Florida Senate - 2018                                     SB 168
       
       
        
       By Senator Steube
       
       
       
       
       
       23-00005-18                                            2018168__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to nonnative animals; creating s.
    3         379.2311, F.S.; defining the terms “pet dealer” and
    4         “priority invasive species”; providing legislative
    5         findings; requiring the Fish and Wildlife Conservation
    6         Commission to establish a pilot program for the
    7         eradication of priority invasive species; providing
    8         the goal of the pilot program; authorizing the
    9         commission to enter into specified contracts;
   10         specifying parameters for the implementation of the
   11         pilot program; specifying procedures for the capture
   12         and disposal of animals that belong to priority
   13         invasive species; requiring the commission to submit a
   14         report to the Governor and the Legislature by a
   15         specified date; requiring animals that belong to
   16         certain nonnative species to be implanted with a
   17         passive integrated transponder tag before sale,
   18         resale, or being offered for sale by a pet dealer;
   19         requiring the commission to adopt rules; providing
   20         appropriations; providing an effective date.
   21          
   22  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   23  
   24         Section 1. Section 379.2311, Florida Statutes, is created
   25  to read:
   26         379.2311 Nonnative animal management.—
   27         (1)As used in this section, the term:
   28         (a)“Pet dealer” means any person who, in the ordinary
   29  course of business, engages in the sale of more than 20 animals
   30  per year to the public. This term includes breeders who sell
   31  animals directly to consumers.
   32         (b)“Priority invasive species” means the following
   33  species:
   34         1.Lizards of the genus Tupinambis, also known as tegu
   35  lizards;
   36         2.Species identified in s. 379.372(2)(a);
   37         3.Pterois volitans, also known as red lionfish; and
   38         4.Pterois miles, also known as the common lionfish or
   39  devil firefish.
   40         (2) The Legislature finds that priority invasive species
   41  continue to expand their range and to decimate the fauna and
   42  flora of the Everglades and other natural areas and ecosystems
   43  in the southern and central parts of the state at an
   44  accelerating rate. Therefore, the commission shall establish a
   45  pilot program to mitigate the impact of priority invasive
   46  species on the public lands or waters of this state.
   47         (a) The goal of the pilot program is to examine the
   48  benefits of using strategically deployed, trained private
   49  contractors to slow the advance of priority invasive species,
   50  contain their populations, and eradicate them from this state.
   51         (b)In implementing the pilot program, the commission may
   52  enter into contracts in accordance with chapter 287 with
   53  entities or individuals to capture or destroy animals belonging
   54  to priority invasive species found on public lands or in the
   55  waters of this state. Any private contracted work to be
   56  performed on public land or in the waters of the state not owned
   57  or managed by the commission must have the consent of the owner.
   58         (c)The commission shall ensure that all captures and
   59  disposals of animals that belong to these priority invasive
   60  species are documented and photographed and that the geographic
   61  location of the take is recorded for research purposes. The
   62  commission shall direct the disposal of all animals captured and
   63  not destroyed in removal efforts.
   64         (d)The commission shall submit a report of findings and
   65  recommendations regarding its implementation of the pilot
   66  program to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the
   67  Speaker of the House of Representatives by January 1, 2021.
   68         (3)Before selling, reselling, or offering for sale any
   69  nonnative animal identified by the commission pursuant to
   70  paragraph (a), pet dealers must implant in the animal, or have
   71  the animal implanted with, a passive integrated transponder
   72  (PIT) tag, as specified by the commission. The commission shall
   73  adopt rules to implement this subsection, including both of the
   74  following:
   75         (a)The identification of nonnative animals that threaten
   76  the state’s wildlife habitats and, therefore, must be implanted
   77  with a PIT tag.
   78         (b)The adoption of a standard for the types of PIT tags
   79  which must be used by pet dealers and the manner in which they
   80  must be implanted.
   81         Section 2. For the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 fiscal years,
   82  the sum of $300,000 in nonrecurring funds is appropriated each
   83  year from the Land Acquisition Trust Fund to the Fish and
   84  Wildlife Conservation Commission for the purpose of implementing
   85  s. 379.2311.
   86         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.