Bill Text: NY A10525 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Relates to establishing an urban deer management pilot program; authorizes the department of environmental conservation, after a review of the site-specific deer management plan, and upon a finding that deer have become a nuisance, destructive to public or private property or a threat to public health or welfare, to issue a certified nuisance wildlife specialist a deer cull permit; defines terms.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-06-01 - referred to ways and means [A10525 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-A10525-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 10525 IN ASSEMBLY June 1, 2022 ___________ Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Hunter) -- read once and referred to the Committee on Ways and Means AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to an urban deer management pilot program; and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The environmental conservation law is amended by adding a 2 new section 11-0522 to read as follows: 3 § 11-0522. Urban deer management pilot program. 4 1. For the purposes of this section, "certified nuisance wildlife 5 specialist" shall mean an employee of or a contractor for the federal or 6 state government responsible for wildlife management and acting pursuant 7 to a deer management plan, who has been certified by the department as 8 complying with the criteria established by the department that at a 9 minimum require: 10 a. a minimum level of marksmanship certification appropriate to the 11 firearm or hunting implement to be used, including ongoing certif- 12 ication; 13 b. liability insurance coverage levels or other financial arrangements 14 approved by the department; and 15 c. reporting requirements. 16 2. The department may, after reviewing the city of Syracuse's site- 17 specific deer management plan, and upon a finding by the city of Syra- 18 cuse that deer have become a nuisance, destructive to public or private 19 property or a threat to public health or welfare, issue a certified 20 nuisance wildlife specialist a deer cull permit for use within the boun- 21 daries of the city Syracuse. 22 3. Each cull permit application shall at a minimum include require- 23 ments for: the timeframe during which the permit must be used, a site- 24 specific deer management plan, a geographic description of the area for 25 which the permit is being requested, a written contract with the city of 26 Syracuse, requests for any authorization pursuant to subdivisions three 27 and nine of section 11-0505 of this title, subdivision two of section EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD15678-04-2A. 10525 2 1 11-0901 of this article, and subdivisions two and four of section 2 11-0931 of this article, provided that any such authorization subse- 3 quently granted shall be explicitly included on any cull permit, and 4 details regarding expected local law enforcement participation. 5 4. Nothing in this section shall be construed as requiring or obligat- 6 ing the department to issue a permit to take deer when in its opinion 7 the nuisance, destruction of property or threat to public health and 8 welfare will not be effectively abated thereby. 9 § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 11-0505 of the environmental conserva- 10 tion law, as amended by chapter 135 of the laws of 1982, is amended and 11 a new subdivision 9 is added to read as follows: 12 3. No deer or bear traps shall be made, set or used upon land inhabit- 13 ed by deer or bear. No salt lick shall be made, set or used upon land 14 inhabited by deer or bear, except that: 15 a. the department may do so on state wildlife refuges and wildlife 16 management areas; and 17 b. a certified nuisance wildlife specialist with a permit issued 18 pursuant to section 11-0522 of this title may do so provided that such 19 activities are in furtherance of the site-specific deer management plan. 20 9. A certified nuisance wildlife specialist with a permit issued 21 pursuant to section 11-0522 of this title may, in accordance with the 22 parameters of such permit and the participation of local law enforce- 23 ment, entice deer in the manner prohibited in subdivision eight of this 24 section provided that such activities are in furtherance of the site- 25 specific deer management plan. 26 § 3. Subdivision 2 of section 11-0901 of the environmental conserva- 27 tion law is amended to read as follows: 28 2. Wildlife shall not be taken on or from any public highway, except: 29 a. that in the forest preserve counties it may be taken from highways 30 other than state, county or town highways; and 31 b. by a certified nuisance wildlife specialist with a permit issued 32 pursuant to section 11-0522 of this article provided that such activ- 33 ities are in furtherance of the site-specific deer management plan. 34 § 4. Subdivision 