Wildlife Conservation and Anti-Trafficking Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 864 To support wildlife conservation, improve anti-trafficking enforcement, provide dedicated funding at no expense to taxpayers, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 30, 2019 Mr. GARAMENDI (for himself and Mr. YOUNG) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addi- tion to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi- sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To support wildlife conservation, improve anti-trafficking en- forcement, provide dedicated funding at no expense to taxpayers, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Wildlife Conservation and Anti-Trafficking Act of 2019’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6 this Act is the following: 7 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H864.IH H864 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 864 IH Sec. 3. Definitions. TITLE I—WILDLIFE TRAFFICKING WHISTLEBLOWERS Sec. 101. Definition of Secretary concerned. Sec. 102. Plan of action. Sec. 103. Awards to whistleblowers. TITLE II—WILDLIFE CONSERVATION Sec. 201. International Wildlife Conservation Program. Sec. 202. Amendments to Great Ape Conservation Act of 2000. Sec. 203. Amendments to Marine Turtle Conservation Act of 2004. Sec. 204. Funding for marine mammal conservation. Sec. 205. Funding for shark conservation. Sec. 206. Uses of transferred funds for wildlife conservation. TITLE III—ANTI-TRAFFICKING AND POACHING Sec. 301. United States Fish and Wildlife Service officers abroad. Sec. 302. Wildlife trafficking violations as predicate offenses under Travel Act and racketeering statute. Sec. 303. Funds from wildlife trafficking violations of money laundering stat- ute. Sec. 304. Technical and conforming amendments. TITLE IV—ILLEGAL, UNREPORTED, AND UNREGULATED FISHING Sec. 401. Funding for illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing enforcement. Sec. 402. Illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing as predicate offenses under money laundering statute. Sec. 403. Funds from illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing violations of money laundering statute. Sec. 404. Uses of transferred funds for illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing enforcement. SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 1 The purposes of this Act are— 2 (1) to direct Federal agencies to develop a plan 3 of action to implement authorities under existing law 4 to reward whistleblowers who furnish information 5 that leads to an arrest, criminal conviction, civil pen- 6 alty assessment, or forfeiture of property for any 7 wildlife trafficking violation; 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H864.IH H864 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 864 IH (2) to provide a standardized process for deter- 1 mining and adjudicating awards to whistleblowers 2 under authorities under existing law; 3 (3) to authorize the International Wildlife Con- 4 servation Program to be administered by the United 5 States Fish and Wildlife Service; 6 (4) to amend the Great Ape Conservation Act 7 of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.)— 8 (A) to authorize the awarding of multiyear 9 grants from the Great Ape Conservation Fund; 10 and 11 (B) to provide dedicated funding under 12 that Act at no cost to taxpayers; 13 (5) to amend the Marine Turtle Conservation 14 Act of 2004 (16 U.S.C. 6601 et seq.)— 15 (A) to make United States territories eligi- 16 ble for Federal funding and assistance; 17 (B) to support the conservation of fresh- 18 water turtles and tortoises; and 19 (C) to provide dedicated funding at no cost 20 to taxpayers under that Act; 21 (6) to direct any fines, penalties, and forfeitures 22 of property from violations of the Marine Mammal 23 Protection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) to 24 support marine mammal conservation; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H864.IH H864 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 864 IH (7) to direct any fines, penalties, and forfeitures 1 of property from shark finning or fishery violations 2 under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 3 and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) to 4 support shark conservation; 5 (8) to provide dedicated funding for inter- 6 national wildlife conservation at no cost to tax- 7 payers; 8 (9) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to 9 station United States Fish and Wildlife Service offi- 10 cials in high-intensity wildlife trafficking areas 11 abroad; 12 (10) to make wildlife trafficking a predicate of- 13 fense under section 1952 of title 18, United States 14 Code (commonly known as the Travel Act), and the 15 racketeering prohibitions of chapter 96 of title 18, 16 United States Code (commonly known as the Rack- 17 eteer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act); 18 (11) to direct any civil penalties, fines, forfeit- 19 ures, and restitution from wildlife trafficking viola- 20 tions under section 1952 of title 18, United States 21 Code (commonly known as the Travel Act), and the 22 racketeering prohibitions of chapter 96 of title 18, 23 United States Code (commonly known as the Rack- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H864.IH H864 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 864 IH eteer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act), to 1 support wildlife conservation; 2 (12) to direct any civil penalties, fines, forfeit- 3 ures, and restitution from wildlife trafficking viola- 4 tions of money laundering statutes (including section 5 1956 of title 18, United States Code) to support 6 wildlife conservation; 7 (13) to make violations for illegal, unreported, 8 and unregulated fishing under the Magnuson-Ste- 9 vens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 10 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) a predicate offense under sec- 11 tion 1956 of title 18, United States Code; 12 (14) to direct any civil penalties, fines, forfeit- 13 ures, and restitution for illegal, unreported, and un- 14 regulated fishing violations of money laundering 15 statutes (including section 1956 of title 18, United 16 States Code) to support fisheries enforcement, in- 17 cluding to carry out amendments made by the Ille- 18 gal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing Enforce- 19 ment Act of 2015 (Public Law 114–81; 129 Stat. 20 649); and 21 (15) to provide dedicated funding for improved 22 enforcement against illegal, unreported, and unregu- 23 lated fishing at no cost to taxpayers. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H864.IH H864 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 864 IH SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act: 2 (1) CITES.—The term ‘‘CITES’’ means the 3 Convention on International Trade in Endangered 4 Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (27 UST 1087; 5 TIAS 8249). 6 (2) FOCUS COUNTRY; WILDLIFE TRAF- 7 FICKING.—The terms ‘‘focus country’’ and ‘‘wildlife 8 trafficking’’ have the meanings given those terms in 9 section 2 of the Eliminate, Neutralize, and Disrupt 10 Wildlife Trafficking Act of 2016 (16 U.S.C. 7601). 11 (3) SHARK.—The term ‘‘shark’’ means any spe- 12 cies of the orders Hexanchiformes, Pristiophori- 13 formes, Squaliformes, Squatiniformes, Heterodonti- 14 formes, Orectolobiformes, Lamniformes, and Car- 15 chariniformes. 16 (4) SPECIES; TAKE; WILDLIFE.—Each of the 17 terms ‘‘species’’, ‘‘take’’, and ‘‘wildlife’’ has the 18 meaning given that term in section 3 of the Endan- 19 gered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1532). 20 TITLE I—WILDLIFE TRAFFICK- 21 ING WHISTLEBLOWERS 22 SEC. 101. DEFINITION OF SECRETARY CONCERNED. 23 In this title, the term ‘‘Secretary concerned’’ means, 24 as applicable— 25 (1) the Attorney General; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H864.IH H864 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 864 IH (2) the Secretary of the Interior; 1 (3) the Secretary of Commerce; 2 (4) the Secretary of State; and 3 (5) the Secretary of the Treasury. 4 SEC. 102. PLAN OF ACTION. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—In coordination with other Fed- 6 eral agencies as appropriate, not later than 1 year after 7 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretaries con- 8 cerned shall develop a plan of action to fully carry out 9 existing authorities for rewards to whistleblowers of viola- 10 tions of anti-wildlife-trafficking laws. 11 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The plan of action under sub- 12 section (a) shall— 13 (1) include a strategy to raise public awareness 14 in the United States and abroad for reward opportu- 15 nities for whistleblowers provided under— 16 (A) section 6(d) of the Lacey Act Amend- 17 ments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3375(d)); 18 (B) section 11(d) of the Endangered Spe- 19 cies Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1540(d)); 20 (C) section 106(c) of the Marine Mammal 21 Protection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1376(c)); 22 (D) section 3 of the Fish and Wildlife Im- 23 provement Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 742l); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H864.IH H864 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 864 IH (E) section 7(f) of the Rhinoceros and 1 Tiger Conservation Act of 1994 (16 U.S.C. 2 5305a(f)); and 3 (F) other applicable anti-wildlife-traf- 4 ficking laws; 5 (2) delineate short-term and long-term goals for 6 increasing anti-wildlife-trafficking enforcement, in- 7 cluding recruitment of whistleblowers, as appro- 