I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3076 
To amend the Poultry Products Inspection Act and the Federal Meat Inspec-
tion Act to support small and very small meat and poultry processing 
establishments, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 29, 2025 
Ms. PINGREE (for herself and Mr. BAIRD) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To amend the Poultry Products Inspection Act and the Fed-
eral Meat Inspection Act to support small and very small 
meat and poultry processing establishments, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strengthening Local 
Processing Act of 2025’’. 
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SEC. 2. HACCP GUIDANCE AND RESOURCES FOR SMALLER 
AND VERY SMALL POULTRY AND MEAT ES-
TABLISHMENTS. 
(a) POULTRY ESTABLISHMENTS.—The Poultry Prod-
ucts Inspection Act is amended by inserting after section 
14 (21 U.S.C. 463) the following: 
‘‘SEC. 14A. SMALLER AND VERY SMALL ESTABLISHMENT 
GUIDANCE AND RESOURCES. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘covered establishment’ means— 
‘‘(A) a smaller establishment; and 
‘‘(B) a very small establishment. 
‘‘(2) The terms ‘smaller establishment’ and 
‘very small establishment’ have the meanings given 
those terms in the final rule entitled ‘Pathogen Re-
duction; Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point 
(HACCP) Systems’ and published in the Federal 
Register by the Department of Agriculture on July 
25, 1996 (61 Fed. Reg. 38806 et seq.). 
‘‘(b) DATABASE OF STUDIES; MODEL PLANS.—Not 
later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this 
section, the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(1) establish a free, searchable database of ap-
proved peer-reviewed validation studies accessible to 
covered establishments subject to inspection under 
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this Act for use in developing a Hazard Analysis and 
Critical Control Points plan; and 
‘‘(2) publish online scale-appropriate model 
Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points plans 
for covered establishments, including model plans 
for— 
‘‘(A) slaughter-only establishments; 
‘‘(B) processing-only establishments; and 
‘‘(C) slaughter and processing establish-
ments. 
‘‘(c) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 2 years after the 
date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall pub-
lish a guidance document, after notice and an opportunity 
for public comment, providing information on the require-
ments that need to be met for covered establishments to 
receive approval for a Hazard Analysis and Critical Con-
trol Points plan pursuant to this Act. 
‘‘(d) DATA CONFIDENTIALITY.—In carrying out sub-
sections (b) and (c), the Secretary shall not publish con-
fidential business information, including a Hazard Anal-
ysis and Critical Control Points plan of an establish-
ment.’’. 
(b) MEAT ESTABLISHMENTS.—The Federal Meat In-
spection Act is amended by inserting after section 25 (21 
U.S.C. 625) the following: 
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‘‘SEC. 26. SMALLER AND VERY SMALL ESTABLISHMENT 
GUIDANCE AND RESOURCES. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘covered establishment’ means— 
‘‘(A) a smaller establishment; and 
‘‘(B) a very small establishment. 
‘‘(2) The terms ‘smaller establishment’ and 
‘very small establishment’ have the meanings given 
those terms in the final rule entitled ‘Pathogen Re-
duction; Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point 
(HACCP) Systems’ and published in the Federal 
Register by the Department of Agriculture on July 
25, 1996 (61 Fed. Reg. 38806 et seq.). 
‘‘(b) DATABASE OF STUDIES; MODEL PLANS.—Not 
later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this 
section, the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(1) establish a free, searchable database of ap-
proved peer-reviewed validation studies accessible to 
covered establishments subject to inspection under 
this Act for use in developing a Hazard Analysis and 
Critical Control Points plan; and 
‘‘(2) publish online scale-appropriate model 
Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points plans 
for covered establishments, including model plans 
for— 
‘‘(A) slaughter-only establishments; 
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SEC. 4. COOPERATIVE INTERSTATE SHIPMENT OF POUL-
TRY AND MEAT. 
(a) POULTRY PRODUCTS.—Section 31 of the Poultry 
Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 472) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (b)— 
(A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘25 em-
ployees’’ each place it appears and inserting 
‘‘50 employees’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (3)— 
(i) in the paragraph heading, by strik-
ing ‘‘25’’ and inserting ‘‘50’’; 
(ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 
‘‘25’’ and inserting ‘‘50’’; and 
(iii) in subparagraph (B)— 
(I) in clause (i), by striking 
‘‘more than 25 employees but less 
than 35 employees’’ and inserting 
‘‘more than 50 employees but less 
than 70 employees’’; and 
(II) in clause (ii), by striking 
‘‘subsection (i)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub-
section (j)’’; 
(2) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘60 percent’’ 
and inserting ‘‘80 percent’’; 
(3) in subsection (e)(1), by striking ‘‘subsection 
(i)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (j)’’; 
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(4) by redesignating subsections (f) through (i) 
as subsections (g) through (j), respectively; and 
(5) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(f) FEDERAL OUTREACH.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—In each of fiscal years 
2026 through 2031, for the purpose of State partici-
pation in the Cooperative Interstate Shipment pro-
gram under this section, the Secretary shall conduct 
outreach to, and, as appropriate, subsequent nego-
tiation with, not fewer than 25 percent of the States 
that— 
‘‘(A) have a State poultry product inspec-
tion program pursuant to section 5; but 
‘‘(B) do not have a selected establishment. 
