I 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3798 
To provide for a uniform national standard for the housing and treatment 
of egg-laying hens, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 23, 2012 
Mr. SCHRADER (for himself, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. FARR, and Mr. DENHAM) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ag-
riculture 
A BILL 
To provide for a uniform national standard for the housing 
and treatment of egg-laying hens, 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 ‘‘Egg Products Inspec-
tion Act Amendments of 2012’’. 
SEC. 2. HEN HOUSING AND TREATMENT STANDARDS. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 4 of the Egg Products 
Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 1033) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsection (a) as sub-
section (c); 
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(2) by redesignating subsections (b), (c), (d), 
(e), (f), and (g) as subsections (f), (g), (h), (i), (j), 
and (k), respectively; 
(3) by redesignating subsections (h) and (i) as 
subsections (n) and (o), respectively; 
(4) by redesignating subsections (j), (k), and (l) 
as subsections (r), (s), and (t), respectively; 
(5) by redesignating subsections (m), (n), (o), 
(p), (q), (r), (s), (t), (u), (v), (w), (x), (y), and (z) 
as subsections (v), (w), (x), (y), (z), (aa), (bb), (cc), 
(dd), (ee), (ff), (gg), (hh), and (ii), respectively; 
(6) by inserting before subsection (c), as redes-
ignated by paragraph (1), the following new sub-
sections: 
‘‘(a) The term ‘adequate environmental enrichments’ 
means adequate perch space, dust bathing or scratching 
areas, and nest space, as defined by the Secretary of Agri-
culture, based on the best available science, including the 
most recent studies available at the time that the Sec-
retary defines the term. The Secretary shall issue regula-
tions defining this term not later than January 1, 2017, 
and the final regulations shall go into effect on December 
31, 2018. 
‘‘(b) The term ‘adequate housing-related labeling’ 
means a conspicuous, legible marking on the front or top 
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of a package of eggs accurately indicating the type of 
housing that the egg-laying hens were provided during egg 
production, in one of the following formats: 
‘‘(1) ‘Eggs from free-range hens’ to indicate 
that the egg-laying hens from which the eggs or egg 
products were derived were, during egg production— 
‘‘(A) not housed in caging devices; and 
‘‘(B) provided with outdoor access. 
‘‘(2) ‘Eggs from cage-free hens’ to indicate that 
the egg-laying hens from which the eggs or egg 
products were derived were, during egg production, 
not housed in caging devices. 
‘‘(3) ‘Eggs from enriched cages’ to indicate that 
the egg-laying hens from which the eggs or egg 
products were derived were, during egg production, 
housed in caging devices that— 
‘‘(A) contain adequate environmental en-
richments; and 
‘‘(B) provide the hens a minimum of 116 
square inches of individual floor space per 
brown hen and 101 square inches of individual 
floor space per white hen. 
‘‘(4) ‘Eggs from caged hens’ to indicate that 
the egg-laying hens from which the eggs or egg 
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products were derived were, during egg production, 
housed in caging devices that either— 
‘‘(A) do not contain adequate environ-
mental enrichments; or 
‘‘(B) do not provide the hens a minimum 
of 116 square inches of individual floor space 
per brown hen and 101 square inches of indi-
vidual floor space per white hen.’’; 
(7) by inserting after subsection (c), as redesig-
nated by paragraph (1), the following new sub-
sections: 
‘‘(d) The term ‘brown hen’ means a brown egg-laying 
hen used for commercial egg production. 
‘‘(e) The term ‘caging device’ means any cage, enclo-
sure, or other device used for the housing of egg-laying 
hens for the production of eggs in commerce, but does not 
include an open barn or other fixed structure without in-
ternal caging devices.’’; 
(8) by inserting after subsection (k), as redesig-
nated by paragraph (2), the following new sub-
sections: 
‘‘(l) The term ‘egg-laying hen’ means any female do-
mesticated chicken, including white hens and brown hens, 
used for the commercial production of eggs for human 
consumption. 
