I 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7004 

To amend the Animal Welfare Act to prohibit the confinement of pregnant 

pigs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 9, 2022 

Ms. ESCOBAR (for herself and Ms. MACE) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Animal Welfare Act to prohibit the 

confinement of pregnant pigs, 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 ‘‘Pigs in Gestation 

5 Stalls Act of 2022’’ or the ‘‘PIGS Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) Intensive confinement of pigs is a signifi9 cant animal welfare issue, causing physical problems 

10 and psychological anguish for the animals. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 7004 IH

1 (2) Dozens of major food retailers and more 

2 than 10 states have taken action to phase out the 

3 use of intensive confinement for pigs, reflecting the 

4 will and concerns of the public. 

5 (3) At least two States have adopted policies to 

6 forbid the sale of pork from factory farms that use 

7 gestation crates, with that policy predicated on 

8 human health and animal welfare concerns. 

9 (4) As more consumers turn away from pur10 chasing pork products derived from intensive con11 finement practices, the pork industry will be better 

12 aligned with its customers by ending these unpopu13 lar and inhumane housing methods. 

14 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON CONFINING BREEDING PIGS. 

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

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

17 the following: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 30. PROHIBITION ON CONFINING BREEDING PIGS. 

19 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for a 

21 person to cause any breeding pig to be confined in— 

22 ‘‘(A) such a manner that prevents the pig 

23 from lying down, standing up, or turning 

24 around— 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 7004 IH

1 ‘‘(i) in a complete circle without any 

2 impediment, including a tether; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) without touching the side of an 

4 enclosure or another animal; and 

5 ‘‘(B) beginning on December 31, 2022, a 

6 space with less than 24 square feet of usable 

7 floorspace per pig, as calculated under para8 graph (3). 

9 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—The Secretary shall not, in 

10 applying paragraph (1), consider a breeding pig to 

11 be confined in a cruel manner if such confinement 

12 occurs during— 

13 ‘‘(A) transportation; 

14 ‘‘(B) examination, testing, treatment, or 

15 an operation conducted for veterinary purposes, 

16 but only if performed by or under the direct su17 pervision of a licensed veterinarian; 

18 ‘‘(C) the five-day period before the pig’s 

19 expected date of farrowing; and 

20 ‘‘(D) slaughter conducted in accordance 

21 with the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (7 

22 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.). 

23 ‘‘(3) CALCULATION OF USABLE FLOORSPACE.— 

24 For purposes of paragraph (1)(B), the total square 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 7004 IH

1 footage of floorspace provided to each breeding pig 

2 in an enclosure shall be determined by dividing— 

3 ‘‘(A) the total square footage of floorspace 

4 provided to all the animals in such enclosure; by 

5 ‘‘(B) the number of animals in that enclo6 sure. 

7 ‘‘(b) PENALTIES.—For the purpose of administering 

8 and enforcing this section, the authorities provided under 

9 sections 10414 and 10415 of the Animal Health Protec10 tion Act (7 U.S.C. 8313 and 8314) shall apply to this sec11 tion in a similar manner as those sections apply to the 

12 Animal Health Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 8301 et seq.). 

13 Any person that violates the prohibition under subsection 

14 (a) shall be subject to penalties provided in such section 

15 10414. 

16 ‘‘(c) NO PREEMPTION.—Nothing in this section pre17 empts any State or local laws, regulations, orders, or other 

18 requirements with respect to animal welfare that are iden19 tical to or are in addition to the requirements of this sec20 tion. 

21 ‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec22 tion shall be construed as limiting the authority of the Sec23 retary under this Act or another Federal law to protect 

24 animal welfare. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 7004 IH

1 ‘‘(e) SEVERABILITY.—If this section is held unconsti2 tutional as to some provisions or circumstances, it shall 

3 remain in force as to the remaining provisions and other 

4 circumstances. 

5 ‘‘(f) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab7 lish a program under which the Secretary will pro8 vide financial assistance to pig producers to assist 

9 such producers in complying with the requirements 

10 of this section. 

11 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall allocate 

12 funds made available under paragraph (3) among 

13 pig producers in a manner that prioritizes inde14 pendent pig producers. 

15 ‘‘(3) FUNDING.—The Secretary shall amend the 

16 order in effect as of the date of the enactment of 

17 this section under section 1616(c) of the Pork Pro18 motion, Research, and Consumer Information Act of 

19 1985 (7 U.S.C. 4805(c)), to direct the National 

20 Pork Board, notwithstanding section 1620(c) of 

21 such Act (7 U.S.C. 4809(c)), to set aside not less 

22 than $10,000,000 of the funds collected from assess23 ments made under such Act for the first fiscal year 

24 that begins after the date of the enactment of this 

25 section and the following fiscal year to provide asVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:25 Mar 11, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7004.IH H7004

pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 7004 IH

1 sistance to pig producers, as described in paragraph 

2 (1). 

3 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 ‘‘(1) The term ‘breeding pig’ means any female 

5 pig that is— 

6 ‘‘(A) kept for the purpose of commercial 

7 breeding who is six months of age or older; or 

8 ‘‘(B) pregnant. 

9 ‘‘(2) The term ‘enclosure’ means any cage, 

10 crate or other enclosure in which a pig is kept, in11 cluding, a gestation crate. 

12 ‘‘(3) The term ‘pig’ means any animal of the 

13 porcine species. 

14 ‘‘(4) The term ‘independent pig producer’ 

15 means a pig producer who owns their own pigs and 

16 is not contracted to raise pigs that belong to another 

17 entity.’’. 

18 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by this 

19 section shall apply beginning on the date that is one year 

20 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS