CHAPTER 693
An Act to direct the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to convene the Task Force on Transparency in Publicly Funded Animal Testing Facilities; report.
[H 580]
Approved April 8, 2024
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. § 1. The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, in collaboration with the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, shall convene the Task Force on Transparency in Publicly Funded Animal Testing Facilities (the Task Force) for the purpose of identifying potential deficiencies in publicly funded animal testing facilities, as that term is defined in § 3.2-6593.2 of the Code of Virginia, in the Commonwealth and recommending methods and context for making certain information about such animal testing facilities publicly available, including information pertaining to instances of noncompliance with federal animal welfare regulations, guidelines, or policies, as well as the care, use, and approximate numbers of animals used for research, education, testing, or other experimental, scientific, or medical purposes by each public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth, including animals not covered by the federal Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. § 2131 et seq.).
The Task Force shall consist of legislators and stakeholders, including (i) representatives from one institution of higher education in the Commonwealth with Carnegie research classification R1, one institution of higher education in the Commonwealth with Carnegie research classification R2, and one institution of higher education in the Commonwealth with Carnegie research classification R3; (ii) representatives from three unaffiliated animal protection or animal welfare watchdog groups in the Commonwealth; (iii) an individual who serves as a member of an institutional animal care and use committee at one of the Commonwealth's publicly funded animal testing facilities; (iv) a Virginia-licensed American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine-certified veterinarian functioning in the role of attending veterinarian at one of the Commonwealth's publicly funded animal testing facilities; (v) a representative of the Virginia Press Association; (vi) a representative of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government; (vii) a member of the Virginia Freedom of Information Council; and (viii) two members of the Senate appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules and two members of the House of Delegates appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates.
The Task Force shall report its findings and recommendations on how to improve transparency at publicly funded animal testing facilities in the Commonwealth to the House Committees on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources, Finance, and Appropriations and the Senate Committees on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources and Finance and Appropriations no later than November 1, 2024. Such report shall be submitted as a report document as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website.