Democratic U.S. Rep. Josh Riley introduced bipartisan legislation that aims to lower egg prices by adjusting certain regulations for egg farmers, the congressman announced Wednesday.

The Lowering Egg Prices Act would address federal regulations that require farmers to refrigerate eggs immediately after they are laid, but current regulations do not distinguish between table eggs — raw products that need to be refrigerated — and breaker eggs — which are pasteurized for use in products like salad dressing, cake mix and pasta.

According to the congressman, this has forced chicken farmers to throw away nearly 400 million good eggs each year.

“Families across Upstate New York are struggling to make ends meet because the grocery bills are too high,” Riley, who represents New York's 19th Congressional District, said in a statement. “My Lowering Egg Prices Act is a common-sense, bipartisan bill to take unnecessary regulations off the books, put hundreds of millions of eggs on the market, and lower your grocery bill.”

The 19^th District stretches from Rensselaer and Columbia counties in the east to Tompkins County and includes the cities of Binghamton and Ithaca.

Riley introduced the legislation with Republican Reps. Pat Harrigan, of North Carolina, and Dusty Johnson, of South Dakota, as well as Democratic Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet, of Michigan.

According to the latest monthly Consumer Price Index, a dozen Grade A eggs cost an average of $5.90 in U.S. cities in February, up 10.4% from a year ago. The U.S. Department of Agriculture expects egg prices to rise 41% this year over last year’s average of $3.17 per dozen.

The Associated Press contributed to this report