Sec. 190403. Trade of injurious species and species that pose a risk to human health

430 words·~2 min read·/bill/116/hr/6800/pcs/section-190403

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Section 42 of title 18, United States Code, is amended— in subsection (a)— in paragraph (1)— by inserting or any interstate transport between States within the continental United States, after shipment between the continental United States, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any possession of the United States, ; and by striking to be injurious to human beings, to the interests of agriculture and inserting to be injurious to or to transmit a pathogen that can cause disease in humans, to be injurious to the interests of agriculture ; and by adding at the end the following:

In the case of an emergency posing a significant risk to the health of humans, the Secretary of the Interior may designate a species by interim final rule. At the time of publication of the regulation in the Federal Register, the Secretary shall publish therein detailed reasons why such regulation is necessary, and in the case that such regulation applies to a native species, the Secretary shall give actual notice of such regulation to the State agency in each State in which such species is believed to occur.

Any regulation promulgated under the authority of this paragraph shall cease to have force and effect at the close of the 365-day period following the date of publication unless, during such 365-day period, the rulemaking procedures which would apply to such regulation without regard to this paragraph are complied with. If at any time after issuing an emergency regulation the Secretary determines, on the basis of the best appropriate data available to the Secretary, that substantial evidence does not exist to warrant such regulation, the Secretary shall withdraw it.

Not more than 90 days after receiving a petition of an interested person under section 553(e) of title 5, United States Code, to determine that a species is injurious under this section, the Secretary of the Interior shall determine whether such petition has scientific merit. If the Secretary determines a petition has scientific merit, such Secretary shall make a determination regarding such petition not more than 12 months after the date such Secretary received such petition. ; and by amending subsection

(b)to read as follows: Any person who knowingly imports, ships, or transports any species in violation of subsection

(a)of this section and who reasonably should have known that the species at issue in such violation is a species listed in subsection

(a)of this section, or in any regulation issued pursuant thereto, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both. .