SB79 - Revises provisions relating to wildlife. (BDR 45-314)

REQUIRES TWO-THIRDS MAJORITY VOTE (§§ 8, 10, 12) S.B. 79 - *SB79* SENATE BILL NO. 79–COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES (ON BEHALF OF THE DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE) PREFILED NOVEMBER 20, 2024 ____________ Referred to Committee on Natural Resources SUMMARY—Revises provisions relating to wildlife. (BDR 45-314) FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: No. Effect on the State: Yes. ~ EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted. AN ACT relating to wildlife; revising requirements relating to licenses or permits for a child who is under 12 years of age; revising provisions relating to the deferral of the use of a tag to hunt a big game mammal under certain extenuating circumstances; revising provisions relating to the issuance of duplicate licenses; revising provisions relating to replacement tags for certain infected animals; requiring the Board of Wildlife Commissioners to prescribe by regulation fees for certain licenses, permits and tags; authorizing the Commission to adjust such fees for inflation; revising the types of tags for which the Commission must prescribe fees by regulation; and providing other matters properly relating thereto. Legislative Counsel’s Digest: With certain exceptions, existing law requires a person to obtain a license or 1 permit to hunt or fish any wildlife. Under existing law, a child who is a resident of 2 this State and under 12 years of age, with certain exceptions, is not required to 3 obtain such a license or permit. Under existing law, a child who is not a resident of 4 this State and is under 12 years of age: (1) is required to obtain a license to hunt but 5 not a license to fish; and (2) may not take a number of fish that exceeds 50 percent 6 of the daily creel and possession limits. (NRS 502.010) Section 2 of this bill: (1) 7 eliminates that prohibition; and (2) provides that such a child who is not a resident 8 of this State, with certain exceptions, is also not required to obtain a license to hunt. 9 Existing law authorizes the Board of Wildlife Commissioners to adopt 10 regulations establishing a program through which a person who holds a tag to hunt 11 a big game mammal in this State and has proven that he or she qualifies for an 12 – 2 – - *SB79* extenuating circumstance may transfer, defer use of or return to the Department of 13 Wildlife his or her tag to hunt a big game mammal in this State. (NRS 502.103) 14 Section 4 of this bill provides that a tag may be deferred under such circumstances 15 only if there will be an open season for the tag that is identical to the current season 16 in the following year. 17 Existing law requires the Commission to adopt regulations providing for the 18 issuance of a duplicate license to replace an unexpired license that has been lost, 19 stolen or destroyed. (NRS 502.110) Section 5 of this bill also requires the 20 Commission to adopt regulations providing for the issuance of a duplicate license 21 to replace an unexpired license that has been surrendered. 22 Existing law requires a person who possesses a tag to hunt a big game mammal 23 and kills an animal that is believed to be diseased and unfit for human consumption 24 to follow certain procedures, including a requirement to provide the whole carcass 25 of the big game mammal for inspection by certain persons. With certain exceptions, 26 if the carcass is determined to be diseased and unfit for human consumption, 27 existing law entitles the holder of the tag who provides the carcass to receive a 28 replacement tag at no charge. (NRS 502.215) Section 9 of this bill provides that, 29 under such circumstances, a person who provides for inspection the carcass of a 30 deer which is infected with chronic wasting disease is not entitled to a replacement 31 tag. 32 With certain exceptions, existing law sets forth fees for certain licenses, permits 33 and tags issued by the Department. (NRS 502.148, 502.240, 502.250) Sections 8, 34 10 and 12 of this bill remove the amounts for such fees and sections 10 and 12 35 instead require the Commission to prescribe by regulation initial reasonable fees for 36 such licenses, permits and tags, which must be equal to the fees as the fees existed 37 before the effective date of this bill. Sections 10 and 12 authorize the Commission, 38 after prescribing such initial fees, to increase or decrease a fee adding the current 39 fee to the product obtained by multiplying the current fee by the percentage 40 increase or decrease in the Consumer Price Index between the calendar year in 41 which the fee was established or most recently adjusted, whichever is later, and the 42 calendar year immediately preceding the year for which the