II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 738 

To reduce the risks associated with genetically altered salmon in the United 

States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 12, 2015 

Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. MERKLEY, and Mr. HEINRICH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To reduce the risks associated with genetically altered salmon 

in the United States, 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 ‘‘Genetically Engineered 

5 Salmon Risk Reduction Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

7 It is the purpose of this Act to— 

8 (1) minimize the risk that genetically engi9 neered salmon will be introduced into the marine enVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:22 Mar 18, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S738.IS S738

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1 vironment off the coasts of Alaska, Washington, Or2 egon, and California; and 

3 (2) ensure that consumers in the United States 

4 can make informed decisions when purchasing salm5 on. 

6 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE FEDERAL FOOD, DRUG, AND 

7 COSMETIC ACT. 

8 (a) LABELING REQUIREMENT.—Section 403 of the 

9 Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 343) 

10 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(z) If it contains genetically engineered salmon un12 less the food bears a label stating that fact.’’. 

13 (b) REQUIREMENT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

14 STATEMENT.—Section 512 (21 U.S.C. 360b) is amended 

15 by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(q)(1) Prior to the approval of any application filed 

17 under this section for genetically engineered salmon in18 tended for human consumption, the Secretary, in consulta19 tion with the Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere 

20 of the Department of Commerce, shall prepare an environ21 mental impact statement (focused on the coast of the 

22 United States from California to Alaska) in accordance 

23 with section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Pol24 icy Act of 1969 that includes— 


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1 ‘‘(A) an environmental risk analysis that 

2 assesses the potential direct and indirect im3 pacts from escapement of covered fish on wild 

4 and cultured fish stocks and environments that 

5 may be exposed to such covered fish; 

6 ‘‘(B) a failure mode and effects analysis 

7 that quantitatively assesses the best- and worst8 case probabilities of failure of each applicable 

9 confinement technique; 

10 ‘‘(C) an assessment of the costs of control 

11 or eradication of escaped covered fish; and 

12 ‘‘(D) an assessment of the potential eco13 nomic damage in terms of loss of production 

14 and sales to relevant wild and cultured fish 

15 stocks and environments from the escapement 

16 of covered fish. 

17 ‘‘(2) In this subsection, the term ‘‘covered fish’’ 

18 means a salmon or other anadromous or marine 

19 fish, live or dead, including the gametes, fertilized 

20 eggs, offspring, and descendants thereof, that is 

21 modified or produced using DNA from an orga22 nism’s own genome or that of another species, which 

23 overcome natural physiological reproductive barriers 


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1 and which are not techniques used in traditional 

2 breeding and selection.’’. 

Æ 


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