A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to clarify the authorities of the department of agriculture and consumer services and the wildlife resources commission with respect to the regulation of cervids.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 113‑129(1b) reads as rewritten:
"(1b)	Big Game. – Bear, wild boar, wild turkey, and white-tailed deer."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 113‑129 is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:
"(1f)	Cervid or Cervidae. – All animals in the Family Cervidae (elk and deer)."
SECTION 3.  G.S. 113‑129 is amended by adding two new subdivisions to read:
"(5a)	Deer. – White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), except when otherwise specified in this Chapter.
(5b)	Farmed Cervid. – Any member of the Cervidae family, other than white-tailed deer, elk, mule deer, or black-tailed deer, that is bought and sold for commercial purposes." 
SECTION 4.  G.S. 113‑129(7c) reads as rewritten:
"(7c)	Game Animals. – Bear, fox, rabbit, squirrel, wild boar,  white‑tailed deer,  and, except when trapped in accordance with provisions relating to fur-bearing animals, bobcat, opossum, and raccoon. "
SECTION 5.  Article 21 of Chapter 113 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 113-272.6.  Transportation of cervids and licensing of captive cervid facilities.
(a)	The Wildlife Resources Commission shall regulate the transportation, including importation and exportation, and possession of cervids, including game carcasses and parts of game carcasses extracted by hunters. The Commission shall adopt rules to implement this section, including requirements for captivity licenses, captivity permits, and transportation permits. The rules adopted pursuant to this section shall establish standards of care for the transportation and possession of cervids, including requirements for fencing, tagging, record keeping, and inspection of captive cervid facilities. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Commission may charge a fee of up to fifty dollars ($50.00) for the processing of applications for captivity licenses, captivity permits, and transportation permits, and the renewal or modification of those licenses and permits. The fees collected shall be applied to the costs of administering this section.
(b)	The Wildlife Resources Commission shall notify every applicant for a transportation permit that any permit issued is subject to the applicant's compliance with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services' requirements for transportation pursuant to Article 34 of Chapter 106 of the General Statutes.
(c)	The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services shall regulate the production and sale of farmed cervids for commercial purposes pursuant to G.S. 106‑549.97.
(d)	Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission shall issue captivity licenses, captivity permits, or transportation permits to any person possessing cervids that were held in captivity by that person prior to May 17, 2002, if the Executive Director finds that the applicant has come into compliance with all applicable rules related to the holding of cervids in captivity by January 1, 2004, and that issuance of such license or permit does not pose unreasonable risk to the conservation of wildlife resources.
(e)	Any captivity license, captivity permit, or cervids held contrary to the provisions of this section may be subject to forfeiture and disposition in accordance with the provisions of G.S. 113-137 or G.S. 113-276.2."
SECTION 6.  G.S. 113‑276.2(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	This section applies to the administrative control of:
(1)	Persons, other than individual hunters and fishermen taking wildlife as sportsmen, holding permits under this Article;
(2)	Individuals holding special device licenses under G.S. 113‑272.2(c)(1), (1a), (2), and (2a);
(3)	Individuals holding collection licenses under G.S. 113‑272.4;
(4)	Individuals holding captivity licenses under  G.S. 113‑272.5 and G.S. 113-272.6; and
(5)	Persons holding dealer licenses under G.S. 113‑273."
SECTION 7.  G.S. 113‑291.2(c) reads as rewritten:
"(c)	An individual who has lawfully taken game within applicable bag, possession, and season limits may, except as limited by rules adopted pursuant to subsection (c1) of this section, after the game is dead, possess and personally transport it for his own use by virtue of his hunting license, and without any additional permit, subject to tagging and reporting requirements that may apply to the fox and big game, as follows:
(1)	In an area in which the season is open for the species, the game may be possessed and transported without restriction.
(2)	The individual may possess and transport the game lawfully taken on a trip:
a.	To his residence;
b.	To a preservation or processing facility that keeps adequate records as prescribed in G.S. 113‑291.3(b)(3) or a licensed taxidermist;
c.	From a place authorized in subparagraph b to his residence.
(3)	The individual may possess the game indefinitely at his residence, and may there accumulate lawfully‑acquired game up to the greater of:
a.	The applicable possession limit for each species; or
b.	One half of the applicable season limit for each species.
The above subdivisions apply to an individual hunter under 16 years of age covered by the license issued to his parent or guardian, if he is using that license, or by the license of an adult accompanying him. An individual who has lawfully taken game as a landholder without a license may possess and transport the dead game, taken within applicable bag, possession, and season limits, to his residence. He may indefinitely retain possession of such game, within aggregate possession limits for the species in question, in his residence."
SECTION 8.  G.S. 113‑291.2 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"(c1)	In the event that the Executive Director finds that game carcasses or parts of game carcasses are known or suspected to carry an infectious or contagious disease that poses an imminent threat to the health or habitat of wildlife species, the Wildlife Resources Commission shall adopt rules to regulate the importation, transportation, or possession of those carcasses or parts of carcasses that, according to wildlife disease experts, may transmit such a disease."
SECTION 9.  G.S. 113‑292(d) reads as rewritten:
"(d)	The Wildlife Resources Commission is authorized to authorize, license, regulate, prohibit, prescribe, or restrict anywhere in the State the acquisition, importation, possession, transportation, disposition, or release into public or private waters or the environment of  zoological or botanical species or specimens that may threaten the introduction of epizootic disease or may create a danger to or an imbalance in the environment inimical to the conservation of wildlife resources. This subsection is not intended to give the Wildlife Resources Commission the authority to supplant, enact any conflicting rules, or otherwise take any action inconsistent with that of any other State agency acting within its jurisdiction."
SECTION 10.  G.S. 113‑294 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"(o)	Any person who willfully imports or possesses black-tailed or mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus and all subspecies) in this State for any purpose is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor."
SECTION 11.  G.S. 106‑549.97 reads as rewritten:
"§ 106‑549.97.  Regulation  by Department of Agriculture and Consumer  Services of certain cervids produced and sold for commercial purposes; certain authority of North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission not affected; definitions.
(a)	The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services shall regulate the production and sale of  farmed cervids. The Board of Agriculture shall adopt rules for the production and sale of  farmed cervids in such a manner as to provide for close supervision of any person, firm, or corporation producing and selling  farmed cervids and shall notify any such person, firm, or corporation that the activity is subject to compliance with Wildlife Resources Commission rules pursuant to G.S. 113‑272.6.
(b)	The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission shall regulate the possession and transportation, including importation and exportation, of cervids pursuant to G.S. 113-272.6.(c)	The following definitions apply in this Article:
		
(3)	Cervid or Cervidae. – All animals in the Family Cervidae (elk and deer).
(4)	Farmed Cervid. – Any member of the Cervidae family, other than white-tailed deer, elk, mule deer, or black-tailed deer, that is bought and sold for commercial purposes. 
(5)	White-tailed deer. – A member of the species Odocoileus virginianus."
SECTION 12.  Section 10 of this act becomes effective October 1, 2003, and applies to acts committed on or after that date. The remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law.