1 of 2
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1914 FILED ON: 1/15/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 989
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Jack Patrick Lewis
_________________
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act concerning the use of animals in product testing.
_______________
PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Jack Patrick Lewis7th Middlesex1/15/2025Angelo J. Puppolo, Jr.12th Hampden2/3/2025Mark C. MontignySecond Bristol and Plymouth2/3/2025Lindsay N. Sabadosa1st Hampshire2/3/2025Brian W. Murray10th Worcester2/3/2025Samantha Montaño15th Suffolk2/5/2025Christopher Hendricks11th Bristol2/5/2025Marcus S. Vaughn9th Norfolk2/5/2025Brian M. Ashe2nd Hampden2/5/2025Rodney M. Elliott16th Middlesex2/13/2025Mike Connolly26th Middlesex2/13/2025James K. Hawkins2nd Bristol2/13/2025James B. EldridgeMiddlesex and Worcester2/13/2025Tara T. Hong18th Middlesex2/13/2025Manny Cruz7th Essex2/13/2025Christine P. Barber34th Middlesex2/13/2025James C. Arena-DeRosa8th Middlesex2/13/2025Kimberly N. Ferguson1st Worcester3/10/2025 2 of 2
Vanna Howard17th Middlesex3/10/2025Tram T. Nguyen18th Essex3/10/2025James Arciero2nd Middlesex3/10/2025Patrick Joseph Kearney4th Plymouth3/10/2025David Henry Argosky LeBoeuf17th Worcester3/10/2025William C. Galvin6th Norfolk3/10/2025Bruce E. TarrFirst Essex and Middlesex3/10/2025Thomas M. Stanley9th Middlesex3/10/2025Adam J. Scanlon14th Bristol3/10/2025Adrianne Pusateri Ramos14th Essex3/10/2025John J. Marsi6th Worcester3/12/2025Steven George Xiarhos5th Barnstable3/12/2025Carmine Lawrence Gentile13th Middlesex3/12/2025Adrian C. Madaro1st Suffolk3/12/2025Sean Reid11th Essex3/12/2025 1 of 3
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1914 FILED ON: 1/15/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 989
By Representative Lewis of Framingham, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 989) of
Jack Patrick Lewis and others relative to the use of animals in product testing. Environment and
Natural Resources.
[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 850 OF 2023-2024.]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)
_______________
An Act concerning the use of animals in product testing.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. Chapter 140 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after
2Section 174I the following new section:-
3 Section 174J.
4 (a) As used in this section, the following words shall have the following meanings unless
5the context clearly requires otherwise:
6 "Alternative test method", a process or procedure implemented to obtain information
7regarding the biological effects of exposure to a chemical or agent that does not employ the use
8of an animal and results in the gathering of valid information that would otherwise be acquired
9through the use of a traditional animal test method, including, but not limited to, computational 2 of 3
10toxicology, bioinformatics, high-throughput screening methods, chemical substances testing,
11tiered testing methods, in vitro studies, and systems biology.
12 “Commissioner”, the commissioner of the department of public health.
13 "Contract testing facility", a partnership, corporation, association, or other legal
14relationship that tests chemicals, ingredients, product formulations, or products.
15 "Manufacturer", a partnership, corporation, association, or other legal relationship that
16produces products, product formulations, chemicals, or ingredients.
17 "Medical research", investigations, experiments, and studies to discover, develop, or
18verify knowledge relating to the causes, diagnosis, treatment, prevention, or control of physical
19or mental diseases and impairments of humans and animals or relating to the development of
20biomedical products, devices, or pharmaceuticals.
21 "Traditional animal test method", a process or procedure using animals to obtain
22information regarding the biological effects of exposure to a chemical or agent.
23 (b) (1) When testing a product, product formulation, chemical, or ingredient in the
24Commonwealth, no manufacturer or contract testing facility shall use a traditional animal test
25method for which a valid alternative test method exists. No provision of this subsection shall be
26construed to apply to a test method conducted for the purposes of medical research.
27 (c) The commissioner shall promulgate regulations to implement, enforce, and administer
28this section and shall establish standards for alternative test methods to ensure safety and
29comparable validity of results to traditional animal test methods. The commissioner shall 3 of 3
30consider the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development’s Guidelines for the
31Testing of Chemicals when establishing said standards.
32 SECTION 2. The commissioner of public health shall promulgate regulations to
33implement this act no later than 180 days following passage of this act.
34 SECTION 3. Section 1 shall take effect 6 months after the passage of this act and Section
352 shall take effect upon passage.