Modernizing the Pittman-Robertson Fund for Tomorrow’s Needs Act

IB Union Calendar No. 513 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 877 [Report No. 116–628] To amend the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act to modernize the funding of wildlife conservation, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 30, 2019 Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia (for himself, Mr. VEASEY, Mr. HUDSON, and Mrs. DINGELL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources DECEMBER 8, 2020 Additional sponsors: Mr. GIANFORTE, Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia, Mr. WILLIAMS, Mr. HILL of Arkansas, Mr. WALBERG, Mr. LATTA, Mr. WEB- STER of Florida, Mr. MITCHELL, Ms. CHENEY, Mr. COLE, Mr. WITTMAN, Mr. HICE of Georgia, Mr. VAN DREW, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. UPTON, Mr. KUSTOFF of Tennessee, Mr. DESJARLAIS, Mr. WESTERMAN, Ms. TORRES SMALL of New Mexico, Ms. KENDRA S. HORN of Oklahoma, Mr. COX of California, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. PALAZZO, Mr. KIND, Mr. PETER- SON, Mr. FLEISCHMANN, Mr. KELLY of Mississippi, and Mr. GUEST DECEMBER 8, 2020 Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources; committed to the Com- mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Dec 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H877.RH H877 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 877 RH A BILL To amend the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act to modernize the funding of wildlife conservation, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Dec 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H877.RH H877 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 877 RH Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Modernizing the Pitt- 4 man-Robertson Fund for Tomorrow’s Needs Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 6 The first section of the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife 7 Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669) is amended by adding 8 at the end the following: ‘‘One of the purposes of this Act 9 is to provide financial and technical assistance to the 10 States for the promotion of hunting and recreational 11 shooting.’’. 12 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 13 Section 2 of the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restora- 14 tion Act (16 U.S.C. 669a) is amended— 15 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through 16 (8) as paragraphs (4) through (10), respectively; 17 and 18 (2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol- 19 lowing: 20 ‘‘(2) for the purposes of determining the num- 21 ber of paid hunting-license holders in a State, the 22 term ‘fiscal year’ means the fiscal year or license 23 year of the State; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Dec 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H877.RH H877 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 877 RH ‘‘(3) the term ‘hunter recruitment and rec- 1 reational shooter recruitment’ means any activity or 2 project to recruit or retain hunters and recreational 3 shooters, including by— 4 ‘‘(A) outreach and communications as a 5 means— 6 ‘‘(i) to improve communications with 7 hunters, recreational shooters, and the 8 general public with respect to hunting and 9 recreational shooting opportunities; 10 ‘‘(ii) to reduce barriers to participa- 11 tion in these activities; 12 ‘‘(iii) to advance the adoption of 13 sound hunting and recreational shooting 14 practices; 15 ‘‘(iv) to promote conservation and the 16 responsible use of the wildlife resources of 17 the United States; and 18 ‘‘(v) to further safety in hunting and 19 recreational shooting; 20 ‘‘(B) providing education, mentoring, and 21 field demonstrations; 22 ‘‘(C) enhancing access for hunting and rec- 23 reational shooting, including through range con- 24 struction; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Dec 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H877.RH H877 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 877 RH ‘‘(D) providing education to the public 1 about the role of hunting and recreational 2 shooting in funding wildlife conservation;’’. 3 SEC. 4. APPORTIONMENT OF AVAILABLE AMOUNTS. 4 (a) APPORTIONMENT OF CERTAIN TAXES.—The first 5 subsection (c) of section 4 of the Pittman-Robertson Wild- 6 life Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669c) is amended— 7 (1) by inserting ‘‘APPORTIONMENT OF REVE- 8 NUES FROM PISTOLS, REVOLVERS, BOWS, AND AR- 9 ROWS.—’’ after the enumerator; 10 (2) by striking ‘‘One-half’’ and inserting the fol- 11 lowing: 12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 13 1⁄2’’; 14 (3) by striking ‘‘: Provided, That’’ and inserting 15 a period; 16 (4) by striking ‘‘each State shall be apportioned 17 not more than 3 per centum and not less than 1 per 18 centum of such revenues’’ and inserting the fol- 19 lowing: 20 ‘‘(2) CONDITION.