16 U.S.C. § 669 — Cooperation of Secretary of the Interior

Page 1187 TITLE 16—CONSERVATION § 669 Sec. 669k. Reports and certifications. 669l. Value of land. § 669. Cooperation of Secretary of the Interior with States; conditions The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to cooperate with the States, through their respec- tive State fish and game departments, in wild- life-restoration projects as hereinafter in this chapter set forth; but no money apportioned under this chapter to any State shall be ex- pended therein until its legislature, or other State agency authorized by the State constitu- tion 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 de- partment, except that, until the final adjourn- ment of the first regular session of the legisla- ture held after September 2, 1937, the assent of the Governor of the State shall be sufficient. The Secretary of the Interior and the State fish and game department of each State accepting the benefits of this chapter, shall agree upon the wildlife-restoration projects to be aided in such State under the terms of this chapter and all projects shall conform to the standards fixed by the Secretary of the Interior. One of the pur- poses of this chapter is to provide financial and technical assistance to the States for the pro- motion of hunting and recreational shooting. (Sept. 2, 1937, ch. 899, § 1, 50 Stat. 917; 1939 Reorg. Plan No. II, § 4(f), eff. July 1, 1939, 4 F.R. 2731, 53 Stat. 1433; Pub. L. 116–94, div. P, title V, § 501(b), Dec. 20, 2019, 133 Stat. 3191.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2019—Pub. L. 116–94 inserted at end ‘‘One of the pur- poses of this chapter is to provide financial and tech- nical assistance to the States for the promotion of hunting and recreational shooting.’’ Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries SHORT TITLE OF 2019 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 116–94, div. P, title V, § 501(a), Dec. 20, 2019, 133 Stat. 3191, provided that: ‘‘This title [amending this section and sections 669a, 669c, 669g, 669h–1, and 669h–2 of this title and enacting provisions set out as a note under section 669h–2 of this title] may be cited as the ‘Modernizing the Pittman-Robertson Fund for Tomor- row’s Needs Act’.’’ Pub. L. 116–17, § 1, May 10, 2019, 133 Stat. 866, provided that: ‘‘This Act [amending sections 669a, 669g, and 669h–1 of this title and enacting provisions set out as a note under section 669a of this title] may be cited as the ‘Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Sup- port Act’.’’ SHORT TITLE OF 2000 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 106–408, § 1(a), Nov. 1, 2000, 114 Stat. 1762, pro- vided that: ‘‘This Act [see Tables for classification] may be cited as the ‘Fish and Wildlife Programs Im- provement and National Wildlife Refuge System Cen- tennial Act of 2000’.’’ Pub. L. 106–408, title I, § 101(a), Nov. 1, 2000, 114 Stat. 1763, provided that: ‘‘This title [enacting sections 669h–1, 669h–2, 669k, 742b–1, and 777m of this title, amending sections 669c, 669d, 669g, 669h, 669i, 777c, 777d and 777h of this title and section 9504 of Title 26, Inter- nal Revenue Code, enacting provisions set out as notes under this section and section 777 of this title, and re- pealing provisions set out as a note under section 777 of this title] may be cited as the ‘Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Programs Improvement Act of 2000’.’’ SHORT TITLE OF 1970 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 91–503, title I, § 103, Oct. 23, 1970, 84 Stat. 1101, provided that: ‘‘This title [amending section 669b and sections 669c to 669g–1 of this title] may be cited as the ‘Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act Amendments of 1970’.’’ SHORT TITLE Act Sept. 2, 1937, ch. 899, § 14, formerly § 13, as added by Pub. L. 106–408, title I, § 101(b), Nov. 1, 2000, 114 Stat. 1763, and amended and renumbered by Pub. L. 116–188, title III, § 303(1), Oct. 30, 2020, 134 Stat. 941, provided that: ‘‘This Act [enacting this chapter] may be cited as the ‘Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act’.’’ Act Sept. 2, 1937, ch. 899, as amended, is also popu- larly known as the ‘‘Federal Aid in Wildlife Restora- tion Act’’. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND DEFINITION IN PUB. L. 106–553 Pub. L. 106–553, § 1(a)(2) [title IX, § 902(a), (b)], Dec. 21, 2000, 114 Stat. 2762, 2762A–119, provided that: ‘‘(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section [amend- ing sections 669a, 669b, 669c, 669g, and 4406 of this title, and enacting provisions set out as notes under this sec- tion] are— ‘‘(1) to extend financial and technical assistance to the States under the Federal Aid to [in] Wildlife Res- toration Act [16 U.S.C. 669 et seq.] for the benefit of a diverse array of wildlife and associated habitats, in- cluding species that are not hunted or fished, to ful- fill unmet needs of wildlife within the States in rec- ognition of the primary role of the States to conserve all wildlife; ‘‘(2) to assure sound conservation policies through the development, revision, and implementation of a comprehensive wildlife conservation and restoration plan; ‘‘(3) to encourage State fish and wildlife agencies to participate with the Federal Government, other State agencies, wildlife conservation organizations and outdoor recreation and conservation interests through cooperative planning and implementation of this title [enacting section 1356a of Title 43, Public Lands, amending sections 669a, 669b, 669c, 669g, and 4406 of this title, and enacting provisions set out as notes under this section]; and ‘‘(4) to encourage State fish and wildlife agencies to provide for public involvement in the process of de- velopment and implementation of a wildlife conserva- tion and restoration program. ‘‘(b) REFERENCE TO LAW.—In this section, the term ‘Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act’ means the Act of September 2, 1937 (16 U.S.C. 669 et seq.), com- monly referred to as the Federal Aid in Wildlife Res- toration Act or the Pittman-Robertson Act.’’ INAPPLICABILITY OF CHAPTER 10 OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE Pub. L. 106–553, § 1(a)(2) [title IX, § 902(f)], Dec. 21, 2000, 114 Stat. 2762, 2762A–123, as amended by Pub. L. 117–286, § 4(a)(100), Dec. 27, 2022, 136 Stat. 4316, provided that: ‘‘Coordination with State fish and wildlife agency per- sonnel or with personnel of other State agencies pursu- ant to the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act [16 U.S.C. 669 et seq.] or the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Res- toration Act [16 U.S.C. 777 et seq.] shall not be subject to chapter 10 of title 5, United States Code. Except for the preceding sentence, the provisions of this title [en- acting section 1356a of Title 43, Public Lands, amending Page 1188 TITLE 16—CONSERVATION § 669a 1 So in original. The period probably should be a semicolon. 2 See References in Text note below. sections 669a, 669b, 669c, 669g, and 4406 of this title, and enacting provisions set out as notes under this section] relate solely to wildlife conservation and restoration programs and shall not be construed to affect the provi- sions of the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act re- lating to wildlife restoration projects or the provisions of the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act relat- ing to fish restoration and management projects.’’ PROHIBITION AGAINST DIVERSION Pub. L. 106–553, § 1(a)(2) [title IX, § 902(h)], Dec. 21, 2000, 114 Stat. 2762, 2762A–124, provided that: ‘‘No des- ignated State agency shall be eligible to receive match- ing funds under this title [enacting section 1356a of Title 43, Public Lands, amending sections 669a, 669b, 669c, 669g, and 4406 of this title, and enacting provisions set out as notes under this section] if sources of rev- enue available to it after January 1, 2000, for conserva- tion of wildlife are diverted for any purpose other than the administration of the designated State agency, it being the intention of Congress that funds available to States under this title be added to revenues from exist- ing State sources and not serve as a substitute for reve- nues from such sources. Such revenues shall include in- terest, dividends, or other income earned on the fore- going.’’ DESIGNATION OF PROGRAMS Pub. L. 106–408, title I, § 131, Nov. 1, 2000, 114 Stat. 1775, provided that: ‘‘The programs established under the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669 et seq.) and the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 777 et seq.) shall be known as the ‘Federal Assistance Program for State Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration’.’’ Executive Documents TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS Reorg. Plan No. II of 1939, set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees, transferred functions of Secretary of Agriculture relat- ing to conservation of wildlife, game, and migratory birds to Secretary of the Interior. § 669a. Definitions As used in this chapter— (1) the term ‘‘conservation’’ means the use of methods and procedures necessary or desirable to sustain healthy populations of wildlife, in- cluding all activities associated with scientific resources management such as research, cen- sus, monitoring of populations, acquisition, improvement and management of habitat, live trapping and transplantation, wildlife damage management, and periodic or total protection of a species or population, as well as the tak- ing of individuals within wildlife stock or pop- ulation if permitted by applicable State and Federal law; (2) for the purposes of determining the num- ber of paid hunting-license holders in a State, the term ‘‘fiscal year’’ means the fiscal year or license year of the State; (3) the term ‘‘hunter recruitment and rec- reational shooter recruitment’’ means any ac- tivity or project to recruit or retain hunters and recreational shooters, including by— (A) outreach and communications as a means— (i) to improve communications with hunters, recreational shooters, and the general public with respect to hunting and recreational shooting opportunities; (ii) to reduce barriers to participation in these activities; (iii) to advance the adoption of sound hunting and recreational shooting prac- tices; (iv) to promote conservation and the re- sponsible use of the wildlife resources of the United States; and (v) to further safety in hunting and rec- reational shooting; (B) providing education, mentoring, and field demonstrations; (C) enhancing access for hunting and rec- reational shooting, including through range construction; and (D) providing education to the public about the role of hunting and recreational shooting in funding wildlife conservation; (4) the term ‘‘public target range’’ means a specific location that— (A) is identified by a governmental agency for recreational shooting; (B) is open to the public; (C) may be supervised; and (D) may accommodate archery or rifle, pis- tol, or shotgun shooting; (5) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec- retary of the Interior; (6) the term ‘‘State fish and game depart- ment’’ or ‘‘State fish and wildlife department’’ means any department or division of depart- ment of another name, or commission, or offi- cial or officials, of a State empowered under its laws to exercise the functions ordinarily exercised by a State fish and game department or State fish and wildlife department.1 (7) the term ‘‘wildlife’’ means any species of wild, free-ranging 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; (8) the term ‘‘wildlife-associated recreation’’ means projects intended to meet the demand for outdoor activities associated with wildlife including, but not limited to, hunting and fishing, wildlife observation and photography, such projects as construction or restoration of wildlife viewing areas, observation towers, blinds, platforms, land and water trails, water access, field trialing, trail heads, and access for such projects; (9) the term ‘‘wildlife conservation and res- toration program’’ means a program developed by a State fish and wildlife department and approved by the Secretary under section 669c(d) 2 of this title, the projects that con- stitute such a program, which may be imple- mented in whole or part through grants and contracts by a State to other State, Federal, or local agencies (including those that gather, evaluate, and disseminate information on wildlife and their habitats), wildlife conserva- tion organizations, and outdoor recreation and conservation education entities from funds ap- portioned under this chapter,2 and mainte- nance of such projects; (10) the term ‘‘wildlife conservation edu- cation’’ means projects, including public out-