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General Assembly Committee Bill No. 6278
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 6098
Referred to Committee on ENVIRONMENT
Introduced by:
(ENV)
AN ACT CONCERNING THE USE OF ALTERNATIVES TO ANIMAL
TESTING METHODS AND REQUIRING THE USE OF BIODIESEL
BLENDING METHODS FOR CERTAIN DIESEL FUELS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2025) (a) For purposes of this 1
section: 2
(1) "Alternative test method" means a test method that (A) provides 3
information of equivalent or better scientific quality and relevance than 4
animal test methods, (B) has been identified by a validation body and 5
adopted by the relevant federal agency or program within an agency 6
responsible for regulating the specific product or activity for which the 7
test is being conducted, and (C) does not use animals, or, when there is 8
no test method available that does not use animals, uses the fewest 9
animals possible and reduces the level of suffering or stress, to the 10
greatest extent possible, of an animal used for testing. "Alternative test 11
method" includes computational toxicology and bioinformatics, high-12
throughput screening methods, testing of categories of chemical 13
substances, tiered testing methods, in vitro studies, and systems biology 14 Committee Bill No. 6278
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and new or revised methods; 15
(2) "Animal" means any live vertebrate nonhuman animal; 16
(3) "Animal test method" means a process or procedure that uses 17
animals to obtain information on the characteristics of a chemical or 18
agent or the biological effect of exposure to a chemical or agent under 19
specified conditions; 20
(4) "Animal testing facility" means any facility, including a private 21
entity, state agency or institution of higher education, that confines and 22
uses animals for research, education, testing or other scientific or 23
medical purposes; 24
(5) "Contract testing facility" means any partnership, corporation, 25
association or other legal entity that tests chemicals, ingredients, 26
product formulations or products on behalf of another entity; 27
(6) "Manufacturer" means any partnership, corporation, association 28
or other legal entity that produces chemicals, ingredients, product 29
formulations or products; and 30
(7) "Validation body" means any organization that seeks to facilitate 31
development, validation and regulatory acceptance of new and revised 32
regulatory test methods that reduce, refine or replace the use of animals 33
in testing, such as the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the 34
Validation of Alternative Methods or other similar organizations. 35
(b) No manufacturer or contract testing facility shall use an animal 36
test method when an alternative test method is available. 37
(c) The provisions of subsection (b) of this section shall not apply to 38
any manufacturer or contract test facility that uses an animal test 39
method for the purpose of medical research related to the causes, 40
diagnosis, treatment, control or prevention of physical or mental 41
diseases and impairments of humans and animals, or related to the 42
development of devices or drugs, as those terms are defined in 21 USC 43
321, biomedical products, or any other products regulated by the United 44 Committee Bill No. 6278
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States Food and Drug Administration, except any product regulated 45
under Subchapter VI of the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Such 46
medical research shall not include the testing of an ingredient that (1) 47
was formerly used in a drug, (2) was tested for use in a drug using 48
commonly accepted animal testing methods to characterize the 49
ingredient and to substantiate its safety for human use, and (3) is 50
proposed for use in a product other than a biomedical product, medical 51
device or drug. 52
(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the use of a 53
test method that does not use animals. 54
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) All diesel fuel sold or offered 55
for sale at retail in the state for use in internal combustion engines 56
during the months of April, May, June, July, August, September, 57
October and November shall contain not less than the following 58
percentage of biodiesel by volume on and after the following dates: 59
(1) Not less than five per cent, on or before July 1, 2025; 60
(2) Not less than ten per cent, on or before July 1, 2027; and 61
(3) Not less than twenty per cent, on or before July 1, 2029. 62
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, all diesel operated 63
vehicles, vessels and construction equipment that is part of the state fleet 64
shall operate on the following percentage of biodiesel by volume during 65
the months of April, May, June, July, August, September, October and 66
November on and after the following dates: 67
(1) Not less than five per cent, on or before July 1, 2025; and 68
(2) Not less than twenty per cent, on or before July 1, 2027. 69
(c) For purposes of this section, "biodiesel" means a fuel comprised of 70
mono-alkyl esters of long chain fatty acids derived from vegetable oils 71
or animal fats, designated B100, and meeting the requirements of 72
designation D6751 of the American Society for Testing and Materials. 73 Committee Bill No. 6278
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This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2025 New section
Sec. 2 from passage New section
ENV Joint Favorable