I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4171 

To amend the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to repeal certain provisions 

relating to criminal penalties and violations of foreign laws, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 8, 2012 

Mr. BROUN of Georgia (for himself, Mr. WALBERG, Mrs. BACHMANN, Mr. 

KINGSTON, Mr. GINGREY of Georgia, Mr. HARRIS, and Mr. PETERSON) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to repeal 

certain provisions relating to criminal penalties and violations of foreign laws, 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 ‘‘Freedom from Over5 Criminalization and Unjust Seizures Act of 2012’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CRIMINAL PENALTIES. 

2 (a) PROHIBITED ACTS.—Section 3(a) of the Lacey 

3 Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3372(a)) is amend4 ed— 

5 (1) in paragraph (2)— 

6 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘or 

7 in violation of any foreign law’’; and 

8 (B) in subparagraph (B)— 

9 (i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘, or any 

10 foreign law,’’; 

11 (ii) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘or any 

12 foreign law’’; and 

13 (iii) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘, or 

14 under any foreign law,’’; and 

15 (2) in paragraph (3)— 

16 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘for17 eign law or’’; and 

18 (B) in subparagraph (B)— 

19 (i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘, or any 

20 foreign law,’’; 

21 (ii) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘or any 

22 foreign law’’; and 

23 (iii) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘, or 

24 under any foreign law,’’. 

25 (b) PENALTIES.—Section 4 of the Lacey Act Amend26 ments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3373) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a), by striking paragraph (1) 

2 and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(1) ASSESSMENT.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any person who en5 gages in conduct prohibited by any provision of 

6 this Act (other than subsections (b), (d), and 

7 (f) of section 3) and in the exercise of due care 

8 should know that the fish, wildlife, or plants 

9 were taken, possessed, transported, or sold in 

10 violation of, or in a manner unlawful under, any 

11 underlying law, treaty, or regulation, and any 

12 person who knowingly violates subsection (d) or 

13 (f) of section 3, may be assessed a civil penalty 

14 by the Secretary for each violation in accord15 ance with subparagraph (B) or (C), as applica16 ble. 

17 ‘‘(B) MARKET VALUE OF LESS THAN

18 $350.—If a violation under subparagraph (A) 

19 involves fish or wildlife or plants with a market 

20 value of less than $350 and involves only the 

21 transportation, acquisition, or receipt of fish, 

22 wildlife, or plants taken or possessed in viola23 tion of any law, treaty, or regulation of the 

24 United States, tribal law, or any law or regula25 tion of a State, the penalty assessed under subVerDate Mar 15 2010 20:14 Mar 09, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4171.IH H4171

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1 paragraph (A) for the violation shall not exceed 

2 the lesser of— 

3 ‘‘(i) the maximum amount of the pen4 alty provided for violation of the law or 

5 regulation; or 

6 ‘‘(ii) $10,000. 

7 ‘‘(C) OTHER VIOLATIONS.—For any viola8 tion under subparagraph (A) that is not de9 scribed in subparagraph (B), the penalty as10 sessed under that subparagraph shall not ex11 ceed $200,000.’’; and 

12 (2) by striking subsections (d) and (e). 

13 (c) FORFEITURE.—Section 5 of the Lacey Act 

14 Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3374) is amended— 

15 (1) by striking subsections (a) and (b) and in16 serting the following: 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—All fish, wildlife, or plants im18 ported, exported, transported, sold, received, acquired, or 

19 purchased in violation of section 3 (other than subsection 

20 (b) of that section), or any regulation issued under that 

21 section, shall be subject to forfeiture to the United States 

22 notwithstanding any culpability requirements for civil pen23 alty assessment under section 4.’’; 

24 (2) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 

25 subsections (b) and (c), respectively; and 


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1 (3) in subsection (b) (as redesignated), by strik2 ing ‘‘convicted of an offense, or assessed a civil pen3 alty,’’ and inserting ‘‘assessed a civil penalty’’. 

4 (d) ENFORCEMENT.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 6 of the Lacey Act 

6 Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3375) is amend7 ed— 

8 (A) by striking subsection (b); 

9 (B) by redesignating subsections (c) and 

10 (d) as subsections (b) and (c), respectively; 

11 (C) in subsection (b) (as redesignated), by 

12 striking the third sentence; and 

13 (D) in the first sentence of subsection (c) 

14 (as redesignated)— 

15 (i) by striking ‘‘an arrest, a criminal 

16 conviction, civil penalty assessment, or for17 feiture of property’’ and inserting ‘‘a civil 

18 penalty assessment or forfeiture of prop19 erty’’; and 

20 (ii) by striking ‘‘or criminal’’. 

21 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

22 (A) Section 3(c)(3) of the Fish and Wild23 life Improvement Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 

24 742l(c)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘section 

25 6(d) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 


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1 U.S.C. 3375(d))’’ and inserting ‘‘section 6(c) of 

2 the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 

3 3375(c))’’. 

4 (B) Section 503(b) of the Marine Mammal 

5 Protection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1423b(b)) is 

6 amended— 

7 (i) by striking the subsection designa8 tion and heading and all that follows 

9 through ‘‘The Secretary may utilize’’ in 

10 paragraph (1) and inserting the following: 

11 ‘‘(b) UTILIZATION OF OTHER GOVERNMENT RE12 SOURCES AND AUTHORITIES.—The Secretary may uti13 lize’’; and 

14 (ii) by striking paragraph (2). 

15 (C) Section 11(d) of the Endangered Spe16 cies Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1540(d)) is amend17 ed in the fourth sentence by striking ‘‘section 

18 6(d) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 

19 U.S.C. 3375(d))’’ and inserting ‘‘section 6(c) of 

20 the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 

21 3375(c))’’. 

22 (D) Section 7(f) of the Rhinoceros and 

23 Tiger Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 5305a(f)) is 

24 amended by striking ‘‘section 6(d) of the Lacey 

25 Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3375(d))’’ 


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1 and inserting ‘‘section 6(c) of the Lacey Act 

2 Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3375(c))’’. 

3 (E) Section 524(c)(4)(A) of title 28, 

4 United States Code, is amended by striking 

5 ‘‘section 6(d) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 

6 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3375(d))’’ and inserting ‘‘sec7 tion 6(c) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 

8 (16 U.S.C. 3375(c))’’. 

9 (F) Section 1402(b)(1)(A)(ii) of the Vic10 tims of Crime Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 

11 10601(b)(1)(A)(ii)) is amended by striking 

12 ‘‘section 6(d) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 

13 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3375(d))’’ and inserting ‘‘sec14 tion 6(c) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 

15 (16 U.S.C. 3375(c))’’. 

16 (e) EXCEPTIONS.—Section 8 of the Lacey Act 

17 Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3377) is amended by 

18 striking subsection (b) and inserting the following: 

19 ‘‘(b) ACTIVITIES REGULATED BY TUNA CONVENTION

20 ACTS.—Paragraphs (1), (2)(A), and (3)(A) of section 3(a) 

21 shall not apply to any activity regulated by the Tuna Con22 ventions Act of 1950 (16 U.S.C. 951 et seq.) or the Atlan23 tic Tunas Convention Act of 1975 (16 U.S.C. 971 et 

24 seq.).’’. 

Æ 


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