GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1997

H	1 

HOUSE BILL 302

Short Title:  Wildlife Quarantine.	(Public)

─────────────────────────────────────── 
Sponsors: Representative H. Hunter.

─────────────────────────────────────── 
Referred to:  Environment.

─────────────────────────────────────── 

February 24, 1997

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE TAKING OF CERTAIN WILDLIFE IN COUNTIES WHERE AN OUTBREAK OF RABIES HAS OCCURRED.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  Part 6 of Article 6 of Chapter 130A of the General Statutes is amended by adding the following section to read:
"§ 130A-194.1. Wildlife quarantine.
(a)	Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a local health director may authorize the taking of bobcats, foxes, raccoons, and skunks if the director determines that a case of rabies has occurred in any animal, other than a bat, in a county the director serves or, if the case occurs in another state, within 50 miles of the county line.  Before authorizing the taking, the director shall notify the Executive Director of the Wildlife Resources Commission, and the sheriff, the chairman of the board of health, and the chairman of the board of county commissioners in each county subject to the authorization.  The Executive Director of the Wildlife Resources Commission shall inform the appropriate wildlife protectors serving the area subject to the authorization.
(b)	An authorization issued under subsection (a) of this section shall be in writing and shall specify the basis upon which the local health director determined that a case of rabies occurred.  The authorization may place reasonable restrictions on the persons who may take animals and on the time, manner, and place of taking animals.
(c)	A copy of the authorization shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the county for 10 consecutive days during the 30-day period immediately before the authorization takes effect.
(d)	An authorization issued under subsection (a) of this section may be renewed annually for a period of up to five years after the last incidence of rabies in the county, in a county with contiguous borders, or within 50 miles of the county in another state.
(e)	The provisions of this section apply to any county with borders contiguous to those in which a case of rabies is found."
Section 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.