II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2990 

To amend the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to clarify provisions enacted 

by the Captive Wildlife Safety Act to further the conservation of prohibited wildlife species. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 5, 2018 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. 

MARKEY, Mr. REED, and Mr. SANDERS) 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 clarify 

provisions enacted by the Captive Wildlife Safety Act 

to further the conservation of prohibited wildlife species. 

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— 


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

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

3 (2) by inserting before subsection (b) (as so re4 designated) the following: 

5 ‘‘(a) BREED.—The term ‘breed’ means to inten6 tionally or negligently— 

7 ‘‘(1) facilitate propagation or reproduction; or 

8 ‘‘(2) fail to prevent propagation or reproduc9 tion.’’. 

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

11 (1) CONSOLIDATED FARM AND RURAL DEVEL12 OPMENT ACT.—Section 349(a)(3) of the Consoli13 dated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 

14 1997(a)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘section 2(a)’’ 

15 and inserting ‘‘section 2(b)’’. 

16 (2) LACEY ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1981.— 

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

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

19 3372(e)(2)(C)) is amended— 

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

21 2(g)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 2(h)’’; and 

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

23 2(g)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 2(h)’’. 

24 (B) Section 7(c) of the Lacey Act Amend25 ments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3376(c)) is amended 


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

2 ‘‘section 2(g)(2)(A)’’. 

3 SEC. 3. PROHIBITIONS. 

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

5 U.S.C. 3372) is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (a)— 

7 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

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

9 the semicolon at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

10 or’’; 

11 (ii) in subparagraph (B)(iii), by strik12 ing ‘‘; or’’ and inserting a semicolon; and 

13 (iii) by striking subparagraph (C); 

14 and 

15 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘in para16 graphs (1) through (3)’’ and inserting ‘‘in para17 graphs (1) through (3) or subsection (e)’’; and 

18 (2) by striking subsection (e) and inserting the 

19 following: 

20 ‘‘(e) CAPTIVE WILDLIFE OFFENSE.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It is unlawful for any per22 son— 

23 ‘‘(A) to import, export, transport, sell, re24 ceive, acquire, or purchase any prohibited wild25 life species— 


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1 ‘‘(i) in interstate or foreign commerce; 

2 or 

3 ‘‘(ii) in a manner substantially affect4 ing interstate or foreign commerce; or 

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

6 wildlife species. 

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

8 (1) does not apply to— 

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

10 public under a class C license issued by the Sec11 retary of Agriculture that is held in good stand12 ing, if the entity— 

13 ‘‘(i) has not been, and does not em14 ploy any person engaged in animal care 

15 who has been, convicted or fined for an of16 fense involving the abuse or neglect of any 

17 animal pursuant to any Federal, State, or 

18 local law; 

19 ‘‘(ii) has not had, and does not em20 ploy any person who has had, a license or 

21 permit regarding the care, possession, exhi22 bition, breeding, or sale of animals revoked 

23 or suspended by any Federal, State, or 

24 local agency, including the Department of 


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1 Agriculture, during the preceding 3-year 

2 period; 

3 ‘‘(iii) has not been cited under the 

4 Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2131 et 

5 seq.) during the preceding 1-year period 

6 for any repeat violation for— 

7 ‘‘(I) inadequate veterinary care; 

8 ‘‘(II) handling that causes stress 

9 or trauma or a threat to public safety; 

10 ‘‘(III) insufficient provisions of 

11 food or water; or 

12 ‘‘(IV) failure to allow facility in13 spection; 

14 ‘‘(iv) does not allow any individual 

15 other than a trained professional employee 

16 or contractor of the licensee (or accom17 panying employee receiving professional 

18 training) or a licensed veterinarian (or an 

19 accompanying veterinarian student) to 

20 come into direct physical contact with a 

21 prohibited wildlife species; 

22 ‘‘(v) ensures that during public exhi23 bition of a prohibited wildlife species (other 

24 than a cheetah or a hybrid of a cheetah), 

25 the animal is not less than 15 feet from 


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1 members of the public unless there is a 

2 permanent barrier that prevents public 

3 contact or risk of contact; 

4 ‘‘(vi) does not breed any prohibited 

5 wildlife species unless the breeding is con6 ducted pursuant to a species-specific, pub7 licly available, peer-reviewed population 

8 management plan developed according to 

9 established conservation science principles; 

