I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4122 

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 

MARCH 1, 2012 

Mr. MCKEON (for himself, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. FARR, 

and Mr. KUCINICH) 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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Big Cats and Public 

5 Safety Protection Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The global illicit trade in wildlife may be 

2 worth up to $20,000,000,000 annually and the value 

3 of United States legal wildlife trade was recently es4 timated at $2,800,000,000 annually. 

5 (2) The illegal trade in prohibited wildlife spe6 cies (as that term is defined in the Lacey Act 

7 Amendments of 1981) stimulates demand and ex8 pands markets in which those species can be illegally 

9 sold. 

10 (3) The private ownership of and commerce in 

11 prohibited wildlife species has a substantial and det12 rimental effect on the health and general welfare of 

13 the American people and on the species themselves. 

14 (4) Activities related to prohibited wildlife spe15 cies that are not an integral part of the interstate 

16 or foreign commerce in such species, such as private 

17 ownership and possession, nonetheless have a sub18 stantial and direct effect upon interstate commerce 

19 because— 

20 (A) after breeding, many prohibited wild21 life species are transported in interstate com22 merce; and 

23 (B) privately owned prohibited wildlife spe24 cies have been transported in interstate com25 merce before transfer of ownership. 


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1 (5) Private ownership of prohibited wildlife spe2 cies contributes to swelling the interstate traffic in 

3 those species. 

4 (6) Prohibited wildlife species in private owner5 ship or possession, or distributed intrastate, are fun6 gible commodities that cannot be differentiated from 

7 prohibited wildlife species possessed or distributed 

8 interstate. Thus, it is not feasible to distinguish, in 

9 terms of control, between prohibited wildlife species 

10 in private ownership or possession or distributed 

11 intrastate and prohibited wildlife species possessed 

12 and distributed interstate. 

13 (7) Federal control of the intrastate private 

14 ownership and breeding of prohibited wildlife species 

15 is essential to the effective control of the interstate 

16 incidents of traffic in such species. 

17 (8) The United States is a party to the Conven18 tion on International Trade in Endangered Species 

19 of Wild Fauna and Flora, which was designed to 

20 protect species of wild fauna and flora against over21 exploitation through international trade. 

22 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

23 Section 2 of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 

24 U.S.C. 3371) is amended by adding at the end the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(l) BREED.—The term ‘breed’ means to facilitate 

2 the reproduction of a prohibited wildlife species for com3 mercial use.’’. 

4 SEC. 4. PROHIBITIONS. 

5 Section 3(a) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 3372(a)) is 

6 amended— 

7 (1) in paragraph (2)— 

8 (A) by adding ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon at 

9 the end of subparagraph (A); and 

10 (B) by striking subparagraph (C); 

11 (2) by striking ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon at the 

12 end of paragraph (3), by redesignating paragraph 

13 (4) as paragraph (5), and by inserting after para14 graph (3) the following: 

15 ‘‘(4) subject to subsection (e), to import, export, 

16 transport, sell, receive, acquire, purchase, breed, pos17 sess, or own any prohibited wildlife species; or’’; and 

18 (3) in paragraph (5), as so redesignated, by 

19 striking ‘‘(1) through (3)’’ and inserting ‘‘(1) 

20 through (4)’’. 

21 SEC. 5. NONAPPLICABILITY OF OFFENSES. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3(e) of such Act (16 

23 U.S.C. 3372(e)) is amended— 

24 (1) by amending paragraph (1) to read as fol25 lows: 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a)(4) does not 

2 apply to— 

3 ‘‘(A) importation, exportation, transpor4 tation, sale, receipt, acquisition, breeding, pos5 session, ownership, or purchase of an animal of 

6 a prohibited wildlife species, by a person that, 

7 under regulations prescribed under paragraph 

8 (3), is described in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), 

9 or (D) paragraph (2) with respect to that spe10 cies; and 

11 ‘‘(B) transportation, possession, or owner12 ship of an animal of a prohibited wildlife spe13 cies, by a person that, under regulations pre14 scribed under paragraph (3), is described in 

15 subparagraph (E) of paragraph (2) with respect 

16 to that animal.’’; and 

17 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

18 (A) by amending subparagraph (A) to read 

19 as follows: 

20 ‘‘(A) is a zoo accredited by the Association 

21 of Zoos and Aquariums;’’; and 

22 (B) in subparagraph (C)— 

23 (i) by striking ‘‘is an accredited’’; 

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


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1 (iii) in clause (iv), by striking ‘‘or’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘and’’; and 

3 (iv) by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(v) does not allow the transport and 

6 display of animals off-site;’’; 

7 (C) in subparagraph (D), by striking the 

8 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

9 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(E) is in possession of one or more ani11 mals of the prohibited wildlife species, that— 

12 ‘‘(i) were born before the date of en13 actment of this subparagraph; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) are registered with the Animal 

15 and Plant Health Inspection Service within 

16 6 months after the date of promulgation of 

17 regulations implementing this subpara18 graph by the Secretary of the Interior and 

19 the Secretary of Agriculture.’’. 

20 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 6 months after 

21 the date of enactment of this Act the Secretary of the In22 terior, acting through the United States Fish and Wildlife 

23 Service, and the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through 

24 the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, shall proVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:16 Mar 02, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4122.IH H4122

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1 mulgate regulations implementing the amendments made 

2 by this section. 

3 SEC. 6. PENALTIES. 

4 (a) CIVIL PENALTIES.—Section 4(a)(1) of such Act 

5 (16 U.S.C. 3373(a)(1)) is amended— 

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

7 and 

8 (2) by striking ‘‘subsection (d)’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘subsection (a)(4), (d),’’. 

10 (b) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.—Section 4(d) of such Act 

11 (16 U.S.C. 3373(d)) is amended— 

12 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

13 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘or’’ 

14 after the comma at the end; 

15 (B) in subparagraph (B), by adding ‘‘or’’ 

16 after the comma at the end; and 

17 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (B) 

18 the following: 

19 ‘‘(C) knowingly violates paragraph (4) of 

20 section 3(a),’’; and 

21 (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, or in the 

22 exercise of due care should know that the conduct 

23 violates paragraph (4) of section 3(a),’’ after ‘‘treaty 

24 or regulation’’. 


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1 SEC. 7. FORFEITURE. 

2 Section 5(a) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 3374(a)) is 

3 amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘bred, pos5 sessed, owned,’’ after ‘‘acquired,’’; and 

6 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

7 (A) by inserting ‘‘breeding, possessing, 

8 owning,’’ after ‘‘acquiring,’’; and 

9 (B) by inserting ‘‘or involved the breeding, 

10 possession, or ownership of a prohibited wildlife 

11 species’’. 

Æ 


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