2014 -- H 7838

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LC004664

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2014

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO FISH AND WILDLIFE - HUNTING AND HUNTING SAFETY - NONTOXIC

AMMUNITION

     

     Introduced By: Representatives Handy, Tanzi, Blazejewski, Finn, and Palangio

     Date Introduced: March 04, 2014

     Referred To: House Judiciary

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

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     SECTION 1. Legislative findings. The legislature hereby finds and declares as follows:

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     (1) Rhode Island's wildlife species represent the state's rich natural resources and

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environmental health and beauty.

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     (2) Rhode Island's wildlife species play an important role in the state's environmental

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health.

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     (3) Fifty years of research have shown that the presence of lead in the environment poses

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an ongoing threat to the health of the general public and the viability of the state's wildlife

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species, including federally listed threatened and endangered species.

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     (4) The United States Environmental Protection Agency defines lead as toxic to both

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humans and animals, and lead can affect almost every organ and system in the human body,

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including the heart, bones, intestines, kidneys, and reproductive and nervous systems. It interferes

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with the development of the nervous system and is therefore particularly toxic to children,

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causing potentially permanent learning and behavior disorders.

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     (5) Lead is a potent neurotoxin, for which no safe exposure level exists for humans. The

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use of lead has been outlawed in and removed from paint, gasoline, children's toys, and many

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other items to protect human health and wildlife.

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     (6) Routes of human and wildlife exposure to lead include contaminated air, water, soil,

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and food. Lead ammunition in felled wildlife is often consumed by other animals and passed

 

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along the food chain. Dairy and beef cattle have developed lead poisoning after feeding in areas

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where spent lead ammunition has accumulated. Spent lead ammunition can also be mingled into

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crops, vegetation, and waterways.

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     (7) Efforts to limit wildlife exposure to lead ammunition have been successful. The

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United States Fish and Wildlife Service banned the use of lead shot for waterfowl hunting

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decades ago, and both hunting and waterfowl have thrived since. However, because these

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restrictions only apply in certain areas or to the hunting of particular species, many species of

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wildlife remain threatened by the use of lead ammunition and more protections are needed. These

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successes have shown us how to extend protection from lead poisoning to other wildlife.

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      (8) A variety of nontoxic ammunition is readily available. Studies have shown that

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nontoxic ammunition performs as well as, or better than, lead-based ammunition.

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     (9) Given the deleterious impacts of lead ammunition, a requirement for use of nontoxic

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ammunition should be implemented as soon as practicable in Rhode Island. If the requirement for

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use of nontoxic ammunition can be incrementally implemented sooner than a nonlead

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requirement can be fully implemented, such incremental protections should be implemented by

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the department of environmental management on a rolling basis as practicable.

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     SECTION 2. Chapter 20-13 of the General Laws entitled "Hunting and Hunting Safety"

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is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section:

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     20-13-18. Nontoxic ammunition required. -- (a) Except as provided in subsections (e)

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and (g) of this section, and as soon as can be practicably implemented by the department of

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environmental management pursuant to subsection (d) of this section, nontoxic ammunition, as

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certified by the department, shall be required when taking all wildlife, including game mammals,

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game birds, nongame birds, and nongame mammals, with any firearm.

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     (b) (1) The department of environmental management shall maintain, by regulation, a

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public process to certify ammunition as nontoxic ammunition, and shall define, by regulation,

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nontoxic ammunition as including only ammunition in which there is no lead content, excluding

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the presence of trace elements of lead. The department of environmental management shall

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establish and annually update a list of certified ammunition.

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     (2) The list of certified ammunition shall include, but not be limited to, any federally

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approved nontoxic shotgun ammunition.

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     (c) (1) To the extent that funding is available, the department of environmental

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management shall establish a process that will provide hunters with nontoxic ammunition at no or

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reduced charge. The process shall provide that the offer for nontoxic ammunition at no or reduced

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charge may be redeemed through a coupon sent to a permit holder with the appropriate permit

 

LC004664 - Page 2 of 4

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tag. If available funding is not sufficient to provide nontoxic ammunition at no charge, the

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department of environmental management shall set the value of the reduced charge coupon at the

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maximum value possible through available funding, up to the average cost within this state for

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nontoxic ammunition, as determined by the department of environmental management.

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     (2) The nontoxic ammunition coupon program described in subdivision (1) of this

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subsection shall be implemented only to the extent that there is sufficient funding within the

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department.

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     (d) The department of environmental management shall promulgate regulations phasing

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in the requirements of this section by July l, 2015. The requirements of this section shall be fully

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implemented statewide by no later than July l, 2017. If any of the requirements of this section can

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be implemented practicably, in whole or in part, in advance of July l, 2017, the department of

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environmental management shall implement those requirements. The department of

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environmental management shall not reduce or eliminate any existing regulatory restrictions on

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the use of lead ammunition until the additional requirements for use of nontoxic ammunition as

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required by this section are implemented.

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     (e) In the event that no nontoxic ammunition is commercially available for a specific and

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lawful hunting purpose due to the operation of the federal prohibitions relating to armor piercing

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ammunition in Chapter 44 of Title 18 of the United States Code, the requirement for use of

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nontoxic ammunition shall be suspended for that specific hunting purpose until such time as any

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nontoxic ammunition becomes commercially available, at which point the suspension of the

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nontoxic requirement shall automatically expire. For the purposes of this paragraph,

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"commercially available" means offered for sale in the consumer marketplace.

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     (f) A person who violates any provision of this section shall be fined five hundred dollars

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($500). A second or subsequent offense shall be punishable by a fine of not less than one

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thousand dollars ($1,000) or more than five thousand dollars ($5,000).

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     (g) This section does not apply to government officials or their agents when carrying out

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a statutory duty required by law,

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     SECTION 3. If any provision of this act, or the application thereof to any person or

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circumstances, is held invalid or unconstitutional, that invalidity or unconstitutionality shall not

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affect other provisions or applications of this act that can be given effect without the invalid or

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unconstitutional provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this act are severable.

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     SECTION 4. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO FISH AND WILDLIFE - HUNTING AND HUNTING SAFETY - NONTOXIC

AMMUNITION

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     This act would require the use of nontoxic ammunition for hunting purposes whenever

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such ammunition is available.

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     This act would take effect upon passage with an implementation date of July 1, 2017.

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