materials, resources, and train- 8 ing needed. 9 ‘‘(c) ANNUAL REVIEW.—Each covered person shall— 10 ‘‘(1) review its contingency plan on at least an 11 annual basis to ensure that it adequately addresses 12 the criteria described in subsection (b); and 13 ‘‘(2) maintain documentation of the annual re- 14 views and any amendments or changes made to its 15 contingency plan since the previous year’s review. 16 ‘‘(d) TRAINING.—Each covered person shall— 17 ‘‘(1) train its personnel in their roles and re- 18 sponsibilities as outlined in the contingency plan; 19 ‘‘(2) communicate any changes in the contin- 20 gency plan to personnel through training within 30 21 days after making the changes; and 22 ‘‘(3) maintain documentation of its personnel’s 23 participation in and successful completion of the 24 training required by this subsection. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:07 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1442.IH H1442 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1442 IH ‘‘(e) AVAILABILITY OF DOCUMENTATION.— 1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each covered person shall 2 submit its contingency plan, as well as any docu- 3 mentation described in subsections (c)(2) and (d)(3), 4 to the Secretary annually. 5 ‘‘(2) WHILE TRAVELING.—A covered person en- 6 gaged in travel must carry a copy of its contingency 7 plan with it at all times and make it available for 8 inspection by the Secretary while in travel status.’’. 9 (b) REGULATIONS.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 11 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 12 Agriculture of the United States shall promulgate 13 such regulations as the Secretary determines to be 14 necessary to carry out section 30 of the Animal Wel- 15 fare Act, as added by subsection (a) of this Act. 16 (2) APPLICABILITY OF APA.—The regulations 17 described in paragraph (1) shall be made without re- 18 gard to the rulemaking procedures under section 19 553 of title 5, United States Code. 20 (c) NO PREEMPTION.—Nothing in this Act or the 21 amendments made by this Act preempts any law (includ- 22 ing a regulation) of a State, or a political subdivision of 23 a State, containing requirements that provide equivalent 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:07 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1442.IH H1442 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1442 IH or greater protection for animals than the requirements 1 of this Act or the amendments made by this Act. 2 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 3 subsection (a) shall apply to covered persons (as defined 4 in such subsection) beginning on the date that is 30 days 5 after the date of enactment of this Act. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:07 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1442.IH H1442 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS