Bill Text: NY S04804 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Directs the department of environmental conservation to establish a Long Island deer management pilot program in the town of Southold.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2023-12-08 - APPROVAL MEMO.49 [S04804 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-S04804-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4804--A 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN SENATE February 15, 2023 ___________ Introduced by Sen. PALUMBO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Environmental Conservation -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to a Long Island 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. Long Island 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 town of Southold's site- 17 specific deer management plan, and upon a finding by the town of Sout- 18 hold 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 town of Southold. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD07252-05-3S. 4804--A 2 1 3. Each cull permit application shall at a minimum include require- 2 ments for: the timeframe during which the permit must be used, a site- 3 specific deer management plan, a geographic description of the area for 4 which the permit is being requested, a written contract with the town of 5 Southold, requests for any authorization pursuant to subdivisions three 6 and nine of section 11-0505 of this title, subdivision two of section 7 11-0901 of this article, and subdivisions two and four of section 8 11-0931 of this article, provided that any such authorization subse- 9 quently granted shall be explicitly included on any cull permit, and 10 details regarding expected local law enforcement participation. 11 4. Nothing in this section shall be construed as requiring or obligat- 12 ing the department to issue a permit to take deer when in its opinion 13 the nuisance, destruction of property or threat to public health and 14 welfare will not be effectively abated thereby. 15 § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 11-0505 of the environmental conserva- 16 tion law, as amended by chapter 135 of the laws of 1982, is amended and 17 a new subdivision 9 is added to read as follows: 18 3. No deer or bear traps shall be made, set or used upon land inhabit- 19 ed by deer or bear. No salt lick shall be made, set or used upon land 20 inhabited by deer or bear, except that: 21 a. the department may do so on state wildlife refuges and wildlife 22 management areas; and 23 b. a certified nuisance wildlife specialist with a permit issued 24 pursuant to section 11-0522 of this title may do so provided that such 25 activities are in furtherance of the site-specific deer management plan. 26 9. A certified nuisance wildlife specialist with a permit issued 27 pursuant to section 11-0522 of this title may, in accordance with the 28 parameters of such permit and the participation of local law enforce- 29 ment, entice deer in the manner prohibited in subdivision eight of this 30 section provided that such activities are in furtherance of the site- 31 specific deer management plan. 32 § 3. Subdivision 2 of section 11-0901 of the environmental conserva- 33 tion law is amended to read as follows: 34 2. Wildlife shall not be taken on or from any public highway, except: 35 a. that in the forest preserve counties it may be taken from highways 36 other than state, county or town highways; and 37 b. by a certified nuisance wildlife specialist with a permit issued 38 pursuant to section 11-0522 of this article provided that such activ- 39 ities are in furtherance of the site-specific deer management plan. 40 § 4. Subdivision 2 and subparagraph 1 of paragraph b of subdivision 4 41 of section 11-0931 of the environmental conservation law, as amended by 42 section 8 of part EE of chapter 55 of the laws of 2014, are amended to 43 read as follows: 44 2. a. No crossbow or firearm except a pistol or revolver shall be 45 carried or possessed in or on a motor vehicle unless it is uncocked, for 46 a crossbow or unloaded, for a firearm in both the chamber and the maga- 47 zine, except that a loaded firearm which may be legally used for taking 48 migratory game birds may be carried or possessed in a motorboat while 49 being legally used in hunting migratory game birds, and b. no person 50 except a law enforcement officer in the performance of his official 51 duties or a certified nuisance wildlife specialist with a permit issued 52 pursuant to section 11-0522 of this article, provided that such activ- 53 ities are in furtherance of the site-specific deer management plan, 54 shall, while in or on a motor vehicle, use a jacklight, spotlight or 55 other artificial light upon lands inhabited by deer if he or she is in 56 possession or is accompanied by a person who is in possession, at theS. 4804--A 3 1 time of such use, of a longbow, crossbow or a firearm of any kind except 2 a pistol or revolver, unless such longbow or crossbow is unstrung or 3 such firearm or crossbow is taken down or securely fastened in a case or 4 locked in the trunk of the vehicle. For purposes of this subdivision, 5 motor vehicle shall mean every vehicle or other device operated by any 6 power other than muscle power, and which shall include but not be limit- 7 ed to automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, tractors, trailers and motor- 8 boats, snowmobiles and snowtravelers, whether operated on or off public 9 highways. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subdivision, the 10 department may issue a permit to any person who is non-ambulatory, 11 except with the use of a mechanized aid, to possess a loaded firearm in 12 or on a motor vehicle as defined in this section, subject to such 13 restrictions as the department may deem necessary in the interest of 14 public safety. Nothing in this section permits the possession of a 15 pistol or a revolver contrary to the penal law. 16 (1) The owner or lessee of the dwelling house, or members of his imme- 17 diate family actually residing therein, or a person in his employ, or 18 the guest of the owner or lessee of the dwelling house acting with the 19 consent of said owner or lessee, provided however, that nothing herein 20 shall be deemed to authorize such persons to discharge a firearm within 21 five hundred feet, a long bow within one hundred fifty feet, or a cross- 22 bow within two hundred fifty feet of any other dwelling house, or a farm 23 building or farm structure actually occupied or used, or a school build- 24 ing or playground, public structure, or occupied factory or church; 25 provided further, that a wildlife specialist with a permit issued pursu- 26 ant to section 11-0522 of this article acting in furtherance of the 27 site-specific deer management plan may discharge a firearm within five 28 hundred feet of any dwelling houses, structures, schools or playgrounds, 29 provided that the owners or lessees thereof have been notified by certi- 30 fied mail of the date and time of the expected activity, and discharge a 31 firearm within two hundred fifty feet of such dwelling houses, struc- 32 tures, schools or playgrounds provided that all the owners or lessees 33 thereof have provided written consent; 34 § 5. The department of environmental conservation, following consulta- 35 tion with the town of Southold shall prepare a report examining the 36 effectiveness of the Long Island deer management pilot program estab- 37 lished pursuant to section 11-0522 of the environmental conservation law 38 in addressing deer overpopulation and the effectiveness in addressing 39 destruction to public or private property in the town of Southold as 40 well as the impacts on surrounding communities. The report shall include 41 estimates regarding the size of the deer population in the town of Sout- 42 hold prior to the issuance of deer cull permits pursuant to section 43 11-0522 of the environmental conservation law, the number of cull 44 permits issued, and the number of deer taken. The report shall also 45 include recommendations for program improvements, including the poten- 46 tial effectiveness of authorizing future programs. The report shall be 47 delivered to the governor, the speaker of the assembly and the temporary 48 president of the senate, as well as published on the department's public 49 website, no later than thirty months after the effective date of this 50 act. 51 § 6. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed- 52 ing the date on which it shall have become a law and shall expire and be 53 deemed repealed three years after such date.
