SPONSOR:

Rep. Atkins & Thornburg & Sen. Venables;

 

Reps. Lee, Booth, Buckworth, Carey, DiPinto, Ewing, Hocker, Outten; Sens. Bunting, Vaughn

 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 

143rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY

 

HOUSE BILL NO. 537

 

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 7 RELATING TO CONSERVATION.


BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:

 

Section.1.  Amend Chapter 1, Title 7 of the Delaware Code by redesignating existing § 113, § 114 and § 115 as new § 114, § 115 and § 116, and adding a new § 113 to read as follows:

                                “§ 113 Crop Damage Levels.

                                                Threshold crop damage levels are to be determined by regulations established by the Department after consultation with the Delaware Farm Bureau, the Department of Agriculture, the Cooperative Extension Service and a panel of three practicing farmers, one each from Delaware’s three counties, a member of the Quality Deer Management Association who possesses a degree in a related scientific field and a member of Delaware Advisory Council on Wildlife and Freshwater Fish.”.

Section 2.  Amend new § 114, Title 7 of the Delaware Code by adding the phrase “whether there was threshold crop damage as discussed in § 113 of this Title,” after the word “injury,” and before the word “whether”.

Section 3.  Amend new § 115, Title 7 of the Delaware Code by adding the phrase “or there was threshold crop damage as discussed in § 113 of this Title” after the word “substantial” and before the word “and”.

SYNOPSIS

This Bill establishes a method of determining threshold crop damage levels when dealing with protected wildlife.