Species Bill of 2005

[Emsworth]

Species Act of 2005

1. Endangered/Threatened Species
   a. Atlasia hereby recognizes the Endangered/Threatened Species List of animals and plants.
   b. Any individual wanting to bring an endangered or threatened species into Atlasia shall have to purchase a license allowing them to own said species plus an additional fee of 100,000 dollars for each animal brought in. In addition each individual must have the space they plan to hold said species inspected and approved by a local zoological society.
   c. Any zoo or zoological society may freely bring endangered or threatened species into the US if they haven’t been cited for animal rights as long as they notify the government of Atlasia.
   d. If any endangered or threatened species is proved to have been knowingly killed in a court of law said offender shall be fined 500,000 on the first offense, 1 million and 5 years in prison for the second offense and 2 million and 30 years in prison for the third offense. If the offender commits a fourth offense life in prison shall be enforced.
2. Invasive Species
   a. Atlasia hereby recognizes invasive species as a problem to the nation’s environment.
   b. An invasive species shall be known as any non-native plant or animal that disrupts or destroys the natural state of the environment.
   c. Only zoos or zoological societies shall be allowed to import invasive species into the US.
   d. Any private company or individual found in a court of law to have knowingly brought in an invasive species shall be fined 2 million dollars and serve 30 years in prison for the first offense. If a second offense occurs the offender fine shall double to 4 million and spend life in prison.
3. Species Tracker
   a. Atlasia’s Fish and Wildlife Service shall be required to create a computer system to track the import and export of endangered, threatened and invasive species into and out of Atlasia.  In addition this system is required to keep on file the information of any previous offender.
   b. Any endangered, threatened or invasive species import or export must be reported the Atlasia’s Fish and Wildlife Service.
   c. Any individual, company, zoo or zoological society that currently has endangered, threatened or invasive species has two years to report all of said species to Atlasia’s Fish and Wildlife Service to be logged in the computer system.

Sponsor: Sen. MasterJedi

[Emsworth]

I'd like to introduce these two amendments.

d. If any endangered or threatened species is proved to have been knowingly killed in a court of law said offender shall be fined 500,000 on the first offense, 1 million and 5 years in prison for the second offense and 2 million and 30 years in prison for the third offense. If the offender commits a fourth offense life in prison shall be enforced.

d. Any private company or individual found in a court of law to have knowingly brought in an invasive species shall be fined 2 million dollars and serve 30 years in prison for the first offense. If a second offense occurs the offender fine shall double to 4 million and spend life in prison.

As far as I can tell, these are only grammatical changes, not substantive changes. Is a vote necessary?

[Emsworth]

I changed the grammatical errors and then added "proved in a court of law" if you don't feel that deserves a vote just add it but if it does we'll vote.

Then, unless any Senator objects, I am treating this only as a grammatical change, without need for a vote.

[Emsworth]

I'm not sure if the fines are too high in part E.  Just tell me if they are, and I can easily change them.

Hmm, there might be another problem. If the company has a negative income (i.e., loses money), then it would not be liable to fine at all.

[Emsworth]

Ooh, I hadn't thought of that.  But on the other hand, companies cannot have negative income.  They can have negative profit, but not negative income (maybe I should have used revenue).

Yes, I though that income would be the same as profit. But in any event, revenue is more clear. 

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That's true. Perhaps we can give the judge some discretion, as in "a fine of not more than $500,000." The judge could then assess the financial situation of the company and decide the specific amount.

[Emsworth]

I don't know.  The judge could be particularly harsh or soft on conservation.  I think the percentage of revenue works better.

That's perfectly fine.

As to the bill, I have a question to the sponsor, Senator MasterJedi, or to any other Senator who wants to answer. Are there (as far as you know) any current laws on protecting endangered species? If so, why do they need to be changed?

[Emsworth]

And third would be to Emsworth. Right now anybody can really get certain types of endangered species (Tigers, Lions etc) with a liscence. Now it would be harder for normal people to get them and they would be tracked. The government would know where these animals and plants are incase there's some kind of emergency or disaster.

Alright, in that case, the bill seems to be sensible.

