(a) In general

(1) Amount for grants

(A) In general

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.

(B) Availability for hunter and recreational shooter grants

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.

(2) Period of availability; apportionment

(A) Period of availability

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.

(B) Apportionment

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.

(b) Selection of projects

(1) States or entities to be benefited

A project shall not be eligible for a grant under this section unless the project will benefit—

(A) at least 26 States;

(B) a majority of the States in a region of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service; or

(C) a regional association of State fish and game departments.

(2) Use of submitted priority list of projects

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).

(3) Priority list of projects

A priority list referred to in paragraph (2) is a priority list of wildlife restoration projects that the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies—

(A) prepares through a committee comprised of the heads of State fish and game departments (or their designees), in consultation with—

(i) nongovernmental organizations that represent conservation organizations;

(ii) sportsmen organizations; and

(iii) industries that support or promote hunting, trapping, recreational shooting, bow hunting, or archery;


(B) approves by vote of a majority of the heads of State fish and game departments (or their designees); and

(C) not later than October 1 of each fiscal year, submits to the Assistant Director for Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Programs.

(4) Publication

The Assistant Director for Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Programs shall publish in the Federal Register each priority list submitted under paragraph (3)(C).

(c) Eligible grantees

(1) In general

The Secretary of the Interior may make a grant under this section only to—

(A) a State or group of States;

(B) the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, or a State or group of States, for the purpose of carrying out the National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation; and

(C) subject to paragraph (2), a nongovernmental organization.

(2) Nongovernmental organizations

(A) In general

Any nongovernmental organization that applies for a grant under this section shall submit with the application to the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies a certification that the organization—

(i) will not use the grant funds to fund, in whole or in part, any activity of the organization that promotes or encourages opposition to the regulated hunting or trapping of wildlife or to recreational shooting activities; and

(ii) will use the grant funds in compliance with subsection (d).

(B) Penalties for certain activities

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.

(d) Use of grants

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.

(e) Nonapplicability of chapter 10 of title 5

Terms Used In 16 USC 669h-2

  • association: when used in reference to a corporation, shall be deemed to embrace the words "successors and assigns of such company or association" in like manner as if these last-named words, or words of similar import, were expressed. See 1 USC 5
  • conservation: means the use of methods and procedures necessary or desirable to sustain healthy populations of wildlife, including all activities associated with scientific resources management such as research, census, 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 taking of individuals within wildlife stock or population if permitted by applicable State and Federal law. See 16 USC 669a
  • fiscal year: means the fiscal year or license year of the State. See 16 USC 669a
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • hunter recruitment and recreational shooter recruitment: means any activity or project to recruit or retain hunters and recreational shooters, including by&mdash. See 16 USC 669a
  • Secretary: means the Secretary of the Interior. See 16 USC 669a
  • State: shall include the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. See 16 USC 669c
  • 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. See 16 USC 669a

Chapter 10 of title 5 shall not apply to any activity carried out under this section.

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