Wildlife Information Disclosure Act Exposed

The Wildlife Information Disclosure Act is listed under ALEC's Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force and was included in the 1996 ALEC Sourcebook of American State Legislation. According to ALEC.org, the Act was approved by the Board of Directors in 1996, re-approved on January 28, 2013. (Accessed on 7/24/2015).

ALEC Bill Text

Summary

This Act shall be known as the Wildlife Information Disclosure Act.

Model Legislation

Section 1. {Disclosure of Personal Information}

(A) The name and address and a telephone, social security, driver’s license, bank account, credit card, or charge card, number of a person who purchases customer products, licenses, or services from the department may not be disclosed except as authorized under this section.

(B) The {Insert State} Fish and Wildlife Commission, (hereafter “commission”) by rule, may adopt policies relating to:

(1) customer information;

(2) the use of customer information by the {Insert State} department of Fish and Wildlife (hereafter “department”);

(3) the sale of mailing lists consisting of the names and addresses of persons who purchase customer products, licenses, or services.

(C) The commission shall include in its policies a method for a person by request to exclude information about he person from a mailing list sold by the department.

(D) The commission or department may disclose customer information to a federal or state law enforcement agency if the agency supplies and lawfully issued subpoena.

(E) The department and its officers and employees are immune from civil liability for an unintentional violation of this section.

(F) In this section, a reference to the department refers also to an agent of the department.

Section 2. {Procedures}

(A) The department shall provide notice to a private landowner who requests technical assistance before entering the property to collect and record information about animal or plant life.

(B) The commission by rule shall adopt policies, including written guidelines for a method for providing notice under subsection

(A) and for departmental entry onto privately owned land to collect environmental information. The policies and guidelines must identify the maximum information that the department may maintain.

Section 3. {Disclosure of Technical Information}

(A) Except as provided by this section, information may not be disclosed if the information is collected by the department in response to a landowner request relating to the specific location, species identification, or quantity of any animal or plant life that is:

(1) protected by this code; and

(2) located on private land that

(a) is subject to a wildlife management plan developed cooperatively with other state agencies; or

(b) is the subject of a recommendation prepared by the department for the landowner.

(B) The commission or the department may disclose information described by this section only to the landowner unless:

(1) the landowner consents to full or specified partial disclosure of information; and

(2) the consent is in writing and is attached to the plan or recommendation report.

(C) The department may release game census, harvest, habitat, or program information only if the information is summarized in a manner that prevents the identification of an individual or specific parcel of land and the landowner.

(D) The department may prepare not more than one original record of the information collected by the department and incorporated into a wildlife management plan, and the record becomes the property of the landowner. The department may retain one copy of the record. The retained copy may not be disclosed except as provided by this section.

(E) Except as provided by this subsection, the department shall send a copy of the information retained by the department relating to the landowner’s property to the landowner and destroy the department’s record of the information if the protected information status assigned by this section is revoked. The department may retain a copy of the information if the landowner consents in writing.

(F) IN this section, a reference to a department includes a reference to an agent of that department.

(G) This section does not apply to a parcel of land that is not privately owned.

Section 4. {Severability clause}

Section 5. {Repealer clause}

Section 6. {Effective date}

ALEC's 1996 Sourcebook of American State Legislation