IB 
Union Calendar No. 573 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 1497 
[Report No. 110–882] 
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 
SEPTEMBER 24, 2008 
Additional sponsors: Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, 
Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. SOLIS, Mr. HINCHEY, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, 
Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. WYNN, Mr. 
CUMMINGS, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Ms. WATSON, Ms. 
MCCOLLUM of Minnesota, Mr. HONDA, Mr. OBEY, Ms. SUTTON, Ms. 
SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. KIND, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. FARR, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. 
KUCINICH, Mr. PAYNE, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. BACA, Mr. HARE, 
Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. SHULER, Mr. ROSS, Mr. EHLERS, Mr. 
GILCHREST, Ms. NORTON, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. BAR-
RETT of South Carolina, Mr. GERLACH, Mr. HOLT, Ms. HOOLEY, Mr. 
UDALL of Colorado, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. WALDEN of Oregon, Mr. NAD-
LER, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. WU, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. FILNER, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. 
RENZI, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. GOODE, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr. SIRES, Mr. STU-
PAK, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. 
ROGERS of Kentucky, Mr. INGLIS of South Carolina, Mr. SESTAK, Mr. 
KAGEN, and Mr. ELLISON 
SEPTEMBER 24, 2008 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
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[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 13, 2007] 
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. 
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 ‘‘Legal Timber Protection 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. PREVENTION OF ILLEGAL LOGGING PRACTICES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Lacey Act Amendments of 
1981 are amended— 
(1) in section 2 (16 U.S.C. 3371)— 
(A) by striking subsection (f) and inserting 
the following: 
‘‘(f) PLANT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘plant’ means any 
wild member of the plant kingdom, including roots, 
seeds, parts, and products thereof. 
‘‘(2) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘plant’ excludes 
any common food crop or cultivar that is a species 
not listed— 
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‘‘(A) in the Convention on International 
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna 
and Flora (27 UST 1087; TIAS 8249); or 
‘‘(B) as an endangered or threatened species 
under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).’’; 
(B) in subsection (h), by inserting ‘‘also’’ 
after ‘‘plants the term’’; and 
(C) by striking subsection (j) and inserting 
the following: 
‘‘(j) TAKE.—The term ‘take’ means— 
‘‘(1) to capture, kill, or collect; and 
‘‘(2) with respect to a plant, also to harvest, cut, 
log, or remove.’’; 
(2) in section 3 (16 U.S.C. 3372)— 
(A) in subsection (a)— 
(i) in paragraph (2), by striking sub-
paragraph (B) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(B) any plant— 
‘‘(i) taken, transported, possessed, or 
sold in violation of any law or regulation 
of any State, or any foreign law, that pro-
tects plants or that regulates— 
‘‘(I) the theft of plants; 
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‘‘(II) the taking of plants from a 
park, forest reserve, or other officially 
protected area; 
‘‘(III) the taking of plants from 
an officially designated area; or 
‘‘(IV) the taking of plants with-
out, or contrary to, required authoriza-
tion; 
‘‘(ii) taken, transported, or exported 
without the payment of appropriate royal-
ties, taxes, or stumpage fees required for 
such plant by any law or regulation of any 
State or by any foreign law; or 
‘‘(iii) exported or transshipped in vio-
lation of any limitation under any law or 
regulation of any State or under any for-
eign law; or’’; and 
(ii) in paragraph (3), by striking sub-
paragraph (B) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(B) to possess any plant— 
‘‘(i) taken, transported, possessed, or 
sold in violation of any law or regulation 
of any State, or any foreign law, that pro-
tects plants or that regulates— 
‘‘(I) the theft of plants; 
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‘‘(II) the taking of plants from a 
park, forest reserve, or other officially 
protected area; 
‘‘(III) the taking of plants from 
an officially designated area; or 
‘‘(IV) the taking of plants with-
out, or contrary to, required authoriza-
tion; 
‘‘(ii) taken, transported, or exported 
without the payment of appropriate royal-
ties, taxes, or stumpage fees required for 
such plant by any law or regulation of any 
State or by any foreign law; or 
‘‘(iii) exported or transshipped in vio-
lation of any limitation under any law or 
regulation of any State or under any for-
eign law; or’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(f) PLANT DECLARATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Effective 180 days from the 
date of enactment of this subsection and except as 
provided in paragraph (3), it shall be unlawful for 
any person to import any plant unless the person 
files upon importation where clearance is requested a 
declaration that contains— 
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‘‘(A) the scientific name of any plant (in-
cluding the genus and species of the plant) con-
tained in the importation; 
‘‘(B) a description of— 
‘‘(i) the value of the importation; and 
‘‘(ii) the quantity, including the unit 
of measure, of the plant; and 
‘‘(C) the name of the country from which 
the plant was taken. 