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‘‘(m) The term ‘existing caging device’ means any 
caging device that was continuously in use for the produc-
tion of eggs in commerce up through and including De-
cember 31, 2011.’’; 
(9) by inserting after subsection (o), as redesig-
nated by paragraph (3), the following new sub-
sections: 
‘‘(p) The term ‘feed-withdrawal molting’ means the 
practice of preventing food intake for the purpose of in-
ducing egg-laying hens to molt. 
‘‘(q) The term ‘individual floor space’ means the 
amount of total floor space in a caging device available 
to each egg-laying hen in the device, which is calculated 
by measuring the total floor space of the caging device 
and dividing by the total number of egg-laying hens in 
the device.’’; 
(10) by inserting after subsection (t), as redes-
ignated by paragraph (4), the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(u) The term ‘new caging device’ means any caging 
device that was not continuously in use for the production 
of eggs in commerce on or before December 31, 2011.’’; 
and 
(11) by inserting at the end the following new 
subsections: 
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‘‘(jj) The term ‘water-withdrawal molting’ means the 
practice of preventing water intake for the purpose of in-
ducing egg-laying hens to molt. 
‘‘(kk) The term ‘white hen’ means a white egg-laying 
hen used for commercial egg production.’’. 
(b) HOUSING
AND TREATMENT
OF EGG-LAYING 
HENS.—The Egg Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 
1031 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 7 the 
following new sections: 
‘‘§ 7A. Housing and treatment of egg-laying hens 
‘‘(a) ENVIRONMENTAL ENRICHMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) EXISTING CAGING DEVICES.—All existing 
caging devices must provide egg-laying hens housed 
therein, beginning 15 years after the date of enact-
ment of the Egg Products Inspection Act Amend-
ments of 2012, adequate environmental enrichments. 
‘‘(2) NEW CAGING DEVICES.—All new caging 
devices must provide egg-laying hens housed therein, 
beginning nine years after the date of enactment of 
the Egg Products Inspection Act Amendments of 
2012, adequate environmental enrichments. 
‘‘(3) CAGING
DEVICES
IN
CALIFORNIA.—All 
caging devices in California must provide egg-laying 
hens housed therein, beginning December 31, 2018, 
adequate environmental enrichments. 
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‘‘(b) FLOOR SPACE.— 
‘‘(1) EXISTING CAGING DEVICES.—All existing 
cages devices must provide egg-laying hens housed 
therein— 
‘‘(A) beginning four years after the date of 
enactment of the Egg Products Inspection Act 
Amendments of 2012 and until the date that is 
15 years after the date of enactment of the Egg 
Products Inspection Act Amendments of 2012, 
a minimum of 76 square inches of individual 
floor space per brown hen and 67 square inches 
of individual floor space per white hen; and 
‘‘(B) beginning 15 years after the date of 
enactment of the Egg Products Inspection Act 
Amendments of 2012, a minimum of 144 
square inches of individual floor space per 
brown hen and 124 square inches of individual 
floor space per white hen. 
‘‘(2) NEW CAGING DEVICES.—Except as pro-
vided in paragraph (3), all new caging devices must 
provide egg-laying hens housed therein— 
‘‘(A) beginning three years after the date 
of enactment of the Egg Products Inspection 
Act Amendments of 2012 and until the date 
that is six years after the date of enactment of 
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the Egg Products Inspection Act Amendments 
of 2012, a minimum of 90 square inches of in-
dividual floor space per brown hen and 78 
square inches of individual floor space per white 
hen; 
‘‘(B) beginning six years after the date of 
enactment of the Egg Products Inspection Act 
Amendments of 2012 and until the date that is 
nine years after the date of enactment of the 
Egg Products Inspection Act Amendments of 
2012, a minimum of 102 square inches of indi-
vidual floor space per brown hen and 90 square 
inches of individual floor space per white hen; 
‘‘(C) beginning nine years after the date of 
enactment of the Egg Products Inspection Act 
Amendments of 2012 and until the date that is 
12 years after the date of enactment of the Egg 
Products Inspection Act Amendments of 2012, 
a minimum of 116 square inches of individual 
floor space per brown hen and 101 square 
inches of individual floor space per white hen; 
‘‘(D) beginning 12 years after the date of 
enactment of the Egg Products Inspection Act 
Amendments of 2012 and until the date that is 
15 years after the date of enactment of the Egg 
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Products Inspection Act Amendments of 2012, 
a minimum of 130 square inches of individual 
floor space per brown hen and 113 square 
inches of individual floor space per white hen; 
and 
‘‘(E) beginning 15 years after the date of 
enactment of the Egg Products Inspection Act 
Amendments of 2012, a minimum of 144 
square inches of individual floor space per 
brown hen and 124 square inches of individual 
floor space per white hen. 
