[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1497 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1497

To amend the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to extend its protections to 
plants illegally harvested outside of the United States, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 13, 2007

 Mr. Blumenauer (for himself, Mr. Wexler, and Mr. Weller of Illinois) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to extend its protections to 
plants illegally harvested outside of the United States, and for other 
                               purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Legal Timber Protection Act''.

SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF PROTECTIONS OF LACEY ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1981 TO 
              PLANTS ILLEGALLY HARVESTED OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES.

    (a) Amendments to Definitions.--
            (1) Plant.--Section 2(f) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 
        1981 (16 U.S.C. 3371(f)) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(f) The term `plant' means any wild member of the plant kingdom, 
including roots, seeds, parts, and products thereof (but excluding 
common food crops and cultivars).''.
            (2) Secretary.--Section 2(h) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 
        1981 (16 U.S.C. 3371(h)) is amended by inserting ``also'' after 
        ``term'' the second place it appears.
            (3) Taken.--Section 2(j) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 
        1981 (16 U.S.C. 3371(j)) is amended by inserting ``harvested,'' 
        after ``killed,''.
    (b) Amendments to Prohibitions.--
            (1) Amendments.--The Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 is 
        amended--
                    (A) in section 3(a)(2) (16 U.S.C. 3372(a)(2)), by 
                striking ``or'' after the semicolon at the end of 
                subparagraph (B), by redesignating subparagraph (C) as 
                subparagraph (D), and by inserting after subparagraph 
                (B) the following:
                    ``(C) any plant taken in a foreign country, that 
                is--
                            ``(i) taken, transported, or sold without 
                        authority required by, or in violation of, any 
                        law that applies at the place where the 
                        harvest, taking, transport, or sale occurs, 
                        including any such taking in a park, forest 
                        reserve or other officially protected area;
                            ``(ii) taken without paying royalties, 
                        taxes, or stumpage fees required by the law of 
                        the place where the taking occurs;
                            ``(iii) exported or transhipped in 
                        violation of any limitation under any 
                        applicable law;
                            ``(iv) taken, exported, or transshipped in 
                        violation of any international law, treaty, or 
                        international agreement; or
                            ``(v) without any official documentation of 
                        compliance with clauses (i) through (iv) that 
                        is required under the regulations issued under 
                        section 7(a)(3);'';
                    (B) in section 3(a)(3) (16 U.S.C. 3372(a)(3)), by 
                striking ``, or'' at the end of subparagraph (A) and 
                inserting a semicolon, and by inserting after 
                subparagraph (B) the following:
                    ``(C) to possess any plant taken in a foreign 
                country, that is--
                            ``(i) taken, transported, or sold without 
                        authority required by, or in violation of, any 
                        law that applies at the place where the 
                        harvest, taking, transport, or sale occurs, 
                        including any such taking in a park, forest 
                        reserve or other officially protected area;
                            ``(ii) taken without paying royalties, 
                        taxes, or stumpage fees required by the law of 
                        the place where the taking occurs;
                            ``(iii) exported or transhipped in 
                        violation of any limitation under any 
                        applicable law;
                            ``(iv) taken, exported, or transshipped in 
                        violation of any international law, treaty, or 
                        international agreement; or
                            ``(v) without any official documentation of 
                        compliance with clauses (i) through (iv) that 
                        is required under the regulations issued under 
                        section 7(a)(3);''; and
                    (C) in section 3(b) (16 U.S.C. 3372(b)) by 
                inserting ``or plant'' after ``fish or wildlife''.
            (2) Requirement to issue regulations.--
                    (A) In general.--Section 7(a) of the Lacey Act 
                Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3376(a)) is amended by 
                adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) The Secretary--
                    ``(A) shall issue regulations to implement 
                paragraphs (2)(C) and (3)(C) of section 3(a); and
                    ``(B) may issue regulations under those paragraphs 
                that establish requirements for official documentation 
                for purposes of paragraph (2)(C)(v) or (3)(C)(v) (or 
                both).''.
                    (B) Deadline.--The Secretary shall issue 
                regulations under section 7(a)(3) of such Act, as 
                amended by subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, by not 
                later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of 
                this Act, and may issue additional regulations under 
                that section after such date.
            (3) Conforming amendments.--Section 3(e) of the Lacey Act 
        Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3372(e)) is amended in each of 
        paragraphs (1) and (5) by striking ``subsection (a)(2)(C)'' and 
        inserting ``subsection (a)(2)(D)''.
    (c) Amendments Regarding Administration.--Section 7(a)(2) of the 
Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3376(a)(2)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and Commerce'' and inserting ``, 
        Commerce, and Agriculture'';
            (2) by inserting ``or plants'' after ``fish or wildlife''; 
        and
            (3) in the second sentence by inserting ``, with respect to 
        fish or wildlife,'' after ``regulations''.
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