adjustment is made. In 43 making such adjustments, sections 10 and 12: (1) prohibit the Commission from 44 increasing or decreasing a fee by an amount that is less than 90 percent or more 45 than 125 percent of the current fee added to the amount calculated by performing 46 the inflationary adjustment; and (2) authorize the fee to be rounded to the nearest 47 whole dollar amount. Section 24 of this bill provides that the existing fees remain 48 in effect until the Commission has established such fees by regulation. Sections 3, 49 6, 7, 11 and 13-23 of this bill make conforming changes to reflect the removal of 50 the amounts of such fees from existing law. Section 1 of this bill makes a 51 conforming change to refer to provisions that have been renumbered in section 12. 52 Section 12 also revises the types of tags for which the Commission must prescribe 53 fees by regulation. 54 Existing law requires the Department to issue a resident and nonresident 1-day 55 permit to fish and a resident and nonresident 1-day combination permit to fish and 56 hunt upland game birds and migratory game birds and add consecutive days on 57 such 1-day permits upon the payment of a fee for the 1-day permit and the payment 58 of a fee for each consecutive day added to the permit. (NRS 502.240) Existing law 59 also authorizes the Commission to establish the term of a permit. (NRS 502.030) 60 Section 10 instead requires the Department to issue a resident and nonresident 61 limited permits to fish and nonresident limited combination permits which consist 62 of 1 or more consecutive calendar days in accordance with the term of the permit 63 prescribed by the Commission. 64 – 3 – - *SB79* THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. NRS 501.356 is hereby amended to read as follows: 1 501.356 1. Money received by the Department from: 2 (a) The sale of licenses; 3 (b) Fees described in NRS 278.337; 4 (c) Fees pursuant to the provisions of NRS 488.075 and 5 488.1795; 6 (d) Remittances from the State Treasurer pursuant to the 7 provisions of NRS 365.535; 8 (e) Appropriations made by the Legislature; and 9 (f) All other sources, including, without limitation, the Federal 10 Government, except money derived from the forfeiture of any 11 property described in NRS 501.3857 or money deposited in the 12 Wildlife Heritage Account pursuant to NRS 501.3575, the Wildlife 13 Trust Fund pursuant to NRS 501.3585, the Energy Planning and 14 Conservation Account created by NRS 701.630 or the Account for 15 the Recovery of Costs created by NRS 701.640, 16  must be deposited with the State Treasurer for credit to the 17 Wildlife Account in the State General Fund. 18 2. The interest and income earned on the money in the Wildlife 19 Account, after deducting any applicable charges, must be credited to 20 the Account. 21 3. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 4 and NRS 22 503.597, the Department may use money in the Wildlife Account 23 only to carry out the provisions of this title and chapter 488 of NRS 24 and as provided in NRS 365.535, and the money must not be 25 diverted to any other use. 26 4. Except as otherwise provided in NRS 502.250, 502.410 and 27 504.155, all fees for the sale or issuance of stamps, tags, permits and 28 licenses that are required to be deposited in the Wildlife Account 29 pursuant to the provisions of this title and any matching money 30 received by the Department from any source must be accounted for 31 separately and must be used: 32 (a) Only for the protection, propagation and management of 33 wildlife; and 34 (b) If the fee is for the sale or issuance of a license, permit or tag 35 other than a tag specified in subsection [5] 3 or [6] 4 of NRS 36 502.250, under the guidance of the Commission pursuant to 37 subsection 2 of NRS 501.181. 38 Sec. 2. NRS 502.010 is hereby amended to read as follows: 39 502.010 1. A person who hunts or fishes any wildlife without 40 having first procured a license or permit to do so, as provided in this 41 title, is guilty of a misdemeanor, except that: 42 – 4 – - *SB79* (a) A license to hunt or fish is not required of a [resident of this 1 State] child who is under 12 years of age, unless required for the 2 issuance of tags as prescribed in this title or by the regulations of the 3 Commission. 