II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1496 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a pilot program under 

which up to 15 States may issue electronic Federal migratory bird 

hunting stamps. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 26, 2005 

Mr. CRAPO (for himself, Mrs. LINCOLN, Mr. LOTT, and Mr. NELSON of Nebraska) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a pilot 

program under which up to 15 States may issue electronic Federal migratory bird hunting stamps. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Electronic Duck Stamp 

5 Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) on March 16, 1934, Congress passed and 

9 President Roosevelt signed the Act of March 16, 
2 

•S 1496 IS

1 1934 (16 U.S.C. 718a et seq.) (popularly known as 

2 the ‘‘Duck Stamp Act’’), which requires all migra3 tory waterfowl hunters 16 years of age or older to 

4 buy a Federal migratory bird hunting and conserva5 tion stamp annually; 

6 (2) the Federal Duck Stamp program has be7 come one of the most popular and successful con8 servation programs ever initiated; 

9 (3) because of that program, the United States 

10 again is teeming with migratory waterfowl and other 

11 wildlife that benefit from wetland habitats; 

12 (4) as of the date of enactment of this Act, 

13 1,700,000 migratory bird hunting and conservation 

14 stamps are sold each year; 

15 (5) as of 2003, those stamps have generated 

16 more than $600,000,000 in revenue that has been 

17 used to preserve more than 5,000,000 acres of mi18 gratory waterfowl habitat in the United States; and 

19 (6) many of the more than 540 national wildlife 

20 refuges have been paid for wholly or partially with 

21 that revenue. 

22 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

23 In this Act: 

24 (1) ACTUAL STAMP.—The term ‘‘actual stamp’’ 

25 means a Federal migratory-bird hunting and con-
3 

•S 1496 IS

1 servation stamp required under the Act of March 

2 16, 1934 (16 U.S.C. 718a et seq.) (popularly known 

3 as the ‘‘Duck Stamp Act’’), that is printed on paper 

4 and sold through a means in use immediately before 

5 the date of enactment of this Act. 

6 (2) AUTOMATED LICENSING SYSTEM.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘automated 

8 licensing system’’ means an electronic, comput9 erized licensing system used by a State fish and 

10 wildlife agency to issue hunting, fishing, and 

11 other associated licenses and products. 

12 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘automated li13 censing system’’ includes a point-of-sale, Inter14 net, or telephonic system used for a purpose de15 scribed in subparagraph (A). 

16 (3) ELECTRONIC STAMP.—The term ‘‘electronic 

17 stamp’’ means an electronic version of an actual 

18 stamp that— 

19 (A) is a unique identifier for the individual 

20 to whom it is issued; 

21 (B) can be printed on paper; 

22 (C) is issued through a State automated li23 censing system that is authorized, under State 

24 law and by the Secretary under this Act, to 

25 issue electronic stamps; 
4 

•S 1496 IS

1 (D) is compatible with the hunting licens2 ing system of the State that issues the elec3 tronic stamp; and 

4 (E) is described in the State application 

5 approved by the Secretary under section 4(b). 

6 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

7 the Secretary of the Interior. 

8 SEC. 4. ELECTRONIC DUCK STAMP PILOT PROGRAM. 

9 (a) REQUIREMENT TO CONDUCT PROGRAM.—The 

10 Secretary shall conduct a 3-year pilot program under 

11 which up to 15 States authorized by the Secretary may 

12 issue electronic stamps. 

13 (b) COMMENCEMENT AND DURATION OF PRO14 GRAM.—The Secretary shall— 

15 (1) use all means necessary to expeditiously im16 plement this section by the date that is 1 year after 

17 the beginning of the first full Federal migratory wa18 terfowl hunting season after the date of enactment 

19 of this Act; and 

20 (2) carry out the pilot program for 3 Federal 

21 migratory waterfowl hunting seasons. 

22 (c) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall carry out 

23 the program in consultation with State management agen24 cies. 
5 

•S 1496 IS

1 SEC. 5. STATE APPLICATION. 

2 (a) APPROVAL OF APPLICATION REQUIRED.—A 

3 State may not participate in the pilot program under this 

4 Act unless the Secretary has received and approved an ap5 plication submitted by the State in accordance with this 

6 section. 

7 (b) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—The Secretary 

8 may not approve a State application unless the application 

9 contains— 

10 (1) a description of the format of the electronic 

11 stamp that the State will issue under the pilot pro12 gram, including identifying features of the licensee 

13 that will be specified on the stamp; 

14 (2) a description of any fee the State will 

15 charge for issuance of an electronic stamp; 

16 (3) a description of the process the State will 

17 use to account for and transfer to the Secretary the 

18 amounts collected by the State that are required to 

19 be transferred to the Secretary under the program; 

20 (4) the manner by which the State will transmit 

21 electronic stamp customer data to the Secretary; 

22 (5) the manner by which actual stamps will be 

23 delivered; 

24 (6) the policies and procedures under which the 

25 State will issue duplicate electronic stamps; and 
6 

•S 1496 IS

1 (7) such other policies, procedures, and infor2 mation as may be reasonably required by the Sec3 retary. 

