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S04804 Summary:

S04804 Actions:

S04804 Committee Votes:

S04804 Floor Votes:

S04804 Text:

 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                         4804--A
 
                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                    IN SENATE
 
                                    February 15, 2023
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  Sen. PALUMBO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Environmental Conservation
          -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered  reprinted  as  amended
          and recommitted to said committee
 
        AN  ACT  to  amend  the environmental conservation law, in relation to a
          Long Island deer management  pilot  program;  and  providing  for  the
          repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof
 
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section 1. The environmental conservation law is amended by  adding  a
     2  new section 11-0522 to read as follows:
     3  § 11-0522. Long Island deer management pilot program.
     4    1.  For  the  purposes  of  this section, "certified nuisance wildlife
     5  specialist" shall mean an employee of or a contractor for the federal or
     6  state government responsible for wildlife management and acting pursuant
     7  to a deer management plan, who has been certified by the  department  as
     8  complying  with  the  criteria  established  by the department that at a
     9  minimum require:
    10    a. a minimum level of marksmanship certification  appropriate  to  the
    11  firearm  or  hunting  implement  to  be  used, including ongoing certif-
    12  ication;
    13    b. liability insurance coverage levels or other financial arrangements
    14  approved by the department; and
    15    c. reporting requirements.
    16    2. The department may, after reviewing the town  of  Southold's  site-
    17  specific  deer  management plan, and upon a finding by the town of Sout-
    18  hold that deer have become a nuisance, destructive to public or  private
    19  property  or  a  threat  to  public health or welfare, issue a certified
    20  nuisance wildlife specialist a deer cull permit for use within the boun-
    21  daries of the town of Southold.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD07252-05-3
        S. 4804--A                          2
 
     1    3. Each cull permit application shall at a  minimum  include  require-
     2  ments  for:  the timeframe during which the permit must be used, a site-
     3  specific deer management plan, a geographic description of the area  for
     4  which the permit is being requested, a written contract with the town of
     5  Southold,  requests for any authorization pursuant to subdivisions three
     6  and nine of section 11-0505 of this title, subdivision  two  of  section
     7  11-0901  of  this  article,  and  subdivisions  two  and four of section
     8  11-0931 of this article, provided that  any  such  authorization  subse-
     9  quently  granted  shall  be  explicitly included on any cull permit, and
    10  details regarding expected local law enforcement participation.
    11    4. Nothing in this section shall be construed as requiring or obligat-
    12  ing the department to issue a permit to take deer when  in  its  opinion
    13  the  nuisance,  destruction  of  property or threat to public health and
    14  welfare will not be effectively abated thereby.
    15    § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 11-0505 of the  environmental  conserva-
    16  tion  law, as amended by chapter 135 of the laws of 1982, is amended and
    17  a new subdivision 9 is added to read as follows:
    18    3. No deer or bear traps shall be made, set or used upon land inhabit-
    19  ed by deer or bear. No salt lick shall be made, set or  used  upon  land
    20  inhabited by deer or bear, except that:
    21    a.  the  department  may  do so on state wildlife refuges and wildlife
    22  management areas; and
    23    b. a certified nuisance  wildlife  specialist  with  a  permit  issued
    24  pursuant  to  section 11-0522 of this title may do so provided that such
    25  activities are in furtherance of the site-specific deer management plan.
    26    9. A certified nuisance  wildlife  specialist  with  a  permit  issued
    27  pursuant  to  section  11-0522 of this title may, in accordance with the
    28  parameters of such permit and the participation of  local  law  enforce-
    29  ment,  entice deer in the manner prohibited in subdivision eight of this
    30  section provided that such activities are in furtherance  of  the  site-
    31  specific deer management plan.
    32    §  3.  Subdivision 2 of section 11-0901 of the environmental conserva-
    33  tion law is amended to read as follows:
    34    2. Wildlife shall not be taken on or from any public highway, except:
    35    a. that in the forest preserve counties it may be taken from  highways
    36  other than state, county or town highways; and
    37    b.  by  a  certified nuisance wildlife specialist with a permit issued
    38  pursuant to section 11-0522 of this article provided  that  such  activ-
    39  ities are in furtherance of the site-specific deer management plan.
    40    §  4. Subdivision 2 and subparagraph 1 of paragraph b of subdivision 4
    41  of section 11-0931 of the environmental conservation law, as amended  by
    42  section  8  of part EE of chapter 55 of the laws of 2014, are amended to
    43  read as follows:
    44    2. a. No crossbow or firearm except a  pistol  or  revolver  shall  be
    45  carried or possessed in or on a motor vehicle unless it is uncocked, for
    46  a  crossbow or unloaded, for a firearm in both the chamber and the maga-
    47  zine, except that a loaded firearm which may be legally used for  taking
    48  migratory  game  birds  may be carried or possessed in a motorboat while
    49  being legally used in hunting migratory game birds,  and  b.  no  person
    50  except  a  law  enforcement  officer  in the performance of his official
    51  duties or a certified nuisance wildlife specialist with a permit  issued
    52  pursuant  to  section 11-0522 of this article, provided that such activ-
    53  ities are in furtherance of  the  site-specific  deer  management  plan,
    54  shall,  while  in  or  on a motor vehicle, use a jacklight, spotlight or
    55  other artificial light upon lands inhabited by deer if he or she  is  in
    56  possession  or  is  accompanied by a person who is in possession, at the
        S. 4804--A                          3
 