4 (b) [A license to fish is not required of a nonresident of this 5 State who is under 12 years of age, but the number of fish taken by 6 the nonresident must not exceed 50 percent of the daily creel and 7 possession limits as provided by law. 8 (c)] Except as otherwise provided in subsection 6 or 7 of NRS 9 202.300 and NRS 502.066, it is unlawful for any child who is under 10 18 years of age to hunt any wildlife with any firearm, unless the 11 child is accompanied at all times by the child’s parent or guardian or 12 is accompanied at all times by an adult person authorized by the 13 child’s parent or guardian to have control or custody of the child to 14 hunt if the authorized person is also licensed to hunt. 15 [(d)] (c) A child who is under 12 years of age, whether 16 accompanied by a qualified person or not, shall not hunt big game in 17 the State of Nevada unless he or she participates in a program 18 established pursuant to NRS 502.104. This section does not prohibit 19 any child from accompanying an adult licensed to hunt. 20 [(e)] (d) The Commission may adopt regulations setting forth: 21 (1) The species of wildlife which may be hunted or trapped 22 without a license or permit; or 23 (2) The circumstances under which a person may fish 24 without a license, permit or stamp in a lake or pond that is located 25 entirely on private property and is stocked with lawfully acquired 26 fish. 27 [(f)] (e) The Commission may declare 1 day per year as a day 28 upon which persons may fish without a license to do so. 29 2. This section does not apply to the protection of persons or 30 property from unprotected wildlife on or in the immediate vicinity 31 of home or ranch premises. 32 Sec. 3. NRS 502.072 is hereby amended to read as follows: 33 502.072 The Department shall issue any license authorized 34 under the provisions of this chapter, upon payment of the applicable 35 fee prescribed by regulation and collected pursuant to NRS 36 502.240 and satisfactory proof, subject to the provisions of NRS 37 417.0187, of the requisite facts to any bona fide resident of the State 38 of Nevada who has incurred a service-connected disability which is 39 considered to be 50 percent or more by the Department of Veterans 40 Affairs and has received upon severance from service an honorable 41 discharge or certificate of satisfactory service from the Armed 42 Forces of the United States. 43 – 5 – - *SB79* Sec. 4. NRS 502.103 is hereby amended to read as follows: 1 502.103 1. The Commission may adopt regulations 2 establishing: 3 (a) Conditions or events which are extenuating circumstances; 4 (b) A process through which a big game hunter who claims an 5 extenuating circumstance may provide documentation to the 6 Department which shows that his or her condition or event qualifies 7 as an extenuating circumstance; 8 (c) A program through which a big game hunter who has proven 9 that he or she qualifies for an extenuating circumstance pursuant to 10 paragraph (b) may: 11 (1) Transfer his or her tag to another person who is otherwise 12 eligible to hunt a big game mammal in this State; 13 (2) [Defer] If there will be an open season for the big game 14 mammal for which the tag was issued in the following year that is 15 identical to the current season, defer his or her use of the tag to the 16 next [applicable] open season; or 17 (3) Return his or her tag to the Department for restoration by 18 the Department of any bonus points that he or she used to obtain the 19 tag that is being returned; and 20 (d) A process through which a family member of a deceased big 21 game hunter may provide documentation to the Department of the 22 death of the big game hunter and transfer the tag of the deceased big 23 game hunter to another person who is otherwise eligible to hunt a 24 big game mammal in this State. 25 2. If a big game hunter transfers his or her tag to another 26 person pursuant to subparagraph (1) of paragraph (c) of subsection 27 1, the big game hunter may not charge a fee or receive any 28 compensation for such a transfer. 29 3. As used in this section: 30 (a) “Big game hunter” means a person who holds a tag. 31 (b) “Extenuating circumstance” means any injury, illness or 32 other condition or event, as determined by the Commission, of a big 33 game hunter or a family member of a big game hunter that causes 34 the big game hunter to be unable to use his or her tag. The term 35 includes, without limitation, the death of the big game hunter. 36 (c) “Family member” means: 37 (1) A spouse of the big game hunter; 38 (2) A person who is related to the big game hunter within the 39 first degree of consanguinity; or 40 (3) A stepchild of the big game hunter. 41 (d) “Tag” means a tag to hunt a big game mammal in this State. 42 – 6 – - *SB79* Sec. 5. NRS 502.110 is hereby amended to read as follows: 1 502.110 1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 2, 2 [no] not more than one license of each class may be issued to any 3 one person during each licensing period. 4 2. The Commission shall adopt regulations providing for the 5 issuance of a duplicate license to replace an unexpired license that 6 has been lost, stolen , surrendered or destroyed. The regulations 7 must specify [Text truncated for display. Full text available on LegiScan.]