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 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, 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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safe Line Speeds Dur5 ing COVID–19 Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF INCREASED LINE 

2 SPEEDS AT MEAT AND POULTRY ESTABLISH3 MENTS. 

4 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

5 (1) COVERED ESTABLISHMENT.—The term 

6 ‘‘covered establishment’’ means— 

7 (A) an official establishment (as defined in 

8 section 301.2 of title 9, Code of Federal Regu9 lations (or successor regulations)) that is sub10 ject to inspection under the Federal Meat In11 spection Act (21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.); and 

12 (B) an official establishment (as defined in 

13 section 381.1 of title 9, Code of Federal Regu14 lations (or successor regulations)) that is sub15 ject to inspection under the Poultry Products 

16 Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 451 et seq.). 

17 (2) COVERED PERIOD.—The term ‘‘covered pe18 riod’’ means the period beginning on the date of en19 actment of this Act and ending on the date that is 

20 90 days after the date on which the COVID–19 

21 emergency is lifted. 

22 (3) COVID–19 EMERGENCY.—The term 

23 ‘‘COVID–19 emergency’’ means the public health 

24 emergency declared by the Secretary of Health and 

25 Human Services under section 319 of the Public 


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1 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) on January 

2 31, 2020, with respect to COVID–19. 

3 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

4 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

5 (b) TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF WAIVERS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

7 provision of law (including regulations, including 

8 sections 303.1(h) and 381.3(b) of title 9, Code of 

9 Federal Regulations (or successor regulations)), dur10 ing the covered period, the Secretary, acting through 

11 the Administrator of the Food Safety and Inspection 

12 Service— 

13 (A) shall suspend any waivers issued be14 fore the date of enactment of this Act relating 

15 to— 

16 (i) line speeds at covered establish17 ments; and 

18 (ii) inspection staffing requirements 

19 for covered establishments; 

20 (B) shall not issue any waiver described in 

21 subparagraph (A) to covered establishments; 

22 and 

23 (C) shall suspend implementation of, and 

24 conversion to, the New Swine Slaughter Inspec25 tion System described in the final rule entitled 


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1 ‘‘Modernization of Swine Slaughter Inspection’’ 

2 (84 Fed. Reg. 52300 (October 1, 2019)). 

3 (2) LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY OVER LINE

4 SPEEDS.—None of the funds made available to the 

5 Secretary during the covered period may be used to 

6 develop, propose, finalize, issue, amend, or imple7 ment any policy, regulation, directive, constituent 

8 update, or any other agency program that would in9 crease line speeds at covered establishments. 

10 (3) EFFECT ON STATE LAW.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—This subsection shall 

12 not preempt or limit any law or regulation of a 

13 State or a political subdivision of a State that— 

14 (i) imposes requirements that are 

15 more protective of worker safety or animal 

16 welfare than the requirements of this sub17 section; or 

18 (ii) creates penalties for conduct regu19 lated by this subsection. 

20 (B) OTHER LAWS.—The requirements of 

21 this subsection are in addition to, and not in 

22 lieu of, any other laws protecting worker safety 

23 and animal welfare. 

24 (c) GAO REVIEW.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

2 the end of the covered period, the Comptroller Gen3 eral of the United States shall carry out, and submit 

4 to Congress, a review of the actions taken by the 

5 Secretary, the Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary 

6 of Health and Human Services in response to the 

7 COVID–19 pandemic to determine the effectiveness 

8 of those actions in protecting animal, food, and 

9 worker safety. 

10 (2) CONTENTS.—The review carried out under 

11 paragraph (1) shall include information on, and an 

12 analysis of, with respect to covered establishments— 

13 (A) all policies and regulations relating to 

14 inspection of those establishments that have 

15 been implemented by the Secretary, the Sec16 retary of Labor, and the Secretary of Health 

17 and Human Services during the COVID–19 

18 emergency and the covered period; 

19 (B) the pandemic emergency preparedness 

20 plans of those establishments; 

21 (C) the extent to which those establish22 ments have implemented guidance and rec23 ommendations to space workers 6 feet apart on 

24 production lines and in break rooms, locker 

25 rooms, and all other workspaces; 


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1 (D) the quantity and usage of personal 

2 protective equipment by workers at those estab3 lishments; 

4 (E) any guidance provided to inspectors of 

5 those establishments by the Secretary, Sec6 retary of Labor, or the Secretary of Health and 

7 Human Services during the COVID–19 emer8 gency; 

9 (F) actions taken by the Secretary, the 

10 Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of Health 

11 and Human Services to protect workers, ani12 mals, and food at establishments that have re13 ported cases of COVID–19; 

14 (G) all humane handling reports issued, 

15 and enforcement actions taken, by the Sec16 retary during the COVID–19 emergency pursu17 ant to— 

18 (i) Public Law 85–765 (commonly 

19 known as the ‘‘Humane Methods of 

20 Slaughter Act of 1958’’) (7 U.S.C. 1901 et 

21 seq.); and 

22 (ii) good commercial practices regula23 tions promulgated under the Poultry Prod24 ucts Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 451 et 

25 seq.); 


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1 (H) the impact of faster line speeds on the 

2 ability of those establishments to maintain pro3 tections for workers; and 

4 (I) any instance of interference by a Fed5 eral agency with a review of a covered establish6 ment experiencing an outbreak of COVID–19 

7 conducted by personnel of the Centers for Dis8 ease Control and Prevention. 

9 (d) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 180 

10 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec11 retary, the Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of 

12 Health and Human Services shall each submit to the Com13 mittees on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and 

14 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, 

15 and the Committees on Agriculture and Education and 

16 Labor of the House of Representatives, a report that— 

17 (1) describes the actions taken by that Sec18 retary to ensure worker, animal, and food safety 

19 during the COVID–19 emergency; and 

20 (2) includes an analysis of the issues described 

21 in subparagraphs (A) through (H) of subsection 

22 (c)(2). 

Æ 


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