SB0201 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB101 04841 SLF 49850 b

101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
SB0201

Introduced 1/30/2019, by Sen. Iris Y. Martinez

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

520 ILCS 5/2.5b new

Amends the Wildlife Code. Provides that nontoxic ammunition, as certified by the Department of Natural Resources, shall be required when taking all wildlife, including game mammals, game birds, non-game birds, and non-game mammals with any firearm. Provides that the Department shall adopt by rule a public process to certify ammunition as nontoxic ammunition and shall define, by rule, nontoxic ammunition to include only ammunition in which there is no lead content, excluding the presence of trace elements of lead. Provides that to the extent that funding is available, the Department shall establish a process that provides hunters with nontoxic ammunition at no or reduced charge. Grants rulemaking authority to the Department. Provides for penalties. Makes other changes.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning wildlife.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Wildlife Code is amended by adding Section 2.5b as follows:

(520 ILCS 5/2.5b new)

Sec. 2.5b. Nontoxic ammunition.

(a) Except as provided in subsections (e) and (g), and as soon as can be practicably implemented by the Department of Natural Resources under subsection (d), nontoxic ammunition, as certified by the Department, shall be required when taking all wildlife, including game mammals, game birds, non-game birds, and non-game mammals with any firearm.

(b) The Department shall adopt by rule a public process to certify ammunition as nontoxic ammunition and shall define, by rule, nontoxic ammunition to include only ammunition in which there is no lead content, excluding the presence of trace elements of lead. The Department shall establish and annually update a list of certified ammunition. The list of certified ammunition shall include, but not be limited to, any federally approved nontoxic shotgun ammunition.

(c) To the extent that funding is available, the Department shall establish a process that provides hunters with nontoxic ammunition at no or reduced charge. The process shall provide that the offer for nontoxic ammunition at no or reduced charge may be redeemed through a coupon sent to a permit holder with the appropriate permit tag. If available funding is not sufficient to provide nontoxic ammunition at no charge, the Department shall set the value of the reduced charge coupon at the maximum value possible through available funding, up to the average cost within this State for nontoxic ammunition, as determined by the Department. The nontoxic ammunition coupon program described in this subsection (c) shall be implemented to the extent that there is sufficient funding within the Department.

(d) The Department shall adopt rules phasing in the requirements of this Section by July 1, 2020. The requirements of this Section shall be fully implemented statewide by no later than January 1, 2021. If any of the requirements of this Section can be implemented practicably, in whole or in part, in advance of January 1, 2021, the Department of Natural Resources shall implement those requirements. The Department of Natural Resources shall not reduce or eliminate any existing restrictions on the use of lead ammunition until the additional requirements for use of nontoxic ammunition as required are implemented.

(e) If nontoxic ammunition is not commercially available for a specific and lawful hunting purpose due to the operation of the federal prohibitions relating to armor piercing ammunition in 18 U.S.C. 44, the requirement for use of nontoxic ammunition shall be suspended for that specific hunting purpose until the time as any nontoxic ammunition becomes commercially available, at which point the suspension of the nontoxic requirement shall automatically expire. In this paragraph, "commercially available" means offered for sale in the consumer marketplace.

(f) A person who violates any provision of this Section is guilty of a petty offense and shall be fined $500. A second or subsequent offense is a petty offense punishable by a fine of not less than $1,000 or more than $5,000.

(g) This Section does not apply to government officials or their agents when carrying out a statutory duty required by law.