I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5217 

To amend the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 

to prohibit the possession or use of body-gripping traps in the National 

Wildlife Refuge System, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 15, 2023 

Mr. NADLER (for himself, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mr. BOYLE of 

Pennsylvania, Mr. CASTEN, Ms. CHU, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. 

DELBENE, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. KILMER, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. 

MCCOLLUM, Ms. MENG, Mr. MOSKOWITZ, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. 

NEGUSE, Ms. NORTON, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. SCHIFF, and Ms. 

TOKUDA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 to prohibit the possession or use of 

body-gripping traps in the National Wildlife Refuge System, 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 ‘‘Refuge From Cruel 

5 Trapping Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. POSSESSION OR USE OF BODY-GRIPPING TRAP PRO2 HIBITED. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The National Wildlife Refuge 

4 System Administration Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 668dd et 

5 seq.) is amended— 

6 (1) in section 4(f), by striking ‘‘this Act’’ each 

7 place it appears and inserting ‘‘this section’’; and 

8 (2) by inserting after section 4 the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 4A. POSSESSION OR USE OF BODY-GRIPPING TRAP 

10 PROHIBITED. 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

12 (b), a person may not possess or use a body-gripping trap 

13 in the System. 

14 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) FEDERAL AGENCY.—Subsection (a) does 

16 not apply to the possession or use of a body-gripping 

17 trap by a Federal agency— 

18 ‘‘(A) to— 

19 ‘‘(i) control an invasive species to 

20 achieve resource management objectives; or 

21 ‘‘(ii) protect a species that— 

22 ‘‘(I) is listed as threatened or en23 dangered under the Endangered Spe24 cies Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 

25 seq.); or 


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1 ‘‘(II) the Secretary has des2 ignated as a sensitive species; and 

3 ‘‘(B) if— 

4 ‘‘(i) such use is in accordance with 

5 Federal and State law; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) all other viable nonlethal meth7 ods for achieving a goal described in sub8 paragraph (A) have been thoroughly ex9 plored, described, and attempted and docu10 mentation of such activities is maintained 

11 at the relevant headquarters of the Federal 

12 agency that carried out such exploration, 

13 description, and attempt. 

14 ‘‘(2) DISMANTLING.—Subsection (a) does not 

15 apply to the dismantling of body-gripping traps. 

16 ‘‘(3) ALASKA.—Subsection (a) does not apply to 

17 the System in Alaska. 

18 ‘‘(4) MEMBERS OF INDIAN TRIBES.—Subsection 

19 (a) does not apply to the possession or use of a 

20 body-gripping trap by a member of a federally recog21 nized Indian Tribe for subsistence purposes. 

22 ‘‘(c) PENALTIES.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A person who violates sub24 section (a) shall be subject to— 


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1 ‘‘(A) a civil fine of not more than $500 

2 for— 

3 ‘‘(i) each body-gripping trap pos4 sessed; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) each use of a body-gripping trap; 

6 ‘‘(B) imprisonment for not more than 180 

7 days; or 

8 ‘‘(C) both a civil fine and imprisonment in 

9 accordance with subparagraphs (A) and (B). 

10 ‘‘(2) ADJUSTMENT FOR INFLATION.—The Sec11 retary shall annually adjust the fine described in 

12 paragraph (1) to reflect the change in the Consumer 

13 Price Index for All Urban Consumers published by 

14 the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of 

15 Labor. 

16 ‘‘(d) FORFEITURE.—Any body-gripping trap that is 

17 possessed or used in violation of this section, and any wild18 life captured through the use of such body-gripping trap, 

19 including a pelt or raw fur of such wildlife, shall be subject 

20 to forfeiture to the United States in accordance with the 

21 provisions of chapter 46 of title 18, United States Code, 

22 relating to civil forfeitures. 

23 ‘‘(e) PAYMENT OF ASSOCIATED COURT COSTS.—A 

24 person found to be in violation of subsection (a) shall pay 

25 all associated court costs. 


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1 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

2 ‘‘(1) BODY-GRIPPING TRAP.—The term ‘body3 gripping trap’— 

4 ‘‘(A) means any device that is intended to 

5 kill or capture wildlife by physically restraining 

6 any part of the animal; 

7 ‘‘(B) includes any— 

8 ‘‘(i) steel-jaw, padded, or other modi9 fied leghold trap; 

10 ‘‘(ii) kill-type trap; 

11 ‘‘(iii) snare trap; or 

12 ‘‘(iv) modified version of any trap de13 scribed in clauses (i) through (iii); and 

14 ‘‘(C) does not include any— 

15 ‘‘(i) cage or box trap; or 

16 ‘‘(ii) suitcase-type live beaver trap. 

17 ‘‘(2) INVASIVE SPECIES.—The term ‘invasive 

18 species’ means, with regard to a particular eco19 system, a non-native organism the introduction of 

20 which causes or is likely to cause economic or envi21 ronmental harm, or harm to human, animal, or 

22 plant health.’’. 

23 (b) REGULATIONS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days 

25 after the date of the enactment of this section, the 


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1 Secretary of the Interior shall issue any regulations 

2 necessary to carry out the amendments made by 

3 subsection (a). 

4 (2) ENFORCEABILITY.—The enforceability of 

5 the amendments made by subsection (a) shall not be 

6 affected by a failure of the Secretary of the Interior 

7 to issue regulations under paragraph (1). 

8 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

9 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date that is 120 

10 days after the date of the enactment of this section. 

Æ 


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