Collapse to view only § 669a. Definitions
- § 669. Cooperation of Secretary of the Interior with States; conditions
- § 669a. Definitions
- § 669b. Authorization of appropriations
- § 669b-1. Authorization of appropriation of accumulated unappropriated receipts
- § 669c. Allocation and apportionment of available amounts
- § 669d. Apportionment; certification to States and Secretary of the Treasury; acceptance by States; disposition of funds not accepted
- § 669e. Submission and approval of plans and projects
- § 669f. Payment of funds to States; laws governing construction and labor
- § 669g. Maintenance of projects; expenditures for management of wildlife areas and resources
- § 669g-1. Payment of funds to and cooperation with Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Virgin Islands
- § 669h. Requirements and restrictions concerning use of amounts for expenses for administration
- § 669h-1. Firearm and bow hunter education and safety program grants
- § 669h-2. Multistate conservation grant program
- § 669i. Rules and regulations
- § 669j. Repealed.
- § 669k. Reports and certifications
- § 669l. Value of land
The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to cooperate with the States, through their respective State fish and game departments, in wildlife-restoration projects as hereinafter in this chapter set forth; but no money apportioned under this chapter to any State shall be expended therein until its legislature, or other State agency authorized by the State constitution to make laws governing the conservation of wildlife, shall have assented to the provision of this chapter and shall have passed laws for the conservation of wildlife which shall include a prohibition against the diversion of license fees paid by hunters for any other purpose than the administration of said State fish and game department, except that, until the final adjournment of the first regular session of the legislature held after September 2, 1937
Notwithstanding subsections (a) and (b) of this section, with respect to amounts transferred to the Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Account, so much of such amounts apportioned to any State for any fiscal year as remains unexpended at the close thereof shall remain available for obligation in that State until the close of the second succeeding fiscal year.
There is hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of the Federal aid to wildlife restoration fund established by the Act entitled “An Act to provide that the United States shall aid the States in wildlife-restoration projects, and for other purposes”, approved September 2, 1937, as amended (16 U.S.C., secs. 669–669i), for the 1956 fiscal year and for each fiscal year thereafter, an amount equal to 20 per centum of the accumulated unappropriated receipts in such fund on August 12, 1955, until the accumulated unappropriated receipts in such fund on such date have been appropriated and expended. Funds appropriated under the authority of this section shall be made available to the States in accordance with the provisions of, and under the apportionment formula set forth in, such Act of September 2, 1937, and shall be in addition to the funds appropriated under section 3 of such Act [16 U.S.C. 669b].
For fiscal year 2001 and each fiscal year thereafter, of the revenues (excluding interest accruing under section 669b(b) of this title) covered into the fund for the fiscal year, the Secretary of the Interior may use not more than the available amount specified in subparagraph (B) for the fiscal year for expenses for administration incurred in implementation of this chapter, in accordance with this subsection and section 669h of this title.
For each fiscal year, the available amount under paragraph (1) shall remain available for obligation for use under that paragraph until the end of the subsequent fiscal year.
Not later than 60 days after the end of a fiscal year, the Secretary of the Interior shall apportion among the States any of the available amount under paragraph (1) that remained available for obligation pursuant to subparagraph (A) during that fiscal year and remains unobligated at the end of that fiscal year.
The available amount apportioned under clause (i) shall be apportioned on the same basis and in the same manner as other amounts made available under this chapter were apportioned among the States for the fiscal year in which the amount was originally made available.
The Secretary of the Interior, after deducting the available amount under subsection (a), the amount apportioned under subsection (c), any amount apportioned under section 669g–1 of this title, and amounts provided as grants under sections 669h–1 and 669h–2 of this title, shall apportion the remainder of the revenue in said fund for each fiscal year among the several States in the following manner: One-half in the ratio which the area of each State bears to the total area of all the States, and one-half in the ratio which the number of paid hunting-license holders of each State in the second fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which such apportionment is made, as certified to said Secretary by the State fish and game departments, bears to the total number of paid hunting-license holders of all the States. Such apportionments shall be adjusted equitably so that no State shall receive less than one-half of 1 per centum nor more than 5 per centum of the total amount apportioned. The term fiscal year as used in this chapter shall be a period of twelve consecutive months from October 1 through the succeeding September 30, except that the period for enumeration of paid hunting-license holders shall be a State’s fiscal or license year.
