[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3546 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3546

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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 17, 2015

Mr. Jones (for himself, Mr. Farenthold, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. Jolly, Mr. 
  Frelinghuysen, Mr. Upton, Mr. LoBiondo, and Ms. Loretta Sanchez of 
 California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
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.

    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 ``Big Cat Public Safety Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The global illicit trade in wildlife may be worth up to 
        $20,000,000,000 annually and the value of legal wildlife trade 
        in the United States was recently estimated at $2,800,000,000 
        annually.
            (2) The illegal trade in prohibited wildlife species (as 
        defined in section 2(g) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 
        U.S.C. 3371(g)) stimulates demand and expands markets in which 
        those species can be illegally sold.
            (3) The private possession, breeding, and sale of 
        prohibited wildlife species has a substantial and detrimental 
        effect on the health and general welfare of the people of the 
        United States and on the conservation of the species 
        themselves.
            (4) Private possession and breeding of prohibited wildlife 
        species have a substantial and direct effect on interstate 
        commerce because prohibited wildlife species are frequently 
        bred and possessed to be used in public exhibition or for sale 
        or transfer of ownership in the exotic pet trade, and are often 
        transported in interstate commerce for these purposes.
            (5) Private possession and breeding of prohibited wildlife 
        species contributes to the interstate traffic in those species 
        and may contribute to illegal international wildlife trade.
            (6) Prohibited wildlife species in private possession, or 
        distributed intrastate, are fungible commodities that cannot be 
        differentiated, in terms of control, from prohibited wildlife 
        species possessed or distributed interstate.
            (7) It is exceedingly difficult to distinguish between 
        prohibited wildlife species that are possessed, bred, sold, or 
        transported in interstate commerce from those that have not 
        been.
            (8) Federal control of the intrastate private possession 
        and breeding of prohibited wildlife species is essential to the 
        effective control of the interstate incidents of traffic in 
        prohibited wildlife species.
            (9) 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 overexploitation through international trade.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    (a) In General.--Section 2 of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 
U.S.C. 3371) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsections (a) through (k) as 
        subsections (b) through (l), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting before subsection (b) (as so redesignated) 
        the following:
    ``(a) Breed.--The term `breed' means to facilitate propagation or 
reproduction (whether intentionally or negligently), or to fail to 
prevent propagation or reproduction''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Consolidated farm and rural development act.--Section 
        349(a)(3) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 
        U.S.C. 1997(a)(3)) is amended by striking ``section 2(a)'' and 
        inserting ``section 2(b)''.
            (2) Lacey act amendments of 1981.--
                    (A) Section 3(e)(2)(C) of the Lacey Act Amendments 
                of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3372(e)(2)(C)) is amended--
                            (i) in clause (ii), by striking ``section 
                        2(g)'' and inserting ``section 2(h)''; and
                            (ii) in clause (iii), by striking ``section 
                        2(g)'' and inserting ``section 2(h)''.
                    (B) Section 7(c) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 
                1981 (16 U.S.C. 3376(c)) is amended by striking 
                ``section 2(f)(2)(A)'' and inserting ``section 
                2(g)(2)(A)''.

SEC. 4. PROHIBITIONS.

