ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Fifty-seventh Legislature First Regular Session
	Senate: RAGE DPA/SE 5-2-0-0 | 3rd Read 16-11-3-0 House: LARA DP 5-3-0-1

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SB 1721: egg-laying hens; housing size standards

Sponsor: Senator Bolick, LD 2

House Engrossed

Overview

Prohibits the Arizona Department of Agriculture (Department) from adopting rules that prescribe housing requirements for egg-laying hens.

History

The Arizona Administrative Code (ACC) requires, beginning January 1, 2025, all egg-laying hens in Arizona to be housed in a cage-free manner and that all eggs and egg products sold in Arizona be produced from hens housed in a cage-free manner. However, this requirement does not apply to egg producers that operate egg ranches with fewer than 20,000 egg-laying hens. The Department's Animal Services Division is responsible for enforcing these requirements.

In May 2024, the Department delayed the newly adopted cage-free standards until January 1, 2026. Then in November 2024, the Department again delayed the cage-free standards until January 1, 2027. On March 21, 2025, Governor Hobbs issued a press release directing the Arizona Department of Agriculture to delay cage-free egg rules by seven years, until January 1, 2034 (A.R.S. § 3-1201 et seq.)(A.C.C. R3-2-907).

The United Egg Producers (UEP) Animal Husbandry Guidelines (Guidelines) recommend that each egg-laying hen in a cage be given 67 to 86 square inches of usable space. Further, all hens should be able to stand comfortably upright and the slope of the floor should not exceed 8 degrees. The UEP recommends that cage-free hens have a minimum range of 1.0 to 1.5 square feet of usable space per hen, depending on whether the hens are housed in multitiered aviaries, partially slatted systems, or single-level all litter floor housing systems. The Guidelines also contain additional recommendations for perch and nesting space for cage-free hens (Cage Guidelines and Cage-Free Guidelines).

Additionally, U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations generally require producers with more than 3,000 egg-laying hens to implement measures to prevent salmonella from contaminating eggs on farms or from growing when these eggs are stored and transported (21 Code of Federal Regulations Part 118).

Provisions

1. Restricts the Department from adopting rules that require or prescribe minimum housing size standards for egg-laying hens. (Sec. 1)

2. Makes technical changes. (Sec. 1)

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6.                   SB 1721

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