Safe Line Speeds in COVID–19 Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7521 To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to suspend increases in line speeds at meat and poultry establishments, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 9, 2020 Ms. FUDGE (for herself, Ms. DELAURO, and Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ag- riculture, and in addition to the Committees on Education and Labor, and Energy and Commerce, 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 direct the Secretary of Agriculture to suspend increases in 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 in 4 COVID–19 Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:00 Jul 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7521.IH H7521 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7521 IH SEC. 2. SUSPENDING AUTHORITY TO INCREASE LINE 1 SPEEDS AT MEAT AND POULTRY ESTABLISH- 2 MENTS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture, act- 4 ing through the Administrator of the Food Safety and In- 5 spection Service, for the duration of the COVID–19 emer- 6 gency period, shall— 7 (1) suspend any waivers related to line speeds 8 in covered establishments and inspection staffing re- 9 quirements for covered establishments issued before 10 the date of the enactment of this Act, and not issue 11 any new waivers to such establishments, including 12 under sections 303.1(h) and 381.3(b) of title 9, 13 Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regula- 14 tions); and 15 (2) suspend implementation of, and conversion 16 to, the New Swine Slaughter Inspection System as 17 described in the final rule entitled ‘‘Modernization of 18 Swine Slaughter Inspection’’ issued by the Depart- 19 ment of Agriculture in the Federal Register on Octo- 20 ber 1, 2019 (84 Fed. Reg. 52300 et seq.). 21 (b) LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY WITH RESPECT TO 22 LINE SPEEDS.—None of the funds made available to the 23 Department of Agriculture during the COVID–19 emer- 24 gency period shall be used to develop, propose, finalize, 25 issue, amend, or implement any policy, regulation, direc- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Jul 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7521.IH H7521 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7521 IH tive, constituent update, or any other agency program that 1 would increase line speeds at covered establishments. 2 (c) EFFECT ON STATE LAW.—The provisions of this 3 section are in addition to, and not in lieu of, any other 4 laws protecting worker safety and animal welfare. This 5 section shall not be construed to preempt or limit any law 6 or regulation of a State or a political subdivision of a State 7 containing requirements that are more protective of work- 8 er safety or animal welfare than the requirements of this 9 section, or which create penalties for conduct regulated by 10 this section. 11 (d) GAO REPORT.—Upon termination of the 12 COVID–19 emergency period, the Comptroller General of 13 the United States shall conduct a review of actions taken 14 by the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Labor, 15 and the Secretary of Health and Human Services in re- 16 sponse to the COVID–19 pandemic to determine the effec- 17 tiveness of such actions in protecting animal, food, and 18 worker safety. Such review shall include an analysis of, 19 with respect to covered establishments— 20 (1) all policies and regulations relating to in- 21 spections of such establishments implemented by the 22 Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Labor, 23 and the Secretary of Health and Human Services re- 24 lating to COVID–19; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:00 Jul 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7521.IH H7521 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7521 IH (2) the pandemic emergency preparedness plans 1 of such establishments; 2 (3) the extent to which such facilities have im- 3 plemented guidance and recommendations to space 4 workers six feet apart on production lines, break 5 rooms, locker rooms, and all other workspaces; 6 (4) the quantity and usage of personal protec- 7 tive equipment by workers at such establishments; 8 (5) any guidance provided to inspectors of such 9 establishments by the Secretary of Agriculture, Sec- 10 retary of Labor, and the Secretary of Health and 11 Human Services during the COVID–19 emergency 12 period; 13 (6) actions taken by the Secretary of Agri- 14 culture, the Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of 15 Health and Human Services to protect animals, 16 food, and workers at covered establishments with re- 17 ported cases of COVID–19; 18 (7) all humane handling reports issued, and en- 19 forcement actions taken, by the Department of Agri- 20 culture in accordance with the Humane Methods of 21 Slaughter Act (7 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.) and the good 22 commercial practices regulations under the Poultry 23 Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 451 et seq.) 24 during the COVID–19 emergency period; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:00 Jul 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7521.IH H7521 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7521 IH (8) the impact of faster line speeds on the abil- 1 ity of such establishments to maintain protections 2 for employees; and 3 (9) any interference by any other Federal agen- 4 cy with reviews of any such establishments experi- 5 encing outbreaks of COVID–19 conducted by per- 6 sonnel of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre- 7 vention. 8 (e) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than Decem- 9 ber 31, 2020, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary 10 of Labor, and the Secretary of Health and Human Serv- 11 ices shall each submit to the Committee on Agriculture 12 and the Committee on Education and Labor of the House 13 of Representatives and the Committee on Health, Edu- 14 cation, Labor, and Pensions and the Committee on Agri- 15 culture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a report 16 on the actions taken by the Secretary of Agriculture, the 17 Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of Health and 18 Human Services, respectively, in response to the COVID– 19 19 pandemic to protect animal, food, and worker safety. 20 Each such report shall include the respective Secretary’s 21 analysis of, with respect to facilities operated by covered 22 processors, the matters specified in each (as applicable) 23 of paragraphs (1) through (8) of subsection (d). 24 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:00 Jul 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7521.IH H7521 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7521 IH (1) The term ‘‘covered establishment’’ means 1 an official meat or poultry establishment that is sub- 2 ject to inspection under the Federal Meat Inspection 3 Act (21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) or the Poultry Products 4 Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 451 et seq.). 5 (2) The term ‘‘COVID–19 emergency period’’ 6 means— 7 (A) the emergency period, as defined in 8 section 1135(g)(1)(B) of the Social Security 9 Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b–5(g)(1)(B)); and 10 (B) the 90-day period that follows the end 11 of such emergency period. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Jul 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7521.IH H7521 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS