I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3792 
To amend the Animal Welfare Act to require that covered persons develop 
and implement emergency contingency plans. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 14, 2017 
Ms. TITUS (for herself, Mr. DONOVAN, Ms. NORTON, Ms. CLARK of Massa-
chusetts, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. LOWEY, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, 
Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. CA´RDENAS, and Mr. GRIJALVA) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agri-
culture 
A BILL 
To amend the Animal Welfare Act to require that covered 
persons develop and implement emergency contingency plans. 
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 ‘‘Animal Emergency 
Planning Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
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(1) Recent natural and man-made disasters 
have highlighted the need for planning to minimize 
the impact of disasters. 
(2) Lack of preparedness in times of disaster 
can have especially devastating effects on animals 
and the people who risk their lives to protect them. 
(3) Local first-responders, nongovernmental 
agencies, and private individuals most often shoulder 
the cost and responsibility of animals affected by 
disasters. 
(4) It is reasonable to ask those who use ani-
mals commercially to demonstrate a level of readi-
ness to protect the animals under their care. 
SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT THAT COVERED ENTITIES DEVELOP 
AND IMPLEMENT EMERGENCY CONTINGENCY 
PLANS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Animal Welfare Act (7 
U.S.C. 2131 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘SEC. 30. ANIMAL EMERGENCY PLANNING. 
‘‘(a) COVERED PERSON.—For purposes of this sec-
tion, the term ‘covered person’ means a research facility, 
dealer, exhibitor, intermediate handler, carrier, or Federal 
research facility. 
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‘‘(b) CONTINGENCY PLAN.—Each covered person 
shall develop, document, and follow a contingency plan to 
provide for the humane handling, treatment, transpor-
tation, housing, and care of its animals in the event of 
an emergency or disaster. Such a contingency plan shall— 
‘‘(1) identify situations that the covered person 
might experience, including natural disasters and 
emergencies such as electrical outages, faulty HVAC 
systems, fires, mechanical breakdowns, and animal 
escapes, that would trigger the need for the meas-
ures identified in the contingency plan to be put into 
action; 
‘‘(2) outline specific tasks to be carried out in 
response to the identified emergencies or disasters, 
including detailed animal evacuation or shelter-in- 
place instructions and provisions for providing 
backup sources of food and water as well as sanita-
tion, ventilation, bedding, and veterinary care; 
‘‘(3) establish a chain of command and identify 
the individuals responsible for fulfilling the tasks de-
scribed in paragraph (2); and 
‘‘(4) address how response and recovery will be 
handled in terms of materials, resources, and train-
ing needed. 
‘‘(c) ANNUAL REVIEW.—Each covered person shall— 
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‘‘(1) review its contingency plan on at least an 
annual basis to ensure that it adequately addresses 
the criteria described in subsection (b); and 
‘‘(2) maintain documentation of the annual re-
views and any amendments or changes made to its 
contingency plan since the previous year’s review. 
‘‘(d) TRAINING.—Each covered person shall— 
‘‘(1) train its personnel in their roles and re-
sponsibilities as outlined in the contingency plan; 
‘‘(2) communicate any changes in the contin-
gency plan to personnel through training within 30 
days after making the changes; and 
‘‘(3) maintain documentation of its personnel’s 
participation in and successful completion of the 
training required by this subsection. 
‘‘(e) AVAILABILITY OF DOCUMENTATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each covered person shall 
submit its contingency plan, as well as any docu-
mentation described in subsections (c)(2) and (d)(3), 
to the Secretary annually. 
‘‘(2) WHILE TRAVELING.—A covered person en-
gaged in travel must carry a copy of its contingency 
plan with it at all times and make it available for 
inspection by the Secretary while in travel status.’’. 
(b) REGULATIONS.— 
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