I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1380 

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 

FEBRUARY 26, 2019 

Mr. QUIGLEY (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. MCNERNEY, Ms. NORTON, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. RASKIN, Miss RICE of New York, Ms. BROWNLEY

of California, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MALINOWSKI, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, 

Mr. RYAN, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Mrs. WATSON

COLEMAN, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. CASTEN of Illinois, Ms. 

BLUNT ROCHESTER, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. 

LEE of California, Mr. O’HALLERAN, Ms. MOORE, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. KEATING, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CRIST, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. 

TURNER, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. BEYER, Mr. KILMER, Mr. ZELDIN, Mrs. 

DAVIS of California, Ms. MENG, Mr. LANGEVIN, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. 

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. WELCH, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. 

JAYAPAL, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. 

SERRANO, and Mr. GOMEZ) 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. 


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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 Cat Public Safety 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

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

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

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

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

11 (2) by inserting before subsection (b) (as so re12 designated) the following: 

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

14 propagation or reproduction (whether intentionally or neg15 ligently), or to fail to prevent propagation or reproduc16 tion.’’. 

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

18 (1) CONSOLIDATED FARM AND RURAL DEVEL19 OPMENT ACT.—Section 349(a)(3) of the Consoli20 dated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 

21 1997(a)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘section 2(a)’’ 

22 and inserting ‘‘section 2(b)’’. 

23 (2) LACEY ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1981.— 


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1 (A) Section 3(e)(2)(C) of the Lacey Act 

2 Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 

3 3372(e)(2)(C)) is amended— 

4 (i) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘section 

5 2(g)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 2(h)’’; and 

6 (ii) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘section 

7 2(g)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 2(h)’’. 

8 (B) Section 7(c) of the Lacey Act Amend9 ments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3376(c)) is amended 

10 by striking ‘‘section 2(f)(2)(A)’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘section 2(g)(2)(A)’’. 

12 SEC. 3. PROHIBITIONS. 

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

14 U.S.C. 3372) is amended— 

15 (1) in subsection (a)— 

16 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

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

18 the semicolon at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

19 or’’; 

20 (ii) in subparagraph (B)(iii), by strik21 ing ‘‘; or’’ and inserting a semicolon; and 

22 (iii) by striking subparagraph (C); 

23 and 


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

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

3 subsection (e)’’; and 

4 (2) by amending subsection (e) to read as fol5 lows: 

6 ‘‘(e) CAPTIVE WILDLIFE OFFENSE.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It is unlawful for any per8 son to import, export, transport, sell, receive, ac9 quire, or purchase in interstate or foreign commerce, 

10 or in a manner substantially affecting interstate or 

11 foreign commerce, or to breed or possess, any pro12 hibited wildlife species. 

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

14 (1) does not apply to— 

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

16 public under a Class C license from the Depart17 ment of Agriculture, or a Federal facility reg18 istered with the Department of Agriculture that 

19 exhibits animals, if such entity or facility holds 

20 such license or registration in good standing 

21 and if the entity or facility— 

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

23 come into direct physical contact with a 

24 prohibited wildlife species, unless that indi25 vidual is— 


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1 ‘‘(I) a trained professional em2 ployee or contractor of the entity or 

3 facility (or an accompanying employee 

4 receiving professional training); 

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

6 veterinary student accompanying such 

7 a veterinarian); or 

8 ‘‘(III) directly supporting con9 servation programs of the entity or fa10 cility, the contact is not in the course 

11 of commercial activity (which may be 

12 evidenced by advertisement or pro13 motion of such activity or other rel14 evant evidence), and the contact is in15 cidental to humane husbandry con16 ducted pursuant to a species-specific, 

17 publicly available, peer-edited popu18 lation management and care plan that 

19 has been provided to the Secretary 

20 with justifications that the plan— 

21 ‘‘(aa) reflects established 

22 conservation science principles; 

23 ‘‘(bb) incorporates genetic 

24 and demographic analysis of a 


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1 multi-institution population of 

2 animals covered by the plan; and 

3 ‘‘(cc) promotes animal wel4 fare by ensuring that the fre5 quency of breeding is appropriate 

6 for the species; 

7 ‘‘(ii) ensures that during public exhi8 bition of a lion (Panthera leo), tiger 

9 (Panthera tigris), leopard (Panthera 

10 pardus), snow leopard (Uncia uncia), jag11 uar (Panthera onca), cougar (Puma 

12 concolor), or any hybrid thereof, the ani13 mal is at least 15 feet from members of 

14 the public unless there is a permanent bar15 rier sufficient to prevent public contact; 

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

17 or a State-licensed veterinarian; 

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

19 prohibited wildlife species, and— 

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

21 from taxation under section 501(a) of the 

22 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and de23 scribed in sections 501(c)(3) and 

24 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) of such Code; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) does not commercially trade in 

2 any prohibited wildlife species, including 

3 offspring, parts, and byproducts of such 

4 animals; 

5 ‘‘(iii) does not breed any prohibited 

6 wildlife species; 

7 ‘‘(iv) does not allow direct contact be8 tween the public and any prohibited wild9 life species; and 

10 ‘‘(v) does not allow the transportation 

11 and display of any prohibited wildlife spe12 cies off-site; 

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

14 species solely for the purpose of expeditiously 

15 transporting the prohibited wildlife species to a 

16 person described in this paragraph with respect 

17 to the species; or 

18 ‘‘(E) an entity or individual that is in pos19 session of any prohibited wildlife species that 

20 was born before the date of the enactment of 

21 the Big Cat Public Safety Act, and— 

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

23 date of the enactment of the such Act, the 

24 entity or individual registers each indi25 vidual animal of each prohibited wildlife 


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1 species possessed by the entity or indi2 vidual with the United States Fish and 

3 Wildlife Service; 

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

5 any prohibited wildlife species after the 

6 date of the enactment of such Act; and 

7 ‘‘(iii) does not allow direct contact be8 tween the public and prohibited wildlife 

9 species.’’. 

10 SEC. 4. PENALTIES. 

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

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

13 amended— 

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

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

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

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

18 amended— 

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

20 after ‘‘(d),’’; 

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

22 after ‘‘(d),’’; 

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

24 ‘‘(d),’’; and 

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


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1 ‘‘(4) Any person who knowingly violates sub2 section (e) of section 3 shall be fined not more than 

3 $20,000, or imprisoned for not more than five years, 

4 or both. Each violation shall be a separate offense 

5 and the offense is deemed to have been committed 

6 in the district where the violation first occurred, and 

7 in any district in which the defendant may have 

8 taken or been in possession of the prohibited wildlife 

9 species.’’. 

10 SEC. 5. FORFEITURE OF PROHIBITED WILDLIFE SPECIES. 

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

12 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3374(a)(1)) is amended by inserting 

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

14 SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATION. 

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

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

17 following: 

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

19 other relevant Federal and State agencies, promul20 gate any regulations necessary to implement section 

21 3(e).’’. 

Æ 


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