A State fish and wildlife agency must certify the number of individuals having paid licenses to hunt and paid licenses to fish because the Service uses these data in statutory formulas to apportion funds in the Wildlife Restoration and Sport Fish Restoration programs among the States.

(a) A State fish and wildlife agency certifies the number of paid license holders by responding to the Director's annual request for the following information:

(1) The number of individual paid hunting license holders in the State during the State-specified certification period (certification period); and

(2) The number of individual paid fishing license holders in the State during the certification period.

(b) The State fish and wildlife agency director or their designee:

(1) Must certify the information described at paragraph (a) of this section in the format that the Director specifies;

(2) Must provide documentation to support the accuracy of this information at the Director's request;

(3) Is responsible for eliminating multiple counting of the same individuals in the information that they certify and may use statistical sampling, automated record consolidation, or other techniques approved by the Director for this purpose.

(c) If a State fish and wildlife agency director uses statistical sampling to eliminate multiple counting of the same individuals, they must ensure that the sampling is complete by the earlier of the following:

(1) Five years after the last statistical sample; or

(2) Before completing the first certification following any change in the licensing system that could affect the number of license holders.

A certification period must:

(a) Be 12 consecutive months;

(b) Correspond to the State's fiscal year or license year;

(c) Be consistent from year to year unless the Director approves a change; and

(d) End at least 1 year and no more than 2 years before the beginning of the FFY in which the apportioned funds first become available for expenditure.

(a) A State fish and wildlife agency must count only those individuals who have a license issued:

(1) In the license holder's name; or

(2) With a unique identifier that is traceable to the license holder, who must be verifiable in State records.

(b) An agency must count an individual in the annual certification:

(1) Only once, and in the certification period in which the license first becomes valid, when holding a single-year license. A single-year license is valid for any length of time from 1 day to less than 2 years. If valid 2 years or more, a license is considered a multiyear license and may be valid for a specific number of years that is 2 or more, or for the lifetime of the individual (see § 80.35(d)).

(2) Only for the number of years the license is valid and starting in the certification period in which the license first becomes valid, unless that year has already been certified in the case of multiyear licenses. An individual holding a multiyear license may be counted for only the number of years the license is valid and only during the applicable certification periods.

(3) Only for the number of years allowed under § 80.35, when holding a lifetime license.

(c) An individual is counted as a valid license holder when meeting requirements at § 80.34, even if the individual is not required to have a paid license.

(d) An individual having more than one valid hunting license is counted only once each certification period as a hunter. An individual having more than one valid fishing license is counted only once each certification period as an angler. An individual having both a valid hunting license and a valid fishing license, or a valid combination hunting/fishing license, may be counted once each certification period as a hunter and once each certification period as an angler. The license holder may have voluntarily obtained the license(s) or was required to obtain the license(s) to receive a different privilege.

(e) An individual who has a license that allows the license holder only to trap animals or only to engage in commercial fishing or other commercial activities must not be counted.

(a) Yes. A State fish and wildlife agency must receive a minimum amount of gross revenue for each year a license holder is certified.

(b) For the State fish and wildlife agency to certify a license holder, the agency must establish that it receives the following minimum gross revenue:

(1) $2 for each year the license is certified, for either the privilege to hunt or the privilege to fish; or

(2) $4 for each year the license is certified for a combination license that gives privileges to both hunt and fish.

In addition to the requirements at § 80.34, the following provisions apply to multiyear licenses:

(a) An agency may spend the proceeds derived from a multiyear license fee as soon as the agency receives payment.

(b) A multiyear license may be valid for either a specific or indeterminate number of years, but it must be valid for at least 2 years.

(c) The agency may count a license holder for the number of certification periods for which all the following requirements are met:

(1) The license holder meets all other requirements of this subpart;

(2) The license is currently valid;

(3) The agency received the minimum required revenue for each certification period during the duration of the license, in the case of a multiyear license with a specified ending date;

(4) The license holder remains alive (see paragraph (d) of this section), in the case of a lifetime license or other license with no specified ending date; and

(5) If the license is valid for less than the number of years that it meets the minimum required revenue, or the license exceeds the life expectancy of the holder, the agency may count the license holder only for the number of years during which all certification requirements are met. For example, an agency may count for 12 certification periods a license holder who purchased a single-privilege, multiyear license that sells for $25 and is valid for at least 12 years.

(d) The agency must use and document a reasonable technique for deciding how many multiyear-license holders remain alive in the certification period. Some examples of reasonable techniques are specific identification of license holders, statistical sampling, life-expectancy tables, and mortality tables. The agency may instead use 80 years of age as a default for life expectancy.

(e) For currently valid multiyear licenses sold prior to September 26, 2019 (the effective date of the rule promulgated at 84 FR 44772, August 27, 2019), an agency may apply the provisions of § 80.34 to those multiyear licenses under the following situations:

(1) All the requirements in paragraph (c) of this section are met.

(2) The agency may count a multiyear license holder only once in any certification period (see § 80.33) when the license holder purchased another license with the same privilege within an allowable future certification period.

(3) An agency must count the license holder only for the appropriate number of current or future certification periods. The provisions of § 80.34 are not retroactive to past certification periods.

(4) For an illustration of the applications provided in this paragraph (e), see table 1 to paragraph (e):

If a State fish and wildlife agency receives funds from the State or other entity to cover fees for some license holders, the agency may count those license holders in the annual certification only under the following conditions:

(a) The State funds to cover license fees must come from a source other than hunting- and fishing-license revenue.

(b) The State must identify funds to cover license fees separately from other funds provided to the agency.

(c) The State fish and wildlife agency must receive at least the average amount of State-provided discretionary funds that it received for the administration of the State's fish and wildlife agency during the State's 5 previous fiscal years.

(1) State-provided discretionary funds are those from the State's general fund that the State may increase or decrease if it chooses to do so.

(2) Some State-provided funds are from special taxes, trust funds, gifts, bequests, or other sources specifically dedicated to the support of the State fish and wildlife agency. These funds typically fluctuate annually due to interest rates, sales, or other factors. They are not discretionary funds for purposes of this part as long as the State does not take any action to reduce the amount available to its fish and wildlife agency.

(d) The State fish and wildlife agency must receive and account for the State or other entity funds as license revenue.

(e) The State fish and wildlife agency must issue licenses in the license holder's name or by using a unique identifier that is traceable to the license holder, who is verifiable in State records.

(f) The license fees must meet all other requirements in this part.

Yes. A State fish and wildlife agency may certify a license that is sold at a discount if the agency meets the rules for minimum gross revenue at § 80.34.

A State fish and wildlife agency may certify a license when an entity other than the agency offers a license that costs less than the regulated price only if:

(a) The license is issued to the individual according to the requirements at § 80.33;

(b) The amount received by the agency meets all other requirements in this subpart; and

(c) The license meets any other conditions required by the agency.

A State fish and wildlife agency must submit revised certified data on license holders within 90 days after it becomes aware of errors in its certified data. The State may become ineligible to participate in the benefits of the relevant Act if the State becomes aware of errors in its certified data and does not resubmit accurate certified data within 90 days.

The Service may recalculate an apportionment of funds based on revised certified license data under the following conditions:

(a) If the Service receives revised certified data for a pending apportionment before the Director approves the final apportionment, the Service may recalculate the pending apportionment.

(b) If the Service receives revised certified data for an apportionment after the Director has approved the final version of that apportionment, the Service may recalculate the apportionment only if it would not reduce funds to other State fish and wildlife agencies.

Yes. The Director may correct any error that the Service makes in apportioning funds.