[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.