Safe Line Speeds During COVID–19 Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4338 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 JULY 28, 2020 Mr. BOOKER (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. MERKLEY, Mrs. FEIN- STEIN, Ms. WARREN, Mr. SANDERS, and Ms. HARRIS) 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 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF INCREASED LINE 6 SPEEDS AT MEAT AND POULTRY ESTABLISH- 7 MENTS. 8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Aug 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4338.IS S4338 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4338 IS (1) COVERED ESTABLISHMENT.—The term 1 ‘‘covered establishment’’ means— 2 (A) an official establishment (as defined in 3 section 301.2 of title 9, Code of Federal Regu- 4 lations (or successor regulations)) that is sub- 5 ject to inspection under the Federal Meat In- 6 spection Act (21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.); and 7 (B) an official establishment (as defined in 8 section 381.1 of title 9, Code of Federal Regu- 9 lations (or successor regulations)) that is sub- 10 ject to inspection under the Poultry Products 11 Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 451 et seq.). 12 (2) COVERED PERIOD.—The term ‘‘covered pe- 13 riod’’ means the period beginning on the date of en- 14 actment of this Act and ending on the date that is 15 90 days after the date on which the COVID–19 16 emergency is lifted. 17 (3) COVID–19 EMERGENCY.—The term 18 ‘‘COVID–19 emergency’’ means the public health 19 emergency declared by the Secretary of Health and 20 Human Services under section 319 of the Public 21 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) on January 22 31, 2020, with respect to COVID–19. 23 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 24 the Secretary of Agriculture. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Aug 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4338.IS S4338 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4338 IS (b) TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF WAIVERS.— 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 2 provision of law (including regulations, including 3 sections 303.1(h) and 381.3(b) of title 9, Code of 4 Federal Regulations (or successor regulations)), dur- 5 ing the covered period, the Secretary, acting through 6 the Administrator of the Food Safety and Inspection 7 Service— 8 (A) shall suspend any waivers issued be- 9 fore the date of enactment of this Act relating 10 to— 11 (i) line speeds at covered establish- 12 ments; and 13 (ii) inspection staffing requirements 14 for covered establishments; 15 (B) shall not issue any waiver described in 16 subparagraph (A) to covered establishments; 17 and 18 (C) shall suspend implementation of, and 19 conversion to, the New Swine Slaughter Inspec- 20 tion System described in the final rule entitled 21 ‘‘Modernization of Swine Slaughter Inspection’’ 22 (84 Fed. Reg. 52300 (October 1, 2019)). 23 (2) LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY OVER LINE 24 SPEEDS.—None of the funds made available to the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Aug 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4338.IS S4338 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4338 IS Secretary during the covered period may be used to 1 develop, propose, finalize, issue, amend, or imple- 2 ment any policy, regulation, directive, constituent 3 update, or any other agency program that would in- 4 crease line speeds at covered establishments. 5 (3) EFFECT ON STATE LAW.— 6 (A) IN GENERAL.—This subsection shall 7 not preempt or limit any law or regulation of a 8 State or a political subdivision of a State that— 9 (i) imposes requirements that are 10 more protective of worker safety or animal 11 welfare than the requirements of this sub- 12 section; or 13 (ii) creates penalties for conduct regu- 14 lated by this subsection. 15 (B) OTHER LAWS.—The requirements of 16 this subsection are in addition to, and not in 17 lieu of, any other laws protecting worker safety 18 and animal welfare. 19 (c) GAO REVIEW.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 21 the end of the covered period, the Comptroller Gen- 22 eral of the United States shall carry out, and submit 23 to Congress, a review of the actions taken by the 24 Secretary, the Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Aug 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4338.IS S4338 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4338 IS of Health and Human Services in response to the 1 COVID–19 pandemic to determine the effectiveness 2 of those actions in protecting animal, food, and 3 worker safety. 4 (2) CONTENTS.—The review carried out under 5 paragraph (1) shall include information on, and an 6 analysis of, with respect to covered establishments— 7 (A) all policies and regulations relating to 8 inspection of those establishments that have 9 been implemented by the Secretary, the Sec- 10 retary of Labor, and the Secretary of Health 11 and Human Services during the COVID–19 12 emergency and the covered period; 13 (B) the pandemic emergency preparedness 14 plans of those establishments; 15 (C) the extent to which those establish- 16 ments have implemented guidance and rec- 17 ommendations to space workers 6 feet apart on 18 production lines and in break rooms, locker 19 rooms, and all other workspaces; 20 (D) the quantity and usage of personal 21 protective equipment by workers at those estab- 22 lishments; 23 (E) any guidance provided to inspectors of 24 those establishments by the Secretary, Sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Aug 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4338.IS S4338 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4338 IS retary of Labor, or the Secretary of Health and 1 Human Services during the COVID–19 emer- 2 gency; 3 (F) actions taken by the Secretary, the 4 Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of Health 5 and Human Services to protect workers, ani- 6 mals, and food at establishments that have re- 7 ported cases of COVID–19; 8 (G) all humane handling reports issued, 9 and enforcement actions taken, by the Sec- 10 retary during the COVID–19 emergency pursu- 11 ant to— 12 (i) Public Law 85–765 (commonly 13 known as the ‘‘Humane Methods of 14 Slaughter Act of 1958’’) (7 U.S.C. 1901 et 15 seq.); and 16 (ii) good commercial practices regula- 17 tions promulgated under the Poultry Prod- 18 ucts Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 451 et 19 seq.); 20 (H) the impact of faster line speeds on the 21 ability of those establishments to maintain pro- 22 tections for workers; and 23 (I) any instance of interference by a Fed- 24 eral agency with a review of a covered establish- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Aug 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4338.IS S4338 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4338 IS ment experiencing an outbreak of COVID–19 1 conducted by personnel of the Centers for Dis- 2 ease Control and Prevention. 3 (d) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than Decem- 4 ber 31, 2020, the Secretary, the Secretary of Labor, and 5 the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall each 6 submit to the Committees on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 7 Forestry and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of 8 the Senate, and the Committees on Agriculture and Edu- 9 cation and Labor of the House of Representatives, a re- 10 port that— 11 (1) describes the actions taken by that Sec- 12 retary to ensure worker, animal, and food safety 13 during the COVID–19 emergency; and 14 (2) includes an analysis of the issues described 15 in subparagraphs (A) through (H) of subsection 16 (c)(2). 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Aug 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4338.IS S4338 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS