Farm System Reform Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6718 To place a moratorium on large concentrated animal feeding operations, to strengthen the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921, to require country of origin labeling on beef, pork, and dairy products, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 5, 2020 Mr. KHANNA (for himself, Ms. HAALAND, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. TED LIEU of California, and Ms. NORTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, 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 place a moratorium on large concentrated animal feeding operations, to strengthen the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921, to require country of origin labeling on beef, pork, and dairy products, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Farm System Reform Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 May 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6718.IH H6718 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6718 IH (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 1 this Act is as follows: 2 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Definition of Secretary. TITLE I—ANIMAL FEEDING OPERATIONS Sec. 101. Definitions. Sec. 102. Moratorium on large concentrated animal feeding operations. Sec. 103. Voluntary debt forgiveness and transition assistance program for ani- mal feeding operations. Sec. 104. Integrator responsibilities and liabilities. TITLE II—AMENDMENTS TO PACKERS AND STOCKYARDS ACT, 1921 Sec. 201. Definitions. Sec. 202. Unlawful practices. Sec. 203. Spot market purchases of livestock by packers. Sec. 204. Investigation of live poultry dealers. Sec. 205. Award of attorney fees. Sec. 206. Technical amendments. TITLE III—LABELING OF MEAT AND DAIRY PRODUCTS Sec. 301. Restoration of mandatory country of origin labeling for beef and pork; inclusion of dairy products. Sec. 302. Truth in labeling for meat and meat food products. SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF SECRETARY. 3 In this Act, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec- 4 retary of Agriculture. 5 TITLE I—ANIMAL FEEDING 6 OPERATIONS 7 SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS. 8 In this title: 9 (1) AGRONOMIC REQUIREMENT.— 10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘agronomic 11 requirement’’ means the quantity of nutrient 12 necessary to achieve a reasonable yield goal for 13 a crop, as determined based on land grant uni- 14 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 May 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6718.IH H6718 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6718 IH versity fertility rates, soil testing for available 1 nutrients, manure analysis, and other planned 2 nutrient applications. 3 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—Planned nutrient appli- 4 cations under subparagraph (A) do not include 5 nutrient indices, risk indices, or other methods 6 that allow land application of manure in excess 7 of crop need. 8 (2) ANIMAL FEEDING OPERATION; AFO.— 9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘animal feed- 10 ing operation’’ or ‘‘AFO’’ means a lot or facility 11 at which— 12 (i) for not less than a total of 45 days 13 in any 12-month period, animals (other 14 than aquatic animals) are— 15 (I) stabled or confined; and 16 (II) fed or maintained; and 17 (ii) crops, vegetation, forage growth, 18 or postharvest residues are not sustained 19 in the normal growing season over any por- 20 tion of the lot or facility. 21 (B) AGGREGATION.—Two or more lots or 22 facilities described in subparagraph (A) shall 23 constitute a single animal feeding operation if 24 the lots or facilities— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 May 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6718.IH H6718 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6718 IH (i) are located within 3 miles of each 1 other; and 2 (ii) are under common ownership or 3 control. 4 (C) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘animal feed- 5 ing operation’’ or ‘‘AFO’’ does not include a 6 stockyard (as that term is defined in section 7 302(a) of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 8 1921 (7 U.S.C. 202(a))). 9 (3) LARGE CONCENTRATED ANIMAL FEEDING 10 OPERATION; LARGE CAFO.—The term ‘‘large con- 11 centrated animal feeding operation’’ or ‘‘large 12 CAFO’’ means an AFO at which are present not 13 less than— 14 (A) 700 mature dairy cows, milked or dry; 15 (B) 1,000 veal calves; 16 (C) 1,000 cattle (including heifers, steers, 17 bulls, cows, and calves) other than mature dairy 18 cows or veal calves; 19 (D) 2,500 swine, each weighing not less 20 than 55 pounds; 21 (E) 10,000 swine, each weighing not more 22 than 55 pounds; 23 (F) 500 horses; 24 (G) 10,000 sheep or lambs; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 May 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6718.IH H6718 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6718 IH (H) 55,000 turkeys; 1 (I) in the case of an AFO that uses a liq- 2 uid manure handling system— 3 (i) 30,000 laying hens or broilers; or 4 (ii) 5,000 ducks; or 5 (J) in the case of an AFO that uses a sys- 6 tem other than a liquid manure handling sys- 7 tem— 8 (i) 125,000 chickens (other than lay- 9 ing hens); 10 (ii) 82,000 laying hens; or 11 (iii) 30,000 ducks. 