2015 -- S 0504

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LC001601

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2015

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A N   A C T

AN ACT RELATING TO FISH AND WILDLIFE -- HUNTING--LEAD SHOT PROHIBITION

     

     Introduced By: Senator Joshua Miller

     Date Introduced: February 26, 2015

     Referred To: Senate Judiciary

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

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     SECTION 1. 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. Lead shot prohibition. – (a) The general assembly hereby finds and declares

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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 (50) years of research have shown that the presence of lead in the environment

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

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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 the majority of paint, gasoline, children's

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toys, and many other items where consumers are exposed 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 animal and passed along

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

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

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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 those

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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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     (b) Except as provided in subsections (d) and (f) of this section, and as soon as can be

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practicably implemented by the director of the department of environmental management

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pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, nontoxic ammunition, as certified by the department,

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shall be required when taking all wildlife, including game mammals, game birds, nongame birds,

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and nongame mammals, with any firearm.

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     (1) The director shall maintain, by regulation, a public process to certify ammunition as

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nontoxic ammunition, and shall define, by regulation, nontoxic ammunition as including only

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ammunition in which there is no lead content, excluding the presence of trace elements of lead.

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The director shall 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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     (3) The director shall promulgate regulations phasing in the requirements of this section

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by July 1, 2016. The requirements of this section shall be fully implemented statewide by no later

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than July 1, 2020. If any of the requirements of this section can be implemented practicably, in

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whole or in part, in advance of July 1, 2020, the director shall implement those requirements. The

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director shall not reduce or eliminate any existing regulatory restrictions on the use of lead

 

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ammunition until the additional requirements for use of nontoxic ammunition as required by this

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section are implemented.

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     (4) 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 section "commercially

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available" means offered for sale in a given location, including, but not limited to, online or over-

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the-counter in a retail store.

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     (5) A person who is convicted of a violation of any provision of this section shall be

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guilty of a misdemeanor and fined five hundred dollars ($500). A second or subsequent offense

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shall be punishable by a fine of not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) nor more than five

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thousand dollars ($5,000).

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     (6) 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 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

AN ACT RELATING TO FISH AND WILDLIFE -- HUNTING--LEAD SHOT PROHIBITION

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     This act would create a general prohibition on the use of lead shot for hunting.

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     This act would take effect upon passage.

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