Recovering America's Wildlife Act
This bill amends the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act to direct the Department of the Treasury to transfer, beginning in FY2018, revenues from energy and mineral development on federal lands totaling $1.3 billion to the Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Subaccount of the Federal Aid to Wildlife Restoration Fund, to be available without further appropriation.
The bill revises the requirements governing how the funds from the subaccount may be used, including by requiring funds to be used to develop, revise, and implement state wildlife conservation strategies. The bill expands the allowable uses of the subaccount, including by allowing funds to be used for managing invasive and nuisance species and for law enforcement activities that are directly related to the conservation of species of the greatest conservation need.
Funds apportioned from the subaccount may not be conditioned upon the provision of public access to private lands, waters, or holdings.
The bill specifies what types of funds and donations states may use to meet matching fund requirements.
The bill revises the formula used to determine how funds are distributed to states.
[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4647 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
115th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4647
To amend the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act to make
supplemental funds available for management of fish and wildlife
species of greatest conservation need as determined by State fish and
wildlife agencies, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 14, 2017
Mr. Fortenberry (for himself and Mrs. Dingell) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act to make
supplemental funds available for management of fish and wildlife
species of greatest conservation need as determined by State fish and
wildlife agencies, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Recovering America's Wildlife Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) A diverse array of species of fish and wildlife is of
significant value to the United States for aesthetic,
ecological, educational, cultural, recreational, economic, and
scientific reasons.
(2) More than 100 million citizens of the United States
participate in outdoor recreation through hunting, fishing,
birding, and other wildlife-dependent recreation, all of which
have significant value to the citizens who engage in those
activities and provide economic benefits to local communities.
(3) It is in the interest of the United States--
(A) to retain for present and future generations
the opportunity to hunt, fish, observe, understand, and
appreciate a wide variety of fish and wildlife;
(B) to recover species of fish and wildlife listed
as threatened species or endangered species under the
Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.)
and to prevent fish and wildlife species from declining
to the point of requiring Federal protection under such
Act; and
(C) to support collaborative and proactive
conservation that will sustain the diverse fish and
wildlife populations of the United States.
(4) The first nongovernmental conservation organizations to
instill fish and wildlife conservation values in hunters,
anglers, bird watchers, and all citizens were founded during
the 1880s to 1890s at the behest of hunters and anglers,
including Theodore Roosevelt and naturalist George Bird
Grinnell, who were alarmed that game and sportfish could not
sustain unregulated harvest and that avifauna needed protection
from commercial take.
(5) At the turn of the 20th century, the States--
(A) realized the need to regulate the harvest of
game and sportfish for sustainable use;
(B) required hunters and anglers to obtain licenses
and established regulations for game seasons, bag and
creel limits, and legal means of take for game and
sportfish; and
(C) used the funds received for such licenses
largely for enforcement of such regulations.
(6) In 1937, an alliance between hunters and conservation
organizations, States, the Federal Government, and the shooting
sports industry convinced Congress to transfer to the States
receipts from an existing Federal excise tax on sporting arms
and ammunition, matched by State hunting license dollars, for
the management of wildlife and conservation of habitat under
the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669
et seq.), which greatly enhanced the States' ability to move
from primarily enforcing game seasons and bag limits to
science-based research and management of wildlife.
(7) In 1951, an alliance between anglers and conservation
organizations, States, the Federal Government, and the
sportfishing industry convinced Congress to impose a Federal
excise tax on fishing equipment under the Dingell-Johnson
Sportfish Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 777 et seq.) and to
transfer to the States such receipts, matched by State fishing
license revenues, to manage sportfish and conserve aquatic
habitats, enhancing the State fish and wildlife agency's
ability to use science-based research and management of fish
species.
(8) Such user-pay, public-benefits means of funding fish
and wildlife conservation is unique in the world, having been
started in the United States by sportsmen and sportswomen who
were willing to pay these fees to ensure dedicated funds went
to fish and wildlife conservation delivered by the States.
(9) Such user-pay funds (licenses and excise taxes)--
(A) have benefitted not only hunters and anglers,
but all citizens of the United States by providing
abundant fish and wildlife (including both game and
nongame species), clean water, outdoor recreation,
healthy activities, and quality of life; and
(B) provide, and will continue to provide, a
majority of the funds that are available to State fish
and wildlife agencies for science-based research and
management of fish and wildlife.
(10) State fish and wildlife agencies are responsible for
the conservation and management of all fish and wildlife in the
State, but are grossly underfunded because there are few funds
available at the State level for fish and wildlife
conservation, except those driven by hunting and fishing
license revenues and Federal excise tax revenues.
(11) Congress created a subaccount known as the Wildlife
Conservation and Restoration Subaccount under section 3(a)(2)
of the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C.
669b(a)(2)) to support the full array of fish and wildlife
conservation needs identified by State fish and wildlife
agencies, including for species that are not hunted or fished,
but only authorized appropriations for the Subaccount for one
year.
(12) While appropriated funds have been made available
through the State and Tribal Wildlife Grants program of the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the lack of assured
and sufficient dedicated funding for the Wildlife Conservation
and Restoration Subaccount has left unrealized the goals of the
Subaccount, thereby allowing fish and wildlife populations to
continue to decline across the United States and resulting in
hundreds of species being listed as threatened species or
endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
(13) Under the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act
(16 U.S.C. 669 et seq.), each State and territory is required
to seek public input and produce a comprehensive fish and
wildlife conservation strategy, otherwise known as a State
Wildlife Action Plan, to guide the State-led conservation of
the full array of fish, wildlife, and their habitats.
(14) Providing assured and sufficient dedicated funding to
the Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Subaccount will
advance the national interest by assuring sustainable
populations of fish and wildlife species are available for the
use and enjoyment of citizens of the United States through
implementing the comprehensive fish and wildlife conservation
strategy of each State and territory.
(15) As funds become available for the purposes of this
Act, sportsmen and sportswomen expect States to secure the
needed non-Federal match from sources other than revenue
generated by sportsmen and sportswomen through the sale of
State hunting and fishing licenses (except when projects or
programs benefit habitat for species that are hunted or fished
and other associated wildlife).
SEC. 3. WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION SUBACCOUNT.
(a) In General.--Section 3 of the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife
Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669b) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) by striking ``(1) An amount equal to'' and
inserting ``An amount equal to''; and
(B) by striking paragraph (2); and
(2) in subsection (c)--
(A) by striking ``(c)(1) Amounts transferred to the
Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Account'' and
inserting the following:
``(c) Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Subaccount.--
``(1) Establishment of subaccount.--
``(A) In general.--There is established in the
Federal Aid to Wildlife Restoration Fund a subaccount
to be known as the `Wildlife Conservation and
Restoration Subaccount' (referred to in this subsection
as the `Subaccount').
``(B) Availability.--Amounts in the Subaccount
shall be available without further appropriation, for
each fiscal year, for apportionment in accordance with
this Act.
``(C) Deposits into subaccount.--Beginning in
fiscal year 2018, the Secretary of the Treasury shall
transfer to the fund for deposit in the Subaccount the
following:
``(i) Outer continental shelf revenues.--
From amounts deposited in the Treasury under
section 9 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands
Act (43 U.S.C. 1338), $650,000,000.
``(ii) Mining revenues.--From amounts
deposited in the Treasury under section 35 of
the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 191), after
the withdrawal of funds to the States under
subsection (a) of that section, $650,000,000.
``(2) Supplement not supplant.--Amounts transferred to the
Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Subaccount'';
(B) in paragraph (2), as added by subparagraph
(A)--
(i) by striking ``wildlife restoration
account and'' and inserting ``wildlife
restoration account.''; and
(ii) by striking ``shall be used for the
development,'' and all that follows through
``existing programs and projects.'' and
inserting the following:
``(3) Use of funds.--Funds appropriated from the
Subaccount--
``(A) shall be used to carry out, revise, or
enhance existing wildlife conservation and restoration
programs and to develop and implement new wildlife
conservation and restoration programs to manage
wildlife species of greatest conservation need,
including species that are not hunted or fished, and
their habitats as determined by the appropriate State
fish and wildlife department;
``(B) shall be used to develop, revise and
implement a wildlife conservation strategy of the State
as may be required by this Act;
``(C) shall be used for wildlife conservation
education and wildlife-associated recreation projects;
``(D) may be used to assist in the recovery of a
species listed as an endangered species or threatened
species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.);
``(E) may be used to manage a species of greatest
conservation need whose range is shared with a foreign
government and the habitat of such species;
``(F) may be used to manage, control, and prevent
invasive and nuisance species and other risks to
species of greatest conservation need; and
``(G) may be used for law enforcement activities
that are directly related to the protection and
conservation of a species of greatest conservation need
and the habitat of such species.'';
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(4) Public access not required.--Funds apportioned from
the Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Subaccount shall not
be conditioned upon the provision of public access to private
lands, waters, or holdings.
