Protect Interstate Commerce Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 272 To prevent States and local jurisdictions from interfering with the production and distribution of agricultural products in interstate or foreign com- merce, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 8, 2019 Mr. KING of Iowa (for himself, Mr. PETERSON, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. ESTES, and Mr. GIBBS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on the Judi- ciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To prevent States and local jurisdictions from interfering with the production and distribution of agricultural prod- ucts in interstate or foreign commerce, 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 ‘‘Protect Interstate 4 Commerce Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:07 Jan 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H272.IH H272 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 272 IH SEC. 2. PROHIBITION AGAINST INTERFERENCE BY STATE 1 AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS WITH PRODUC- 2 TION OR MANUFACTURE OF ITEMS IN OTHER 3 STATES. 4 Consistent with article I, section 8, clause 3 of the 5 Constitution of the United States, the government of a 6 State or locality therein shall not impose a standard or 7 condition on the production or manufacture of any agricul- 8 tural product sold or offered for sale in interstate com- 9 merce if— 10 (1) such production or manufacture occurs in 11 another State; and 12 (2) the standard or condition is in addition to 13 the standards and conditions applicable to such pro- 14 duction or manufacture pursuant to— 15 (A) Federal law; and 16 (B) the laws of the State and locality in 17 which such production or manufacture occurs. 18 SEC. 3. FEDERAL CAUSE OF ACTION TO CHALLENGE STATE 19 REGULATION OF INTERSTATE COMMERCE. 20 (a) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—A person, includ- 21 ing, but not limited to, a producer, transporter, 22 distributer, consumer, laborer, trade association, the Fed- 23 eral Government, a State government, or a unit of local 24 government, which is affected by a regulation of a State 25 or unit of local government which regulates any aspect of 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:07 Jan 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H272.IH H272 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 272 IH an agricultural product, including any aspect of the meth- 1 od of production, which is sold in interstate commerce, or 2 any means or instrumentality through which such an agri- 3 cultural product is sold in interstate commerce, may bring 4 an action in the appropriate court to invalidate such a reg- 5 ulation and seek damages for economic loss resulting from 6 such regulation. 7 (b) PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION.—Upon a motion of 8 the plaintiff described in subsection (a), the court shall 9 issue a preliminary injunction to preclude the State or unit 10 of local government from enforcing the regulation at issue 11 until such time as the court enters a final judgment in 12 the case, unless the State or unit of local government 13 proves by clear and convincing evidence that— 14 (1) the State or unit of local government is like- 15 ly to prevail on the merits at trial; and 16 (2) the injunction would cause irreparable harm 17 to the State or unit of local government. 18 (c) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—No action shall be 19 maintained under this section unless it is commenced 20 within 10 years after the cause of action arose. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:07 Jan 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H272.IH H272 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 272 IH SEC. 4. AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT DEFINED. 1 In this Act, the term ‘‘agricultural product’’ has the 2 meaning given such term in section 207 of the Agricul- 3 tural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1626). 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:07 Jan 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H272.IH H272 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS