Title: Big Cat Public Safety Act
Policy area: Animals

Summary:
Big Cat Public Safety Act
This bill amends the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to prohibit any person from breeding or possessing prohibited wildlife species (i.e., any live species of lion, tiger, leopard, cheetah, jaguar, or cougar or any hybrid of such species). Breeding means facilitating propagation or reproduction (whether intentionally or negligently), or failing to prevent propagation or reproduction.
The bill revises the list of entities that are exempt from Lacey Act prohibitions regarding those wildlife species to include: (1) certain entities that hold Class C licenses in good standing under the Animal Welfare Act, and (2) current owners of animals that were born before this bill's enactment if the animals are registered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Those entities and owners may not allow direct contact between the public and the prohibited wildlife species.
A person who knowingly violates the prohibition must be fined not more than $20,000, or imprisoned for not more than five years, or both. The bill extends forfeiture provisions to fish, wildlife, or plants that are bred or possessed.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2990 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






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.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Big Cat Public Safety Act''.

SEC. 2. 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; and
            (2) by inserting before subsection (b) (as so redesignated) 
        the following:
    ``(a) Breed.--The term `breed' means to intentionally or 
negligently--
            ``(1) facilitate propagation or reproduction; or
            ``(2) fail to prevent propagation or reproduction.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Consolidated farm and rural development act.--Section 
        349(a)(3) of the Consolidated 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)''.
                    (B) Section 7(c) of the Lacey Act Amendments 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. 3. PROHIBITIONS.

    Section 3 of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3372) is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking the 
                        semicolon at the end and inserting ``; or'';
                            (ii) in subparagraph (B)(iii), by striking 
                        ``; or'' and inserting a semicolon; and
                            (iii) by striking subparagraph (C); and
                    (B) in paragraph (4), by striking ``in paragraphs 
                (1) through (3)'' and inserting ``in paragraphs (1) 
                through (3) or subsection (e)''; and
            (2) by striking subsection (e) and inserting the following:
    ``(e) Captive Wildlife Offense.--
            ``(1) In general.--It is unlawful for any person--
                    ``(A) to import, export, transport, sell, receive, 
                acquire, or purchase any prohibited wildlife species--
                            ``(i) in interstate or foreign commerce; or
                            ``(ii) in a manner substantially affecting 
                        interstate or foreign commerce; or
                    ``(B) to breed or possess any prohibited wildlife 
                species.
            ``(2) Limitation on application.--Paragraph (1) does not 
        apply to--
                    ``(A) an entity exhibiting animals to the public 
                under a class C license issued by the Secretary of 
                Agriculture that is held in good standing, if the 
                entity--
                            ``(i) has not been, and does not employ any 
                        person engaged in animal care who has been, 
                        convicted or fined for an offense involving the 
                        abuse or neglect of any animal pursuant to any 
                        Federal, State, or local law;
                            ``(ii) has not had, and does not employ any 
                        person who has had, a license or permit 
                        regarding the care, possession, exhibition, 
                        breeding, or sale of animals revoked or 
                        suspended by any Federal, State, or local 
                        agency, including the Department of 
                        Agriculture, during the preceding 3-year 
                        period;
                            ``(iii) has not been cited under the Animal 
                        Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2131 et seq.) during the 
                        preceding 1-year period for any repeat 
                        violation for--
                                    ``(I) inadequate veterinary care;
                                    ``(II) handling that causes stress 
                                or trauma or a threat to public safety;
                                    ``(III) insufficient provisions of 
                                food or water; or
                                    ``(IV) failure to allow facility 
                                inspection;
                            ``(iv) does not allow any individual other 
                        than a trained professional employee or 
                        contractor of the licensee (or accompanying 
                        employee receiving professional training) or a 
                        licensed veterinarian (or an accompanying 
                        veterinarian student) to come into direct 
                        physical contact with a prohibited wildlife 
                        species;
                            ``(v) ensures that during public exhibition 
                        of a prohibited wildlife species (other than a 
                        cheetah or a hybrid of a cheetah), the animal 
                        is not less than 15 feet from members of the 
                        public unless there is a permanent barrier that 
                        prevents public contact or risk of contact;
                            ``(vi) does not breed any prohibited 
                        wildlife species unless the breeding is 
                        conducted pursuant to a species-specific, 
                        publicly available, peer-reviewed population 
                        management plan developed according to 
                        established conservation science principles;
                            ``(vii) maintains liability insurance in an 
                        amount of not less than $250,000 for each 
                        occurrence of property damage, bodily injury, 
                        or death caused by any prohibited wildlife 
                        species possessed by the entity; and
                            ``(viii) has a written plan that is made 
                        available on request to Federal agencies, State 
                        agencies, and local law enforcement for the 
                        quick and safe recapture or destruction of a 
                        prohibited wildlife species in the event a 
                        prohibited wildlife species escapes, including, 
                        at a minimum, written protocols for training 
                        staff on methods of safe recapture of the 
                        escaped prohibited wildlife species;
                    ``(B) a State college, university, or agency, or 
                State-licensed veterinarian;
                    ``(C) a wildlife sanctuary that--
                            ``(i) cares for prohibited wildlife 
                        species; and
                            ``(ii) is a corporation that--
                                    ``(I) is exempt from taxation under 
                                section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue 
                                Code of 1986; and
                                    ``(II) is described in sections 
                                501(c)(3) and 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) of that 
                                Code;
                            ``(iii) does not commercially trade in 
                        prohibited wildlife species, including 
                        offspring, parts, and byproducts of prohibited 
                        wildlife species;
                            ``(iv) does not breed the prohibited 
                        wildlife species;
                            ``(v) does not allow direct contact between 
                        the public and prohibited wildlife species; and
                            ``(vi) does not allow the transportation 
                        and display of prohibited wildlife species off-
                        site;
                    ``(D) an entity that has custody of the prohibited 
                wildlife species solely for the purpose of 
                expeditiously transporting the prohibited wildlife 
                species to a person described in this paragraph with 
                respect to the prohibited wildlife species; or
                    ``(E) an entity that--
                            ``(i) is in possession of a prohibited 
                        wildlife species that was born before the date 
                        of enactment of the Big Cat Public Safety Act;
                            ``(ii) not later than 180 days after the 
                        date of enactment of the Big Cat Public Safety 
                        Act, registers each prohibited wildlife species 
                        described in clause (i) with the United States 
                        Fish and Wildlife Service; and
                            ``(iii) does not breed, acquire, or sell 
                        any prohibited wildlife species after the date 
                        of enactment of that Act.''.