10 ‘‘(vii) maintains liability insurance in 

11 an amount of not less than $250,000 for 

12 each occurrence of property damage, bodily 

13 injury, or death caused by any prohibited 

14 wildlife species possessed by the entity; and 

15 ‘‘(viii) has a written plan that is made 

16 available on request to Federal agencies, 

17 State agencies, and local law enforcement 

18 for the quick and safe recapture or de19 struction of a prohibited wildlife species in 

20 the event a prohibited wildlife species es21 capes, including, at a minimum, written 

22 protocols for training staff on methods of 

23 safe recapture of the escaped prohibited 

24 wildlife species; 


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

2 or State-licensed veterinarian; 

3 ‘‘(C) a wildlife sanctuary that— 

4 ‘‘(i) cares for prohibited wildlife spe5 cies; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) is a corporation that— 

7 ‘‘(I) is exempt from taxation 

8 under section 501(a) of the Internal 

9 Revenue Code of 1986; and 

10 ‘‘(II) is described in sections 

11 501(c)(3) and 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) of 

12 that Code; 

13 ‘‘(iii) does not commercially trade in 

14 prohibited wildlife species, including off15 spring, parts, and byproducts of prohibited 

16 wildlife species; 

17 ‘‘(iv) does not breed the prohibited 

18 wildlife species; 

19 ‘‘(v) does not allow direct contact be20 tween the public and prohibited wildlife 

21 species; and 

22 ‘‘(vi) does not allow the transportation 

23 and display of prohibited wildlife species 

24 off-site; 


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1 ‘‘(D) an entity that has custody of the pro2 hibited wildlife species solely for the purpose of 

3 expeditiously transporting the prohibited wild4 life species to a person described in this para5 graph with respect to the prohibited wildlife 

6 species; or 

7 ‘‘(E) an entity that— 

8 ‘‘(i) is in possession of a prohibited 

9 wildlife species that was born before the 

10 date of enactment of the Big Cat Public 

11 Safety Act; 

12 ‘‘(ii) not later than 180 days after the 

13 date of enactment of the Big Cat Public 

14 Safety Act, registers each prohibited wild15 life species described in clause (i) with the 

16 United States Fish and Wildlife Service; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(iii) does not breed, acquire, or sell 

19 any prohibited wildlife species after the 

20 date of enactment of that Act.’’. 

21 SEC. 4. PENALTIES. 

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

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

24 amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘other than subsections (b), 

2 (d),’’ and inserting ‘‘other than subsections (b), (d), 

3 (e),’’; and 

4 (2) by striking ‘‘violates subsection (d)’’ and in5 serting ‘‘violates subsection (d), (e),’’. 

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

7 Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3373(d)(1)) 

8 is amended— 

9 (1) in subparagraph (A)— 

10 (A) by inserting ‘‘(e),’’ after ‘‘(d),’’; and 

11 (B) by striking ‘‘or’’ after the comma at 

12 the end; 

13 (2) in subparagraph (B)— 

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

15 (B) by adding ‘‘or’’ after the comma at the 

16 end; 

17 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(C) knowingly violates section 3(e),’’; and 

20 (4) in the undesignated matter following sub21 paragraph (C) (as added by paragraph (3))— 

22 (A) by striking ‘‘knowing that’’ and all 

23 that follows through ‘‘treaty or regulation,’’; 

24 and 


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1 (B) in the second sentence, by striking 

2 ‘‘said fish or wildlife or plants’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘fish or wildlife, plants, or prohibited wildlife 

4 species concerned’’. 

5 SEC. 5. FORFEITURE OF PROHIBITED WILDLIFE SPECIES. 

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

7 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3374(a)(1)) is amended by inserting 

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

9 SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATION. 

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

11 (16 U.S.C. 3376(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 

12 following: 

13 ‘‘(3) The Secretary, in consultation with other 

14 relevant Federal and State agencies, shall promul15 gate any regulations necessary to implement section 

16 3(e).’’. 

17 SEC. 7. TECHNICAL CORRECTION. 

18 Section 4(e), and subsections (a) and (b)(2) of section 

19 8, of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 

20 3373(e), 3377) are amended by striking ‘‘Fishery Con21 servation and Management Act of 1976’’ each place it ap22 pears and inserting ‘‘Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Con23 servation and Management Act’’. 

Æ 


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