Lacey Act 2022

[Comatose]

as of this morning a stripped down version of the bill which focuses only on semiconductor subsidies was added to yet another bill, passed in the senate and is now headed back to the house. As far as I can tell it contains nothing related to the Lacey Act.

No clue why more isn’t being made if this by USARK so I may simply be misinterpreting.

Senate passes major chip funding bill

If the House approves the bill, chipmakers will get more than $50 billion in subsidies to ramp up U.S. production.

www.axios.com

 

[T Freak]

as of this morning a stripped down version of the bill which focuses only on semiconductor subsidies was added to yet another bill, passed in the senate and is now headed back to the house. As far as I can tell it contains nothing related to the Lacey Act.

No clue why more isn’t being made if this by USARK so I may simply be misinterpreting.

Senate passes major chip funding bill

If the House approves the bill, chipmakers will get more than $50 billion in subsidies to ramp up U.S. production.

www.axios.com

I’m not sure I understand what that has to do with reptiles and arachnids etc it appears to me it’s about automotive computer chips??

 

[Comatose]

The original Lacey amendment was part of a massive omnibus spending bill that ostensibly focused on semiconductor manufacture but contains hundreds of line items of other totally unrelated stuff; it was called the America COMPETES act. It was passed by the house but not the razor thin senate.

This version is much more focused, as far as I can tell doesn’t include Lacey, and will probably pass. If that’s the case this is ultimately a victory for us.

 

[l4nsky]

UPDATE 7/28/22: We have been posting relevant updates on our main alert here (scroll down). To be brief, the “CHIPS-Plus” bill that passed in the Senate passed the House on 7/28 (243-187 vote). This bill includes some of the technology initiatives included in the America COMPETES Act, USICA, and other bills. The portions of COMPETES that were not germane to the intent of the bill (including the bad Lacey Act amendments) were not added to the CHIPS-Plus package. This should be the end of any threat from these Lacey Act amendments for this Congressional session.

https://usark.org/2022lacey/

 

[darkness975]

This is the best news I have heard in a long time.

 

[LucN]

Good to hear that it was finally removed. IMO, it was nonsensical and unpractical. It would have put not only many exotic breeders in a tight spot, but also so many Mom & Pop pet shops that make most of their revenue with exotic animals. Glad that the crisis has been averted.

 

[Ungoliant]

I’m not sure I understand what that has to do with reptiles and arachnids etc it appears to me it’s about automotive computer chips??

Legislators routinely stuff bills with a bunch of pork and unrelated pet provisions that would not pass on their own. Obscurity by volume.

 

[Gail]

Just posting this update from the US ARK page, for posterity, so we all know where this is at right now (and hopefully this is where it is at and I'm not missing something somewhere lol).

UPDATE 7/28/22: We have been posting relevant updates on our main alert here (scroll down). To be brief, the “CHIPS-Plus” bill that passed in the Senate passed the House on 7/28 (243-187 vote). This bill includes some of the technology initiatives included in the America COMPETES Act, USICA, and other bills. The portions of COMPETES that were not germane to the intent of the bill (including the bad Lacey Act amendments) were not added to the CHIPS-Plus package. This should be the end of any threat from these Lacey Act amendments for this Congressional session.

 

[l4nsky]

Here we go again .....

https://usark.org/23lacey/

 

[darkness975]

Here we go again .....

https://usark.org/23lacey/

Oh great.

This guy must have a real bone to pick with pet keepers.

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

Can they just back off already!

 

[l4nsky]

Oh great.

This guy must have a real bone to pick with pet keepers.

Well, little bit of history here. The senator introducing the bill, Rubio, is a Florida senator, a state with an infamous giant constrictor problem. Keep this in mind, I promise it's important.

USFW added 9 species of giant constrictors (I believe) to the Lacey Act as 'injurious species' so they could limit their interstate trade in 2012 ish, which caused USARK to sue them. In 2017, USARK won and these big constrictors were allowed to be moved across state lines once again. USARK won on a technicality in the exact language used in the Lacey Act. The original Lacey Act stated between the continental US and it's territories, not between the states themselves. In the courts final ruling, it noted that the definition of an 'injurious species' needs to be shored up and simplified now too, because this now effectively stripped USFW's ability to stop ANY truly invasive species from being moved and sold across state lines in the continental US as well (like zebra mussels, Asian Carp, etc).

This Senator seems to be the only one with skin in the game so to say and it seems an unmaintainable 'whitelist' is the only approach he's willing to propose. I believe he also proposed this same bill a few years back, which the COMPETES act later adopted as a clause, but don't quote me on that.

 

[darkness975]

Well, little bit of history here. The senator introducing the bill, Rubio, is a Florida senator, a state with an infamous giant constrictor problem. Keep this in mind, I promise it's important.

USFW added 9 species of giant constrictors (I believe) to the Lacey Act as 'injurious species' so they could limit their interstate trade in 2012 ish, which caused USARK to sue them. In 2017, USARK won and these big constrictors were allowed to be moved across state lines once again. USARK won on a technicality in the exact language used in the Lacey Act. The original Lacey Act stated between the continental US and it's territories, not between the states themselves. In the courts final ruling, it noted that the definition of an 'injurious species' needs to be shored up and simplified now too, because this now effectively stripped USFW's ability to stop ANY truly invasive species from being moved and sold across state lines in the continental US as well (like zebra mussels, Asian Carp, etc).

This Senator seems to be the only one with skin in the game so to say and it seems an unmaintainable 'whitelist' is the only approach he's willing to propose. I believe he also proposed this same bill a few years back, which the COMPETES act later adopted as a clause, but don't quote me on that.

Well even if they killed every single pet in the state (like what happened recently with the boa constrictor thing) it won't change the existing python problem.

Also, they can't survive in most states even if they do escape their owners. I doubt they will find many pythons slithering through the forest of Montana.

Of course no one will attempt to introduce a bill that would affect cat, dog , or livestock owners. The three species that are far more invasive than any other except humans.

 

[Arthroverts]

Well, little bit of history here. The senator introducing the bill, Rubio, is a Florida senator, a state with an infamous giant constrictor problem. Keep this in mind, I promise it's important.

USFW added 9 species of giant constrictors (I believe) to the Lacey Act as 'injurious species' so they could limit their interstate trade in 2012 ish, which caused USARK to sue them. In 2017, USARK won and these big constrictors were allowed to be moved across state lines once again. USARK won on a technicality in the exact language used in the Lacey Act. The original Lacey Act stated between the continental US and it's territories, not between the states themselves. In the courts final ruling, it noted that the definition of an 'injurious species' needs to be shored up and simplified now too, because this now effectively stripped USFW's ability to stop ANY truly invasive species from being moved and sold across state lines in the continental US as well (like zebra mussels, Asian Carp, etc).

This Senator seems to be the only one with skin in the game so to say and it seems an unmaintainable 'whitelist' is the only approach he's willing to propose. I believe he also proposed this same bill a few years back, which the COMPETES act later adopted as a clause, but don't quote me on that.

Also the same senator who's state is dealing with another invasion of Achatina sp., which are one of the few inverts kept in the hobby that are actually ecologically devastating. He definitely has reason to propose this even if the bill itself is misguided.

Thanks,

Arthroverts