BILL REQ. #:  H-2055.1 

READ FIRST TIME 03/10/03.   

     AN ACT Relating to laying hens; amending RCW 16.52.185; and adding a new section to chapter 16.52 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 16.52.185 and 1994 c 261 s 22 are each amended to read as follows:
     ((Nothing in)) This chapter ((applies)) does not apply to accepted husbandry practices used in the commercial raising or slaughtering of livestock or poultry, or products thereof or to the use of animals in the normal and usual course of rodeo events or to the customary use or exhibiting of animals in normal and usual events at fairs as defined in RCW 15.76.120.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 16.52 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this section unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (a) "Department" means the department of agriculture of the state of Washington.
     (b) "Director" means the director of the department of agriculture or the director's representative.
     (c) "Egg-laying facility" means any single location consisting of one or more structures which collectively house three thousand or more laying hens for the purpose of commercial egg production.
     (d) "Laying hen" means a female chicken kept for commercial egg production.
     (e) "Producer" means any person or entity engaged in the commercial production of eggs whose flock numbers three thousand or more laying hens.
     (2)(a) An action or inaction by a producer, or a person acting at the direction of or on behalf of a producer, that causes the death, at any one time, of three or more percent of the laying hens in an egg-laying facility is not an accepted husbandry practice used in the commercial raising of poultry or products thereof and is not exempted from this chapter.
     (b) The director shall establish a program for conducting inspections of egg-laying facilities in which three thousand or more laying hens are kept and has the authority to conduct the inspections. The director shall develop and maintain a list of egg-laying facilities to be inspected from information the department receives from persons licensed under chapter 69.25 RCW. Each egg-laying facility shall be inspected a minimum of two times per year. To the degree practicable, the inspections must be unannounced.
     (c) The director shall conduct inspections under the program designed to: (i) Identify instances in which, in the opinion of the director, a violation or violations of this chapter have caused the death of three percent or more of the laying hens in such a facility at any one time; and (ii) conduct testing of eggs for salmonella serotype enteritidis.
     (d) The department shall employ inspectors on an as-needed basis to conduct the inspections. The department shall not employ an inspector who is employed by, affiliated with, a member of, or in any other way associated with, either in the past or present, any humane society, shelter, or animal welfare agency, or any egg farm, producer, supplier, processor, or any other private or governmental entity associated with egg production in the state.
     (e) The director shall develop guidelines for conducting inspections under this section. The guidelines shall include procedures that:
     (i) Ensure that inspections are conducted in a manner that allows the inspector to determine whether the egg-laying facilities are conforming to generally accepted poultry industry standards applicable to laying hens;
     (ii) Specify a process for conducting testing of eggs for salmonella serotype enteritidis and a process for reporting positive test results to the department of health, the center for disease control, and the producer; and
     (iii) Are designed to limit the risk of transference of disease between egg-laying facilities.
     (f) Producers shall pay an annual inspection fee to cover the costs of funding the inspection program. The department shall annually establish the fee in an amount that is necessary to cover the costs of the inspection program. The inspection fee shall be assessed in conjunction with the assessment under RCW 69.25.250.
     (3) If the director finds evidence of an excessive mortality rate as a result of one or more violations of this chapter, he or she shall record evidence of the violations and report the violations to the prosecuting attorney of the county in which the violation has occurred. This section may not be construed as providing exclusive authority to the director to investigate such a violation of this chapter regarding laying hens.