NY State Senate Bill 2013-S7040

Senate Bill S7040

2013-2014 Legislative Session

Relates to a ban on the sale, purchase, trade, barter, and distribution of certain ivory articles

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Environmental Conservation Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Apr 21, 2014	referred to environmental conservation

co-Sponsors

2013-S7040 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Environmental Conservation
Law Section:: Environmental Conservation Law
Laws Affected:: Add §11-0535-a, amd §§71-0924 & 71-0925, En Con L

2013-S7040 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to a ban on the sale, purchase, trade, barter, and distribution of certain ivory articles.

2013-S7040 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                BILL NUMBER:S7040

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in
relation to prohibiting the purchase and sale of ivory articles and to
increase the penalties for the illegal commercialization of fish,
shellfish, crustacea and wildlife, including ivory articles

PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To close New York State as a market for ivory sales to help prevent
elephant extinction and to reduce funding sources for terrorists.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

This bill would:

* prohibit the sale, offer for sale, purchase, trade, barter, or
distribution other than to a legal beneficiary of an ivory article;

* authorize the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to
adopt rules and regulations, following a public hearing, to include
any other animal parts containing ivory in the prohibitions provided
that such parts are from animals classified as endangered or
threatened;

* define "ivory article" to include worked or raw ivory from any

species of elephant or mammoth or any ivory-containing animal
designated by DEC;

* increase the penalties for the illegal commercialization of fish,
shellfish, crustaceans, wildlife, or parts thereof;

* increase the penalties for violations of the endangered species
provisions and for the illegal sale of ivory; and,

* require DEC to prepare a report, no later than January 1, 2020,
outlining enforcement activities and recommendations regarding any
necessary changes, including but not limited to the extension or
repeal of the ivory prohibitions.

JUSTIFICATION:

The Wildlife Conservation Society estimates that 96 elephants are
killed each day in Africa, translating into one elephant death every
fifteen minutes and a 76 percent population decline since 2002. A
September report issued by The United Nations Office on Drugs and
Crime estimates that as many as 60 percent of dead elephants in Africa
were killed illegally, generating 154 metric tons of
illegally-harvested ivory valued at more than $30 million dollars.
The report also indicates that ivory poaching in recent years reflects
the increased involvement of organized crime. As evidence, the report
refers to the professional poaching gang that killed more than 200
elephants in Cameroon. In addition, Al Shabaab, a group which has been
linked to Al Qaeda, and has been designated by the United States as a
foreign terrorist organization and has been implicated in the recent
attacks on a shopping mall in Kenya, is also mentioned in the report
as being involved in ivory poaching.


The elephants are killed primarily for their ivory tusks which are
used predominantly in carved art and jewelry. Ivory sales are
regulated by a complex web of international, federal and state laws
and treaties. In New York, ivory sales are regulated pursuant to
Environmental Conservation Law § 11-0535 which is based in part on the
inclusion of elephants on the federal endangered species list in the
1970's. Despite the existing legal protections, New York has become
one of the leading destinations in the United States for illegal
ivory. In 2012, the New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation, in conjunction with the United States Fish and Wildlife
Service, seized more than $2 million worth of elephant ivory in New
York City.

This legislation is in response to testimony provided at art Assembly
Environmental Conservation hearing held in January to examine New
York's ivory laws and regulations. At the hearing, representatives
from the nations of Tanzania and Botswana expressed support for an
ivory sales ban, citing their efforts to decrease poaching in the face
of increased demand for ivory. Ambassador and Permanent Representative
of the United Republic of Tanzania to the United Nations testified
"Efforts such as those being expended by this Committee and the State
Assembly are important and necessary in our global effort to save the
African elephant population from extinction. The scale of the problem
is such that the President of the United Republic of Tanzania, H.E.
Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, in September 2013, at the United Nations, here
in. the city, called for the international community to close down
ivory markets."

The Ambassador also cited the link between terrorism and illegal ivory
sales, citing the murder of park rangers and also saying "Wildlife
trafficking is increasingly associated with rebel and terrorist groups
such as the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and Al Shabaab, an Al Qaeda
terrorist cell in East Africa." He went on to add that President
Kikwete "regrettably noted that elephants have become the latest
conflict resource."

