Sponsors (16)
The bill improves outbreak detection, coordination, and overall food safety through mandated on-site sampling and data sharing, but imposes compliance costs, disclosure risks, and short-term disruptions on CAFOs and rural communities.
Consumers—especially patients with chronic conditions and the general public—gain a safer food supply because environmental and animal sampling at CAFOs helps identify root causes of foodborne outbreaks.
People in affected communities (including rural communities) and health systems get faster detection and containment of foodborne outbreaks through HHS-authorized on-site microbial sampling.
State and federal public health agencies receive timely data because collected sampling results must be shared with USDA and public health agencies, improving coordination of responses.
Farm operators and agricultural workers face new compliance requirements—on-site sampling, potential enforcement for refusal, and associated operational disruptions and costs.
CAFO owners risk disclosure of business-sensitive information to government agencies (even with some FOIA protections preserved), which could harm commercial interests.
Rural communities may experience short-term biosecurity conflicts, access restrictions, and production delays from on-site sampling activities, disrupting local operations.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Introduced January 31, 2025 by Rosa L. Delauro · Last progress January 31, 2025
Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to request reasonable access to concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) to collect microbial samples when needed to investigate foodborne illness outbreaks or address other public health needs. Operators must provide reasonable access for sampling of plants, animals, water, and the environment; refusal to allow sampling is made unlawful under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and collected data must be shared with USDA and relevant state and federal public health agencies, subject to existing disclosure exemptions.