8 priate; 9 (3) describe specific actions to be taken to 10 achieve the goals under paragraph (2) and the 11 means necessary to do so, including— 12 (A) formal partnerships with nongovern- 13 mental organizations; and 14 (B) the establishment of Whistleblower Of- 15 fices— 16 (i) to coordinate the receipt of whistle- 17 blower disclosures; 18 (ii) to ensure referrals to the appro- 19 priate law enforcement offices; and 20 (iii) to communicate with whistle- 21 blowers regarding the status of the respec- 22 tive cases referred by the whistleblowers 23 and potential rewards; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H864.IH H864 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 864 IH (4) be published in the Federal Register for 1 public comment for a period of not less than 60 2 days; and 3 (5) not later than 90 days after the end of the 4 period described in paragraph (4), be finalized and 5 made readily available on a public Federal Govern- 6 ment internet website. 7 (c) UPDATES TO PLAN OF ACTION.—In coordination 8 with other Federal agencies as appropriate, not less fre- 9 quently than once every 5 years, the Secretaries concerned 10 shall review the plan of action under this section and, as 11 necessary, revise the plan of action following public notice 12 and comment. 13 SEC. 103. AWARDS TO WHISTLEBLOWERS. 14 (a) AWARD.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs (2) 16 and (3), if a Secretary concerned proceeds with any 17 administrative or judicial action under any of the 18 laws described in section 102(b)(1) based on infor- 19 mation brought to the attention of the Secretary 20 concerned by a person qualified to receive an award 21 under this section, the Secretary concerned shall pay 22 that person an award. 23 (2) AWARD AMOUNT.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H864.IH H864 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 864 IH (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara- 1 graph (B), the Secretary concerned shall deter- 2 mine the amount of the award under paragraph 3 (1) based on the extent to which the person 4 substantially contributed to the action. 5 (B) REQUIREMENT.—The award under 6 paragraph (1) shall be not less than 15 percent, 7 and not more than 50 percent, of the amounts 8 received by the United States as penalties, in- 9 terest, fines, forfeitures, community service pay- 10 ments, restitution payments, and additional 11 amounts in the action (including any related 12 civil or criminal actions) or any under settle- 13 ment or plea agreement in response to that ac- 14 tion. 15 (C) TIMELINE.—The amount of the award 16 under paragraph (1) shall be— 17 (i) determined not later than 90 days 18 after the date of the applicable plea agree- 19 ment, judgment, or settlement in that ac- 20 tion; and 21 (ii) paid from the amounts so received 22 by the United States. 23 (3) APPLICATION.—A Secretary concerned may 24 make an award under this subsection only in a case 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H864.IH H864 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 864 IH in which the total sanction from all penalties, fines, 1 community service payments, restitution, interest, 2 forfeitures, or civil or criminal recoveries (including 3 in related actions) exceeds $100,000. 4 (b) REDUCTION IN OR DENIAL OF AWARD.— 5 (1) REDUCTION OF AWARD.—If the applicable 6 Secretary concerned determines that the claim for 7 an award under subsection (a) is brought by a per- 8 son who planned and initiated the actions that led 9 to the violation, the Secretary concerned may appro- 10 priately reduce the amount of the award. 11 (2) DENIAL OF AWARD.—If the person de- 12 scribed in paragraph (1) is convicted of criminal 13 conduct arising from the role described in that para- 14 graph, the applicable Secretary concerned shall deny 15 any award under this subsection. 16 (c) APPEAL OF AWARD DETERMINATION.—Any de- 17 termination with respect to an award under subsection (a) 18 may be appealed to the appropriate court of appeals of 19 the United States pursuant to section 706 of title 5, 20 United States Code, not later than 30 days after the date 21 of the determination. 22 (d) SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION.—The Secretaries 23 concerned shall permit the submission of confidential and 24 anonymous reports under this subsection consistent with 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H864.IH H864 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 864 IH the procedures set forth in subsections (d)(2) and (h) of 1 section 21F of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 2 U.S.C. 78u–6). 3 (e) LIMITATION ON APPLICATION.—This section 4 shall apply only with respect to amounts received by the 5 United States de [Text truncated for display. 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