Genetically Engineered Salmon Risk Reduction Act 2015-03-12 Introduced in Senate Genetically Engineered Salmon Risk Reduction Act

This bill amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require food that contains genetically engineered (commonly called a "genetically modified organism" or "GMO") salmon to bear a label stating that fact.

The bill requires the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 before approving a new animal drug application for GMO salmon intended for human consumption. (Currently, the FDA regulates GMO animals under the new animal drug provisions of that Act. If the FDA finalizes its environmental assessment and the Finding of No Significant Impact, it would not be required to prepare an EIS for that salmon.) The EIS prepared pursuant to this bill must focus on the coast along California to Alaska and GMO fish, including salmon, other anadromous fish (fish that migrate from the salt water of the sea to spawn in the fresh water of rivers), or marine fish. The EIS must include:

  • an environmental risk analysis that assesses the potential impacts from escapement of the GMO fish on wild and cultured fish stocks and environments,
  • a failure mode and effects analysis that assesses the best- and worst-case probabilities of failure of each confinement technique,
  • an assessment of the costs of control or eradication of escaped GMO fish, and
  • an assessment of the potential economic damage to relevant wild and cultured fish stocks and environments from the escapement of GMO fish.
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