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. FEINSTEIN, Ms. WARREN, Mr. SANDERS, and Ms. HARRIS) 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 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF INCREASED LINE 

7 SPEEDS AT MEAT AND POULTRY ESTABLISH8 MENTS. 

9 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) COVERED ESTABLISHMENT.—The term 

2 ‘‘covered establishment’’ means— 

3 (A) an official establishment (as defined in 

4 section 301.2 of title 9, Code of Federal Regu5 lations (or successor regulations)) that is sub6 ject to inspection under the Federal Meat In7 spection Act (21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.); and 

8 (B) an official establishment (as defined in 

9 section 381.1 of title 9, Code of Federal Regu10 lations (or successor regulations)) that is sub11 ject to inspection under the Poultry Products 

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

13 (2) COVERED PERIOD.—The term ‘‘covered pe14 riod’’ means the period beginning on the date of en15 actment of this Act and ending on the date that is 

16 90 days after the date on which the COVID–19 

17 emergency is lifted. 

18 (3) COVID–19 EMERGENCY.—The term 

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

20 emergency declared by the Secretary of Health and 

21 Human Services under section 319 of the Public 

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

23 31, 2020, with respect to COVID–19. 

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

25 the Secretary of Agriculture. 


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1 (b) TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF WAIVERS.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

3 provision of law (including regulations, including 

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

5 Federal Regulations (or successor regulations)), dur6 ing the covered period, the Secretary, acting through 

7 the Administrator of the Food Safety and Inspection 

8 Service— 

9 (A) shall suspend any waivers issued be10 fore the date of enactment of this Act relating 

11 to— 

12 (i) line speeds at covered establish13 ments; and 

14 (ii) inspection staffing requirements 

15 for covered establishments; 

16 (B) shall not issue any waiver described in 

17 subparagraph (A) to covered establishments; 

18 and 

19 (C) shall suspend implementation of, and 

20 conversion to, the New Swine Slaughter Inspec21 tion System described in the final rule entitled 

22 ‘‘Modernization of Swine Slaughter Inspection’’ 

23 (84 Fed. Reg. 52300 (October 1, 2019)). 

24 (2) LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY OVER LINE

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


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1 Secretary during the covered period may be used to 

2 develop, propose, finalize, issue, amend, or imple3 ment any policy, regulation, directive, constituent 

4 update, or any other agency program that would in5 crease line speeds at covered establishments. 

6 (3) EFFECT ON STATE LAW.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—This subsection shall 

8 not preempt or limit any law or regulation of a 

9 State or a political subdivision of a State that— 

10 (i) imposes requirements that are 

11 more protective of worker safety or animal 

12 welfare than the requirements of this sub13 section; or 

14 (ii) creates penalties for conduct regu15 lated by this subsection. 

16 (B) OTHER LAWS.—The requirements of 

17 this subsection are in addition to, and not in 

18 lieu of, any other laws protecting worker safety 

19 and animal welfare. 

20 (c) GAO REVIEW.— 

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

22 the end of the covered period, the Comptroller Gen23 eral of the United States shall carry out, and submit 

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

25 Secretary, the Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary 


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1 of Health and Human Services in response to the 

2 COVID–19 pandemic to determine the effectiveness 

3 of those actions in protecting animal, food, and 

4 worker safety. 

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

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

7 analysis of, with respect to covered establishments— 

8 (A) all policies and regulations relating to 

9 inspection of those establishments that have 

10 been implemented by the Secretary, the Sec11 retary of Labor, and the Secretary of Health 

12 and Human Services during the COVID–19 

13 emergency and the covered period; 

14 (B) the pandemic emergency preparedness 

15 plans of those establishments; 

16 (C) the extent to which those establish17 ments have implemented guidance and rec18 ommendations to space workers 6 feet apart on 

19 production lines and in break rooms, locker 

20 rooms, and all other workspaces; 

21 (D) the quantity and usage of personal 

22 protective equipment by workers at those estab23 lishments; 

24 (E) any guidance provided to inspectors of 

25 those establishments by the Secretary, SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Aug 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4338.IS S4338

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1 retary of Labor, or the Secretary of Health and 

2 Human Services during the COVID–19 emer3 gency; 

4 (F) actions taken by the Secretary, the 

5 Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of Health 

6 and Human Services to protect workers, ani7 mals, and food at establishments that have re8 ported cases of COVID–19; 

9 (G) all humane handling reports issued, 

10 and enforcement actions taken, by the Sec11 retary during the COVID–19 emergency pursu12 ant to— 

13 (i) Public Law 85–765 (commonly 

14 known as the ‘‘Humane Methods of 

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

16 seq.); and 

17 (ii) good commercial practices regula18 tions promulgated under the Poultry Prod19 ucts Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 451 et 

20 seq.); 

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

22 ability of those establishments to maintain pro23 tections for workers; and 

24 (I) any instance of interference by a Fed25 eral agency with a review of a covered establishVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Aug 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4338.IS S4338

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1 ment experiencing an outbreak of COVID–19 

2 conducted by personnel of the Centers for Dis3 ease Control and Prevention. 

4 (d) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than Decem5 ber 31, 2020, the Secretary, the Secretary of Labor, and 

6 the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall each 

7 submit to the Committees on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 

8 Forestry and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of 

9 the Senate, and the Committees on Agriculture and Edu10 cation and Labor of the House of Representatives, a re11 port that— 

12 (1) describes the actions taken by that Sec13 retary to ensure worker, animal, and food safety 

14 during the COVID–19 emergency; and 

15 (2) includes an analysis of the issues described 

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

17 (c)(2). 

Æ 


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