I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3193 

To amend the Animal Welfare Act to require that covered persons develop 

and implement emergency contingency plans. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 23, 2015 

Ms. TITUS (for herself, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. 

CA ́RDENAS, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. HONDA, 

Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. MARINO, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. 

NADLER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. RANGEL, and Ms. ROSLEHTINEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Animal Welfare Act to require that covered 

persons develop and implement emergency contingency plans. 

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 ‘‘Animal Emergency 

5 Planning Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, as well as 

2 other recent natural and man-made disasters, have 

3 highlighted the need for planning to minimize the 

4 impact of disasters. 

5 (2) Lack of preparedness in times of disaster 

6 can have especially devastating effects on animals 

7 and the people who risk their lives to protect them. 

8 (3) Local first-responders, non-governmental 

9 agencies, and private individuals most often shoulder 

10 the cost and responsibility of animals affected by 

11 disasters. 

12 (4) It is reasonable to ask those who use ani13 mals commercially to demonstrate a level of readi14 ness to protect the animals under their care. 

15 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT THAT COVERED ENTITIES DEVELOP 

16 AND IMPLEMENT EMERGENCY CONTINGENCY 

17 PLANS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Animal Welfare Act (7 

19 U.S.C. 2131 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

20 the following: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 30. ANIMAL EMERGENCY PLANNING. 

22 ‘‘(a) COVERED PERSON.—For purposes of this sec23 tion, the term ‘covered person’ means a research facility, 

24 dealer, exhibitor, intermediate handler, carrier, or Federal 

25 research facility. 


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1 ‘‘(b) CONTINGENCY PLAN.—Each covered person 

2 shall develop, document, and follow a contingency plan to 

3 provide for the humane handling, treatment, transpor4 tation, housing, and care of its animals in the event of 

5 an emergency or disaster. Such a contingency plan shall— 

6 ‘‘(1) identify situations that the covered person 

7 might experience, including natural disasters and 

8 emergencies such as electrical outages, faulty HVAC 

9 systems, fires, mechanical breakdowns, and animal 

10 escapes, that would trigger the need for the meas11 ures identified in the contingency plan to be put into 

12 action; 

13 ‘‘(2) outline specific tasks to be carried out in 

14 response to the identified emergencies or disasters, 

15 including detailed animal evacuation or shelter-in16 place instructions and provisions for providing 

17 backup sources of food and water as well as sanita18 tion, ventilation, bedding, and veterinary care; 

19 ‘‘(3) establish a chain of command and identify 

20 the individuals responsible for fulfilling the tasks de21 scribed in paragraph (2); and 

22 ‘‘(4) address how response and recovery will be 

23 handled in terms of materials, resources, and train24 ing needed. 

25 ‘‘(c) ANNUAL REVIEW.—Each covered person shall— 


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1 ‘‘(1) review its contingency plan on at least an 

2 annual basis to ensure that it adequately addresses 

3 the criteria described in subsection (b); and 

4 ‘‘(2) maintain documentation of the annual re5 views and any amendments or changes made to its 

6 contingency plan since the previous year’s review. 

7 ‘‘(d) TRAINING.—Each covered person shall— 

8 ‘‘(1) train its personnel in their roles and re9 sponsibilities as outlined in the contingency plan; 

10 ‘‘(2) communicate any changes in the contin11 gency plan to personnel through training within 30 

12 days after making the changes; and 

13 ‘‘(3) maintain documentation of its personnel’s 

14 participation in, and successful completion of, the 

15 training required by this subsection. 

16 ‘‘(e) AVAILABILITY OF DOCUMENTATION.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each covered person shall 

18 submit to the Secretary on an annual basis its con19 tingency plan, as well as any documentation de20 scribed in subsections (c)(2) and (d)(3). 

21 ‘‘(2) WHILE TRAVELING.—A covered person en22 gaged in travel shall carry a copy of its contingency 

23 plan with it at all times and make it available for 

24 inspection by the Secretary while in travel status.’’. 

25 (b) REGULATIONS.— 


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1 (1) Not later than 30 days after the date of en2 actment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture 

3 shall promulgate such regulations as the Secretary 

4 determines to be necessary to carry out section 30 

5 of the Animal Welfare Act, as added by subsection 

6 (a) of this Act. 

7 (2) The regulations described in paragraph (1) 

8 shall be made without regard to the rulemaking pro9 cedures under section 553 of title 5, United States 

10 Code. 

11 (c) NO PREEMPTION.—Nothing in this Act or the 

12 amendments made by this Act preempts any law (includ13 ing a regulation) of a State, or a political subdivision of 

14 a State, containing requirements that provide equivalent 

15 or greater protection for animals than the requirements 

16 of this Act or the amendments made by this Act. 

17 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

18 subsection (a) shall apply to covered persons (as defined 

19 in section 30(a) of the Animal Welfare Act, as added by 

20 such subsection) beginning on the date that is 30 days 

21 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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