‘‘(3) CALIFORNIA CAGING DEVICES.—All caging 
devices in California must provide egg-laying hens 
housed therein— 
‘‘(A) beginning January 1, 2015, and 
through December 31, 2020, a minimum of 134 
square inches of individual floor space per 
brown hen and 116 square inches of individual 
floor space per white hen; and 
‘‘(B) beginning January 1, 2021, a min-
imum of 144 square inches of individual floor 
space per brown hen and 124 square inches of 
individual floor space per white hen. 
‘‘(c) AIR QUALITY.—Beginning two years after the 
date of enactment of the Egg Products Inspection Act 
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Amendments of 2012, an egg handler shall provide all egg- 
laying hens under his ownership or control with acceptable 
air quality, which does not exceed more than 25 parts per 
million of ammonia during normal operations. 
‘‘(d) FORCED MOLTING.—Beginning two years after 
the date of enactment of the Egg Products Inspection Act 
Amendments of 2012, no egg handler may subject any 
egg-laying hen under his ownership or control to feed- 
withdrawal or water-withdrawal molting. 
‘‘(e) EUTHANASIA.—Beginning two years after the 
date of enactment of the Egg Products Inspection Act 
Amendments of 2012, an egg handler shall provide, when 
necessary, all egg-laying hens under his ownership or con-
trol with euthanasia that is humane and uses a method 
deemed ‘Acceptable’ by the American Veterinary Medical 
Association. 
‘‘(f) 
PROHIBITION
ON
NEW
UNENRICHABLE 
CAGES.—No person shall build, construct, implement, or 
place into operation any new caging device for the produc-
tion of eggs to be sold in commerce unless the device— 
‘‘(1) provides the egg-laying hens to be con-
tained therein a minimum of 76 square inches of in-
dividual floor space per brown hen or 67 square 
inches of individual floor space per white hen; and 
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‘‘(2) is capable of being adapted to accommo-
date adequate environmental enrichments. 
‘‘(g) EXEMPTIONS.— 
‘‘(1) RECENTLY-INSTALLED
EXISTING
CAGING 
DEVICES.—The requirements contained in sub-
sections (a)(1) and (b)(1)(B) shall not apply to any 
existing caging device that was first placed into op-
eration between January 1, 2008, and December 31, 
2011. This exemption shall expire 18 years after the 
date of enactment of the Egg Products Inspection 
Act Amendments of 2012, at which time the require-
ments contained in subsections (a)(1) and (b)(1)(B) 
shall apply to all existing caging devices. 
‘‘(2) HENS ALREADY IN PRODUCTION.—The re-
quirements contained in subsections (a)(1), (a)(2), 
(b)(1)(B), and (b)(2) shall not apply to any caging 
device containing egg-laying hens who are already in 
egg production on the date that such requirement 
takes effect. This exemption shall expire on the date 
that such egg-laying hens are removed from egg pro-
duction. 
‘‘(3) SMALL
PRODUCERS.—Nothing contained 
in this section shall apply to an egg handler who 
buys, sells, handles, or processes eggs or egg prod-
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ucts solely from one flock of not more than 3,000 
egg-laying hens. 
