Bill > HB3858

This bill aims to abolish all Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) programs within the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Specifically, the bill requires the Department to eliminate any existing programs related to CWD and mandates that within one year of the bill's effective date, the Department must adopt administrative rules to implement this change. Chronic Wasting Disease is a neurological disease that affects deer, elk, and moose, causing progressive brain damage. The bill modifies the existing Wildlife Code by adding a new section (Section 2.2c) that explicitly abolishes these programs and makes conforming changes to other sections of the code. The legislation also includes provisions that prevent the Department from establishing new CWD-related harvest periods or management strategies, effectively ending the state's current approach to monitoring and managing this disease in wildlife populations. By removing these programs, the bill represents a significant shift in how the state handles potential wildlife disease management, potentially reducing state resources dedicated to CWD surveillance and control.

https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=3858&GAID=18&DocTypeID=HB&SessionID=114&GA=104