I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1497 

To amend the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to extend its protections 

to plants illegally harvested outside of the United States, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 13, 2007 

Mr. BLUMENAUER (for himself, Mr. WEXLER, and Mr. WELLER of Illinois) 

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

Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to extend 

its protections to plants illegally harvested outside of 

the United States, 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 ‘‘Legal Timber Protec5 tion Act’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF PROTECTIONS OF LACEY ACT 

2 AMENDMENTS OF 1981 TO PLANTS ILLE3 GALLY HARVESTED OUTSIDE THE UNITED 

4 STATES. 

5 (a) AMENDMENTS TO DEFINITIONS.— 

6 (1) PLANT.—Section 2(f) of the Lacey Act 

7 Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3371(f)) is amend8 ed to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(f) The term ‘plant’ means any wild member of the 

10 plant kingdom, including roots, seeds, parts, and products 

11 thereof (but excluding common food crops and 

12 cultivars).’’. 

13 (2) SECRETARY.—Section 2(h) of the Lacey 

14 Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3371(h)) is 

15 amended by inserting ‘‘also’’ after ‘‘term’’ the sec16 ond place it appears. 

17 (3) TAKEN.—Section 2(j) of the Lacey Act 

18 Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3371(j)) is amend19 ed by inserting ‘‘harvested,’’ after ‘‘killed,’’. 

20 (b) AMENDMENTS TO PROHIBITIONS.— 

21 (1) AMENDMENTS.—The Lacey Act Amend22 ments of 1981 is amended— 

23 (A) in section 3(a)(2) (16 U.S.C. 

24 3372(a)(2)), by striking ‘‘or’’ after the semi25 colon at the end of subparagraph (B), by redes26 ignating subparagraph (C) as subparagraph 

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1 (D), and by inserting after subparagraph (B) 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘(C) any plant taken in a foreign country, 

4 that is— 

5 ‘‘(i) taken, transported, or sold with6 out authority required by, or in violation 

7 of, any law that applies at the place where 

8 the harvest, taking, transport, or sale oc9 curs, including any such taking in a park, 

10 forest reserve or other officially protected 

11 area; 

12 ‘‘(ii) taken without paying royalties, 

13 taxes, or stumpage fees required by the 

14 law of the place where the taking occurs; 

15 ‘‘(iii) exported or transhipped in viola16 tion of any limitation under any applicable 

17 law; 

18 ‘‘(iv) taken, exported, or transshipped 

19 in violation of any international law, trea20 ty, or international agreement; or 

21 ‘‘(v) without any official documenta22 tion of compliance with clauses (i) through 

23 (iv) that is required under the regulations 

24 issued under section 7(a)(3);’’; 

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1 (B) in section 3(a)(3) (16 U.S.C. 

2 3372(a)(3)), by striking ‘‘, or’’ at the end of 

3 subparagraph (A) and inserting a semicolon, 

4 and by inserting after subparagraph (B) the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(C) to possess any plant taken in a for7 eign country, that is— 

8 ‘‘(i) taken, transported, or sold with9 out authority required by, or in violation 

10 of, any law that applies at the place where 

11 the harvest, taking, transport, or sale oc12 curs, including any such taking in a park, 

13 forest reserve or other officially protected 

14 area; 

15 ‘‘(ii) taken without paying royalties, 

16 taxes, or stumpage fees required by the 

17 law of the place where the taking occurs; 

18 ‘‘(iii) exported or transhipped in viola19 tion of any limitation under any applicable 

20 law; 

21 ‘‘(iv) taken, exported, or transshipped 

22 in violation of any international law, trea23 ty, or international agreement; or 

24 ‘‘(v) without any official documenta25 tion of compliance with clauses (i) through 

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1 (iv) that is required under the regulations 

2 issued under section 7(a)(3);’’; and 

3 (C) in section 3(b) (16 U.S.C. 3372(b)) by 

4 inserting ‘‘or plant’’ after ‘‘fish or wildlife’’. 

5 (2) REQUIREMENT TO ISSUE REGULATIONS.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 7(a) of the 

7 Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 

8 3376(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(3) The Secretary— 

11 ‘‘(A) shall issue regulations to implement 

12 paragraphs (2)(C) and (3)(C) of section 3(a); 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(B) may issue regulations under those 

15 paragraphs that establish requirements for offi16 cial documentation for purposes of paragraph 

17 (2)(C)(v) or (3)(C)(v) (or both).’’. 

18 (B) DEADLINE.—The Secretary shall issue 

19 regulations under section 7(a)(3) of such Act, 

20 as amended by subparagraph (A) of this para21 graph, by not later than 180 days after the 

22 date of the enactment of this Act, and may 

23 issue additional regulations under that section 

24 after such date. 

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1 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 3(e) 

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

3 3372(e)) is amended in each of paragraphs (1) and 

4 (5) by striking ‘‘subsection (a)(2)(C)’’ and inserting 

5 ‘‘subsection (a)(2)(D)’’. 

6 (c) AMENDMENTS REGARDING ADMINISTRATION.— 

7 Section 7(a)(2) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 

8 U.S.C. 3376(a)(2)) is amended— 

9 (1) by striking ‘‘and Commerce’’ and inserting 

10 ‘‘, Commerce, and Agriculture’’; 

11 (2) by inserting ‘‘or plants’’ after ‘‘fish or wild12 life’’; and 

13 (3) in the second sentence by inserting ‘‘, with 

14 respect to fish or wildlife,’’ after ‘‘regulations’’. 

Æ 

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