[Emsworth]

I would like to propose an amendment:

Section 2, Clauses D (and I assume the second one is E) is changed from:

I'd like to introduce these two amendments.

d. If any endangered or threatened species is proved to have been knowingly killed in a court of law said offender shall be fined 500,000 on the first offense, 1 million and 5 years in prison for the second offense and 2 million and 30 years in prison for the third offense. If the offender commits a fourth offense life in prison shall be enforced.

d. Any private company or individual found in a court of law to have knowingly brought in an invasive species shall be fined 2 million dollars and serve 30 years in prison for the first offense. If a second offense occurs the offender fine shall double to 4 million and spend life in prison.

to:

d. If any endangered or threatened species is proved to have been knowingly killed in a court of law said offender shall be fined $1,000 on the first offense, $5,000 and 100 hours of community service relating to conservation of wildlife for the second offense and $15,000 and 500 hours of community service relating to conservation of wildlife for the third offense. If the offender commits a fourth offense a fine of $25,000 and 1000 hours of community service relating to conservation of wildlife.  For all offenses after the fourt offense, the fine shall increase by $10,000 and the community service by 500 hours for each offense.

e. If any endangered or threatened species is proved to have been knowingly killed by a private or public company in a court of law said company shall be fined 0.001% of the company's total revenue for the first offense for the most recent fiscal year. If a second offense occurs the company shall be fined 0.01% of the company's total revenue for the most recent fiscal year.  For each said offense after the second offense, the fine shall be multiplied by 10.

The question is on the True Independent Amendment. All those in favor, say Aye; those opposed, say No.

[Emsworth]

With five Ayes, the amendment is passed.

[Emsworth]

Since I haven't had too much time to write the amendment I thought I'd just submit this.

2. e. The government of Atlasia shall remake the list of invasive plants to take into account plants that are already used in landscaping and other common uses based on the plants level of invasiveness.

The question is on the amendment; all those in favor, say Aye; those opposed, say No.

[Emsworth]

There have voted:
Aye: 5
No: 0
Abstain: 1

Therefore, the amendment passes.

[Emsworth]

The bill now stands thus:

Species Act of 2005

1. Endangered/Threatened Species
   a. Atlasia hereby recognizes the Endangered/Threatened Species List of animals and plants.
   b. Any individual wanting to bring an endangered or threatened species into Atlasia shall have to purchase a license allowing them to own said species plus an additional fee of 100,000 dollars for each animal brought in. In addition each individual must have the space they plan to hold said species inspected and approved by a local zoological society.
   c. Any zoo or zoological society may freely bring endangered or threatened species into the US if they haven’t been cited for animal rights as long as they notify the government of Atlasia.
   d. If any endangered or threatened species is proved to have been knowingly killed in a court of law said offender shall be fined 500,000 on the first offense, 1 million and 5 years in prison for the second offense and 2 million and 30 years in prison for the third offense. If the offender commits a fourth offense life in prison shall be enforced.

2. Invasive Species
   a. Atlasia hereby recognizes invasive species as a problem to the nation’s environment.
   b. An invasive species shall be known as any non-native plant or animal that disrupts or destroys the natural state of the environment.
   c. Only zoos or zoological societies shall be allowed to import invasive species into the US.
   d. Any private company or individual found in a court of law to have knowingly brought in an invasive species shall be fined 2 million dollars and serve 30 years in prison for the first offense. If a second offense occurs the offender fine shall double to 4 million and spend life in prison.
    e. The government of Atlasia shall remake the list of invasive plants to take into account plants that are already used in landscaping and other common uses based on the plant's level of invasiveness.

3. Species Tracker
   a. Atlasia's Fish and Wildlife Service shall be required to create a computer system to track the import and export of endangered, threatened and invasive species into and out of Atlasia.  In addition this system is required to keep on file the information of any previous offender.
   b. Any endangered, threatened or invasive species import or export must be reported the Atlasia’s Fish and Wildlife Service.
   c. Any individual, company, zoo or zoological society that currently has endangered, threatened or invasive species has two years to report all of said species to Atlasia’s Fish and Wildlife Service to be logged in the computer system.

[Emsworth]

The question is on final passage. All those in favor, say Aye; those opposed, say No.

[Emsworth]

The bill has garnered enough votes to fail. Senators have 24 hours to vote or to change their votes.

[Emsworth]

There have voted:
Aye: 2
No: 5
Abstain: 1

Therefore, the bill fails.