Safe Line Speeds During COVID–19 Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 713 To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to temporarily suspend increased line speeds at meat and poultry establishments, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 11, 2021 Mr. BOOKER (for himself, Ms. WARREN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BROWN, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. MERKLEY, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. CASEY, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mrs. MURRAY, and Mr. CARDIN) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agri- culture, Nutrition, and Forestry A BILL To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to temporarily suspend increased line speeds at meat and poultry establishments, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Safe Line Speeds Dur- 4 ing COVID–19 Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Apr 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S713.IS S713 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 713 IS SEC. 2. TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF INCREASED LINE 1 SPEEDS AT MEAT AND POULTRY ESTABLISH- 2 MENTS. 3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 4 (1) COVERED ESTABLISHMENT.—The term 5 ‘‘covered establishment’’ means— 6 (A) an official establishment (as defined in 7 section 301.2 of title 9, Code of Federal Regu- 8 lations (or successor regulations)) that is sub- 9 ject to inspection under the Federal Meat In- 10 spection Act (21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.); and 11 (B) an official establishment (as defined in 12 section 381.1 of title 9, Code of Federal Regu- 13 lations (or successor regulations)) that is sub- 14 ject to inspection under the Poultry Products 15 Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 451 et seq.). 16 (2) COVERED PERIOD.—The term ‘‘covered pe- 17 riod’’ means the period beginning on the date of en- 18 actment of this Act and ending on the date that is 19 90 days after the date on which the COVID–19 20 emergency is lifted. 21 (3) COVID–19 EMERGENCY.—The term 22 ‘‘COVID–19 emergency’’ means the public health 23 emergency declared by the Secretary of Health and 24 Human Services under section 319 of the Public 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Apr 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S713.IS S713 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 713 IS Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) on January 1 31, 2020, with respect to COVID–19. 2 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 3 the Secretary of Agriculture. 4 (b) TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF WAIVERS.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 6 provision of law (including regulations, including 7 sections 303.1(h) and 381.3(b) of title 9, Code of 8 Federal Regulations (or successor regulations)), dur- 9 ing the covered period, the Secretary, acting through 10 the Administrator of the Food Safety and Inspection 11 Service— 12 (A) shall suspend any waivers issued be- 13 fore the date of enactment of this Act relating 14 to— 15 (i) line speeds at covered establish- 16 ments; and 17 (ii) inspection staffing requirements 18 for covered establishments; 19 (B) shall not issue any waiver described in 20 subparagraph (A) to covered establishments; 21 and 22 (C) shall suspend implementation of, and 23 conversion to, the New Swine Slaughter Inspec- 24 tion System described in the final rule entitled 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Apr 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S713.IS S713 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 713 IS ‘‘Modernization of Swine Slaughter Inspection’’ 1 (84 Fed. Reg. 52300 (October 1, 2019)). 2 (2) LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY OVER LINE 3 SPEEDS.—None of the funds made available to the 4 Secretary during the covered period may be used to 5 develop, propose, finalize, issue, amend, or imple- 6 ment any policy, regulation, directive, constituent 7 update, or any other agency program that would in- 8 crease line speeds at covered establishments. 9 (3) EFFECT ON STATE LAW.— 10 (A) IN GENERAL.—This subsection shall 11 not preempt or limit any law or regulation of a 12 State or a political subdivision of a State that— 13 (i) imposes requirements that are 14 more protective of worker safety or animal 15 welfare than the requirements of this sub- 16 section; or 17 (ii) creates penalties for conduct regu- 18 lated by this subsection. 19 (B) OTHER LAWS.—The requirements of 20 this subsection are in addition to, and not in 21 lieu of, any other laws protecting worker safety 22 and animal welfare. 23 (c) GAO REVIEW.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Apr 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S713.IS S713 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 713 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 1 the end of the covered period, the Comptroller Gen- 2 eral of the United States shall carry out, and submit 3 to Congress, a review of the actions taken by the 4 Secretary, the Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary 5 of Health and Human Services in response to the 6 COVID–19 pandemic to determine the effectiveness 7 of those actions in protecting animal, food, and 8 worker safety. 9 (2) CONTENTS.—The review carried out under 10 paragraph (1) shall include information on, and an 11 analysis of, with respect to covered establishments— 12 (A) all policies and regulations relating to 13 inspection of those establishments that have 14 been implemented by the Secretary, the Sec- 15 retary of Labor, and the Secretary of Health 16 and Human Services during the COVID–19 17 emergency and the covered period; 18 (B) the pandemic emergency preparedness 19 plans of those establishments; 20 (C) the extent to which those establish- 21 ments have implemented guidance and rec- 22 ommendations to space workers 6 feet apart on 23 production lines and in break rooms, locker 24 rooms, and all other workspaces; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Apr 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S713.IS S713 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 713 IS (D) the quantity and usage of personal 1 protective equipment by workers at those estab- 2 lishments; 3 (E) any guidance provided to inspectors of 4 those establishments by the Secretary, Sec- 5 retary of Labor, or the Secretary of Health and 6 Human Services during the COVID–19 emer- 7 gency; 8 (F) actions taken by the Secretary, the 9 Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of Health 10 and Human Services to protect workers, ani- 11 mals, and food at establishments that have re- 12 ported cases of COVID–19; 13 (G) all humane handling reports issued, 14 and enforcement actions taken, by the Sec- 15 retary during the COVID–19 emergency pursu- 16 ant to— 17 (i) Public Law 85–765 (commonly 18 known as the ‘‘Humane Methods of 19 Slaughter Act of 1958’’) (7 U.S.C. 1901 et 20 seq.); and 21 (ii) good commercial practices regula- 22 tions promulgated under the Poultry Prod- 23 ucts Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 451 et 24 seq.); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Apr 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S713.IS S713 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 713 IS (H) the impact of faster line speeds on the 1 ability of those establishments to maintain pro- 2 tections for workers; and 3 (I) any instance of interference by a Fed- 4 eral agency with a review of a covered establish- 5 ment experiencing an outbreak of COVID–19 6 conducted by personnel of the Centers for Dis- 7 ease Control and Prevention. 8 (d) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 180 9 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec- 10 retary, the Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of 11 Health and Human Services shall each submit to the Com- 12 mittees on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and 13 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, 14 and the Committees on Agriculture and Education and 15 Labor of the House of Representatives, a report that— 16 (1) describes the actions taken by that Sec- 17 retary to ensure worker, animal, and food safety 18 during the COVID–19 emergency; and 19 (2) includes an analysis of the issues described 20 in subparagraphs (A) through (H) of subsection 21 (c)(2). 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Apr 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S713.IS S713 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS