STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1949
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 17, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sens. HOYLMAN-SIGAL, BAILEY, KAVANAGH, KRUEGER, SEPULVEDA,
SERRANO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be
committed to the Committee on Environmental Conservation
AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to
prohibiting the sale, trade or bartering or possession with intent to
sell, trade or barter of certain wild animals or wild animal products
and the penalties imposed therefor
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 11-0536 of the environmental
2 conservation law, as amended by chapter 338 of the laws of 2009, is
3 amended to read as follows:
4 1. Except as provided in subdivision three hereof, no part of the skin
5 or body, whether raw or manufactured, of the following species of wild
6 animals or the animal itself may be sold, traded, bartered, or offered
7 for sale, or possessed with intent to sell, trade or barter by any indi-
8 vidual, firm, corporation, association or partnership within the state
9 of New York:--Leopard (Panthera pardus), Snow Leopard (Uuncia), Clouded
10 Leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), Tiger (Panthera tigres), Asiatic Lion
11 (Panthera leo persica), Cheetah (Acinoyx jubatus), Alligators, Caiman or
12 Crocodile of the Order Crocodylia (except as provided in subdivision two
13 of this section), tortoises of the genus Gopherus, marine turtles of the
14 family Cheloniidae and the family Dermochelidae, Vicuna (Vicugna vicug-
15 na), Wolf (Canis lupus), Red Wolf (Canis niger), or Tasmanian Forester
16 Kangaroo (Macropus giganteus tasmaniensis) or Polar Bear (Thalarctos
17 maritimus), Mountain Lion, sometimes called Cougar (Felis Concolar),
18 Jaguar (Panthera onca), Ocelot (Felis pardalis), or Margay (Felis
19 wiedii), [Sumatran Rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis), or Black
20 Rhinoceros (Dicero bicornis)] Rhinoceros (Rhinocerotidae) or Giraffe
21 (Giraffa camelopardalis).
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06152-01-3
S. 1949 2
1 § 2. Section 71-0924 of the environmental conservation law, as amended
2 by chapter 326 of the laws of 2014, is amended to read as follows:
3 § 71-0924. Illegal commercialization of fish, shellfish, crustaceans,
4 and wildlife.
5 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, when a
6 violation involves the sale, trade or barter of fish, shellfish, crusta-
7 ceans, wildlife, or parts thereof, the sale, trade or barter of which is
8 prohibited by the fish and wildlife law, the following additional penal-
9 ties shall be imposed:
10 [1.] a. where the value of fish, shellfish, crustaceans, wildlife, or
11 parts thereof, is two hundred fifty dollars or less, the offense shall
12 be a violation punishable by a fine of five hundred dollars and/or not
13 more than fifteen days of imprisonment;
14 [2.] b. where the value of fish, shellfish, crustaceans, wildlife, or
15 parts thereof, is more than two hundred fifty dollars but does not
16 exceed one thousand five hundred dollars, the offense shall be a misde-
17 meanor punishable by a fine of five thousand dollars and/or not more
18 than one year of imprisonment;
19 [3.] c. where the value of fish, shellfish, crustaceans, wildlife, or
20 parts thereof, exceeds one thousand five hundred dollars, the offense
21 shall constitute a class E felony under the provisions of the penal law;
22 [and]
23 [4.] d. where the value of ivory articles, as defined in section
24 11-0535-a of this chapter, exceeds twenty-five thousand dollars, the
25 offense shall constitute a class D felony under the provisions of the
26 penal law; and
27 e. with respect to a violation of the provisions of section 11-0536 of
28 this chapter, in addition to any other fines or penalties, where the
29 value of wildlife, or parts thereof, exceeds twenty-five thousand
30 dollars, the offense shall constitute a class D felony under the
31 provisions of the penal law, and shall be punishable by a fine of the
32 greater of: (i) twenty thousand dollars; or (ii) up to twice the fair
33 market value of the wildlife, or parts thereof.