—The amount apportioned to 21 each State under paragraph (1) shall be not greater 22 than 3 percent and not less than 1 percent of the 23 revenues described in such paragraph’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Dec 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H877.RH H877 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 877 RH (5) by striking ‘‘For the purpose’’ and inserting 1 the following: 2 ‘‘(3) POPULATION DETERMINATION.—For the 3 purpose’’; and 4 (6) by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(4) USE OF FUNDS.—In addition to other uses 6 authorized under this Act, amounts apportioned 7 under this subsection may be used for hunter re- 8 cruitment and recreational shooter recruitment.’’. 9 (b) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—Section 4 of the Pitt- 10 man-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669c) 11 is amended by redesignating the second subsection (c) and 12 subsection (d) as subsections (d) and (e), respectively. 13 SEC. 5. EXPENDITURES FOR MANAGEMENT OF WILDLIFE 14 AREAS AND RESOURCES. 15 Section 8 of the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restora- 16 tion Act (16 U.S.C. 669g) is amended— 17 (1) in subsection (a), in the third sentence, by 18 striking ‘‘and public relations’’; and 19 (2) in subsection (b), in the first sentence, by 20 striking ‘‘, as a part of such program’’. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Dec 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H877.RH H877 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 877 RH SEC. 6. FIREARM AND BOW HUNTER EDUCATION AND SAFE- 1 TY PROGRAM GRANTS. 2 Section 10(a)(1)(A) of the Pittman-Robertson Wild- 3 life Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669h–1(a)(1)(A)) is 4 amended— 5 (1) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 6 and 7 (2) by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘(v) the enhancement of hunter re- 9 cruitment and recreational shooter recruit- 10 ment; and’’. 11 SEC. 7. MULTISTATE CONSERVATION GRANT PROGRAM. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 11 of the Pittman-Robert- 13 son Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669h–2) is 14 amended— 15 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 16 (A) by striking ‘‘Not more than’’ and in- 17 serting the following: 18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not more than’’; and 19 (B) by adding at the end the following: 20 ‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY FOR HUNTER AND 21 RECREATIONAL SHOOTER GRANTS.—Not more 22 than $5,000,000 of the revenues covered into 23 the fund from any tax imposed under section 24 4161(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 25 for a fiscal year shall be available to the Sec- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Dec 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H877.RH H877 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 877 RH retary exclusively for making hunter recruit- 1 ment and recreational shooter recruitment 2 grants that promote a national hunting and 3 shooting sport recruitment program, including 4 related communication and outreach activi- 5 ties.’’; 6 (2) in the matter preceding subsection 7 (b)(3)(A), by striking ‘‘International’’; 8 (3) in the matter preceding subsection 9 (c)(2)(A)(i), by striking ‘‘International’’; 10 (4) in subsection (c)(2)(A)(i), by inserting ‘‘or 11 to recreational shooting activities’’ after ‘‘wildlife’’; 12 and 13 (5) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘or to rec- 14 reational shooting activities’’ after ‘‘wildlife’’. 15 (b) STUDY.—Not later than 10 years after the date 16 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior, 17 acting through the Director of the United States Fish and 18 Wildlife Service, shall— 19 (1) review and evaluate the effects of the funds 20 made available under subparagraph (B) of section 21 11(a)(1) of the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restora- 22 tion Act (16 U.S.C. 669h–2(a)(1)) (as added by sub- 23 section (a)(1)(B)) on funds available for wildlife con- 24 servation; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Dec 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H877.RH H877 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 877 RH (2) submit a report describing the results of the 1 review and evaluation under paragraph (1) to— 2 (A) the Committee on Environment and 3 Public Works of the Senate; and 4 (B) the Committee on Natural Resources 5 of the House of Representatives. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Dec 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H877.RH H877 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS Union Calendar No. 513 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 877 [Report No. 116–628] A BILL To amend the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restora- tion Act to modernize the funding of wildlife con- servation, and for other purposes. DECEMBER 8, 2020 Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Dec 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H877.RH H877 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS