Add §11-0522, amd §§11-0505, 11-0901 & 11-0931, En Con L
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.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A783
SPONSOR: Hunter TITLE OF BILL:
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
PURPOSE:
To establish a pilot program for deer management, qualifications for
certified nuisance wildlife specialists, and procedures for issuing and
using permits for deer management plans.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Amends the environmental conservation law by adding a new
section 11-0522.
Subdivision 1 defines certified nuisance wildlife specialists and neces-
sary qualifications.
Subdivision 2 establishes the circumstances in which a certified
nuisance wildlife specialist may be issued a deer cull permit.
Subdivision 3 establishes the requirements for deer cull permits and
deer cull permit application.
Subdivision 4 states that the department is not obligated to issue a
permit to take deer when the department is not of the opinion that the
nuisance or property destruction will be effectively abated thereby.
Section 2: Subdivision 3 of section 11-0505 of the environmental conser-
vation law is amended and a new subdivision 9 is added. Subdivision 9
specifies that a certified wildlife specialist may entice deer in furth-
erance of the site-specific wildlife management plan.
Section 3: Subdivision 2 of section 11-0901 of the environmental conser-
vation law is amended to allow a certified nuisance wildlife specialist
with a permit to take deer from a public highway if in furtherance of
the site-specific deer management plan.
Section 4: Subdivision 2 and subparagraph 1 of paragraph b of subdivi-
sion 4 of section 11-0931 of the environmental conservation law is
amended to include provisions relating to a certified nuisance wildlife
specialist with a permit.
Section 5: Requires the Department of Environmental Conservation to
prepare a report examining the effectiveness of the pilot urban deer
management plan in Syracuse.
Section 6: Establishes the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Permission to use certain activities for deer culling provides a safe,
humane, and effective means to minimize risks to human health and safety
posed by deer. These practices would mitigate deer related vehicle acci-
dents and reduce deer populations in localized areas. This bill estab-
lishes clear standards for deer management to ensure safe and effective
practices that are considerate of the environment, human health, ecolog-
ical health, and property.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2017-18: A.8646
2019: A1599
2021-22 A10525
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeeding the
date on which it shall have become a law and shall expire and be deemed
repealed three years after such date.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
783
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 11, 2023
___________
Introduced by 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
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00592-01-3
A. 783 2
1 which the permit is being requested, a written contract with the city of
2 Syracuse, requests for any authorization pursuant to subdivisions three
3 and nine of section 11-0505 of this title, subdivision two of section
4 11-0901 of this article, and subdivisions two and four of section
5 11-0931 of this article, provided that any such authorization subse-
6 quently granted shall be explicitly included on any cull permit, and
7 details regarding expected local law enforcement participation.
8 4. Nothing in this section shall be construed as requiring or obligat-
9 ing the department to issue a permit to take deer when in its opinion
10 the nuisance, destruction of property or threat to public health and
11 welfare will not be effectively abated thereby.
12 § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 11-0505 of the environmental conserva-
13 tion law, as amended by chapter 135 of the laws of 1982, is amended and
14 a new subdivision 9 is added to read as follows:
15 3. No deer or bear traps shall be made, set or used upon land inhabit-
16 ed by deer or bear. No salt lick shall be made, set or used upon land
17 inhabited by deer or bear, except that:
18 a. the department may do so on state wildlife refuges and wildlife
19 management areas; and
20 b. a certified nuisance wildlife specialist with a permit issued
21 pursuant to section 11-0522 of this title may do so provided that such
22 activities are in furtherance of the site-specific deer management plan.
23 9. A certified nuisance wildlife specialist with a permit issued
24 pursuant to section 11-0522 of this title may, in accordance with the
25 parameters of such permit and the participation of local law enforce-
26 ment, entice deer in the manner prohibited in subdivision eight of this
27 section provided that such activities are in furtherance of the site-
28 specific deer management plan.
29 § 3. Subdivision 2 of section 11-0901 of the environmental conserva-
30 tion law is amended to read as follows:
31 2. Wildlife shall not be taken on or from any public highway, except:
32 a. that in the forest preserve counties it may be taken from highways
33 other than state, county or town highways; and
34 b. by a certified nuisance wildlife specialist with a permit issued
35 pursuant to section 11-0522 of this article provided that such activ-
36 ities are in furtherance of the site-specific deer management plan.