Subject to paragraph (2), ½ of the revenues accruing to the fund under this chapter each fiscal year (beginning with the fiscal year 1975) from any tax imposed on pistols, revolvers, bows, and arrows shall be apportioned among the States in proportion to the ratio that the population of each State bears to the population of all the States.
The amount apportioned to each State under paragraph (1) shall be not greater than 3 percent and not less than 1 percent of the revenues described in such paragraph and Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and the Northern Mariana Islands shall each be apportioned one-sixth of 1 per centum of such revenues.
For the purpose of this subsection, population shall be determined on the basis of the latest decennial census for which figures are available, as certified by the Secretary of Commerce.
In addition to other uses authorized under this chapter, amounts apportioned under this subsection may be used for hunter recruitment and recreational shooter recruitment.
For each fiscal year, the Secretary of the Interior shall certify, at the time at which a deduction or apportionment is made, to the Secretary of the Treasury and to each State fish and game department the sum which he has estimated to be deducted for administering this chapter and the Migratory Bird Conservation Act [16 U.S.C. 715 et seq.] and the sum which he has apportioned to each State. Any State desiring to avail itself of the benefits of this chapter shall notify the Secretary of the Interior to this effect within sixty days after it has received the certification referred to in this section. The sum apportioned to any State which fails to notify the Secretary of the Interior as herein provided is authorized to be made available for expenditure by the Secretary of the Interior in carrying out the provisions of the Migratory Bird Conservation Act.
The Secretary of the Interior shall approve only such comprehensive plans or projects as may be substantial in character and design and the expenditure of funds hereby authorized shall be applied only to such approved comprehensive wildlife plans or projects and if otherwise applied they shall be replaced by the State before it may participate in any further apportionment under this chapter. No payment of any money apportioned under this chapter shall be made on any comprehensive wildlife plan or project until an agreement to participate therein shall have been submitted to and approved by the Secretary of the Interior.
If the State elects to avail itself of the benefits of this chapter by preparing a comprehensive fish and wildlife plan under option (1) of subsection (a) of this section, then the term “project” may be defined for the purposes of this chapter as a wildlife program, all other definitions notwithstanding.
Administrative costs in the form of overhead or indirect costs for services provided by State central service activities outside of the State agency having primary jurisdiction over the wildlife resources of the State which may be charged against programs or projects supported by the fund established by section 669b of this title shall not exceed in any one fiscal year 3 per centum of the annual apportionment to the State.
The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to cooperate with the Secretary of Agriculture of Puerto Rico, the Governor of Guam, the Governor of American Samoa, the Governor of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Governor of the Virgin Islands, in the conduct of wildlife-restoration projects, as defined in section 669a of this title, and hunter safety programs as provided by section 669g(b) of this title, upon such terms and conditions as he shall deem fair, just, and equitable, and is authorized to apportion to Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands, out of the money available for apportionment under this chapter, such sums as he shall determine, not exceeding for Puerto Rico one-half of 1 per centum, for Guam one-sixth of 1 per centum, for American Samoa one-sixth of one per centum, for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands one-sixth of 1 per centum, and for the Virgin Islands one-sixth of 1 per centum of the total amount apportioned, in any one year, but the Secretary shall in no event require any of said cooperating agencies to pay an amount which will exceed 25 per centum of the cost of any project. Any unexpended or unobligated balance of any apportionment made pursuant to this section shall be available for expenditure in Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or the Virgin Islands, as the case may be, in the succeeding year, on any approved project, and if unexpended or unobligated at the end of such year is authorized to be made available for expenditure by the Secretary of the Interior in carrying out the provisions of the Migratory Bird Conservation Act [16 U.S.C. 715 et seq.].
For any fiscal year, the Secretary of the Interior may use under paragraph (1) not more than $25,000.
The Secretary of the Interior shall not use available amounts under subsection (b) to supplement the funding of any function for which general appropriations are made for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service or any other entity of the Department of the Interior.
The Inspector General of the Department of the Interior shall procure the performance of biennial audits, in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, of expenditures and obligations of amounts used by the Secretary of the Interior for expenses for administration incurred in implementation of this chapter.
An audit under this subsection shall be performed under a contract that is awarded under competitive procedures (as defined in section 132 of title 41) by a person or entity that is not associated in any way with the Department of the Interior (except by way of a contract for the performance of an audit or other review).
