[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2185 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2185
To protect public health and human safety by prohibiting the farming of
mink for their fur, to compensate farmers as they transition out of the
industry, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 18, 2025
Mr. Espaillat (for himself, Ms. Barragan, Mr. Frost, and Mr.
Fitzpatrick) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on the
Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the
jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To protect public health and human safety by prohibiting the farming of
mink for their fur, to compensate farmers as they transition out of the
industry, 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 ``Mink: Vectors for Infection Risk in
the United States Act'' or the ``Mink VIRUS Act''.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON MINK FARMING AND REQUIREMENTS FOR MINK
TERMINATION.
(a) Cessation of Operations.--Beginning on the date that is 1 year
after the date of enactment of this Act, no fur farm may farm mink.
(b) Painless Mink Termination Methods.--Beginning on the date that
is 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, any termination of
farmed mink, whether performed in order to comply with subsection (a)
or otherwise, shall be done in a manner that--
(1) meets the definition of ``euthanasia'' specified in
section 1.1 of title 9, Code of Federal Regulations (or
successor regulations); and
(2) is classified as ``acceptable'' by the most recent
version of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA)
Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals made publicly
available at the time the termination occurred, without regard
to whether the termination is in compliance with other
guidelines, including the AVMA Guidelines for the Depopulation
of Animals.
(c) Penalties.--
(1) Penalty for failure to cease operations.--Any person
who violates subsection (a) may be assessed a civil penalty of
up to $10,000 for each day that the fur farm is not in
compliance with the requirements of that subsection.
(2) Penalty for noncompliant termination of mink.--Any
person who violates subsection (b) may be assessed a civil
penalty of up to $10,000 for each mink terminated in a manner
that does not comply with the requirements of that subsection.
(d) Effect on Preemption.--This section shall not be construed to
preempt or limit any requirement of any law or regulation of a State or
political subdivision of a State that is more restrictive than the
requirements of this section.
SEC. 3. PAYMENT PROGRAM.
(a) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture (referred to in
this section as the ``Secretary'') shall establish and carry out a
program (referred to in this section as the ``Program'') to provide
payments to owners of fur farms whose operations involve the farming of
mink.
(b) Payments.--Under the Program, the Secretary shall provide
payments to fur farm owners equal to the sum of the Secretary's
determination of--
(1) the reasonable cost incurred by the owner in order to
comply with sections 2(a) and 2(b); and
(2) the market value of the portion of the owner's fur
farm, exclusive of the land, involving mink farming.
(c) Market Value Determination.--
(1) Market value.--The market value referred to in
subsection (b)(2) shall be calculated as the amount in cash, or
on terms reasonably equivalent to cash, for which in all
probability the relevant portion of the fur farm would have
sold on the effective date of the valuation, after a reasonable
exposure time on the competitive market, from a willing and
reasonably knowledgeable seller to a willing and reasonably
knowledgeable buyer, with neither acting under any compulsion
to buy or sell, giving due consideration to all available
economic uses of that portion of the fur farm at the time of
the valuation.
(2) Effective date of valuation.--In determining the market
value referred to in subsection (b)(2), the effective date of
the valuation shall be the day before the date of enactment of
this Act.
(d) Grant Condition.--As a condition of receiving a payment under
the Program, the recipient shall--
(1) not use any payment funds for any materials, supplies,
labor costs, or activities associated with operating a fur
farm; and
(2) provide to the Secretary a permanent easement on the
property on which the fur farm is located that prohibits the
operation of any fur farm on the easement area.
(e) Funding.--Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of
this Act, out of any funds in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated,
the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer to the Secretary of
Agriculture $100,000,000 to carry out this section, to remain available
until expended.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Fur.--The term ``fur'' means any animal skin or part of
an animal skin with hair, fleece, or fur fibers attached,
either in its raw or processed state. Such term--
(A) does not include animal skins that will be
converted into leather or which in processing will have
their hair, fleece, or fur fiber completely removed;
and
(B) does not include cowhide with its hair
attached, deerskin with its hair attached, and lambskin
and sheepskin with their fleece attached.
(2) Fur-bearing animal.--The term ``fur-bearing animal''
means an animal that bears fur of marketable value.
(3) Fur farm.--The term ``fur farm'' means an operation
that farms fur-bearing animals for the value of their fur,
including--
(A) the land, buildings, support facilities, and
other equipment of the operation in which fur-bearing
animals are, for the value of their fur, bred,
slaughtered, skinned, or sold; and
(B) the fur-bearing animals of the operation farmed
for the value of their fur and any fur produced by such
fur-bearing animals that is owned by the operation.
(4) Mink.--The term ``mink'' means an American mink
(Neovison vison), a European mink (Mustela lutreola), and any
mink hybrid, whether alive or dead, and any parts and products
from such mink or mink hybrids.
(5) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the several
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,
American Samoa, Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, and any
other territory or possession of the United States.
SEC. 5. BUDGETARY EFFECTS.
(a) Statutory PAYGO Scorecards.--The budgetary effects of this Act
shall not be entered on either PAYGO scorecard maintained pursuant to
section 4(d) of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (Public Law
111-139; 2 U.S.C. 933(d)).
(b) Senate PAYGO Scorecards.--The budgetary effects of this Act
shall not be entered on any PAYGO scorecard maintained for the purposes
of section 4106 of H. Con. Res. 71 (115th Congress).
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