‘‘(2) DECLARATION RELATING TO PLANT PROD-
UCTS.—Until the date on which the Secretary pro-
mulgates a regulation under paragraph (6), a dec-
laration relating to a plant product shall— 
‘‘(A) in the case in which the species of 
plant used to produce the plant product that is 
the subject of the importation varies, and the 
species used to produce the plant product is un-
known, contain the name of each species of plant 
that may have been used to produce the plant 
product; and 
‘‘(B) in the case in which the species of 
plant used to produce the plant product that is 
the subject of the importation is commonly taken 
from more than 1 country, and the country from 
which the plant was taken and used to produce 
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the plant product is unknown, contain the name 
of each country from which the plant may have 
been taken. 
‘‘(3) EXCLUSIONS.—Paragraphs (1) and (2) 
shall not apply to plants used exclusively as pack-
aging material to support, protect, or carry another 
item, unless the packaging material itself is the item 
being imported. 
‘‘(4) REVIEW.—Not later than 2 years after the 
date of enactment of this subsection, the Secretary 
shall review the implementation of each requirement 
described in paragraphs (1) and (2) and the effect of 
the exclusions in paragraph (3). 
‘‘(5) REPORT.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 180 
days after the date on which the Secretary com-
pletes the review under paragraph (4), the Sec-
retary shall submit to the appropriate commit-
tees of Congress a report containing— 
‘‘(i) an evaluation of— 
‘‘(I) the effectiveness of each type 
of information required under para-
graphs (1) and (2) in assisting enforce-
ment of section 3; and 
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‘‘(II) the potential to harmonize 
each requirement described in para-
graphs (1) and (2) with other applica-
ble import regulations in existence as 
of the date of the report; 
‘‘(ii) recommendations for such legisla-
tion as the Secretary determines to be ap-
propriate to assist in the identification of 
plants that are imported into the United 
States in violation of section 3; and 
‘‘(iii) an analysis of the effect of the 
provisions of subsection (a) and (f) on— 
‘‘(I) the cost of legal plant im-
ports; and 
‘‘(II) the extent and methodology 
of illegal logging practices and traf-
ficking. 
‘‘(B) 
PUBLIC
PARTICIPATION.—In 
con-
ducting the review under paragraph (3), the Sec-
retary shall provide public notice and an oppor-
tunity for comment. 
‘‘(6) PROMULGATION
OF
REGULATIONS.—Not 
later than 180 days after the date on which the Sec-
retary completes the review under paragraph (4), the 
Secretary may promulgate regulations— 
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‘‘(A) to limit the applicability of any re-
quirement described in paragraph (2) to specific 
plant products; 
‘‘(B) to make any other necessary modifica-
tion to any requirement described in paragraph 
(2), as determined by the Secretary based on the 
review under paragraph (4); and 
‘‘(C) to limit the scope of exclusion in para-
graph (3) if warranted as a result of the review 
under paragraph (4).’’; 
(3) in section 7(a)(1) (16 U.S.C. 3376(a)(1)), by 
striking ‘‘section 4’’ and inserting ‘‘section 3(f), sec-
tion 4,’’; 
(4) in section 4 (16 U.S.C. 3373)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘subsections (b) and (d)’’ 
each place it appears and inserting ‘‘subsections 
(b), (d), and (f)’’; 
(B) by inserting ‘‘or section 3(f)’’ after ‘‘sec-
tion 3(d)’’ each place it appears; and 
(C) in subsection (a)(2), by inserting ‘‘or 
who violates subsection 3(f) other than as pro-
vided in paragraph (1)’’ after ‘‘subsection 3(b)’’; 
and 
(5) by adding at the end of section 5 (16 U.S.C. 
3374) the following: 
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