Section 189.2 reletter subdivision (f) to (g) and add new (f):

(f) Person means an individual, a co-partnership, joint stock company or corporation.

Section 189.3 reletter subdivisions (b)–(d) to (d)-(f) and add new (b)-(c):

(b) Importation of carcasses and parts. No person shall import into New York or possess in New York the carcasses or parts of CWD susceptible animals obtained from or taken outside New York, except that:

(1) the deboned meat, cleaned skull cap, antlers with no flesh adhering, raw or processed cape or hide, cleaned teeth or lower jaw, and finished taxidermy products of CWD susceptible animals may be imported and possessed provided that all such parts are marked as described in section 189.4 of this Part;

(2) carcasses or parts thereof may be imported and possessed as specimens in a bona fide laboratory research study under a license issued by the department pursuant to Environmental Conservation Law section 11-0515(1) and provided that such parts or specimens are disposed of in accordance with accepted laboratory practices;

(3) commercially traded meats and products, including cleaned hide, teeth, bone and antler used in the making of such products, may be imported and possessed provided that such products and parts are marketed and/or intended to be used in a manner that they will not be exposed to live CWD susceptible animals and such products and parts do not contain any portion of brain, eyes, spinal cord, tonsils, intestinal tract, spleen, or retropharyngeal lymph nodes;

(4) carcasses and parts may be transported and shipped through New York as provided in section 189.5 of this Part.

(c) Liberation of CWD susceptible animals. No person shall liberate or release to the wild in New York any CWD susceptible animal except for wild white-tailed deer (O. virginianus) or wild moose (A. alces) held in temporary captivity under license or permit issued by the department pursuant to Environmental Conservation Law, section 11-0507 or 11-0515.

Amend Section 189.4 as follows:

Except as provided in section 189.3([e]b)(2) and (3) of this Part, all parts of any CWD susceptible animal imported into New York, or packages or containers containing such parts, shall be affixed with a legible label bearing the following information: the species of animal, the state or province and country where the animal was taken, and the name and address of the person who took the animal.

The Department of Environmental Conservation (Department) is proposing to amend 6 NYCRR Part 189, pertaining to Chronic Wasting Disease, to rectify clerical errors.

Appropriate and necessary revisions to Part 189 were adopted by the Department on November 13, 2019, to protect wild white-tailed deer and moose in New York and reduce the potential of introducing Chronic Wasting Disease into the state.

Subsequently, the Department adopted a separate regulation in December 2019 which inadvertently repealed important sections of Part 189 adopted on November 13, 2019 due to a clerical error.

This rule making seeks simply to reinstate the portions of Part 189, as adopted in November 2019, that were subsequently removed by the clerical error in December 2019. Additionally, this rulemaking rectifies an incorrect subdivision reference. For this reason, the Department has determined that no person is likely to object to this rulemaking.

This rule making is necessary to reinstate sections of 6 NYCRR Part 189 that were inadvertently removed by a clerical error and to correct an errant subdivision reference. The provisions of Part 189 include measures to protect New York State’s wild white-tailed deer and moose populations from Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) by preventing the importation of CWD infectious materials into New York. As this rule simply fixes a subdivision reference and restores regulations that were previously adopted November 13, 2019 (I.D. No. ENV-32-19-00006-A), this rulemaking will not impose any additional impacts on jobs or employment opportunities in New York.