{"id":425,"date":"2021-06-24T12:53:27","date_gmt":"2021-06-24T16:53:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/animallawdevelopments\/?p=425"},"modified":"2021-06-24T12:53:27","modified_gmt":"2021-06-24T16:53:27","slug":"aphis-dusts-off-animal-handling-contingency-planning-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/animallawdevelopments\/2021\/06\/24\/aphis-dusts-off-animal-handling-contingency-planning-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"APHIS Dusts Off Animal Handling Contingency Planning Rules"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued advance notice<\/a> that, on June 25, 2021, the agency will publish notice in the Federal Register of its intention to implement regulations, adopted in 2012, that require entities subject to the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) to have contingency plans for handling animals in the event of possible emergencies or disasters.\u00a0 The rules, which had been prompted by events during the 2005 hurricane season, had been stayed by APHIS since July 31, 2013 based on claims by small entities that these regulatory requirements were excessive.<\/p>\n

The original rules<\/a> apply to research facilities, dealers, exhibitors, intermediate handlers, and carriers of animals regulated under the AWA.\u00a0 The rules set out a framework for contingency plans which must include the following elements:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Identify common emergencies such as electrical outages, faulty HVAC systems, fires, animal escapes, and natural disasters the facility is most <\/span><\/strong>likely to experience.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Outline specific tasks required to be carried out in response to the identified <\/span><\/strong>emergencies including, but not limited to, specific animal evacuation plans or <\/span><\/strong>shelter-in-place plans and provisions for providing backup sources of food and <\/span><\/strong>water as well as sanitation, ventilation, bedding, veterinary care, etc.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Identify a chain of command and who (by name or by position title) will be responsible for fulfilling these tasks. <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Address how response and recovery will be handled in terms of materials, resources, and training needed.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In its June 24 advance notice, APHIS indicated that the concerns that led to the stay of the original rule are no longer present in view of the de minimis<\/em> exemptions to licensure that the agency had issued in 2018.\u00a0 Those exemptions applied to 525 licensees who APHIS notified of their eligibility for exemption.\u00a0 259 such licensees had canceled their licenses as of December 2020.\u00a0 In addition, the 2021 Congressional Appropriations Act (Pub. L. No. 116-260) directed APHIS to propose a lifting of the stay of the rules within 180 days of the passage of that Act.<\/p>\n

The June 24 advance notice proposed to make additional changes (“minor” according to APHIS) to the contingency plan regulations along the following lines:<\/p>\n