I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1442 

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

and implement emergency contingency plans. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 26, 2021 

Ms. TITUS (for herself, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. ALLRED, Mrs. 

AXNE, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. BEYER, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. 

BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. BROWN, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. 

BUCHANAN, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. CARSON, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. CASTEN, Ms. CHU, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. COOPER, Mr. CROW, Ms. DEAN, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. DELGADO, Mrs. DEMINGS, Mr. DEUTCH, Mrs. 

DINGELL, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. 

FITZPATRICK, Mr. FOSTER, Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida, Mr. 

GALLEGO, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Mr. VICENTE GONZALEZ of Texas, Mr. 

GOTTHEIMER, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. NORTON, Ms. HOULAHAN, Ms. JACOBS of California, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. JONES, 

Mr. KEATING, Mr. KIM of New Jersey, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Mr. 

KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. LANGEVIN, Ms. LEE of California, 

Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Mr. LEVIN of California, Mr. LIEU, Mr. 

LOWENTHAL, Mr. LYNCH, Ms. MACE, Mr. MALINOWSKI, Mrs. CAROLYN

B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, 

Ms. MANNING, Mr. MAST, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. MENG, Mr. 

MORELLE, Mrs. MURPHY of Florida, Mr. NADLER, Mr. NEAL, Mr. 

NEGUSE, Mr. O’HALLERAN, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. PAPPAS, 

Mr. PAYNE, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. PETERS, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. POCAN, 

Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. 

RASKIN, Miss RICE of New York, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. SA ́NCHEZ, 

Ms. SCANLON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Mr. 

SCHRADER, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. SHERRILL, Mr. 

SIRES, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. STANTON, Ms. STEVENS, Ms. 

STRICKLAND, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. SWALWELL, Ms. TENNEY, Ms. TLAIB, 

Mr. TONKO, Mrs. TORRES of California, Mrs. TRAHAN, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Mr. VAN DREW, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. VEASEY, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. 

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. WELCH, Ms. WILD, and Mr. YARMUTH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 


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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 ‘‘Providing Responsible 

5 Emergency Plans for Animals at Risk of Emerging Disas6 ters Act’’ or the ‘‘PREPARED Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress makes the following findings: 

9 (1) Recent natural and man-made disasters 

10 have highlighted the need for planning to minimize 

11 the impact of disasters. 

12 (2) Lack of preparedness in times of disaster 

13 can have especially devastating effects on animals 

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

15 (3) Local first-responders, nongovernmental 

16 agencies, and private individuals most often shoulder 

17 the cost and responsibility of animals affected by 

18 disasters. 

19 (4) It is reasonable to ask those who use ani20 mals commercially to demonstrate a level of readi21 ness to protect the animals under their care. 


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1 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT THAT COVERED ENTITIES DEVELOP 

2 AND IMPLEMENT EMERGENCY CONTINGENCY 

3 PLANS. 

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

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

6 the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 30. ANIMAL EMERGENCY PLANNING. 

8 ‘‘(a) COVERED PERSON.—For purposes of this sec9 tion, the term ‘covered person’ means a research facility, 

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

11 research facility. 

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

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

14 provide for the humane handling, treatment, transpor15 tation, housing, and care of its animals in the event of 

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

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

18 might experience, including natural disasters and 

19 emergencies such as electrical outages, faulty HVAC 

20 systems, fires, mechanical breakdowns, and animal 

21 escapes, that would trigger the need for the meas22 ures identified in the contingency plan to be put into 

23 action; 

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

25 response to the identified emergencies or disasters, 

26 including detailed animal evacuation or shelter-inVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:07 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1442.IH H1442

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1 place instructions and provisions for providing 

2 backup sources of food and water as well as sanita3 tion, ventilation, bedding, and veterinary care; 

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

5 the individuals responsible for fulfilling the tasks de6 scribed in paragraph (2); and 

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

8 handled in terms of materials, resources, and train9 ing needed. 

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

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

12 annual basis to ensure that it adequately addresses 

13 the criteria described in subsection (b); and 

14 ‘‘(2) maintain documentation of the annual re15 views and any amendments or changes made to its 

16 contingency plan since the previous year’s review. 

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

18 ‘‘(1) train its personnel in their roles and re19 sponsibilities as outlined in the contingency plan; 

20 ‘‘(2) communicate any changes in the contin21 gency plan to personnel through training within 30 

22 days after making the changes; and 

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

24 participation in and successful completion of the 

25 training required by this subsection. 


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1 ‘‘(e) AVAILABILITY OF DOCUMENTATION.— 

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

3 submit its contingency plan, as well as any docu4 mentation described in subsections (c)(2) and (d)(3), 

5 to the Secretary annually. 

6 ‘‘(2) WHILE TRAVELING.—A covered person en7 gaged in travel must carry a copy of its contingency 

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

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

10 (b) REGULATIONS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 

12 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

13 Agriculture of the United States shall promulgate 

14 such regulations as the Secretary determines to be 

15 necessary to carry out section 30 of the Animal Wel16 fare Act, as added by subsection (a) of this Act. 

17 (2) APPLICABILITY OF APA.—The regulations 

18 described in paragraph (1) shall be made without re19 gard to the rulemaking procedures under section 

20 553 of title 5, United States Code. 

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

22 amendments made by this Act preempts any law (includ23 ing a regulation) of a State, or a political subdivision of 

24 a State, containing requirements that provide equivalent 


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1 or greater protection for animals than the requirements 

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

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

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

5 in such subsection) beginning on the date that is 30 days 

6 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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