Animal Welfare Enforcement Improvement Act
Bill: H.R.3277 | Sponsor: Rep. Krishnamoorthi, Raja (D-IL)
Policy area: Animals

Summary:
Animal Welfare Enforcement Improvement Act
This bill revises the licensing process of the Department of Agriculture (USDA) for animal dealers and exhibitors to expand USDA's oversight and enforcement of animal welfare requirements. The bill also authorizes citizen suits to enforce the Animal Welfare Act.
Dealers and exhibitors must apply to USDA for licenses or renewal licenses each year. In order to obtain the licenses or renewals, dealers and exhibitors must meet certain standards for the humane treatment of animals and pass inspections as specified by this bill. USDA may not issue or renew such licenses if the dealers or exhibitors have violated laws relating to animals or if the issuance of the licenses would facilitate the circumvention of state or local laws that prohibit the private ownership of certain animals.
Further, USDA must suspend the licenses of dealers or exhibitors whose violations present a risk to animal welfare. USDA must revoke the licenses if the violations persist or if the licensees commit multiple violations. Dealers and exhibitors with suspended or revoked licenses may not be (1) granted another license, (2) granted another license through another person or entity, or (3) employed by another licensee to work with animals during the period of the suspension or revocation.

To amend the Animal Welfare Act to increase protections for animals, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Animal Welfare Enforcement 
Improvement Act''.

SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION WITH RESPECT TO ISSUANCE OF LICENSES.

    Section 3 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2133) is amended to 
read as follows:

``SEC. 3. LICENSES.

    ``(a) In General.--Subject to subsections (c), (d), and (e), the 
Secretary shall issue licenses to dealers and exhibitors upon--
            ``(1) the submission of an application for such license 
        that--
                    ``(A) contains an inventory of all animals present 
                in all of the applicant's facilities; and
                    ``(B) is submitted in such form and manner as the 
                Secretary may prescribe; and
            ``(2) payment of such fee established pursuant to section 
        23.
    ``(b) Validity of License.--A license issued under subsection (a) 
shall be valid for a period not to exceed 1 calendar year. An applicant 
shall submit an application under such subsection to renew such license 
each calendar year before the expiration of the previously issued 
license.
    ``(c) Prohibited Dealers and Exhibitors.--Notwithstanding 
subsection (a), the Secretary may not issue a license (including a 
renewal of such a license) under such subsection to a dealer or 
exhibitor if--
            ``(1) such dealer or exhibitor has been found to have 
        violated (including by entering a nolo contendere or no contest 
        plea with respect to the violation) Federal, State, or local 
        laws relating to animals, including this Act and any other 
        anti-animal cruelty or wildlife protection law; or
            ``(2) the issuance of a license to such dealer or exhibitor 
        would facilitate the circumvention of State or local law 
        prohibiting the private ownership of certain animals.
    ``(d) Unannounced Facility Inspections.--
            ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding subsection (a) and 
        except as provided in paragraph (2), the Secretary may not 
        issue a license (including a renewal of such a license) under 
        such subsection to a dealer or exhibitor until the dealer or 
        exhibitor shall have demonstrated for the one year period 
        preceding the date on which the application for such license is 
        submitted, through full, unannounced inspections, that the 
        facilities of such dealer or exhibitor at the time of 
        inspection--
                    ``(A) comply with the standards promulgated by the 
                Secretary pursuant to section 13; and
                    ``(B) have not been documented as having not 
                complied with any such standard during more than one 
                inspection in the previous two calendar years.
            ``(2) New applicants.--In the case of an applicant seeking 
        to be licensed as a dealer or exhibitor under subsection (a) 
        who has not previously been so licensed, the applicant shall 
        not be subject to more than 2 inspections conducted pursuant to 
        paragraph (1). Both such inspections shall be conducted within 
        the 90-day period that begins on the date of the receipt of the 
        application by the Secretary. If, upon the second inspection, 
        the applicant is found to have failed to meet any standard 
        promulgated by the Secretary pursuant to section 13, the 
        Secretary shall deny the application for such license and such 
        applicant may not submit an application for such a license for 
        a one-year period beginning on the date on which the 
        application is so denied.
    ``(e) Exception.--Notwithstanding subsection (a), a dealer or 
exhibitor shall not be required to obtain a license as a dealer or 
exhibitor under this Act if the size of the business is determined by 
the Secretary to be de minimis.''.

SEC. 3. HUMANE STANDARDS WITH RESPECT TO WATERING AND ADEQUATE 
              VETERINARY CARE.