‘‘§ 7B. Phase-in conversion requirements 
‘‘(a) FIRST CONVERSION PHASE.—As of six years 
after the date of enactment of the Egg Products Inspec-
tion Act Amendments of 2012, at least 25 percent of the 
egg-laying hens in commercial egg production shall be 
housed either in new caging devices or in existing caging 
devices that provide the hens contained therein with a 
minimum of 102 square inches of individual floor space 
per brown hen and 90 square inches of individual floor 
space per white hen. 
‘‘(b) SECOND CONVERSION PHASE.—As of 12 years 
after the date of enactment of the Egg Products Inspec-
tion Act Amendments of 2012, at least 55 percent of the 
egg-laying hens in commercial egg production shall be 
housed either in new caging devices or in existing caging 
devices that provide the hens contained therein with a 
minimum of 130 square inches of individual floor space 
per brown hen and 113 square inches of individual floor 
space per white hen. 
‘‘(c) FINAL CONVERSION PHASE.—As of December 
31, 2029, all egg-laying hens confined in caging devices 
shall be provided adequate environmental enrichments and 
a minimum of 144 square inches of individual floor space 
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per brown hen and 124 square inches of individual floor 
space per white hen. 
‘‘(d) COMPLIANCE.— 
‘‘(1) At the end of six years after the date of 
enactment of the Egg Products Inspection Act 
Amendments of 2012, the Secretary shall determine, 
after having reviewed and analyzed the results of an 
independent, national survey of caging devices con-
ducted in 2018, whether the requirements of sub-
section (a) have been met. If the Secretary finds 
that the requirements of subsection (a) have not 
been met, then beginning January 1, 2020, the floor 
space requirements (irrespective of the date such re-
quirements expire) related to new caging devices 
contained in subsection (b)(2)(B) of section 7A shall 
apply to existing caging devices placed into operation 
prior to January 1, 1995. 
‘‘(2) At the end of 12 years after the date of 
enactment of the Egg Products Inspection Act 
Amendments of 2012, and again after December 31, 
2029, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee 
on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and 
the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and For-
estry of the Senate a report on compliance with sub-
sections (b) and (c). 
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‘‘(3) Notwithstanding section 12, the remedies 
provided in this subsection shall be the exclusive 
remedies for violations of this section.’’. 
(c) INSPECTIONS.—Section 5 of the Egg Products In-
spection Act (21 U.S.C. 1034) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘(other than 
requirements with respect to housing, treatment, 
and house-related labeling)’’ after ‘‘as he deems ap-
propriate to assure compliance with such require-
ments’’; and 
(2) in subsection (e)— 
(A) in paragraph (1)— 
(i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 
‘‘and’’; 
(ii) by redesignating subparagraph 
(B) as subparagraph (C); 
(iii) by inserting after subparagraph 
(A) the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(B) are derived from egg-laying hens 
housed and treated in compliance with section 
7A; and’’; and 
(iv) in subparagraph (C), as redesig-
nated by clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘adequate 
housing-related labeling and’’ after ‘‘con-
tain’’; 
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(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘In the 
case of a shell egg packer’’ and inserting ‘‘In 
the cases of an egg handler with a flock of more 
than 3,000 egg-laying hens and a shell egg 
packer’’; 
(C) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘(other 
than requirements with respect to housing, 
treatment, and housing-related labeling)’’ after 
‘‘to ensure compliance with the requirements of 
paragraph (1)’’; and 
(D) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘with a 
flock of not more than 3,000 layers.’’ and in-
serting ‘‘who buys, sells, handles, or processes 
eggs or egg products solely from one flock of 
not more than 3,000 egg-laying hens.’’. 
(d) LABELING.—Section 7 of the Egg Products In-
spection Act of 1970 (21 U.S.C. 1036) is amended in sub-
section (a) by inserting ‘‘adequate housing-related label-
ing,’’ after ‘‘plant where the products were processed,’’. 
(e) LIMITATION ON EXEMPTIONS BY SECRETARY.— 
Section 15 of the Egg Products Inspection Act of 1970 
(21 U.S.C. 1044) is amended in subsection (a) by insert-
ing ‘‘, not including subsection (c) of section 8,’’ after ‘‘ex-
empt from specific provisions’’. 
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