    Section 3 of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3372) is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking the 
                        semicolon at the end and inserting ``; or'';
                            (ii) in subparagraph (B)(iii), by striking 
                        ``; or'' and inserting a semicolon; and
                            (iii) by striking subparagraph (C); and
                    (B) in paragraph (4), by striking ``(1) through 
                (3)'' and inserting ``(1) through (3) or subsection 
                (e)''; and
            (2) by amending subsection (e) to read as follows:
    ``(e) Captive Wildlife Offense.--
            ``(1) In general.--It is unlawful for any person to import, 
        export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase in 
        interstate or foreign commerce, or in a manner substantially 
        affecting interstate or foreign commerce, or to breed or 
        possess, any live animal of any prohibited wildlife species.
            ``(2) Limitation on application.--Paragraph (1) does not 
        apply to any person that--
                    ``(A) is an institution accredited by the 
                Association of Zoos and Aquariums;
                    ``(B) is a facility that--
                            ``(i) has an active written contract with 
                        an Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species 
                        Survival Plan or Taxon Advisory Group for 
                        breeding of prohibited wildlife species; and
                            ``(ii) does not breed, acquire, or sell 
                        prohibited wildlife species other than the 
                        species covered by such contract;
                    ``(C) is a State college, university, or agency, or 
                State-licensed veterinarian;
                    ``(D) is a wildlife sanctuary that cares for 
                prohibited wildlife species, and--
                            ``(i) is a corporation that is exempt from 
                        taxation under section 501(a) of the Internal 
                        Revenue Code of 1986 and described in sections 
                        501(c)(3) and 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) of such Code;
                            ``(ii) does not commercially trade in 
                        prohibited wildlife species, including 
                        offspring, parts, and byproducts of such 
                        animals;
                            ``(iii) does not breed the prohibited 
                        wildlife species;
                            ``(iv) does not allow direct contact 
                        between the public and prohibited wildlife 
                        species; and
                            ``(v) does not allow the transportation and 
                        display of prohibited wildlife species off-
                        site;
                    ``(E) has custody of the prohibited wildlife 
                species solely for the purpose of expeditiously 
                transporting the prohibited wildlife species to a 
                person described in this paragraph with respect to the 
                species;
                    ``(F) is in possession of a prohibited wildlife 
                species that was born before the date of the enactment 
                of the Big Cat Public Safety Act, and--
                            ``(i) not later than 180 days after the 
                        date of the enactment of the Big Cat Public 
                        Safety Act, is registered with the Animal and 
                        Plant Health Inspection Service;
                            ``(ii) does not breed, acquire, or sell any 
                        prohibited wildlife species after the date of 
                        the enactment of such Act; and
                            ``(iii) does not allow direct contact 
                        between the public and prohibited wildlife 
                        species; or
                    ``(G) holds a valid Class C license under the 
                Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2131 et seq.), and--
                            ``(i) regularly travels across State lines 
                        to conduct circus performances featuring live 
                        prohibited wildlife species, clowns, and aerial 
                        acts;
                            ``(ii) engages in such travel and conduct 
                        before January 1, 2015; and
                            ``(iii) does not allow direct contact 
                        between the public and prohibited wildlife 
                        species.''.

SEC. 5. PENALTIES.

    (a) Civil Penalties.--Section 4(a)(1) of the Lacey Act Amendments 
of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3373(a)(1)) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(e),'' after ``(d),''; and
            (2) by inserting ``, (e),'' after ``subsection (d)''.
    (b) Criminal Penalties.--Section 4(d)(1) of the Lacey Act 
Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3373(d)(1)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A)--
                    (A) by inserting ``(e),'' after ``(d),''; and
                    (B) by striking ``or'' after the comma at the end;
            (2) in subparagraph (B)--
                    (A) by inserting ``(e),'' after ``(d),''; and
                    (B) by adding ``or'' after the comma at the end; 
                and
            (3) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following:
                    ``(C) knowingly violates section 3(e),''; and
            (4) in the matter following subparagraph (B)--
                    (A) by striking ``knowing that'' and all that 
                follows through ``treaty or regulation,'';
                    (B) by striking ``said''; and
                    (C) by inserting before the period ``or prohibited 
                wildlife species concerned''.

SEC. 6. FORFEITURE OF PROHIBITED WILDLIFE SPECIES.

    Section 5(a)(1) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 
3374(a)(1)) is amended by inserting ``bred, possessed,'' before 
``imported, exported,''.

SEC. 7. ADMINISTRATION.

    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 shall, in consultation with other 
        relevant Federal and State agencies, promulgate any regulations 
        necessary to implement section 3(e).''.
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