‘‘(2) REPORT.—At the conclusion of each of fis-
cal years 2026 through 2031, the Secretary shall 
submit a report detailing the activities and results of 
the outreach conducted during that fiscal year under 
paragraph (1) to— 
‘‘(A) the Committee on Agriculture of the 
House of Representatives; 
‘‘(B) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutri-
tion, and Forestry of the Senate; 
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‘‘(C) the Subcommittee on Agriculture, 
Rural Development, Food and Drug Adminis-
tration, and Related Agencies of the Committee 
on Appropriations of the House of Representa-
tives; and 
‘‘(D) the Subcommittee on Agriculture, 
Rural Development, Food and Drug Adminis-
tration, and Related Agencies of the Committee 
on Appropriations of the Senate.’’. 
(b) MEAT AND MEAT FOOD PRODUCTS.—Section 
501 of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 683) 
is amended— 
(1) in subsection (b)— 
(A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘25 em-
ployees’’ each place it appears and inserting 
‘‘50 employees’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (3)— 
(i) in the paragraph heading, by strik-
ing ‘‘25’’ and inserting ‘‘50’’; 
(ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 
‘‘25’’ and inserting ‘‘50’’; and 
(iii) in subparagraph (B)(i), by strik-
ing ‘‘more than 25 employees but less than 
35 employees’’ and inserting ‘‘more than 
50 employees but less than 70 employees’’; 
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(2) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘60 percent’’ 
and inserting ‘‘80 percent’’; and 
(3) in subsection (f), by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(3) FEDERAL OUTREACH.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In each of fiscal years 
2026 through 2031, for the purpose of State 
participation in the Cooperative Interstate Ship-
ment program under this section, the Secretary 
shall conduct outreach to, and, as appropriate, 
subsequent negotiation with, not fewer than 25 
percent of the States that— 
‘‘(i) have a State meat inspection pro-
gram pursuant to section 301; but 
‘‘(ii) do not have a selected establish-
ment. 
‘‘(B) REPORT.—At the conclusion of each 
of fiscal years 2026 through 2031, the Sec-
retary shall submit a report detailing the activi-
ties and results of the outreach conducted dur-
ing that fiscal year under subparagraph (A) 
to— 
‘‘(i) the Committee on Agriculture of 
the House of Representatives; 
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‘‘(ii) the Committee on Agriculture, 
Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate; 
‘‘(iii) the Subcommittee on Agri-
culture, Rural Development, Food and 
Drug Administration, and Related Agen-
cies of the Committee on Appropriations of 
the House of Representatives; and 
‘‘(iv) the Subcommittee on Agri-
culture, Rural Development, Food and 
Drug Administration, and Related Agen-
cies of the Committee on Appropriations of 
the Senate.’’. 
SEC. 5. PROCESSING RESILIENCE GRANT PROGRAM. 
Subtitle A of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 
(7 U.S.C. 1621 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘SEC. 210B. PROCESSING RESILIENCE GRANT PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en-
tity’ means— 
‘‘(A) a covered establishment (as defined in 
section 26 of the Federal Meat Inspection Act); 
‘‘(B) a slaughtering or processing estab-
lishment subject to— 
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‘‘(i) a State meat inspection program 
pursuant to section 301 of the Federal 
Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 661); or 
‘‘(ii) a State poultry product inspec-
tion program pursuant to section 5 of the 
Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 
U.S.C. 454); 
‘‘(C) a person engaging in custom oper-
ations that is exempt from inspection under— 
‘‘(i) section 23 of the Federal Meat 
Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 623); or 
‘‘(ii) section 15 of the Poultry Prod-
ucts Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 464); and 
‘‘(D) a person seeking— 
‘‘(i) to establish and operate an estab-
lishment described in subparagraph (A) or 
(B); or 
‘‘(ii) to engage in custom operations 
described in subparagraph (C). 
‘‘(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 
the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Ad-
ministrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service. 
‘‘(b) GRANTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days 
after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec-
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retary shall award competitive grants to eligible enti-
ties for activities to increase resiliency and diver-
sification of the meat processing system, including 
activities that— 
‘‘(A) support the health and safety of meat 
and poultry plant employees, suppliers, and cus-
tomers; 
‘‘(B) support increased processing capac-
ity; and 
‘‘(C) otherwise support the resilience of the 
small meat and poultry processing sector. 
‘‘(2) 
MAXIMUM
AMOUNT.—The 
maximum 
amount of a grant awarded under this section shall 
not exceed $500,000. 
‘‘(3) DURATION.—The term of a grant awarded 
under this section shall not exceed 3 years. 
‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity desiring a 
grant under this section shall submit to the Sec-
retary an application at such time, in such manner, 
and containing such information as the Secretary 
may require. 
‘‘(2) APPLICATIONS FOR SMALL GRANTS.—The 
Secretary shall establish a separate, simplified appli-
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