(a) Property seized for violations of the laws identified in § 12.2 and subject to forfeiture may be forfeited, depending upon the nature of the property and the law involved, through criminal forfeiture proceedings, civil judicial procedures, or civil administrative procedures.

(b) The process used also may be determined in certain circumstances by the actions of an interested party. For example, a person claiming property seized in an administrative civil forfeiture proceeding under a civil forfeiture statute may choose to file a claim after the seizure rather than to pursue administrative relief through a petition for remission of forfeiture.

(c) A claim that is timely and contains the information required by § 12.36 will terminate the administrative proceeding and will cause the Service, through the Solicitor, to refer the claim to the U.S. Department of Justice with the request that a judicial forfeiture action be instituted in Federal court.

If your fish, wildlife, plant or other property is subject to forfeiture under any Act listed in § 12.2, and it is also property subject to administrative forfeiture, the Service or the Solicitor may initiate an administrative forfeiture proceeding of the property under the forfeiture procedures described in this subpart.

(a) If you are an interested party, you may file a petition for remission of forfeiture with the Service to return seized property that is subject to administrative forfeiture. Upon receiving the petition, the Service will refer the petition to the Solicitor to decide whether to grant relief.

(b) You must file your petition for remission within 35 days from the date of the delivery of the notice of seizure and proposed forfeiture, if you or any interested party receives the notice of seizure and proposed forfeiture. If you do not receive the notice of seizure and proposed forfeiture, we must receive the petition for remission that you file not later than 30 days from the date of last posting of the public notice of the seizure of the property.

(c) Petitions for remission of forfeiture must be concise and logically presented to facilitate review by the Solicitor. The Solicitor may dismiss a petition for remission that fails to substantially comply with any of the information required by this paragraph (c). The petition for remission of forfeiture must contain the following:

(1) The name and address of the person claiming the interest in the seized property who is seeking remission.

(2) The name of the seizing agency, the asset identifier number, and the date and place of seizure.

(3) A complete description of the property.

(4) A description of the petitioner's interest in the property as owner, lienholder, or otherwise, supported by original or certified bills of sale, contracts, deeds, mortgages, or other documentary evidence.

(5) A statement containing all of the facts and circumstances you use to justify the remission of the forfeiture. If you rely on an exemption or an exception to a prohibition under any Act listed in § 12.2, you must demonstrate how that exemption or exception applies to your particular situation.

(6) A statement containing all of the facts and circumstances you contend support any innocent owner's defense allowed by 18 U.S.C 983(d) that you are asserting. No person may assert an innocent owner's interest in property that is contraband or other property that is illegal to possess. A petitioner has the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the petitioner is an “innocent owner” as defined in 18 U.S.C 983(d).

(7) A statement that the information furnished is, to the best of your knowledge and belief, complete, true, and correct and that you recognize false statements may subject you to criminal penalties under 18 U.S.C 1001.

(d) In addition to the contents of the petition for remission described in paragraph (c) of this section, upon request, the petitioner must also furnish the agency with instruments executed by each known party with an interest in the property releasing that interest.

(e) A petition for remission of property subject to administrative forfeiture must be addressed to the appropriate office identified in the notice of forfeiture.

(f) Your petition for remission must be signed by you or your lawyer. If a lawyer files on behalf of the petitioner, the petition must include a signed and sworn statement by the client-petitioner stating that:

(1) The lawyer has the authority to represent you in the proceeding;

(2) You have fully reviewed the petition; and

(3) The petition is truthful and accurate in every respect to the best of your knowledge and belief.

(g) If the petitioner is a corporation, the petition must be signed by an authorized officer, supervisory employee of the corporation, or a lawyer representing the corporation, and the corporate seal must be properly affixed to the signature.

(h) If you file a claim to the property, as described in § 12.36, the administrative proceeding will be terminated and the Solicitor will no longer have the opportunity or authority to review or rule on the petition for remission of the property.

(a) A petition for remission must include evidence that either:

(1) The petitioner is an interested party or owner as defined in this part; or

(2) The knowledge and responsibilities of the petitioner's representative, agent, or employee are ascribed to the petitioner where the representative, agent, or employee was acting in the course of his or her employment and in furtherance of the petitioner's business.

(b) The petitioner has the burden of establishing the basis for granting a petition for remission of property and for granting a reconsideration of a denial of such a petition. Failure to provide information or documents or to submit to interviews, when requested by the Solicitor, may result in a denial of the petition.

(c) The Solicitor will consider relevant information that you submit, as well as other information available to the Solicitor relating to the matter. The Solicitor will review the basis for the seizure, and in the absence of evidence to the contrary, will presume a valid seizure.

(d) Willful, materially false statements or information, made or furnished by the petitioner in support of a petition for remission or the reconsideration of a denial of any such petition, will be grounds for denial of the petition and possible prosecution for filing of false statements.

(e) The Solicitor will consider the following principles, if applicable, when making a decision on a petition for remission:

(1) Remission is an equitable remedy and is discretionary with the Solicitor.

(2) The Solicitor may grant remission of property if the Solicitor determines that mitigating circumstances justify the remission and then only under such terms and conditions as are reasonable and just.

(i) Mitigating factors that may be considered for the sole and limited purpose of remission of forfeiture include, but are not limited to, whether:

(A) The facts demonstrate your honest and good-faith intent and effort to comply with the law;

(B) You did not have the ability to prevent the violation;

(C) No evidence exists that you have engaged in past conduct similar to the violation;

(D) You have taken meaningful steps, including enforcement mechanisms (e.g., contractual or monetary), to prevent any violations; and

(E) The return of the property combined with imposition of monetary and/or other conditions of mitigation in lieu of a complete forfeiture will promote the interest of justice.

(ii) These factors are not intended to be all inclusive and do not constitute authority in and of themselves.

(3) The Solicitor will make all remission decisions with due consideration for the cumulative conservation impacts of the remission including, but not limited to, whether:

(i) The species is listed in Appendix I, II, or III under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) (See § 23.91 of this chapter);

(ii) The species is listed in part 17 of this chapter as “threatened” or “endangered” under the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.);

(iii) The violation increased the regulatory burden on government agencies; or

(iv) Remission may have an adverse effect on the integrity of any applicable permitting system or may provide an incentive to third parties to avoid meeting CITES requirements.

(4) The Solicitor has the discretion to condition a grant of remission of the seized property, in whole or in part, on terms and conditions that are reasonable and just. The Solicitor further has the discretion to grant remission for the limited purpose of directed reexport to the exporter of record provided that the reexport benefits enforcement and administration of applicable wildlife laws. Any terms and conditions of remission will be in writing and may include but are not limited to payment of those costs and expenses that the United States may, as a matter of applicable law, recover for the property.

(i) Shipment of any released property will be at your sole cost, and the risk of loss from such shipment will be your risk.

(ii) Property for which remission is granted will be released only after successful completion of all terms and conditions of remission, proper identification of the recipient of the property, and your execution of a property receipt provided by the Solicitor or the Service acknowledging receipt of the remitted property.

(5) Any decision to grant remission is separate from and does not preclude or otherwise provide relief from civil enforcement against the person or persons who committed the violations associated with the seizure and proposed forfeiture of the property. To expedite the resolution of any civil penalties that may be brought against you under the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3371 et seq.), or the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 668 et seq.) in connection with violations involving any wildlife for which remission is to be granted, the Solicitor has the sole discretion to give you the opportunity to completely or partially settle the civil penalty claim at the same time that remission is granted by executing a written agreement setting forth the terms and conditions of the civil penalty settlement. Such an agreement may be included in the written documentation of the terms and conditions of the parallel remission of forfeiture provided that:

(i) The terms and conditions of the civil penalty settlement are clearly delineated as relating separately and solely to any civil penalty claims; and

(ii) The wildlife owner agrees in writing to waive any notice of violation and notice of assessment required by part 11 of this subchapter and the opportunity for a hearing as conditions of civil penalty settlement.

(a) The Solicitor will notify you in writing of any decision to grant or deny a petition for remission or to dismiss the petition for failure to provide the information required in this part or to timely file that petition. The notification will advise you of the reasons for the decision made and the options, if any, available to you for addressing the decision.

(b) In the event that the Solicitor denies your petition for remission of forfeiture, you may file a supplemental petition for reconsideration if you have information or evidence not previously considered that is material to the basis for the denial or new documentation clearly demonstrating that the denial was erroneous. A supplemental petition must be received within 60 days from the date of the Solicitor's notification denying the original petition. You may file only one supplemental petition. The Solicitor's decision on your petition for remission will be the decision for the Service.

(a) If you receive a notice of seizure and proposed forfeiture, you may file a claim to the property by the deadline stated in the notice of seizure and proposed forfeiture. This deadline will be 35 days after the notice is mailed.

(b) If you did not receive a notice of seizure and proposed forfeiture, your claim must be received by the appropriate office not later than 30 days from the last date of final publication of the notice of the seizure of the property.

(c) A claim does not have to be in any particular form, but your claim must: be in writing, identify the specific property being claimed, state your interest in the specific property being claimed, and be made under oath subject to penalty of perjury. We will make a claim form available to you upon request.

(d) Your claim, by itself, will not entitle you or any other person to possession of the property. No bond is required to make a claim for judicial forfeiture proceedings. Rather, your claim will result in the Service referring the case, through the Solicitor, to the Department of Justice for civil judicial forfeiture. However, if you request possession of the property pending an administrative forfeiture decision under § 12.6, you will be required to post a bond under § 12.6 if your request is granted. This bond is only required to obtain interim possession of the property.

(e) Your claim must be made under oath by you as the claimant and not by an attorney or agent.

(f) If you are an individual claimant, you must sign the claim.

(1) If the claimant is a corporation or a form of limited liability business entity organized under a State law, an authorized officer or supervisory employee of the entity must sign the claim.

(2) If the claimant is a partnership or limited partnership, any general partner may sign the claim.

(3) If the claimant is a trust, estate, or fiduciary entity, such as a person to whom property is entrusted, the chief officer authorized by the trust, estate, or fiduciary entity must sign the claim.

If you have filed a claim and you think that continued possession of the property by the United States during the forfeiture proceeding will cause you substantial hardship, you may request under 18 U.S.C. 983(f) that the Service return the property to you pending the resolution of the judicial forfeiture proceeding. In determining whether to grant or deny your request, the Service will consider the factors set out in 18 U.S.C. 983(f). You must furnish evidence substantiating the hardship, and that none of the conditions set forth in 18 U.S.C. 983(f)(8) apply; for example, the property may not be contraband.

If a claim is filed in the forfeiture proceeding under § 12.36, the Solicitor will refer the case to the Department of Justice to include in a civil forfeiture complaint or in a criminal indictment.