     1  time of such use, of a longbow, crossbow or a firearm of any kind except
     2  a pistol or revolver, unless such longbow or  crossbow  is  unstrung  or
     3  such firearm or crossbow is taken down or securely fastened in a case or
     4  locked  in  the  trunk of the vehicle. For purposes of this subdivision,
     5  motor vehicle shall mean every vehicle or other device operated  by  any
     6  power other than muscle power, and which shall include but not be limit-
     7  ed  to  automobiles,  trucks, motorcycles, tractors, trailers and motor-
     8  boats, snowmobiles and snowtravelers, whether operated on or off  public
     9  highways.  Notwithstanding  the  provisions  of  this  subdivision,  the
    10  department may issue a permit  to  any  person  who  is  non-ambulatory,
    11  except  with the use of a mechanized aid, to possess a loaded firearm in
    12  or on a motor vehicle as  defined  in  this  section,  subject  to  such
    13  restrictions  as  the  department  may deem necessary in the interest of
    14  public safety. Nothing in this  section  permits  the  possession  of  a
    15  pistol or a revolver contrary to the penal law.
    16    (1) The owner or lessee of the dwelling house, or members of his imme-
    17  diate  family  actually  residing therein, or a person in his employ, or
    18  the guest of the owner or lessee of the dwelling house acting  with  the
    19  consent  of  said owner or lessee, provided however, that nothing herein
    20  shall be deemed to authorize such persons to discharge a firearm  within
    21  five hundred feet, a long bow within one hundred fifty feet, or a cross-
    22  bow within two hundred fifty feet of any other dwelling house, or a farm
    23  building or farm structure actually occupied or used, or a school build-
    24  ing  or  playground,  public  structure,  or occupied factory or church;
    25  provided further, that a wildlife specialist with a permit issued pursu-
    26  ant to section 11-0522 of this article  acting  in  furtherance  of  the
    27  site-specific  deer  management plan may discharge a firearm within five
    28  hundred feet of any dwelling houses, structures, schools or playgrounds,
    29  provided that the owners or lessees thereof have been notified by certi-
    30  fied mail of the date and time of the expected activity, and discharge a
    31  firearm within two hundred fifty feet of such  dwelling  houses,  struc-
    32  tures,  schools  or  playgrounds provided that all the owners or lessees
    33  thereof have provided written consent;
    34    § 5. The department of environmental conservation, following consulta-
    35  tion with the town of Southold shall  prepare  a  report  examining  the
    36  effectiveness  of  the  Long Island deer management pilot program estab-
    37  lished pursuant to section 11-0522 of the environmental conservation law
    38  in addressing deer overpopulation and the  effectiveness  in  addressing
    39  destruction  to  public  or  private property in the town of Southold as
    40  well as the impacts on surrounding communities. The report shall include
    41  estimates regarding the size of the deer population in the town of Sout-
    42  hold prior to the issuance of deer  cull  permits  pursuant  to  section
    43  11-0522  of  the  environmental  conservation  law,  the  number of cull
    44  permits issued, and the number of deer  taken.  The  report  shall  also
    45  include  recommendations  for program improvements, including the poten-
    46  tial effectiveness of authorizing future programs. The report  shall  be
    47  delivered to the governor, the speaker of the assembly and the temporary
    48  president of the senate, as well as published on the department's public
    49  website,  no  later  than thirty months after the effective date of this
    50  act.
    51    § 6. This act shall take effect on the first of January next  succeed-
    52  ing the date on which it shall have become a law and shall expire and be
    53  deemed repealed three years after such date.