[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 263 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
H.R.263
One Hundred Seventeenth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday,
the third day of January, two thousand and twenty-two
An Act
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. 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--
(A) by striking ``section 2(a)'' and inserting ``section
2''; and
(B) by striking ``3371(a)'' and inserting ``3371''.
(2) Lacey act amendments of 1981.--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. 3. 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.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), it is
unlawful for any person to--
``(A) import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, or
purchase in interstate or foreign commerce, or in a manner
substantially affecting interstate or foreign commerce; or
``(B) breed or possess;
any prohibited wildlife species.
``(2) Limitation on application.--Paragraph (1) does not apply
to--
``(A) an entity exhibiting animals to the public under a
Class C license from the Department of Agriculture, or a
Federal facility registered with the Department of Agriculture
that exhibits animals, if such entity or facility holds such
license or registration in good standing and if the entity or
facility--
``(i) does not allow any individual to come into direct
physical contact with a prohibited wildlife species, unless
that individual is--
``(I) a trained professional employee or contractor
of the entity or facility (or an accompanying employee
receiving professional training);
``(II) a licensed veterinarian (or a veterinary
student accompanying such a veterinarian); or
``(III) directly supporting conservation programs
of the entity or facility, the contact is not in the
course of commercial activity (which may be evidenced
by advertisement or promotion of such activity or other
relevant evidence), and the contact is incidental to
humane husbandry conducted pursuant to a species-
specific, publicly available, peer-edited population
management and care plan that has been provided to the
Secretary with justifications that the plan--
``(aa) reflects established conservation
science principles;
``(bb) incorporates genetic and demographic
analysis of a multi-institution population of
animals covered by the plan; and
``(cc) promotes animal welfare by ensuring that
the frequency of breeding is appropriate for the
species; and
``(ii) ensures that during public exhibition of a lion
(Panthera leo), tiger (Panthera tigris), leopard (Panthera
pardus), snow leopard (Uncia uncia), jaguar (Panthera
onca), cougar (Puma concolor), or any hybrid thereof, the
animal is at least 15 feet from members of the public
unless there is a permanent barrier sufficient to prevent
public contact;
``(B) a State college, university, or agency, or a State-
licensed veterinarian;
``(C) 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 any prohibited
wildlife species, including offspring, parts, and
byproducts of such animals;
``(iii) does not breed any prohibited wildlife species;
``(iv) does not allow direct contact between the public
and any prohibited wildlife species; and
``(v) does not allow the transportation and display of
any prohibited wildlife species off-site;
``(D) has custody of any 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; or
``(E) an entity or individual that is in possession of any
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 such Act, the entity or individual
registers each individual animal of each prohibited
wildlife species possessed by the entity or individual with
the United States Fish and Wildlife 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.''.
SEC. 4. 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) of the Lacey Act Amendments
of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3373(d)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)(A), by inserting ``(e),'' after ``(d),'';
(2) in paragraph (1)(B), by inserting ``(e),'' after ``(d),'';
(3) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``(e),'' after ``(d),''; and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
``(4) Any person who knowingly violates section 3(e) shall be
fined not more than $20,000, or imprisoned for not more than 5
years, or both. Each violation shall be a separate offense and the
offense is deemed to have been committed in the district where the
violation first occurred, and in any district in which the
defendant may have taken or been in possession of the prohibited
wildlife species.''.
SEC. 5. 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. 6. 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).''.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.