2 and subparagraph 1 of paragraph b of subdivision 4 35 of section 11-0931 of the environmental conservation law, as amended by 36 section 8 of part EE of chapter 55 of the laws of 2014, are amended to 37 read as follows: 38 2. a. No crossbow or firearm except a pistol or revolver shall be 39 carried or possessed in or on a motor vehicle unless it is uncocked, for 40 a crossbow or unloaded, for a firearm in both the chamber and the maga- 41 zine, except that a loaded firearm which may be legally used for taking 42 migratory game birds may be carried or possessed in a motorboat while 43 being legally used in hunting migratory game birds, and b. no person 44 except a law enforcement officer in the performance of his official 45 duties or a certified nuisance wildlife specialist with a permit issued 46 pursuant to section 11-0522 of this article, provided that such activ- 47 ities are in furtherance of the site-specific deer management plan, 48 shall, while in or on a motor vehicle, use a jacklight, spotlight or 49 other artificial light upon lands inhabited by deer if he or she is in 50 possession or is accompanied by a person who is in possession, at the 51 time of such use, of a longbow, crossbow or a firearm of any kind except 52 a pistol or revolver, unless such longbow or crossbow is unstrung or 53 such firearm or crossbow is taken down or securely fastened in a case or 54 locked in the trunk of the vehicle. For purposes of this subdivision, 55 motor vehicle shall mean every vehicle or other device operated by any 56 power other than muscle power, and which shall include but not be limit-A. 10525 3 1 ed to automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, tractors, trailers and motor- 2 boats, snowmobiles and snowtravelers, whether operated on or off public 3 highways. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subdivision, the 4 department may issue a permit to any person who is non-ambulatory, 5 except with the use of a mechanized aid, to possess a loaded firearm in 6 or on a motor vehicle as defined in this section, subject to such 7 restrictions as the department may deem necessary in the interest of 8 public safety. Nothing in this section permits the possession of a 9 pistol or a revolver contrary to the penal law. 10 (1) The owner or lessee of the dwelling house, or members of his imme- 11 diate family actually residing therein, or a person in his employ, or 12 the guest of the owner or lessee of the dwelling house acting with the 13 consent of said owner or lessee, provided however, that nothing herein 14 shall be deemed to authorize such persons to discharge a firearm within 15 five hundred feet, a long bow within one hundred fifty feet, or a cross- 16 bow within two hundred fifty feet of any other dwelling house, or a farm 17 building or farm structure actually occupied or used, or a school build- 18 ing or playground, public structure, or occupied factory or church; 19 provided further, that a wildlife specialist with a permit issued pursu- 20 ant to section 11-0522 of this article acting in furtherance of the site 21 specific deer management plan may discharge a firearm within five 22 hundred feet of any dwelling houses, structures, schools or playgrounds, 23 provided that the owners or lessees thereof have been notified by certi- 24 fied mail of the date and time of the expected activity, and discharge a 25 firearm within two hundred fifty feet of such dwelling houses, struc- 26 tures, schools or playgrounds provided that all the owners or lessees 27 thereof have provided written consent; 28 § 5. The department of environmental conservation, following consulta- 29 tion with the city of Syracuse shall prepare a report examining the 30 effectiveness of the urban deer management pilot program established 31 pursuant to section 11-0522 of the environmental conservation law in 32 addressing deer overpopulation and the effectiveness in addressing 33 destruction to public or private property in the city of Syracuse as 34 well as the impacts on surrounding communities. The report shall include 35 estimates regarding the size of the deer population in the city of Syra- 36 cuse prior to the issuance of deer cull permits pursuant to section 37 11-0522 of the environmental conservation law, the number of cull 38 permits issued, and the number of deer taken. The report shall also 39 include recommendations for program improvements, including the poten- 40 tial effectiveness of authorizing future programs. The report shall be 41 delivered to the governor, the speaker of the assembly and the temporary 42 president of the senate, as well as published on the department's public 43 website, no later than thirty months after the effective date of this 44 act. 45 § 6. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed- 46 ing the date on which it shall have become a law and shall expire and be 47 deemed repealed three years after such date.