Law enforcement officers, including representatives from the United
States Fish and Wildlife Service testified about the difficulties, and
in some cases, the impossibility, associated with determining the age
and origin of ivory products. This testimony made clear that an
imposition of a specific year or antique provision would be virtually
impossible to impose with accuracy. In addition, DEC law enforcement
officials testified about the flaws in the existing penalty provisions
regarding illegal ivory sales, expressing the need for stricter
penalties. As a result, this bill includes significantly stronger
penalties aimed at addressing large scale ivory sales.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:


This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, any person
who has been issued a license or permit allowing the sale of elephant
ivory articles prior to the effective date of this act may sell such
articles listed on such license or permit until such license or permit
has expired.

2013-S7040 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  7040

                            I N  S E N A T E

                             April 21, 2014
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen.  AVELLA -- 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  purchase  and sale of ivory articles and to increase
  the penalties for the illegal commercialization  of  fish,  shellfish,
  crustacea and wildlife, including ivory articles

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. The environmental conservation law is amended by  adding  a
new section 11-0535-a to read as follows:
S 11-0535-A. ILLEGAL IVORY ARTICLES.
  1.  NOTWITHSTANDING  THE  PROVISIONS  OF  SUBDIVISION  TWO  OF SECTION
11-0535 OF THIS TITLE, WHICH AUTHORIZES THE DEPARTMENT TO ISSUE  CERTAIN
LICENSES  OR  PERMITS,  NO  PERSON SHALL SELL, OFFER FOR SALE, PURCHASE,
TRADE, BARTER, OR DISTRIBUTE OTHER THAN TO A LEGAL BENEFICIARY, AN IVORY
ARTICLE.
  A. "IVORY ARTICLE" MEANS ANY ITEM CONTAINING:
  (I) WORKED OR RAW IVORY FROM ANY SPECIES OF ELEPHANT OR MAMMOTH; OR
  (II) ANY ANIMAL PART CONTAINING IVORY  INCLUDED  BY  THE  COMMISSIONER
PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION TWO OF THIS SECTION.
  B.  "WORKED  IVORY"  MEANS ANY ELEPHANT OR MAMMOTH TUSK, AND ANY PIECE
THEREOF, WHICH IS NOT RAW IVORY.
  C. "RAW IVORY" MEANS ANY ELEPHANT  OR  MAMMOTH  TUSK,  AND  ANY  PIECE
THEREOF,  THE SURFACE OF WHICH, POLISHED, OR UNPOLISHED, IS UNALTERED OR
MINIMALLY CARVED.
  2. THE COMMISSIONER MAY ADOPT  RULES  AND  REGULATIONS  EXPANDING  THE
DEFINITION OF "IVORY ARTICLE" TO INCLUDE ANY OTHER ANIMAL PARTS CONTAIN-
ING IVORY PROVIDED THAT SUCH PARTS ARE FROM ANIMALS CLASSIFIED AS ENDAN-
GERED OR THREATENED AND PROVIDED THAT THE COMMISSIONER HAS HELD AT LEAST
ONE PUBLIC HEARING PRIOR TO THE ADOPTION OF SUCH RULES AND REGULATIONS.
  S  2.  Section 71-0924 of the environmental conservation law, as added
by chapter 69 of the laws of 1988, subdivision 4 as amended  by  chapter
417 of the laws of 1996, is amended to read as follows:

