To amend the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to limit the application of that Act with respect to plants and plant products that were imported before the effective date of amendments to that Act enacted in 2008, and for other purposes.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Retailers and Entertainers Lacey 
Implementation and Enforcement Fairness Act'' or the ``RELIEF Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Amendments to the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 were 
        enacted as part of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 
        2008 (Public Law 110-246).
            (2) The 2008 amendments were intended to level the playing 
        field for American businesses engaged in the responsible 
        harvest, shipment, manufacture, and trade of plants and plant 
        products whose prices had been undercut by a black market 
        fueled by irresponsible and illegal taking of protected plants 
        around the globe.
            (3) The 2008 amendments were overly broad and their 
        enforcement as enacted could criminalize actions of a good-
        faith owner, purchaser, or retailer of a plant or plant 
        product, subjecting them to penalties that include forfeiture, 
        fines, and imprisonment.
            (4) Sanctions for violating the 2008 amendments should be 
        proportional to the act in violation. An individual who is not 
        in the commercial shipping business should not be held to the 
        same standard of compliance under that Act.
            (5) Individuals fear that they risk incurring those 
        penalties by merely owning or traveling with a vintage musical 
        instrument, antique furniture, or another wood product.
            (6) The Department of the Interior and Department of 
        Justice have stated ``people who unknowingly possess a musical 
        instrument or other object containing wood that was illegally 
        taken, possessed, transported or sold in violation of law and 
        who, in the exercise of due care would not have known that it 
        was illegal, do not have criminal exposure.''.
            (7) It is necessary to clarify the 2008 amendments so that 
        legally harvested new plant products can enter the market 
        place.
            (8) Declaration requirements for plant products imported or 
        manufactured prior to May 22, 2008, are unreasonable since the 
        sourcing of plant products was not previously required by law.
            (9) Federal law enforcement officials should not engage in 
        overzealous enforcement action under the 2008 amendments.
            (10) It is important to ensure that the appropriate 
        agencies have the necessary funding to implement the current 
        phases of the declaration requirement before considering any 
        future phases.
            (11) The appropriate agencies have the responsibility of 
        providing a publicly accessible database so that everyone can 
        be notified of the foreign laws of countries as they apply to 
        the importation of plants.

SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF PLANTS AND PLANT PRODUCTS UNDER LACEY ACT 
              AMENDMENTS OF 1981.

    (a) Limitation on Application of Act to Certain Plants and Plant 
Products.--The Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3371 et seq.) is 
amended by redesignating section 9 as section 10, and by inserting 
after section 8 the following:

``SEC. 9. LIMITATION ON APPLICATION TO CERTAIN PLANTS AND PLANT 
              PRODUCTS.

    ``This Act does not apply with respect to--
            ``(1) any plant that was imported into the United States 
        before May 22, 2008; or
            ``(2) any finished plant or plant product the assembly and 
        processing of which was completed before May 22, 2008.''.
    (b) Limitations on Application of Plant Declaration Requirement.--
Section 3(f) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 3372(f)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``that is entered for 
        consumption (as that term is defined in part 141.0a of title 
        19, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date of 
        enactment of the Retailers and Entertainers Lacey 
        Implementation and Enforcement Fairness Act)'' after ``plant''; 
        and
            (2) in paragraph (3)--
                    (A) by inserting ``(A)'' before ``Paragraphs (1)''; 
                and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(B)(i) In the case of a plant product that is derived 
        from a tree, a declaration under paragraph (1) or (2) is not 
        required to include information referred to in subparagraph 
        (A), (B), or (C) of that paragraph unless the plant product is 
        solid wood.
            ``(ii) The Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health 
        Inspection Service shall issue regulations that define the term 
        `solid wood' for purposes of this subparagraph.''.
    (c) Application of Civil Forfeiture Laws.--Section 5(d) of such Act 
(16 U.S.C. 3374(d)) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(1)'' before ``Civil'';
            (2) by inserting ``, except as provided in paragraphs (2) 
        and (3) of this subsection'' before the period at the end; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(2) Subsection (d)(4) of section 983 of such chapter, and the 
second sentence of subsection (a)(1)(F) of such section, shall not 
apply to plants or plant products.
    ``(3) This section is the sole authority for civil seizure or 
forfeiture actions alleging, or predicated upon, a violation of section 
3.''.

SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON APPLICATION OF FOREIGN LAWS.

    (a) Prohibited Acts.--Section 3(a) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 3372(a)) 
is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2)(B), in clause (ii) and in clause 
        (iii), by striking ``foreign law'' and inserting ``foreign law 
        that is directed at the protection, conservation, and 
        management of plants''; and
            (2) in paragraph (3)(B), in clause (ii) and in clause 
        (iii), by striking ``foreign law'' and inserting ``foreign law 
        that is directed at the protection, conservation, and 
        management of plants''.
    (b) Civil Penalties.--Section 4(a)(1) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 
3373(a)(1)) is amended by striking ``foreign law'' and inserting 
``foreign law that is directed at the protection, conservation, and 
management of plants''.

SEC. 5. REVIEW AND REPORT.

    Section 3(f) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 3372(f)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ``Not later than two 
        years after the date of enactment of this subsection,'' and 
        inserting ``Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 
        of the Retailers and Entertainers Lacey Implementation and 
        Enforcement Fairness Act,''; and
            (2) in paragraph (5)--
                    (A) by striking ``Not later than 180 days after the 
                date on which the Secretary completes the review under 
                paragraph (4), the Secretary'' and inserting ``Not 
                later than 180 days after the date the Secretary 
                completes the review under paragraph (4), the Director 
                of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service'';
                    (B) by striking ``and'' after the semicolon at the 
                end of subparagraph (B);
                    (C) by striking the period at the end of 
                subparagraph (C) and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (D) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(D) an evaluation of the feasibility of creating 
                and maintaining a publicly available database of laws 
                of foreign countries from which plants are exported.''.

Summary: Retailers and Entertainers Lacey Implementation and Enforcement Fairness Act or the RELIEF Act - (Sec. 3) Amends the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to: (1) make such Act inapplicable to any plant that was imported into the United States before May 22, 2008, or any finished plant or plant product the assembly and processing of which was completed before such date; (2) limit the application of plant importation declaration requirements to plants that are entered for consumption; and (3) exclude from declaration requirements a plant product that is derived from a tree unless the product is solid wood (requires the Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to issue regulations that define the term "solid wood" for such purpose).

Provides that: (1) civil forfeiture provisions that prohibit any person from asserting an ownership interest in contraband or other property that it is illegal to possess, or that prohibit the federal government from being required to return contraband or other property that the person from whom the property was seized may not legally possess, shall not apply to plants or plant products; and (2) civil forfeiture provisions of such Act are the sole authority for civil seizure or forfeiture actions alleging, or predicated upon, a violation of such Act.

(Sec. 4) Prohibits any person from importing, exporting, transporting, selling, receiving, acquiring, or purchasing in interstate or foreign commerce, or any person within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States from possessing, a plant taken, possessed, transported, or sold: (1) without the payment of appropriate royalties, taxes, or stumpage fees required for the plant by any law or regulation of any state or any foreign law that is directed at the protection, conservation, and management of plants; and (2) in violation of any limitation under any law or regulation of any state, or under foreign law, governing the export or transshipment of plants and that is directed at the protection, conservation, and management of plants

Limits the application of a civil penalty under such Act for violations of foreign laws to violations of foreign laws that are directed at the protection, conservation, and management of plants.

Requires the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Commerce, as program responsibilities are vested pursuant to the provisions of Reorganization Plan Numbered 4 of 1970, to review the implementation of plant declarations with 180 days. Requires the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (currently, the Secretary of Commerce) to report on plant declaration requirements, including an evaluation of the feasibility of creating a publicly available database of laws of foreign countries from which plants are exported.