    Section 13(a) of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2143(a)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(9) The standards with respect to minimum requirements 
        for adequate veterinary care referred to in paragraph (2) shall 
        include, at a minimum, the following:
                    ``(A) Regularly scheduled visits, not less than 
                once every 12 months, by the attending veterinarian to 
                all dealer and exhibitor premises where animals are 
                kept, to assess and ensure the adequacy of veterinary 
                care and other aspects of animal care and use.
                    ``(B) A complete physical examination of each 
                animal maintained by a dealer or exhibitor by the 
                attending veterinarian not less than once every 12 
                months, unless animal health or safety considerations 
                require a different protocol.
                    ``(C) Vaccinations for contagious or deadly 
                diseases, and sampling and treatment of parasites and 
                other pests, to which the species maintained by a 
                dealer or exhibitor may be susceptible, in accordance 
                with a schedule approved by the attending veterinarian.
                    ``(D) Preventative care and treatment as required 
                by the species maintained by a dealer or exhibitor, in 
                accordance with a schedule approved by the attending 
                veterinarian.''.

SEC. 4. LICENSE SUSPENSIONS AND REVOCATIONS.

    Section 19 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2149) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) by striking ``hereunder, he may suspend'' and 
                inserting the following: ``hereunder--
            ``(1) in the case of any such violation that is not 
        described in paragraph (2), the Secretary may suspend'';
                    (B) by striking the period at the end and inserting 
                ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
            ``(2) in the case of such a violation that the Secretary 
        determines presents a risk to animal welfare, the Secretary 
        shall--
                    ``(A) suspend such person's license temporarily, 
                but for a period not to exceed 21 days; and
                    ``(B) after notice and opportunity for an informal 
                hearing, permanently revoke such license if the 
                Secretary determines that--
                            ``(i) the violation occurred;
                            ``(ii) the violation presents or has 
                        presented a risk to animal welfare; and
                            ``(iii) the violation has persisted past 
                        the initial period of license suspension under 
                        subparagraph (A) or the person has been found 
                        to have committed one or more other such 
                        violations (including by entering a nolo 
                        contendere or no contest plea with respect to 
                        any such violation) affecting animal 
                        welfare.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e)(1) Any person whose license has been suspended for any reason 
shall not be licensed, or registered, in his or her own name or in any 
other manner, within the period during which the order of suspension is 
in effect. No family member, household member, partnership, firm, 
corporation, or other legal entity in which any such person has a 
substantial interest, financial or otherwise, will be licensed or 
registered during that period.
    ``(2) Any person whose license has been revoked shall not be 
licensed or registered, in his or her own name or in any other manner, 
at any time, and no family member, household member, partnership, firm, 
corporation, or other legal entity in which any such person has a 
substantial interest, financial or otherwise, will be licensed or 
registered.
    ``(3) Any person whose license has been suspended or revoked shall 
not buy, sell, transport, exhibit, deliver for transportation, or be 
employed in any capacity with respect to any animal during the period 
of suspension or revocation, under any circumstances, whether on his or 
her behalf or on the behalf of another licensee or registrant.''.

SEC. 5. CITIZEN SUITS.

    Section 19 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2149), as amended by 
section 3, is further amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection:
    ``(f)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), any person may 
commence a civil suit on his own behalf to enjoin any person, including 
the United States and any other governmental instrumentality or agency 
(to the extent permitted by the eleventh amendment to the 
Constitution), who is alleged to be in violation of any provision of 
this Act or regulation issued under the authority thereof. The district 
courts shall have jurisdiction, without regard to the amount in 
controversy or the citizenship of the parties, to enforce any such 
provision or regulation or to order the Secretary to perform such act 
or duty, as the case may be.
    ``(2) No action may be commenced under paragraph (1)--
            ``(A) prior to sixty days after written notice of the 
        violation has been given to the Secretary, and to any alleged 
        violator of any such provision or regulation; and
            ``(B) if the United States has commenced and is diligently 
        prosecuting a criminal action in a court of the United States 
        to redress a violation of any such provision or regulation.
    ``(3)(A) Any suit under this subsection may be brought in the 
judicial district in which the violation occurs.
    ``(B) In any such suit under this subsection in which the United 
States is not a party, the Attorney General, at the request of the 
Secretary, may intervene on behalf of the United States as a matter of 
right.
    ``(4) The court, in issuing any final order in any suit brought 
pursuant to paragraph (1), may award costs of litigation (including 
reasonable attorney and expert witness fees) to any party, whenever the 
court determines such award is appropriate.
    ``(5) The injunctive relief provided by this subsection shall not 
restrict any right which any person (or class of persons) may have 
under any statute or common law to seek enforcement of any standard or 
limitation or to seek any other relief (including relief against the 
Secretary or a State agency).''.

SEC. 6. PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION ON VIOLATIONS.

    The Animal Welfare Act is amended by inserting before section 26 (7 
U.S.C. 2156) the following new section:

``SEC. 25A. PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION ON ENFORCEMENT.

    ``The Secretary shall publish, in a searchable format on a public 
website of the Department of Agriculture, information and reports (in 
their entirety and without redaction) on the nature and place of all 
investigations and inspections conducted by the Secretary under section 
16 (including all reports documenting all instances of noncompliance 
with this Act observed during any such inspection), enforcement 
records, and animal inventories.''.

SEC. 7. REGULATIONS.

    Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary of Agriculture shall issue regulations to carry out the 
amendments made by this Act.
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