article: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Retailers and Entertainers Lacey Implementation and Enforcement Fairness Act'' or the ``RELIEF Act''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. Congress finds the following: (1) Amendments to the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 were enacted as part of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-246). (2) The 2008 amendments were intended to level the playing field for American businesses engaged in the responsible harvest, shipment, manufacture, and trade of plants and plant products whose prices had been undercut by a black market fueled by irresponsible and illegal taking of protected plants around the globe. (3) The 2008 amendments were overly broad and their enforcement as enacted could criminalize actions of a good- faith owner, purchaser, or retailer of a plant or plant product, subjecting them to penalties that include forfeiture, fines, and imprisonment. (4) Sanctions for violating the 2008 amendments should be proportional to the act in violation. An individual who is not in the commercial shipping business should not be held to the same standard of compliance under that Act. (5) Individuals fear that they risk incurring those penalties by merely owning or traveling with a vintage musical instrument, antique furniture, or another wood product. (6) The Department of the Interior and Department of Justice have stated ``people who unknowingly possess a musical instrument or other object containing wood that was illegally taken, possessed, transported or sold in violation of law and who, in the exercise of due care would not have known that it was illegal, do not have criminal exposure.''. (7) It is necessary to clarify the 2008 amendments so that legally harvested new plant products can enter the market place. (8) Declaration requirements for plant products imported or manufactured prior to May 22, 2008, are unreasonable since the sourcing of plant products was not previously required by law. (9) Federal law enforcement officials should not engage in overzealous enforcement action under the 2008 amendments. (10) It is important to ensure that the appropriate agencies have the necessary funding to implement the current phases of the declaration requirement before considering any future phases. (11) The appropriate agencies have the responsibility of providing a publicly accessible database so that everyone can be notified of the foreign laws of countries as they apply to the importation of plants. SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF PLANTS AND PLANT PRODUCTS UNDER LACEY ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1981. (a) Limitation on Application of Act to Certain Plants and Plant Products.--The Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3371 et seq.) is amended by redesignating section 9 as section 10, and by inserting after section 8 the following: ``SEC. 9. LIMITATION ON APPLICATION TO CERTAIN PLANTS AND PLANT PRODUCTS. ``This Act does not apply with respect to-- ``(1) any plant that was imported into the United States before May 22, 2008; or ``(2) any finished plant or plant product the assembly and processing of which was completed before May 22, 2008.''. (b) Limitations on Application of Plant Declaration Requirement.-- Section 3(f) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 3372(f)) is amended-- (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``that is entered for consumption (as that term is defined in part 141.0a of title 19, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date of enactment of the Retailers and Entertainers Lacey Implementation and Enforcement Fairness Act)'' after ``plant''; and (2) in paragraph (3)-- (A) by inserting ``(A)'' before ``Paragraphs (1)''; and (B) by adding at the end the following: ``(B)(i) In the case of a plant product that is derived from a tree, a declaration under paragraph (1) or (2) is not required to include information referred to in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of that paragraph unless the plant product is solid wood. ``(ii) The Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service shall issue regulations that define the term `solid wood' for purposes of this subparagraph.''. (c) Application of Civil Forfeiture Laws.--Section 5(d) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 3374(d)) is amended-- (1) by inserting ``(1)'' before ``Civil''; (2) by inserting ``, except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3) of this subsection'' before the period at the end; and (3) by adding at the end the following: ``(2) Subsection (d)(4) of section 983 of such chapter, and the second sentence of subsection (a)(1)(F) of such section, shall not apply to plants or plant products. ``(3) This section is the sole authority for civil seizure or forfeiture actions alleging, or predicated upon, a violation of section 3.''. SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON APPLICATION OF FOREIGN LAWS. (a) Prohibited Acts.--Section 3(a) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 3372(a)) is amended-- (1) in paragraph (2)(B), in clause (ii) and in clause (iii), by striking ``foreign law'' and inserting ``foreign law that is directed at the protection, conservation, and management of plants''; and (2) in paragraph (3)(B), in clause (ii) and in clause (iii), by striking ``foreign law'' and inserting ``foreign law that is directed at the protection, conservation, and management of plants''. (b) Civil Penalties.--Section 4(a)(1) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 3373(a)(1)) is amended by striking ``foreign law'' and inserting ``foreign law that is directed at the protection, conservation, and management of plants''. SEC. 5. REVIEW AND REPORT. Section 3(f) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 3372(f)) is amended-- (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ``Not later than two years after the date of enactment of this subsection,'' and inserting ``Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the Retailers and Entertainers Lacey Implementation and Enforcement Fairness Act,''; and (2) in paragraph (5)-- (A) by striking ``Not later than 180 days after the date on which the Secretary completes the review under paragraph (4), the Secretary'' and inserting ``Not later than 180 days after the date the Secretary completes the review under paragraph (4), the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service''; (B) by striking ``and'' after the semicolon at the end of subparagraph (B); (C) by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (C) and inserting ``; and''; and (D) by adding at the end the following: ``(D) an evaluation of the feasibility of creating and maintaining a publicly available database of laws of foreign countries from which plants are exported.''.
summary: Retailers and Entertainers Lacey Implementation and Enforcement Fairness Act or the RELIEF Act - (Sec. 3) Amends the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to: (1) make such Act inapplicable to any plant that was imported into the United States before May 22, 2008, or any finished plant or plant product the assembly and processing of which was completed before such date; (2) limit the application of plant importation declaration requirements to plants that are entered for consumption; and (3) exclude from declaration requirements a plant product that is derived from a tree unless the product is solid wood (requires the Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to issue regulations that define the term "solid wood" for such purpose). Provides that: (1) civil forfeiture provisions that prohibit any person from asserting an ownership interest in contraband or other property that it is illegal to possess, or that prohibit the federal government from being required to return contraband or other property that the person from whom the property was seized may not legally possess, shall not apply to plants or plant products; and (2) civil forfeiture provisions of such Act are the sole authority for civil seizure or forfeiture actions alleging, or predicated upon, a violation of such Act. (Sec. 4) Prohibits any person from importing, exporting, transporting, selling, receiving, acquiring, or purchasing in interstate or foreign commerce, or any person within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States from possessing, a plant taken, possessed, transported, or sold: (1) without the payment of appropriate royalties, taxes, or stumpage fees required for the plant by any law or regulation of any state or any foreign law that is directed at the protection, conservation, and management of plants; and (2) in violation of any limitation under any law or regulation of any state, or under foreign law, governing the export or transshipment of plants and that is directed at the protection, conservation, and management of plants Limits the application of a civil penalty under such Act for violations of foreign laws to violations of foreign laws that are directed at the protection, conservation, and management of plants. Requires the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Commerce, as program responsibilities are vested pursuant to the provisions of Reorganization Plan Numbered 4 of 1970, to review the implementation of plant declarations with 180 days. Requires the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (currently, the Secretary of Commerce) to report on plant declaration requirements, including an evaluation of the feasibility of creating a publicly available database of laws of foreign countries from which plants are exported.