``(5) Requirements for matching funds.--
``(A) In general.--For the purposes of the non-
Federal fund matching requirement for a wildlife
conservation or restoration program or project funded
by the Wildlife Conservation Restoration Subaccount, a
State--
``(i) may use as matching non-Federal
funds--
``(I) funds from Federal agencies
other than the Department of the
Interior and the Department of
Agriculture; and
``(II) donated private lands and
waters, including privately-owned
easements; and
``(ii) may not use as matching non-Federal
funds--
``(I) revenue from the sale of
State hunting and fishing licenses,
except if all available Federal funds
apportioned to a State fish and
wildlife agency from the Wildlife
Restoration Program or the Sport Fish
Restoration Program have been obligated
by the State, then revenue generated
through the sale of State hunting and
fishing licenses may be used as non-
Federal match for projects and programs
that benefit the habitat of species
that are hunted or fished and other
species that have greatest conservation
need.
``(6) Definitions.--For the purposes of this subsection--
``(A) Wildlife.--The term `wildlife' means any
species of wild, freeranging fauna, including fish, and
also fauna in captive breeding programs the object of
which is to reintroduce individuals of a depleted
indigenous species into previously occupied range.'';
(D) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as
paragraphs (7) and (8), respectively; and
(E) in paragraph (2), as redesignated by
subparagraph (D), by striking ``or an Indian tribe''.
(b) Allocation and Apportionment of Available Amounts.--Section 4
of the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669c) is
amended--
(1) in subsection (c)(2)(A)--
(A) in clause (i), by striking ``one-third'' and
inserting ``one-half''; and
(B) in clause (ii), by striking ``two-thirds'' and
inserting ``one-half''; and
(2) by adding at the end following:
``(e) Minimization of Planning and Reporting.--Nothing in this Act
shall be interpreted to require a State to create a comprehensive
strategy related to conservation education or outdoor recreation.''.
SEC. 4. CLARIFYING AMENDMENTS.
(a) Definitions.--Section 2 of the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife
Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669a) is amended--
(1) by striking paragraph (4);
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (5) through (8) as
paragraphs (4) through (7), respectively; and
(3) in paragraph (5), as so redesignated by paragraph (2),
by inserting ``Indian Tribes, academic institutions,'' before
``wildlife conservation organizations''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--The Pittman-Robertson Wildlife
Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669a et seq.) is amended--
(1) in section 3 (16 U.S.C. 669b)--
(A) in subsection (c)(3), by striking ``Account''
and inserting ``Subaccount''; and
(B) in subsection (d), by striking ``Account'' and
inserting ``Subaccount'';
(2) in section 4 (16 U.S.C. 669c)--
(A) in subsection (c)--
(i) in the subsection heading, by striking
``Account'' and inserting ``Subaccount'';
(ii) in the matter preceding subparagraph
(A), by striking ``Account'' and inserting
``Subaccount'';
(iii) in the matter preceding paragraph
(2)(A)(i), by striking ``Account'' and
inserting ``Subaccount''; and
(iv) in paragraph (3), by striking
``Account'' and inserting ``Subaccount''; and
(B) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ``Account''
and inserting ``Subaccount''; and
(3) in section 8 (16 U.S.C. 669g), in subsection (a), by
striking ``Account'' and inserting ``Subaccount''.
(c) Technical Amendments.--Section 4 of the Pittman-Robertson
Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669c) is amended--
(1) in the second subsection (c), by striking ``(c)'' and
inserting ``(d)''; and
(2) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (e).
SEC. 5. SAVINGS CLAUSE.
The Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669 et
seq.) is amended--
(1) by redesignating section 13 as section 14; and
(2) by inserting after section 12 the following:
``SEC. 13. SAVINGS CLAUSE.
``Nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect the authority,
jurisdiction, or responsibility of a State to manage, control, or
regulate fish and wildlife under the law and regulations of the State
on lands and waters within the State, including on Federal lands and
waters.
``SEC. 14. STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION WITH RESPECT TO ALASKA.
``(a) In General.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed to
affect--
``(1) the provisions for subsistence uses in Alaska set
forth in the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act
(16 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.), including the such provisions in
titles III and VIII of that Act;
``(2) the provisions of section 102 of the Alaska National
Interest Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.), the
jurisdiction over subsistence uses in Alaska, or any assertion
of subsistence uses in Alaska in the Federal courts; or
``(3) the manner in which section 810 of the Alaska
National Interest Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 3120) is
implemented on Federal lands and waters in Alaska.
``(b) Conflicts of Laws.--If any conflict arises between any
provision of this Act and any provision of the Alaska National Interest
Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.), then the provision in
the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act shall prevail.''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Federal Lands.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans.
Subcommittee Hearings Held.
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