IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1380 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 7, 2020 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 

Public Works 

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. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Big Cat Public Safety 

3 Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2 of the Lacey Act 

6 Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3371) is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating subsections (a) through (k) 

8 as subsections (b) through (l), respectively; and 

9 (2) by inserting before subsection (b) (as so re10 designated) the following: 

11 ‘‘(a) BREED.—The term ‘breed’ means to facilitate 

12 propagation or reproduction (whether intentionally or neg13 ligently), or to fail to prevent propagation or reproduc14 tion.’’. 

15 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

16 (1) CONSOLIDATED FARM AND RURAL DEVEL17 OPMENT ACT.—Section 349(a)(3) of the Consoli18 dated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 

19 1997(a)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘section 2(a)’’ 

20 and inserting ‘‘section 2(b)’’. 

21 (2) LACEY ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1981.—Section 

22 7(c) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 

23 U.S.C. 3376(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘section 

24 2(f)(2)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 2(g)(2)(A)’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. PROHIBITIONS. 

2 Section 3 of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 

3 U.S.C. 3372) is amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (a)— 

5 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

6 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

7 the semicolon at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

8 or’’; 

9 (ii) in subparagraph (B)(iii), by strik10 ing ‘‘; or’’ and inserting a semicolon; and 

11 (iii) by striking subparagraph (C); 

12 and 

13 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘(1) 

14 through (3)’’ and inserting ‘‘(1) through (3) or 

15 subsection (e)’’; and 

16 (2) by amending subsection (e) to read as fol17 lows: 

18 ‘‘(e) CAPTIVE WILDLIFE OFFENSE.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It is unlawful for any per20 son to import, export, transport, sell, receive, ac21 quire, or purchase in interstate or foreign commerce, 

22 or in a manner substantially affecting interstate or 

23 foreign commerce, or to breed or possess, any pro24 hibited wildlife species. 

25 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON APPLICATION.—Paragraph 

26 (1) does not apply to— 


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1 ‘‘(A) an entity exhibiting animals to the 

2 public under a Class C license from the Depart3 ment of Agriculture, or a Federal facility reg4 istered with the Department of Agriculture that 

5 exhibits animals, if such entity or facility holds 

6 such license or registration in good standing 

7 and if the entity or facility— 

8 ‘‘(i) does not allow any individual to 

9 come into direct physical contact with a 

10 prohibited wildlife species, unless that indi11 vidual is— 

12 ‘‘(I) a trained professional em13 ployee or contractor of the entity or 

14 facility (or an accompanying employee 

15 receiving professional training); 

16 ‘‘(II) a licensed veterinarian (or a 

17 veterinary student accompanying such 

18 a veterinarian); or 

19 ‘‘(III) directly supporting con20 servation programs of the entity or fa21 cility, the contact is not in the course 

22 of commercial activity (which may be 

23 evidenced by advertisement or pro24 motion of such activity or other rel25 evant evidence), and the contact is inVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Dec 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1380.RFS H1380

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1 cidental to humane husbandry con2 ducted pursuant to a species-specific, 

3 publicly available, peer-edited popu4 lation management and care plan that 

5 has been provided to the Secretary 

6 with justifications that the plan— 

7 ‘‘(aa) reflects established 

8 conservation science principles; 

9 ‘‘(bb) incorporates genetic 

10 and demographic analysis of a 

11 multi-institution population of 

12 animals covered by the plan; and 

13 ‘‘(cc) promotes animal wel14 fare by ensuring that the fre15 quency of breeding is appropriate 

16 for the species; 

17 ‘‘(ii) ensures that during public exhi18 bition of a lion (Panthera leo), tiger 

19 (Panthera tigris), leopard (Panthera 

20 pardus), snow leopard (Uncia uncia), jag21 uar (Panthera onca), cougar (Puma 

22 concolor), or any hybrid thereof, the ani23 mal is at least 15 feet from members of 

24 the public unless there is a permanent bar25 rier sufficient to prevent public contact; 


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1 ‘‘(B) a State college, university, or agency, 

2 or a State-licensed veterinarian; 

3 ‘‘(C) a wildlife sanctuary that cares for 

4 prohibited wildlife species, and— 

5 ‘‘(i) is a corporation that is exempt 

6 from taxation under section 501(a) of the 

7 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and de8 scribed in sections 501(c)(3) and 

9 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) of such Code; 

10 ‘‘(ii) does not commercially trade in 

11 any prohibited wildlife species, including 

12 offspring, parts, and byproducts of such 

13 animals; 

14 ‘‘(iii) does not breed any prohibited 

15 wildlife species; 

16 ‘‘(iv) does not allow direct contact be17 tween the public and any prohibited wild18 life species; and 

19 ‘‘(v) does not allow the transportation 

20 and display of any prohibited wildlife spe21 cies off-site; 

22 ‘‘(D) has custody of any prohibited wildlife 

23 species solely for the purpose of expeditiously 

24 transporting the prohibited wildlife species to a 


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1 person described in this paragraph with respect 

2 to the species; or 

3 ‘‘(E) an entity or individual that is in pos4 session of any prohibited wildlife species that 

5 was born before the date of the enactment of 

6 the Big Cat Public Safety Act, and— 

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

8 date of the enactment of the such Act, the 

9 entity or individual registers each indi10 vidual animal of each prohibited wildlife 

11 species possessed by the entity or indi12 vidual with the United States Fish and 

13 Wildlife Service; 

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

15 any prohibited wildlife species after the 

16 date of the enactment of such Act; and 

17 ‘‘(iii) does not allow direct contact be18 tween the public and prohibited wildlife 

19 species.’’. 

20 SEC. 4. PENALTIES. 

21 (a) CIVIL PENALTIES.—Section 4(a)(1) of the Lacey 

22 Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3373(a)(1)) is 

23 amended— 

24 (1) by inserting ‘‘(e),’’ after ‘‘(d),’’; and 

25 (2) by inserting ‘‘, (e),’’ after ‘‘subsection (d)’’. 


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1 (b) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.—Section 4(d) of the 

2 Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3373(d)) is 

3 amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (1)(A), by inserting ‘‘(e),’’ 

5 after ‘‘(d),’’; 

6 (2) in paragraph (1)(B), by inserting ‘‘(e),’’ 

7 after ‘‘(d),’’; 

8 (3) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘(e),’’ after 

9 ‘‘(d),’’; and 

10 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(4) Any person who knowingly violates sub12 section (e) of section 3 shall be fined not more than 

13 $20,000, or imprisoned for not more than five years, 

14 or both. Each violation shall be a separate offense 

15 and the offense is deemed to have been committed 

16 in the district where the violation first occurred, and 

17 in any district in which the defendant may have 

18 taken or been in possession of the prohibited wildlife 

19 species.’’. 

20 SEC. 5. FORFEITURE OF PROHIBITED WILDLIFE SPECIES. 

21 Section 5(a)(1) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 

22 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3374(a)(1)) is amended by inserting 

23 ‘‘bred, possessed,’’ before ‘‘imported, exported,’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATION. 

2 Section 7(a) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 

3 (16 U.S.C. 3376(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall, in consultation with 

6 other relevant Federal and State agencies, promul7 gate any regulations necessary to implement section 

8 3(e).’’. 

9 SEC. 7. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

10 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 

11 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 

12 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

13 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 

14 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

15 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro16 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 

17 vote on passage. 

Passed the House of Representatives December 3, 

2020. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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