A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to amend the authority of the wildlife resources commission to enable protection of certain reptiles and amphibians requiring conservation measures.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 113‑333(a) is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:
"(6)	To adopt and implement rules to limit, regulate, or prohibit the taking, possession, collection, purchase or sale of those species of wild animals in the classes Amphibia and Reptilia that do not meet the criteria for listing pursuant to G.S. 113-334, but that are determined by the Commission to require conservation measures. However, the Commission shall not have the authority under this subdivision to prohibit the taking of any such species solely to protect persons or property, or to prohibit possession of four or less individual reptiles or 24 or less individual amphibians of those species in the aggregate by any person."
SECTION 2.  The commercial taking of all individuals within the species of turtles in the families Emydidae and Trionychidae, which are the large basking and sliding turtles, is prohibited until such time as the Wildlife Resources Commission adopts rules to regulate the taking of turtles within these two families of reptiles. For the purposes of this section, "commercial taking" is defined as the capture and possession in the aggregate of five or more individual turtles from the two families of reptiles listed herein.
SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective October 1, 2003.