I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1998 
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 
MAY 15, 2013 
Mr. MCKEON (for himself and Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California) intro-
duced 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Big Cats and Public 
Safety Protection Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) The global illicit trade in wildlife may be 
worth up to $20,000,000,000 annually and the value 
of legal wildlife trade in the United States was re-
cently estimated at $2,800,000,000 annually. 
(2) The illegal trade in prohibited wildlife spe-
cies (as defined in section 2(g) of the Lacey Act 
Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3371(g)) stimu-
lates demand and expands markets in which those 
species can be illegally sold. 
(3) The private possession, breeding, and sale 
of prohibited wildlife species has a substantial and 
detrimental effect on the health and general welfare 
of the people of the United States and on the con-
servation of the species themselves. 
(4) Private possession and breeding of prohib-
ited wildlife species have a substantial and direct ef-
fect on interstate commerce because prohibited wild-
life species are frequently bred and possessed to be 
used in public exhibition or for sale or transfer of 
ownership in the exotic pet trade, and are often 
transported in interstate commerce for these pur-
poses. 
(5) Private possession and breeding of prohib-
ited wildlife species contributes to the interstate 
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traffic in those species and may contribute to illegal 
international wildlife trade. 
(6) Prohibited wildlife species in private posses-
sion, or distributed intrastate, are fungible commod-
ities that cannot be differentiated, in terms of con-
trol, from prohibited wildlife species possessed or 
distributed interstate. 
(7) It is exceedingly difficult to distinguish be-
tween prohibited wildlife species that are possessed, 
bred, sold, or transported in interstate commerce 
from those that have not been. 
(8) Federal control of the intrastate private 
possession and breeding of prohibited wildlife species 
is essential to the effective control of the interstate 
incidents of traffic in prohibited wildlife species. 
(9) The United States is a party to the Conven-
tion on International Trade in Endangered Species 
of Wild Fauna and Flora, which was designed to 
protect species of wild fauna and flora against over-
exploitation through international trade. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2 of the Lacey Act 
Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3371) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsections (a) through (k) 
as subsections (b) through (l), respectively; 
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(2) by inserting before subsection (b) (as so re-
designated) the following: 
‘‘(a) BREED.—The term ‘breed’ means to facilitate 
the propagation or reproduction (whether intentionally or 
negligently), or to fail to prevent the propagation or repro-
duction, of a prohibited wildlife species or other animal.’’; 
and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(m) TRAVELING CIRCUS.—The term ‘traveling cir-
cus’ means an exhibitor holding a Class C license issued 
under the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2131 et seq.).’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) CONSOLIDATED FARM AND RURAL DEVEL-
OPMENT
ACT.—Section 349(a)(3) of the Consoli-
dated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 
1997(a)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘section 2(a)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘section 2(b)’’. 
(2) LACEY ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1981.— 
(A) Section 3(e)(2)(C) of the Lacey Act 
Amendments 
of 
1981 
(16 
U.S.C. 
3372(e)(2)(C)) is amended— 
(i) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘section 
2(g)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 2(h)’’; and 
(ii) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘section 
2(g)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 2(h)’’. 
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(B) Section 7(c) of the Lacey Act Amend-
ments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3376(c)) is amended 
by striking ‘‘section 2(f)(2)(A)’’ and inserting 
‘‘section 2(g)(2)(A)’’. 
SEC. 4. PROHIBITIONS. 
Section 3(a) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 
(16 U.S.C. 3372(a)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (2)— 
(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking the 
semicolon at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; 
(B) in subparagraph (B)(iii), by striking ‘‘; 
or’’ and inserting a semicolon; and 
(C) by striking subparagraph (C); 
(2) in paragraph (3)(B)(iii), by striking ‘‘; or’’ 
and inserting a semicolon; 
(3) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para-
graph (5); 
(4) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(4) subject to subsection (e), to import, export, 
transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase in inter-
state or foreign commerce, or to breed or possess, 
any prohibited wildlife species; or’’; and 
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(5) in paragraph (5), (as so redesignated), by 
striking ‘‘(1) through (3)’’ and inserting ‘‘(1) 
through (4)’’. 
SEC. 5. NONAPPLICABILITY OF OFFENSES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3(e) of the Lacey Act 
Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3372(e)) is amended— 
(1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a)(4) shall not 
apply to— 
‘‘(A) the importation, exportation, trans-
portation, sale, receipt, acquisition, purchase, 
breeding, or possession of an animal of a pro-
hibited wildlife species, by any person that, 
under any regulation promulgated under para-
graph (3), is described in subparagraph (A), 
(B), (C), (D), or (F) of paragraph (2) with re-
spect to that species; and 
‘‘(B) the transportation or possession of an 
animal of a prohibited wildlife species, by a per-
son that, under any regulation promulgated 
under paragraph (3), is described in paragraph 
(2)(E) with respect to that species.’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (2)— 
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(A) by striking subparagraph (A) and in-
serting the following: 
‘‘(A) is an institution accredited by the As-
sociation of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) or cer-
tified related facilities that coordinate with an 
AZA Species Survival Plan for breeding of spe-
cies listed as threatened or endangered pursu-
ant to the provision of law codified at section 
1533 of title 16, United States Code;’’; 
(B) in subparagraph (C)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘is an accredited’’ and 
inserting ‘‘is a’’; 
(ii) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘and’’; 
(iii) in clause (iv), by striking ‘‘or’’ 
and inserting ‘‘and’’; and 
(iv) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(v) does not allow the transportation 
and display of animals off-site;’’; 
(C) in subparagraph (D), by striking the 
period at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 
(D) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(E) is in possession of any animal of any 
prohibited wildlife species, that— 
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‘‘(i) is born before the date of enact-
ment of this subparagraph; and 
‘‘(ii) not later than 180 days after the 
date on which regulations are promulgated 
implementing this subparagraph, is reg-
istered with the Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service; or 
‘‘(F) is a traveling circus that— 
‘‘(i) regularly travels in interstate 
commerce to conduct performances fea-
turing live prohibited wildlife species and 
multiple trained human entertainers, in-
cluding clowns and acrobats; 
‘‘(ii) does not allow members of the 
public to be in direct contact with or un-
safe proximity to a prohibited wildlife spe-
cies of any age, including offering photo-
graphic opportunities or interactive ses-
sions; and 
‘‘(iii) during the 3-year period pre-
ceding the date of the enactment of this 
subparagraph, has not been determined by 
the Secretary of Agriculture to have vio-
lated the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 
2131 et seq.) by reason of jeopardizing the 
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health and well-being of a prohibited wild-
life species, including jeopardizing such 
health and well-being by providing— 
‘‘(I) 
inappropriate 
veterinary 
care; 
‘‘(II) inappropriate handling of 
the species causing stress or trauma 
to the species or a threat to public 
safety; or 
‘‘(III) insufficient food, water, 
shelter, or space.’’. 
(b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the 
Interior, acting through the Director of the United States 
Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Secretary of Agri-
culture, acting through the Administrator of the Animal 
and Plant Health Inspection Service, shall promulgate 
regulations implementing the amendments made by this 
section. 
SEC. 6. PENALTIES. 
(a) CIVIL PENALTIES.—Section 4(a)(1) of the Lacey 
Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3373(a)(1)) is 
amended— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘(a)(4),’’ after ‘‘subsections’’; 
and 
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(A) by striking ‘‘or purchasing’’ and in-
serting ‘‘purchasing, breeding, or possessing,’’ 
and 
(B) by striking ‘‘sale or purchase of, the 
offer of sale or purchase of, or the intent to sell 
or purchase’’ and inserting ‘‘importation, expor-
tation, transportation, sale, receipt, acquisition, 
purchase, breeding, or possession of, the offer 
of importation, exportation, transportation, 
sale, receipt, acquisition, purchase, breeding, or 
possession of, or the intent to import, export, 
transport, sell, receive, acquire, purchase, breed, 
or possess’’. 
Æ 
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