12 (4) CONTRACT GROWER.—The term ‘‘contract 13 grower’’ means an owner of an AFO that raises live- 14 stock or poultry pursuant to a written contract, 15 marketing arrangement, or other arrangement with 16 an integrator. 17 (5) INTEGRATOR.—The term ‘‘integrator’’ 18 means an individual or entity that contracts with a 19 contract grower under a growout contract, mar- 20 keting arrangement, or other arrangement under 21 which the contract grower raises and cares for live- 22 stock or poultry at an AFO in accordance with the 23 instructions of the integrator for the purpose of 24 slaughtering the livestock or poultry or selling the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 May 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6718.IH H6718 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6718 IH livestock or poultry for slaughter, if the livestock or 1 poultry is sold or shipped in commerce (as described 2 in section 2(b) of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 3 1921 (7 U.S.C. 183)). 4 (6) MANURE.—The term ‘‘manure’’ means— 5 (A) the fecal and urinary excretions of live- 6 stock and poultry; and 7 (B) litter, bedding, compost and raw mate- 8 rials, process wastewater, and other materials 9 commingled with the excretions described in 10 subparagraph (A) or set aside for disposal after 11 such commingling. 12 SEC. 102. MORATORIUM ON LARGE CONCENTRATED ANI- 13 MAL FEEDING OPERATIONS. 14 (a) IN GENERAL.—No large CAFO may commence 15 or expand operations on or after the date of enactment 16 of this Act. 17 (b) CESSATION OF OPERATIONS.—No large CAFO 18 may continue to operate as a large CAFO after January 19 1, 2040. 20 (c) PENALTIES.—Any person that violates subsection 21 (a) or (b) may be assessed a civil penalty of up to $10,000 22 per violation, per day, in addition to any other applicable 23 statutory civil penalty or monetary damages assessed pur- 24 suant to any State common law judgment. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 May 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6718.IH H6718 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6718 IH SEC. 103. VOLUNTARY DEBT FORGIVENESS AND TRANSI- 1 TION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM FOR ANIMAL 2 FEEDING OPERATIONS. 3 (a) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITY.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—In this section, the term ‘‘el- 5 igible entity’’ means an owner of an AFO. 6 (2) EXCLUSION.—In this section, the term ‘‘eli- 7 gible entity’’ does not include an owner of an AFO 8 that is an integrator. 9 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 10 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall carry 11 out a program to provide grants to eligible entities to per- 12 manently transition from operating an AFO to carrying 13 out other activities on the property on which the AFO is 14 located. 15 (c) PAYMENTS.—Under the program established 16 under subsection (b), the Secretary shall provide grants 17 to eligible entities— 18 (1) to partially or fully pay off any outstanding 19 debt of the eligible entity that was incurred to con- 20 struct and operate the AFO; and 21 (2) to cover costs relating to the transition of 22 the property on which the AFO is located to be used 23 for alternative agriculture activities, such as raising 24 pasture-based livestock, growing specialty crops, or 25 organic commodity production. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 May 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6718.IH H6718 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6718 IH (d) REQUIREMENT.—As a condition of receiving a 1 grant under this section, an eligible entity shall provide 2 to the Secretary a working lands easement on the property 3 on which the AFO is located that prohibits— 4 (1) the operation of the AFO and any associ- 5 ated waste management system on the easement 6 area; and 7 (2) the use of the easement area for a spray 8 field or land application of manure at rates exceed- 9 ing crop agronomic requirements for nitrogen and 10 phosphorus. 11 (e) FUNDING.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—On the first October 1 after 13 the date of enactment of this Act, and on each Octo- 14 ber 1 thereafter, out of any funds in the Treasury 15 not otherwise appropriated, the Secretary of the 16 Treasury shall transfer to the Secretary to carry out 17 this section $10,000,000,000, to remain available 18 until expended. 19 (2) RECEIPT AND ACCEPTANCE.—The Sec- 20 retary shall be entitled to receive, shall accept, and 21 shall use to carry out this section the funds trans- 22 ferred under paragraph (1), without further appro- 23 priation. