Fiscal
impact reports (FIRs) are prepared by the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC)
for standing finance committees of the NM Legislature. The LFC does not
assume responsibility for the accuracy of these reports if they are used for
other purposes.
Current
FIRs (in HTML & Adobe PDF formats) are available on the NM Legislative Website
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also be obtained from the LFC in
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SPONSOR |
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DATE TYPED |
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HB |
565 |
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SHORT
TITLE |
Taking of Animals on |
SB |
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ANALYST |
Aguilar |
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APPROPRIATION
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Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
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FY04 |
FY05 |
FY04 |
FY05 |
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NFI |
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(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Duplicates SB 295
LFC Files
Report
of the Legislative Finance Committee to the Forty-Sixth Legislature,
Second Session, January 2004 for Fiscal Year 2004 – 2005, pp. 371 – 381.
Responses
Received From
Department
of Game and Fish (DGF)
New
Mexico Department of Agriculture (NMDA)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
House Bill 565 amends existing statute clarifying procedures for landowner taking of animals on private land; provides for the processing of animal carcasses to minimize waste; clearly defines landowner responsibilities and actions concerning issues of human safety and property damage and clarifies language definition.
House Bill 565 declares an emergency.
Significant Issues
DGF reports that current statute allows land
owners, lessees or their employees to kill animals when they perceive a threat
to property, including crops without following regulations adopted by the State
Game Commission (SGC). This bill
provides for the killing of an animal that presents an immediate threat to human
life requiring only that the landowner report the killing to DGF within 24
hours.
Animals that present a threat of damage to
property, including crops, may be killed with advance written consent from the
landowner and in accordance with SGC adopted regulations.
Existing statute provides that the DGF will
offer at least three different interventions to property owners to eliminate the
depredation problem. HB 565 adds
language providing that one of the interventions offered is a permanent
intervention.
This bill changes language which allows a
landowner to kill an animal believed to be responsible for property depredation,
if interventions have not proven successful after one year, only on the
property or portion of the property identified in the complaint and provided
that the landowner has not rejected a permanent intervention.
In all cases where an animal has been killed in
compliance with statute, the landowner is required to report the killing to DGF
within 24 hours and process the animal carcass to minimize waste.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
Currently, the performance measure for DGF to
resolve 95 percent of complaints filed within one year. This bill, as written, requires the SGC to
develop regulations and mandates the landowner to work with DGF to find
permanent resolution for the complaint filed, and is consistent with this
performance measure.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
This bill will allow the SGC broader latitude
and control to establish depredation rules and solutions governing landowner
killing and rejection criteria of intervention methods.
TECHNICAL ISSUES
The legislature may wish to consider adding a
definition of “permanent
intervention”.
The
legislature may wish to consider, on page 2, line 11, the addition of “and
livestock” after the word “crops”. This
would clarify the definition for the ranching community.
PA/lg:yr