Perdue

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 San Francisco Division 11 THE HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE Case No. 20-cv-01395-LB UNITED STATES, et al., 12 Plaintiffs, ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO 13 DISMISS v. 14 Re: ECF No. 25 SONNY PERDUE, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 INTRODUCTION 18 The plaintiffs are non-profit organizations challenging rules set by the U.S. Department of 19 Agriculture (USDA) on chicken-slaughter line speeds at certain chicken slaughterhouses. A 2014 20 regulation from the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) allows line speeds of 140 21 chickens per minute. In 2018, FSIS began allowing waivers for slaughterhouses that permit line 22 speeds of 175 chickens per minute. Then in 2022, after the change in leadership, the 2018 waivers 23 were terminated and modified waivers were allowed under new criteria (though the new criteria 24 incorporate the 2018 line-speed increase). The plaintiffs challenge the 2018…