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 May 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6718.IH H6718 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6718 IH SEC. 104. INTEGRATOR RESPONSIBILITIES AND LIABIL- 1 ITIES. 2 (a) RESPONSIBILITIES AND LIABILITIES.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—An integrator that exercises 4 substantial operational control of an AFO, as de- 5 scribed in subsection (b), shall be responsible and 6 liable for, with respect to the operation of the 7 AFO— 8 (A) the disposal of dead animals; 9 (B) the disposal of manure, excrement, 10 and other waste; 11 (C) the discharge or release of any air pol- 12 lutant, including greenhouse gases, from any 13 source located on or activity occurring at the 14 AFO, including enteric processes, manure, and 15 animal feed; 16 (D) the discharge of any pollutant to 17 groundwater or any surface water body, includ- 18 ing the production area, manure storage, ma- 19 nure land application area (crop field), tile 20 drain, and agricultural stormwater runoff of the 21 AFO; 22 (E) any harm suffered by the contract 23 grower of the AFO or a third party from any 24 activity described in subparagraphs (A) through 25 (D), or from any other on-property or off-prop- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 May 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6718.IH H6718 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6718 IH erty contamination, including following an ex- 1 treme weather event; and 2 (F) any adverse health impacts, property 3 value diminution, and loss of use and enjoyment 4 of property suffered by neighboring residents of 5 the AFO due to the operation of the AFO. 6 (2) DUTIES NOT TRANSFERABLE.—The respon- 7 sibilities and liabilities of an integrator under this 8 subsection shall be nondelegable and nontransferable 9 to any third party, including any contract grower. 10 (b) SUBSTANTIAL OPERATIONAL CONTROL.—An in- 11 tegrator exercises substantial operational control of an 12 AFO if the integrator— 13 (1) holds an ownership interest in the livestock 14 or poultry, land, or other capital of the AFO; 15 (2) through a growout contract, marketing ar- 16 rangement, or other arrangement, or through direct 17 supervision of, or on-site participation in, activities 18 at the AFO, controls— 19 (A) the activity of persons working at the 20 AFO; 21 (B) the operation, management, or waste 22 management practices of the AFO; or 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 May 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6718.IH H6718 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 6718 IH (C) the manner in which livestock or poul- 1 try at the AFO are grown, fed, watered, venti- 2 lated, heated, cooled, or medicated; 3 (3) supplies feed, pharmaceuticals, or other in- 4 puts to the AFO; or 5 (4) requires a capital investment from the con- 6 tract grower of the AFO for erecting or expanding 7 facilities at the AFO. 8 (c) CIVIL ACTIONS.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any person may— 10 (A) bring a civil action against an inte- 11 grator in an appropriate court to redress any 12 violation of this section or any other law relat- 13 ing to the activities described in this section; 14 and 15 (B) obtain appropriate relief in a civil ac- 16 tion under subparagraph (A). 17 (2) ATTORNEY’S FEES FOR PLAINTIFF.—The 18 court shall award a reasonable attorney’s fee as part 19 of the costs to a prevailing plaintiff in a civil action 20 under this subsection. 21 (3) NO PREEMPTION.—Nothing in this sub- 22 section preempts, alters, displaces, abridges, or sup- 23 plants any claim or remedy available under any 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 May 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6718.IH H6718 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 6718 IH State or Federal law, including common law, that 1 provides a remedy for civil relief. 2 (d) AFO DISCHARGES.—Section 402 of the Federal 3 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1342) is amended 4 by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(t) AFO DISCHARGES.—The Administrator shall re- 6 quire that all persons exercising substantial operational 7 control (as described in section 104(b) of the Farm Sys- 8 tem Reform Act of 2020) over an animal feeding operation 9 (as defined in section 101 of that Act) jointly obtain a 10 permit under this section for a discharge from the animal 11 feeding operation.’’. 12 TITLE II—AMENDMENTS TO 13 PACKERS AND STOCKYARDS 14 ACT, 1921 15 SEC. 201. DEFINITIONS. 16 Section 2(a) of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 17 1921 (7 U.S.C. 182(a)) is amended— 18 (1) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘for slaugh- 19 ter’’ and all that follows through ‘‘of such poultry’’ 20 and inserting ‘‘under a poultry growing arrange- 21 ment, regardless [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]