37 § 4. Subdivision 2 and subparagraph 1 of paragraph b of subdivision 4
38 of section 11-0931 of the environmental conservation law, as amended by
39 section 8 of part EE of chapter 55 of the laws of 2014, are amended to
40 read as follows:
41 2. a. No crossbow or firearm except a pistol or revolver shall be
42 carried or possessed in or on a motor vehicle unless it is uncocked, for
43 a crossbow or unloaded, for a firearm in both the chamber and the maga-
44 zine, except that a loaded firearm which may be legally used for taking
45 migratory game birds may be carried or possessed in a motorboat while
46 being legally used in hunting migratory game birds, and b. no person
47 except a law enforcement officer in the performance of his official
48 duties or a certified nuisance wildlife specialist with a permit issued
49 pursuant to section 11-0522 of this article, provided that such activ-
50 ities are in furtherance of the site-specific deer management plan,
51 shall, while in or on a motor vehicle, use a jacklight, spotlight or
52 other artificial light upon lands inhabited by deer if he or she is in
53 possession or is accompanied by a person who is in possession, at the
54 time of such use, of a longbow, crossbow or a firearm of any kind except
55 a pistol or revolver, unless such longbow or crossbow is unstrung or
56 such firearm or crossbow is taken down or securely fastened in a case or
A. 783 3
1 locked in the trunk of the vehicle. For purposes of this subdivision,
2 motor vehicle shall mean every vehicle or other device operated by any
3 power other than muscle power, and which shall include but not be limit-
4 ed to automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, tractors, trailers and motor-
5 boats, snowmobiles and snowtravelers, whether operated on or off public
6 highways. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subdivision, the
7 department may issue a permit to any person who is non-ambulatory,
8 except with the use of a mechanized aid, to possess a loaded firearm in
9 or on a motor vehicle as defined in this section, subject to such
10 restrictions as the department may deem necessary in the interest of
11 public safety. Nothing in this section permits the possession of a
12 pistol or a revolver contrary to the penal law.
13 (1) The owner or lessee of the dwelling house, or members of his imme-
14 diate family actually residing therein, or a person in his employ, or
15 the guest of the owner or lessee of the dwelling house acting with the
16 consent of said owner or lessee, provided however, that nothing herein
17 shall be deemed to authorize such persons to discharge a firearm within
18 five hundred feet, a long bow within one hundred fifty feet, or a cross-
19 bow within two hundred fifty feet of any other dwelling house, or a farm
20 building or farm structure actually occupied or used, or a school build-
21 ing or playground, public structure, or occupied factory or church;
22 provided further, that a wildlife specialist with a permit issued pursu-
23 ant to section 11-0522 of this article acting in furtherance of the site
24 specific deer management plan may discharge a firearm within five
25 hundred feet of any dwelling houses, structures, schools or playgrounds,
26 provided that the owners or lessees thereof have been notified by certi-
27 fied mail of the date and time of the expected activity, and discharge a
28 firearm within two hundred fifty feet of such dwelling houses, struc-
29 tures, schools or playgrounds provided that all the owners or lessees
30 thereof have provided written consent;
31 § 5. The department of environmental conservation, following consulta-
32 tion with the city of Syracuse shall prepare a report examining the
33 effectiveness of the urban deer management pilot program established
34 pursuant to section 11-0522 of the environmental conservation law in
35 addressing deer overpopulation and the effectiveness in addressing
36 destruction to public or private property in the city of Syracuse as
37 well as the impacts on surrounding communities. The report shall include
38 estimates regarding the size of the deer population in the city of Syra-
39 cuse prior to the issuance of deer cull permits pursuant to section
40 11-0522 of the environmental conservation law, the number of cull
41 permits issued, and the number of deer taken. The report shall also
42 include recommendations for program improvements, including the poten-
43 tial effectiveness of authorizing future programs. The report shall be
44 delivered to the governor, the speaker of the assembly and the temporary
45 president of the senate, as well as published on the department's public
46 website, no later than thirty months after the effective date of this
47 act.
48 § 6. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
49 ing the date on which it shall have become a law and shall expire and be
50 deemed repealed three years after such date.
