Senate Bill No. 430
               Senate Bill No. 430

              PUBLIC ACT NO. 98-153


AN ACT CONCERNING FALCONRY.


    Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and House of
Representatives in General Assembly convened:
    Section  1.  (NEW)  (1)  As  used in this act,
"raptor"   means   any   bird   of   the    family
Accipitridae,  Falconidae  or  Strigidae, but does
not mean any bird listed as endangered, threatened
or of special concern in regulations adopted under
section 26-306 of the general  statutes;  and  (2)
"falconry"  means  the  activity  of  taking  wild
quarry in its natural habitat by means of  trained
raptors.
    Sec.  2.  (NEW) Any person engaged in falconry
shall abide by the provisions of Title 50 CFR  and
guidelines  established  by the United States Fish
and  Wildlife  Service  governing  falconry.   The
Commissioner of Environmental Protection may adopt
regulations, in accordance with the provisions  of
chapter  54  of  the  general statutes, consistent
with or more restrictive than federal regulations.
If   the   commissioner   requires  a  permit  for
falconry, a permittee shall possess a valid  state
hunting  license  before  obtaining  any  class of
falconry permit and shall  submit,  on  or  before
January  first annually, a self certification that
the  permittee's  activities   comply   with   the
provisions   of   federal   falconry  regulations.
Nonresidents may practice falconry in  this  state
consistent  with  nonresident fees or for the same
fee  as  a  resident  of  this   state   if   such
nonresident  is  a resident of a state the laws of
which allow the same  privilege  to  residents  of
this state.

Approved June 4, 1998