II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4206 

To amend the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to prohibit certain activities 

involving prohibited primate species, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 30, 2024 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. PADILLA, and Mr. MURPHY) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To amend the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to prohibit 

certain activities involving prohibited primate 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 ‘‘Captive Primate Safety 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN ACTIVITIES INVOLVING 

2 PROHIBITED PRIMATE SPECIES. 

3 (a) DEFINITION OF PROHIBITED PRIMATE SPE4 CIES.—Section 2 of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 

5 (16 U.S.C. 3371) is amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating subsections (h) through (l) 

7 as subsections (i) through (m), respectively; and 

8 (2) by inserting after subsection (g) the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(h) PROHIBITED PRIMATE SPECIES.—The term 

11 ‘prohibited primate species’ means any live species of 

12 nonhuman primate, including species of chimpanzee, 

13 galago, gibbon, gorilla, lemur, loris, monkey, orangutan, 

14 tarsier, or any hybrid of such species.’’. 

15 (b) PROHIBITED ACTS.—Section 3(e) of the Lacey 

16 Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3372(e)) is amend17 ed— 

18 (1) by striking paragraph (1) and all that fol19 lows through the period at the end of the undesig20 nated matter following subparagraph (B) and insert21 ing the following: 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para23 graph (2), it is unlawful for any person— 

24 ‘‘(A) to import, export, transport, sell, re25 ceive, acquire, or purchase in interstate or for26 eign commerce, or in a manner substantially afVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 May 21, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4206.IS S4206

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1 fecting interstate or foreign commerce, any pro2 hibited wildlife species or prohibited primate 

3 species; or 

4 ‘‘(B) to breed or possess any prohibited 

5 wildlife species or prohibited primate species.’’; 

6 and 

7 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

8 (A) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ‘‘or 

9 prohibited primate species’’ after ‘‘prohibited 

10 wildlife species’’ each place it appears; and 

11 (B) by striking subparagraphs (D) and (E) 

12 and inserting the following: 

13 ‘‘(D) an entity or individual that has cus14 tody of any prohibited wildlife species or prohib15 ited primate species for the purpose of expedi16 tiously transporting the prohibited wildlife spe17 cies or prohibited primate species, as applicable, 

18 to an entity or individual described in this para19 graph with respect to the species; 

20 ‘‘(E) an entity or individual that is in pos21 session of any prohibited wildlife species or pro22 hibited primate species that was born before the 

23 date of the enactment of the Big Cat Public 

24 Safety Act, with respect to a prohibited wildlife 

25 species, or the Captive Primate Safety Act, with 


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1 respect to a prohibited primate species, if the 

2 entity or individual— 

3 ‘‘(i) not later than 180 days after the 

4 date of enactment of the applicable Act, 

5 registers each individual animal of each 

6 prohibited wildlife species or prohibited 

7 primate species, as applicable, possessed by 

8 the entity or individual with the United 

9 States Fish and Wildlife Service; 

10 ‘‘(ii) does not breed, acquire, or sell 

11 any prohibited wildlife species or prohibited 

12 primate species, as applicable, after the 

13 date of enactment of the applicable Act; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(iii) does not allow direct contact be16 tween the public and any prohibited wild17 life species or prohibited primate species, 

18 as applicable; or 

19 ‘‘(F) a research facility that conducts re20 search that involves a prohibited primate spe21 cies that is registered with the Department of 

22 Agriculture, if the research facility holds the 

23 registration in good standing.’’. 

24 (c) REGULATIONS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

2 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec3 retary of the Interior shall promulgate regulations 

4 implementing the amendments made by subsections 

5 (a) and (b). 

6 (2) ENFORCEABILITY.—The enforceability of 

7 the amendments made by subsections (a) and (b) 

8 shall not be affected by a failure of the Secretary of 

9 the Interior to timely promulgate regulations under 

10 paragraph (1). 

11 (d) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.— 

12 (1) Section 4 of the Lacey Act Amendments of 

13 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3373) is amended— 

14 (A) in subsection (b)— 

15 (i) in the second sentence, by striking 

16 ‘‘subpenas’’ and inserting ‘‘subpoenas’’; 

17 and 

18 (ii) in the fourth sentence, by striking 

19 ‘‘subpena issued pursuant to this para20 graph’’ and inserting ‘‘subpoena issued 

21 pursuant to this subsection’’; and 

22 (B) in subsection (e), in the first sentence, 

23 by striking ‘‘Fishery Conservation and Manage24 ment Act of 1976’’ and inserting ‘‘MagnusonVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 May 21, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4206.IS S4206

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1 Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management 

2 Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.)’’. 

3 (2) Section 6(b) of the Lacey Act Amendments 

4 of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3375(b)) is amended— 

5 (A) in the matter preceding the proviso, by 

6 striking ‘‘Attorney General;’’ and inserting ‘‘At7 torney General:’’; and 

8 (B) in the first sentence of the proviso, by 

9 striking ‘‘subpena’’ and inserting ‘‘subpoena’’. 

10 (3) Section 8(a) of the Lacey Act Amendments 

11 of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3377(a)) is amended by striking 

12 ‘‘Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 

13 1976’’ and inserting ‘‘Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

14 Conservation and Management Act’’. 

Æ 


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