The auditor selected under subparagraph (A) shall report to, and be supervised by, the Inspector General of the Department of the Interior, except that the auditor shall submit a copy of the biennial audit findings to the Secretary of the Interior at the time at which the findings are submitted to the Inspector General of the Department of the Interior.
Under paragraph (1), a State shall not be required to use more than the amount described in section 669g(b) of this title for hunter safety programs and the construction, operation, and maintenance of public target ranges.
Of the amount apportioned to a State for any fiscal year under section 669c(b) of this title, the State may elect to allocate not more than 10 percent, to be combined with the amount apportioned to the State under paragraph (1) for that fiscal year, for acquiring land for, expanding, or constructing a public target range.
Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Federal share of the cost of any activity carried out using a grant under this section shall not exceed 75 percent of the total cost of the activity.
The Federal share of the cost of acquiring land for, expanding, or constructing a public target range in a State on Federal or non-Federal land pursuant to this section or section 669g(b) of this title shall not exceed 90 percent of the cost of the activity.
Except as provided in subparagraph (B), amounts made available and apportioned for grants under this section shall remain available only for the fiscal year for which the amounts are apportioned.
Amounts provided for acquiring land for, constructing, or expanding a public target range shall remain available for expenditure and obligation during the 5-fiscal-year period beginning on October 1 of the first fiscal year for which the amounts are made available.
At the end of the period of availability under paragraph (1), the Secretary of the Interior shall apportion amounts made available that have not been used to make grants under this section among the States described in subsection (a)(1)(B) for use by those States in accordance with this chapter.
Not more than $3,000,000 of the revenues covered into the fund for a fiscal year shall be available to the Secretary of the Interior for making multistate conservation project grants in accordance with this section.
Not more than $5,000,000 of the revenues covered into the fund from any tax imposed under section 4161(b) of title 26 for a fiscal year shall be available to the Secretary exclusively for making hunter recruitment and recreational shooter recruitment grants that promote a national hunting and shooting sport recruitment program, including related communication and outreach activities.
Amounts made available under paragraph (1) shall remain available for making grants only for the first fiscal year for which the amount is made available and the following fiscal year.
At the end of the period of availability under subparagraph (A), the Secretary of the Interior shall apportion any amounts that remain available among the States in the manner specified in section 669c(b) of this title for use by the States in the same manner as funds apportioned under section 669c(b) of this title.
The Secretary of the Interior may make grants under this section only for projects identified on a priority list of wildlife restoration projects described in paragraph (3).
The Assistant Director for Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Programs shall publish in the Federal Register each priority list submitted under paragraph (3)(C).
Any nongovernmental organization that is found to use grant funds in violation of subparagraph (A) shall return all funds received under this section and be subject to any other applicable penalties under law.
A grant under this section shall not be used, in whole or in part, for an activity, project, or program that promotes or encourages opposition to the regulated hunting or trapping of wildlife or to recreational shooting activities.
Chapter 10 of title 5 shall not apply to any activity carried out under this section.
The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to make rules and regulations for carrying out the provisions of this chapter.
At the time at which the President submits to Congress a budget request for the Department of the Interior for fiscal year 2002, the Secretary of the Interior shall submit to the Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate a report on the steps that have been taken to comply with this title 1
At the time at which the President submits a budget request for the Department of the Interior for fiscal year 2002 and each fiscal year thereafter, the Secretary of the Interior shall report in writing to the Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate the amounts, broken down by category, that are intended to be used for the fiscal year under section 4(a)(1) of the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669c(a)(1)) and section 4(d)(1) of the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 777c(d)(1)).1
Not later than 60 days after the end of each fiscal year, each State that received amounts apportioned under the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669 et seq.) or the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 777 et seq.) for the fiscal year shall certify to the Secretary of the Interior in writing that the amounts were expended by the State in accordance with each of those Acts.
Not later than December 31 of a fiscal year, the Secretary of the Interior shall transmit all certifications under paragraph (1) for the previous fiscal year to the Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate.
The Secretary of the Interior shall not delegate the responsibility for making a certification under subsection (c) to any person except the Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any institution eligible to receive Federal funds under the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 7601 et seq.) shall be allowed to use the value of any land owned by the institution as an in-kind match to satisfy any cost sharing requirement under this chapter.