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD14095-01-4

S. 7040                             2

S  71-0924.  Illegal  commercialization of fish, shellfish, crustaceans,
             and wildlife.
  Notwithstanding  any other provision of this chapter, when a violation
involves the sale, trade or  barter  of  fish,  shellfish,  crustaceans,
wildlife,  or  parts  thereof,  the  sale,  trade  or barter of which is
prohibited by the fish and wildlife law, the following additional penal-
ties shall be imposed:
  1. where the value of fish, shellfish, crustaceans, wildlife, or parts
thereof, is two hundred fifty dollars or less, the offense  shall  be  a
violation  punishable  by a fine of five hundred dollars and/or not more
than fifteen days of imprisonment;
  2. where the value of fish, shellfish, crustaceans, wildlife, or parts
thereof, is  more than two hundred fifty dollars but does not exceed one
thousand five hundred  dollars,  the  offense  shall  be  a  misdemeanor
punishable  by  a fine of five thousand dollars and/or not more than one
year of imprisonment; [and]
  3. where the value of fish, shellfish, crustaceans, wildlife, or parts
thereof, exceeds one thousand five hundred dollars,  the  offense  shall
constitute a class E felony under the provisions of the penal law[.];
  4. WHERE THE VALUE OF FISH, SHELLFISH, CRUSTACEANS, WILDLIFE, OR PARTS
THEREOF, EXCEEDS TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS, THE OFFENSE SHALL CONSTI-
TUTE A CLASS D FELONY UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF THE PENAL LAW;
  5. WHERE THE VALUE OF FISH, SHELLFISH, CRUSTACEANS, WILDLIFE, OR PARTS
THEREOF,  EXCEEDS  TWO HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS, THE OFFENSE SHALL
CONSTITUTE A CLASS C FELONY UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF THE PENAL LAW.
  For the purposes of this section the value of fish, shellfish, crusta-
ceans and wildlife shall be the fair market value  of  or  actual  price
paid  for  such  resource,  whichever is greater.   For purposes of this
section, "sale" shall include the acts of selling, trading or  bartering
and  all  related  acts,  such as the act of offering for sale, trade or
barter, and shall also include the illegal possession of  fish,  shellf-
ish,  wildlife or crustacea with intent to sell. It shall be presumptive
evidence of possession with intent to sell when  such  fish,  shellfish,
wildlife or crustacea is possessed in quantities exceeding the allowable
recreational quantities, or is possessed in a retail or wholesale outlet
commonly  used  for the buying or selling of such fish, shellfish, wild-
life or crustacea, provided, however, that nothing in  this  subdivision
shall  preclude the admission of other evidence which may serve to inde-
pendently prove a defendant's intent to sell.
  S 3. Subdivision 13 of section 71-0925 of the environmental  conserva-
tion  law, as amended by chapter 706 of the laws of 2005, is amended and
a new subdivision 16 is added to read as follows:
  13. If the violation was an  act  prohibited  by  subdivision  two  of
section  11-0535, 11-0535-A or by section 11-0536 of this chapter, or by
any lawful rule or regulation of  the  department  promulgated  pursuant
thereto,  not  more than two thousand dollars, and an additional penalty
of not more than three hundred fifty dollars for each  fish,  shellfish,
crustacea,  wildlife  or  part thereof involved in the violation. If the
violation was an act prohibited by  any  regulation  of  the  department
promulgated  pursuant  to  subdivision  three of section 11-0535 of this
chapter, then such penalty shall be not more than one thousand  dollars,
and  an additional penalty of not more than two hundred dollars for each
fish, shellfish, crustacea, wildlife or part  thereof  involved  in  the
violation.
  16.  IF  THE VIOLATION WAS A SECOND OR SUBSEQUENT VIOLATION OF SECTION
11-0535, 11-0535-A OR 11-0536 OF THIS CHAPTER, THE GREATER OF (A) A FINE

S. 7040                             3

OF FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS PER ARTICLE  FOR  EACH  VIOLATION,  OR  (B)  AN
AMOUNT EQUAL TO THREE TIMES THE VALUE OF THE ARTICLE INVOLVED.
  S  4. Within 30 days of the effective date of this act, the department
shall maintain on its website information regarding the  prohibition  on
the sale and purchase of ivory articles in the state.
  S 5. Severability. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, section or part
of  this act shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to
be invalid and after exhaustion of  all  further  judicial  review,  the
judgment  shall  not affect, impair or invalidate the remainder thereof,
but shall be confined in its operation to the  clause,  sentence,  para-
graph,  section or part of this act directly involved in the controversy
in which the judgment shall have been rendered.
  S 6. No later than January 1, 2020, the  department  shall  prepare  a
report  outlining  enforcement  activities and recommendations regarding
any necessary changes, including but not limited  to  the  extension  or
repeal of this act.
  S  7.  This  act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, any
person who has been issued a license or  permit  allowing  the  sale  of
elephant ivory articles prior to the effective date of this act may sell
such  articles  listed  on  such license or permit until such license or
permit has expired.

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Senate Bill S7040

Share this bill

Sponsored By

Tony Avella

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Environmental Conservation Committee

co-Sponsors

David Carlucci

Adriano Espaillat

Brad Hoylman-Sigal

George Latimer

2013-S7040 (ACTIVE) - Details

2013-S7040 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2013-S7040 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2013-S7040 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments