A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to impose a duty to avoid wanton waste on persons taking wildlife under a depredation permit.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 113‑274 reads as rewritten:
"§ 113‑274.  Permits.
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(c)	The Wildlife Resources Commission may issue the following permits:
(1)	Repealed by Session Laws 1979, c. 830, s. 1.
(1a)	Depredation Permit. – Authorizes the taking, destruction, transfer, removal, transplanting, or driving away of undesirable, harmful, predatory, excess, or surplus wildlife or wildlife resources. Livestock or poultry owners shall be issued a depredation permit for coyotes upon request. The permit must state the manner of taking and the disposition of wildlife or wildlife resources authorized or required and the time for which the permit is valid, plus other restrictions that may be administratively imposed in accordance with rules of the Wildlife Resources Commission. No depredation permit or any license is needed for the owner or lessee of property to take wildlife while committing depredations upon the property. Any owner or lessee who takes wildlife while committing depredations upon the property will be required to notify the Wildlife Resources Commission within 24 hours utilizing an electronic mail or Internet‑based reporting process. The Wildlife Resources Commission may regulate the manner of taking and the disposition of wildlife taken without permit or license, including wildlife killed accidentally by motor vehicle or in any other manner, and shall impose a duty to avoid wanton waste on wildlife taken by an owner or lessee of land on their property. For purposes of this subdivision, "wanton waste" shall mean to kill or cripple a big game animal without making a reasonable effort to retrieve the animal and properly dispose of it.
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SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective October 1, 2017. Notwithstanding G.S. 150B‑21.1, the Commission may issue temporary rules to implement the provisions of this act.