S 3547 ISCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

112th CONGRESSCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

2d SessionCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

S. 3547CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

To amend the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to clarify provisions enacted by the Captive Wildlife Safety Act, to further the conservation of certain wildlife species, and for other purposes.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATESCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

September 13, 2012CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Mr. KERRY (for himself, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mr. SANDERS, and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public WorksCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

A BILLCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

To amend the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to clarify provisions enacted by the Captive Wildlife Safety Act, to further the conservation of certain wildlife species, and for other purposes.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act’.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The Congress finds the following:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) The global illicit trade in wildlife may be worth up to $20,000,000,000 annually and the value of United States legal wildlife trade was recently estimated at $2,800,000,000 annually.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) The illegal trade in prohibited wildlife species (as that term is defined in the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981) stimulates demand and expands markets in which those species can be illegally sold.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(3) The private ownership of and commerce in prohibited wildlife species has a substantial and detrimental effect on the health and general welfare of the American people and on the species themselves.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(4) Activities related to prohibited wildlife species that are not an integral part of the interstate or foreign commerce in such species, such as private ownership and possession, nonetheless have a substantial and direct effect upon interstate commerce because--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(A) after breeding, many prohibited wildlife species are transported in interstate commerce; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(B) privately owned prohibited wildlife species have been transported in interstate commerce before transfer of ownership.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(5) Private ownership of prohibited wildlife species contributes to swelling the interstate traffic in those species.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(6) Prohibited wildlife species in private ownership or possession, or distributed intrastate, are fungible commodities that cannot be differentiated from prohibited wildlife species possessed or distributed interstate. Thus, it is not feasible to distinguish, in terms of control, between prohibited wildlife species in private ownership or possession or distributed intrastate and prohibited wildlife species possessed and distributed interstate.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(7) Federal control of the intrastate private ownership and breeding of prohibited wildlife species is essential to the effective control of the interstate incidents of traffic in such species.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(8) The United States is a party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which was designed to protect species of wild fauna and flora against over-exploitation through international trade.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

Section 2 of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3371) is amended by adding at the end the following:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(l) Breed- The term ‘breed’ means to facilitate the reproduction of a prohibited wildlife species for commercial use.’.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 4. PROHIBITIONS.

Section 3(a) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 3372(a)) is amended--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) in paragraph (2)--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(A) by adding ‘or’ after the semicolon at the end of subparagraph (A); andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(B) by striking subparagraph (C);CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) by striking ‘or’ after the semicolon at the end of paragraph (3), by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (5), and by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(4) subject to subsection (e), to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, purchase, breed, possess, or own any prohibited wildlife species; or’; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(3) in paragraph (5), as so redesignated, by striking ‘(1) through (3)’ and inserting ‘(1) through (4)’.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 5. NONAPPLICABILITY OF OFFENSES.

(a) In General- Section 3(e) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 3372(e)) is amended--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) by amending paragraph (1) to read as follows:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(1) IN GENERAL- Subsection (a)(4) does not apply to--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(A) importation, exportation, transportation, sale, receipt, acquisition, breeding, possession, ownership, or purchase of an animal of a prohibited wildlife species, by a person that, under regulations prescribed under paragraph (3), is described in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (D) paragraph (2) with respect to that species; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(B) transportation, possession, or ownership of an animal of a prohibited wildlife species, by a person that, under regulations prescribed under paragraph (3), is described in subparagraph (E) of paragraph (2) with respect to that animal.’; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) in paragraph (2)--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(A) by amending subparagraph (A) to read as follows:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(A) is a zoo accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums;’; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(B) in subparagraph (C)--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(i) by striking ‘is an accredited’;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(ii) in clause (iii), by striking ‘and’;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(iii) in clause (iv), by striking ‘or’ and inserting ‘and’; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(iv) by adding at the end the following:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(v) does not allow the transport and display of animals off-site;’;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(C) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period at the end and inserting ‘; or’; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(D) by adding at the end the following:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(E) is in possession of one or more animals of the prohibited wildlife species, that--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(i) were born before the date of enactment of this subparagraph; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(ii) are registered with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service within 6 months after the date of promulgation of regulations implementing this subparagraph by the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture.’.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(b) Regulations- Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, shall promulgate regulations implementing the amendments made by this section.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 6. PENALTIES.

(a) Civil Penalties- Section 4(a)(1) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 3373(a)(1)) is amended--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) by inserting ‘(a)(4),’ after ‘subsections’; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) by striking ‘subsection (d)’ and inserting ‘subsection (a)(4), (d),’.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(b) Criminal Penalties- Section 4(d) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 3373(d)) is amended--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) in paragraph (1)--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘or’ after the comma at the end;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(B) in subparagraph (B), by adding ‘or’ after the comma at the end; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(C) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(C) knowingly violates paragraph (4) of section 3(a),’; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘, or in the exercise of due care should know that the conduct violates paragraph (4) of section 3(a),’ after ‘treaty or regulation’.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 7. FORFEITURE.

Section 5(a) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 3374(a)) is amended--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘bred, possessed, owned,’ after ‘acquired,’; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) in paragraph (2)--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(A) by inserting ‘breeding, possessing, owning,’ after ‘acquiring,’; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(B) by inserting ‘or involved the breeding, possession, or ownership of a prohibited wildlife species’.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink