From the editors of Feedstuffs
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has signed a bill into law that will help protect the state’s livestock from dangerous transmissible diseases and inform the public on how to manage domestic animals to prevent or mitigate disease.
SB 979 amends Title 3 (Agriculture) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, adding a section that says the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture may require a dealer, agent or person that offers a domestic animal, commercial feed or pet food for sale to the public to provide a posted notice on the premises with information on a dangerous transmissible disease. This act shall take effect immediately.
The bill’s sponsor Sen. Lynda Schlegel Culver (R-27) notes the passage of the law is timely as the nation is seeing the spread of avian influenza in cattle. There has been no spread reported in Pennsylvania at this time.
“I am grateful the governor signed this bill into law today,” Culver said. “It is a great step in securing the future of the livestock industry in Pennsylvania.”
Alabama second state to ban lab-grown meat
Alabama has become the second state in the nation to ban the sale of cultured meat. On Tuesday, Governor Kay Ivey signed SB23 into law, making the manufacture, sale or distribution of food products produced from cultured animal cells a Class C misdemeanor as of Oct. 1.
According to the bill’s fiscal note, civil penalties could range from $100 for a Class II violation up to $10,000 for a Class V violation for food sales establishments that violate the provisions of the bill. However, the legislation does not prevent any federal institution of higher education, or a person that is partnered with a governmental entity or institution of higher education, from conducting research in Alabama regarding the production of cultivated food products.Alabama’s ban follows Florida’s legal precedent taken earlier this month. Governor Ron DeSantis signed SB 1084 into law, noting the action is intended to "stop the World Economic Forum’s goal of forcing the world to eat lab-grown meat and insects, 'an overlooked source of protein.'” Read more
Department of Labor takes critical stepin heat safety rulemaking
The Department of Labor has taken an important step in addressing the dangers of workplace heat and moved closer to publishing a proposed rule to reducing the significant health risks of heat exposure for U.S. workers in outdoor and indoor settings.
On April 24, 2024, the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration presented the draft rule’s initial regulatory framework at a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health. The committee, which advises the agency on safety and health standards and policy matters, unanimously recommended OSHA move forward expeditiously on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. As part of the rulemaking process, the agency will seek and consider input from a wide range of stakeholders and the public at-large as it works to propose and finalize its rule.
In the interim, OSHA continues to direct significant existing outreach and enforcement resources to educate employers and workers and hold businesses accountable for violationsRead more
