§742l Enforcement Authority for the Protection of Fish and Wildlife Resources

Summary

The Secretaries of the Interior and Commerce can run national training and local training (if a State asks) to help State fish and wildlife law officers. They can also develop better methods, tools, and systems for enforcing fish and wildlife laws. Starting with fiscal year 1980, money may be appropriated as needed for these activities, and the Secretaries can ask States to repay costs for national and local training they provide. Each Secretary can use people, services, or facilities from other federal or State agencies to help enforce fish and wildlife laws on lands and waters they manage. People the Secretaries assign who are not federal employees will not be treated as federal employees for job rules or benefits, but they may get worker’s compensation under subchapter III of chapter 81 of title 5. They are treated as U.S. law enforcement officers for tort claim rules in title 28. To the extent a Secretary allows, they can search, seize, arrest, and perform other enforcement duties under federal fish and wildlife laws, and they count as officers or employees under sections 111 and 1114 of title 18. Abandoned or forfeited fish, wildlife, plants, or related items may be handled (for example loaned, given away, sold, or destroyed) by the Secretaries. They may not sell species whose sale is banned by other federal law. Money from disposing of these items, and the amounts mentioned in the first sentences of sections 1540(d) and 3375(d), may be spent to make required payments and to cover shipping, storage, appraisal, sale costs, clearing title, and, for the Interior Secretary only, preparing and shipping eagles and migratory birds for Native American religious use. Agreements made before November 8, 1978, remain valid. For undercover operations needed to find and prosecute violations handled by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service, either Secretary can advance funds to bank accounts, pay for information or rewards from their appropriations (and reimburse the appropriation if money is later recovered), and create or run undercover businesses using appropriated funds. Any proceeds from those operations must be used to offset reasonable operation costs and then turned over to the U.S. Treasury as miscellaneous receipts.