SEC. 4. 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 striking ``other than subsections (b), (d),'' and 
        inserting ``other than subsections (b), (d), (e),''; and
            (2) by striking ``violates subsection (d)'' and inserting 
        ``violates subsection (d), (e),''.
    (b) Criminal Penalties.--Section 4(d)(1) of the Lacey Act 
Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3373(d)(1)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A)--
                    (A) by inserting ``(e),'' after ``(d),''; and
                    (B) by striking ``or'' after the comma at the end;
            (2) in subparagraph (B)--
                    (A) by inserting ``(e),'' after ``(d),''; and
                    (B) by adding ``or'' after the comma at the end;
            (3) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following:
                    ``(C) knowingly violates section 3(e),''; and
            (4) in the undesignated matter following subparagraph (C) 
        (as added by paragraph (3))--
                    (A) by striking ``knowing that'' and all that 
                follows through ``treaty or regulation,''; and
                    (B) in the second sentence, by striking ``said fish 
                or wildlife or plants'' and inserting ``fish or 
                wildlife, plants, or prohibited wildlife species 
                concerned''.

SEC. 5. FORFEITURE OF PROHIBITED WILDLIFE SPECIES.

    Section 5(a)(1) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 
3374(a)(1)) is amended by inserting ``bred, possessed,'' before 
``imported, exported,''.

SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATION.

    Section 7(a) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 
3376(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) The Secretary, in consultation with other relevant 
        Federal and State agencies, shall promulgate any regulations 
        necessary to implement section 3(e).''.

SEC. 7. TECHNICAL CORRECTION.

    Section 4(e), and subsections (a) and (b)(2) of section 8, of the 
Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3373(e), 3377) are amended by 
striking ``Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976'' each place 
it appears and inserting ``Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act''.
                                 <all>