The U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources, by a vote of 25-19 on Thursday, approved an amendment to the Lacey Act that would eliminate penalties for people who unknowingly possess illegal woods and lower penalties for first offenses. The bill, known as the RELIEF Act, now moves to the full House for consideration.
The amendment, H.R. 3210, was introduced in October 2011 by Rep. Jim Cooper, R-Tenn., in the wake of the federal government's second raid on Gibson Guitar in August 2011 for alleged dealings in illegally sourced wood, and since then Cooper has noted that it is necessary so that musicians can travel with instruments-some of which are made from rare, exotic woods-easily. Environmentalists and certain business groups-including the Hardwood Federation, of which the NWFA is a part-oppose the amendment, saying it would gut the Lacey Act.
The amendment is co-sponsored by 18 Republicans and three Democrats. It does not yet have companion legislation in the Senate.
Brent McClendon, executive vice president of the International Wood Products Association, praised the House Committee on Natural Resources for its action. "The RELIEF Act strengthens and improves the integrity of the Lacey Act by addressing the unintended consequences of the Act's 2008 Amendments," McClendon said in a release.
