1. (a) No person shall knowingly engage in a commercial sale within the state of shell eggs or liquid eggs for human food if it is the product of an egg-laying hen that was confined in an enclosure that fails to comply with all of the following standards:

   1. (1) The enclosure shall allow the egg-laying hen to lie down, stand up, fully extend limbs, and turn around freely.

   2. (2) An enclosure shall be a cage-free housing system that complies with all of the following:

      1. (A) The enclosure shall be an indoor or outdoor controlled environment within which hens are free to roam unrestricted;
      2. (B) The enclosure shall provide enrichments that allow hens to exhibit natural behaviors, including, at a minimum, scratch areas, perches, nest boxes, and dust bathing areas;
      3. (C) Employees can provide care while standing within the egg-laying hens' usable floorspace;

      4. (D) And the enclosure shall provide the minimum amount of usable floorspace per hen required by the 2017 edition of the United Egg Producers' Animal Husbandry Guidelines for U.S. Egg-laying Flocks: Guidelines for Cage-Free Housing, hereby incorporated by reference, as follows:

         1. (i) Multitiered aviaries in which hens have access to multiple elevated platforms shall provide a minimum of one (1) square foot of usable floorspace per hen;
         2. (ii) Partially slatted systems in which hens have access to elevated flat platforms shall provide a minimum of one (1) square foot of usable floorspace per hen;
         3. (iii) Single-level all-litter floor systems bedded with litter in which hens have limited or no access to elevated flat platforms shall provide a minimum of one and one-half (1.5) square feet of usable floorspace per hen; and
         4. (iv) Any other cage-free housing system not described in this section shall provide a minimum of one (1) square foot of usable floorspace per hen in systems that provide hens with access to vertical space and shall provide a minimum of one and one-half (1.5) square feet of usable floorspace per hen in systems that do not provide hens access to vertical space.
   3. (3) Exceptions to the requirements of this section are specified in section 25992 of the Health and Safety Code and Article 4 of this Chapter.
2. (b) Commencing January 1, 2024, any person engaged in business in the state as an egg producer, or any out-of-state egg producer that is keeping, maintaining, confining, and housing an egg-laying hen for the purposes of egg production for human food as shell eggs or liquid eggs for commercial sale in California, shall hold a valid certification issued pursuant to Article 5 of this Chapter as a certified operation.

Note: Authority cited: Section 25993, Health and Safety Code. Reference: Sections 25990, 25991 and 25992, Health and Safety Code.

History

1. New section filed 9-1-2022; operative 9-1-2022 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2022, No. 35). Filing deadline specified in Government Code section 11349.3(a) extended 60 calendar days pursuant to Executive Order N-40-20 and an additional 60 calendar days pursuant to Executive Order N-71-20.