,i  #aaith ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #bahe  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,march #ah1 #bjbe,mr4
 ,espaillat 7for himself1 ,ms4 ,barragn1
 ,mr4 ,frost1 and ,mr4 ,fitzpatrick7    
introduced the following bill2 which was
 referred to the ,committee on          
,agriculture1 and in addition to the    
,committee on the ,budget1 for a period 
to be subsequently determined by the    
,speaker1 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 fur1 to compensate   
farmers as they transition out of the   
industry1 and for other purposes4  #a4  
,short title ,this ,act may be cited as 
the ,mink3 ,vectors for ,infection ,risk
 in the ,united ,states ,act or the     
,mink ,,virus ,act4  #b4 ,prohibition on
 mink farming and requirements for mink 
termination  7a7 ,cessation of          
operations ,beginning on the date that  

is #a year after the date of enactment  
of this ,act1 no fur farm may farm mink4
  7b7 ,painless mink termination methods
 ,beginning on the date that is #ij days
 after the date of enactment of this    
,act1 any termination of farmed mink1   
whether performed in order to comply    
with subsection 7a7 or otherwise1 shall 
be done in a manner that-- 7#a7 meets   
the definition of euthanasia specified  
in section #a4a of title #i1 ,code of   
,federal ,regulations 7or successor     
regulations72 and  7#b7 is classified as
 acceptable by the most recent version  
of the ,american ,veterinary ,medical   
,association 7,,avma7 ,guidelines for   
the ,euthanasia of ,animals made        
publicly available at the time the      
termination occurred1 without regard to 
whether the termination is in compliance
 with other guidelines1 including the   
,,avma ,guidelines for the ,depopulation
 of ,animals4  7c7 ,penalties  7#a7     
,penalty for failure to cease operations
 ,any person who violates subsection 7a7

 may be assessed a civil penalty of up  
to #aj1jjj for each day that the fur    
farm is not in compliance with the      
requirements of that subsection4  7#b7  
,penalty for noncompliant termination of
 mink ,any person who violates          
subsection 7b7 may be assessed a civil  
penalty of up to #aj1jjj for each mink  
terminated in a manner that does not    
comply with the requirements of that    
subsection4  7d7 ,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 section4  #c4      
,payment program  7a7 ,establishment    
,not later than #ahj days after the date
 of enactment of this ,act1 the         
,secretary of ,agriculture 7referred to 
in this section as the ,secretary7 shall
 establish and carry out a program      
7referred to in this section as the     
,program7 to provide payments to owners 

of fur farms whose operations involve   
the farming of mink4  7b7 ,payments     
,under the ,program1 the ,secretary     
shall provide payments to fur farm      
owners equal to the sum of the          
,secretary's determination of--  7#a7   
the reasonable cost incurred by the     
owner in order to comply with sections  
#b7;a7 and #b7;b72 and  7#b7 the market 
value of the portion of the owner's fur 
farm1 exclusive of the land1 involving  
mink farming4  7c7 ,market value        
determination  7#a7 ,market value ,the  
market value referred to in subsection  
7b77#b7 shall be calculated as the      
amount in cash1 or on terms reasonably  
equivalent to cash1 for which in all    
probability the relevant portion of the 
fur farm would have sold on the         
effective date of the valuation1 after a
 reasonable exposure time on the        
competitive market1 from a willing and  
reasonably knowledgeable seller to a    
willing and reasonably knowledgeable    
buyer1 with neither acting under any    

compulsion to buy or sell1 giving due   
consideration to all available economic 
uses of that portion of the fur farm at 
the time of the valuation4  7#b7        
,effective date of valuation ,in        
determining the market value referred to
 in subsection 7b77#b71 the effective   
date of the valuation shall be the day  
before the date of enactment of this    
,act4  7d7 ,grant condition ,as a       
condition of receiving a payment under  
the ,program1 the recipient shall-- 7#a7
 not use any payment funds for any      
materials1 supplies1 labor costs1 or    
activities associated with operating a  
fur farm2 and  7#b7 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 area4  7e7 
,funding ,not later than #fj days after 
the date of enactment of this ,act1 out 
of any funds in the ,treasury not       
otherwise appropriated1 the ,secretary  
of the ,treasury shall transfer to the  

,secretary of ,agriculture #ajj1jjj1jjj 
to carry out this section1 to remain    
available until expended4  #d4          
,definitions ,in this ,act3 7#a7 ,fur   
,the term fur means any animal skin or  
part of an animal skin with hair1       
fleece1 or fur fibers attached1 either  
in its raw or processed state4 ,such    
term--  7,a7 does not include animal    
skins that will be converted into       
leather or which in processing will have
 their hair1 fleece1 or fur fiber       
completely removed2 and  7,b7 does not  
include cowhide with its hair attached1 
deerskin with its hair attached1 and    
lambskin and sheepskin with their fleece
 attached4  7#b7 ,fur-bearing animal    
,the term fur-bearing animal means an   
animal that bears fur of marketable     
value4  7#c7 ,fur farm ,the term fur    
farm means an operation that farms      
fur-bearing animals for the value of    
their fur1 including--  7,a7 the land1  
buildings1 support facilities1 and other
 equipment of the operation in which    

fur-bearing animals are1 for the value  
of their fur1 bred1 slaughtered1        
skinned1 or sold2 and  7,b7 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 operation4 
7#d7 ,mink ,the term mink means an      
,american mink 7,neovison vison71 a     
,european mink 7,mustela lutreola71 and 
any mink hybrid1 whether alive or dead1 
and any parts and products from such    
mink or mink hybrids4  7#e7 ,state ,the 
term ,state means each of the several   
,states1 the ,district of ,columbia1 the
 ,commonwealth of ,puerto ,rico1 the    
,commonwealth of the ,northern ,mariana 
,islands1 ,american ,samoa1 ,guam1 the  
,united ,states ,virgin ,islands1 and   
any other territory or possession of the
 ,united ,states4  #e4 ,budgetary       
effects  7a7 ,statutory ,,paygo         
scorecards ,the budgetary effects of    
this ,act shall not be entered on either
 ,,paygo scorecard maintained pursuant  

to section #d7;d7 of the ,statutory     
,pay-,as-,you-,go ,act of #bjaj 7,public
 ,law #aaa-aci2 #b ,u4,s4,c4 #icc7;d774 
7b7 ,senate ,,paygo scorecards ,the     
budgetary effects of this ,act shall not
 be entered on any ,,paygo scorecard    
maintained for the purposes of section  
#dajf of ,h4 ,con4 ,res4 #ga 7#aaeth    
,congress74