34 [5.] 2. For the purposes of this section the value of fish, shellfish,
35 crustaceans and wildlife shall be the fair market value of or actual
36 price paid for such resource, whichever is greater. For purposes of this
37 section, "sale" shall include the acts of selling, trading or bartering
38 and all related acts, such as the act of offering for sale, trade or
39 barter, and shall also include the illegal possession of fish, shellf-
40 ish, wildlife or crustacea with intent to sell. It shall be presumptive
41 evidence of possession with intent to sell when such fish, shellfish,
42 wildlife or crustacea is possessed in quantities exceeding the allowable
43 recreational quantities, or is possessed in a retail or wholesale outlet
44 commonly used for the buying or selling of such fish, shellfish, wild-
45 life or crustacea, provided, however, that nothing in this subdivision
46 shall preclude the admission of other evidence which may serve to inde-
47 pendently prove a defendant's intent to sell.
48 § 3. Subdivisions 1, 2 and 3 of section 71-0927 of the environmental
49 conservation law, subdivisions 1 and 2 as amended and subdivision 3 as
50 added by chapter 284 of the laws of 2004, are amended to read as
51 follows:
52 1. Anyone convicted of violating the prohibition against harvesting,
53 taking, possessing or transporting shellfish under facts and circum-
54 stances meeting the criteria for imposition of sanctions pursuant to
55 paragraph c of subdivision [3] 1 of section 71-0924; or anyone convicted
56 two or more times within five years of violating the prohibition against
S. 1949 3
1 harvesting, taking, possessing or transporting shellfish under facts and
2 circumstances meeting the criteria for imposition of sanctions pursuant
3 to paragraph b of subdivision [3] 1 of section 71-0924, or of violating
4 subdivision 1 or 2, paragraph e or f of subdivision 3, subdivision 6, 8,
5 9, 10, 11, or 13 of section 13-0309, section 13-0317, subdivision 2 of
6 section 13-0323, section 13-0325, [subdivision 3 or 5 of] section
7 13-0327, or section 13-0344 of this chapter shall have his license to
8 take and land shellfish revoked and shall not be relicensed for a mini-
9 mum of five years thereafter, in addition to any other sanction imposed
10 pursuant to this article.
11 2. Anyone convicted of unlawfully harvesting, taking, possessing or
12 transporting any marine fish, shellfish or crustacea under facts and
13 circumstances meeting the criteria for imposition of sanctions pursuant
14 to paragraph c of subdivision [3] 1 of section 71-0924; or anyone
15 convicted two or more times within five years of unlawfully harvesting,
16 taking, possessing or transporting any marine fish, shellfish or crusta-
17 cea under facts and circumstances meeting the criteria for imposition of
18 sanctions pursuant to paragraph b of subdivision [3] 1 of section
19 71-0924, or of violating subdivision 1, paragraph c of subdivision 2,
20 subdivision 5, 6, 7 or 9 of section 13-0329, or section 13-0344 of this
21 chapter shall have his license to take and land lobsters revoked and
22 shall not be relicensed for a minimum of five years thereafter, in addi-
23 tion to any other sanction imposed pursuant to this article.
24 3. Any person convicted of violating the prohibition against harvest-
25 ing, taking, possessing or transporting any marine food fish under facts
26 and circumstances meeting the criteria for imposition of sanctions
27 pursuant to paragraph c of subdivision [3] 1 of section 71-0924; or any
28 person convicted two or more times within five years of violating the
29 prohibition against harvesting, taking, possessing or transporting any
30 marine food fish under facts and circumstances meeting the criteria for
31 imposition of sanctions pursuant to paragraph b of subdivision [3] 1 of
32 section 71-0924, or of violating section 13-0344 of this chapter, shall
33 have his license to take and land marine food fish revoked and shall not
34 be licensed for a minimum of five years thereafter, in addition to any
35 other sanctions imposed pursuant to this article.
36 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately. Effective immediately,
37 the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation neces-
38 sary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are
39 authorized to be made and completed on or before such date.