4 (c) PUBLICATION OF DEADLINES, ELIGIBILITY RE5 QUIREMENTS, AND SELECTION CRITERIA.—Not later than 

6 30 days before the date on which the Secretary begins ac7 cepting applications for participation in the pilot program, 

8 the Secretary shall publish— 

9 (1) deadlines for submission of applications to 

10 participate in the program; 

11 (2) eligibility requirements for participation in 

12 the program; and 

13 (3) criteria for selecting States to participate in 

14 the program. 

15 SEC. 6. STATE OBLIGATIONS AND AUTHORITIES. 

16 (a) DELIVERY OF ACTUAL STAMP.—The Secretary 

17 shall require that each individual to whom a State sells 

18 an electronic stamp under the pilot program shall receive 

19 an actual stamp— 

20 (1) by not later than the date on which the 

21 electronic stamp expires under section 7(c); and 

22 (2) in a manner agreed upon by the State and 

23 Secretary. 

24 (b) COLLECTION AND TRANSFER OF ELECTRONIC

25 STAMP REVENUE AND CUSTOMER INFORMATION.— 
7 

•S 1496 IS

1 (1) REQUIREMENT TO TRANSMIT.—The Sec2 retary shall require each State participating in the 

3 pilot program to collect and submit to the Secretary 

4 in accordance with this section— 

5 (A) the first name, last name, and com6 plete mailing address of each individual that 

7 purchases an electronic stamp from the State; 

8 (B) the face value amount of each elec9 tronic stamp sold by the State; and 

10 (C) the amount of the Federal portion of 

11 any fee required by the agreement for each 

12 stamp sold. 

13 (2) TIME OF TRANSMITTAL.—The Secretary 

14 shall require the submission under paragraph (1) to 

15 be made with respect to sales of electronic stamps 

16 by a State occurring in a month— 

17 (A) by not later than the 15th day of the 

18 subsequent month; or 

19 (B) as otherwise specified in the applica20 tion of the State approved by the Secretary 

21 under section 5. 

22 (3) ADDITIONAL FEES NOT AFFECTED.—This 

23 section shall not apply to the State portion of any 

24 fee collected by a State under subsection (c). 
8 

•S 1496 IS

1 (c) ELECTRONIC STAMP ISSUANCE FEE.—A State 

2 participating in the pilot program may charge a reason3 able fee to cover costs incurred by the State and the De4 partment of the Interior in issuing electronic stamps 

5 under the program, including costs of delivery of actual 

6 stamps. 

7 (d) DUPLICATE ELECTRONIC STAMPS.—A State par8 ticipating in the pilot program may issue a duplicate elec9 tronic stamp to replace an electronic stamp issued by the 

10 State that is lost or damaged. 

11 (e) LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY TO REQUIRE PUR12 CHASE OF STATE LICENSE.—A State may not require 

13 that an individual purchase a State hunting license as a 

14 condition of issuing an electronic stamp under the pilot 

15 program. 

16 SEC. 7. ELECTRONIC STAMP REQUIREMENTS; RECOGNI17 TION OF ELECTRONIC STAMP. 

18 (a) STAMP REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall re19 quire an electronic stamp issued by a State under the pilot 

20 program— 

21 (1) to have the same format as any other li22 cense, validation, or privilege the State issues under 

23 the automated licensing system of the State; and 
9 

•S 1496 IS

1 (2) to specify identifying features of the licensee 

2 that are adequate to enable Federal, State, and 

3 other law enforcement officers to identify the holder. 

4 (b) RECOGNITION OF ELECTRONIC STAMP.—Any 

5 electronic stamp issued by a State under the pilot program 

6 shall, during the effective period of the electronic stamp— 

7 (1) bestow upon the licensee the same privileges 

8 as are bestowed by an actual stamp; 

9 (2) be recognized nationally as a valid Federal 

10 migratory bird hunting and conservation stamp; and 

11 (3) authorize the licensee to hunt migratory wa12 terfowl in any other State, in accordance with the 

13 laws of the other State governing that hunting. 

14 (c) DURATION.—An electronic stamp issued by a 

15 State under the pilot program shall be valid for a period 

16 agreed to by the State and the Secretary, which shall not 

17 exceed 45 days. 

18 SEC. 8. TERMINATION OF STATE PARTICIPATION. 

19 Participation by a State in the pilot program may be 

20 terminated— 

21 (1) by the Secretary, if the Secretary— 

22 (A) finds that the State has violated any of 

23 the terms of the application of the State ap24 proved by the Secretary under section 5; and 
10 

•S 1496 IS

1 (B) provides to the State written notice of 

2 the termination by not later than the date that 

3 is 30 days before the date of termination; or 

4 (2) by the State, by providing written notice to 

5 the Secretary by not later than the date that is 30 

6 days before the termination date. 

7 SEC. 9. EVALUATION. 

8 (a) EVALUATION.—The Secretary, in consultation 

9 with State fish and wildlife management agencies and ap10 propriate stakeholders with expertise specific to the duck 

11 stamp program, shall evaluate the pilot program and de12 termine whether the pilot program has provided a cost13 effective and convenient means for issuing migratory-bird 

14 hunting and conservation stamps, including whether the 

15 program has— 

16 (1) increased the availability of those stamps; 

17 (2) assisted States in meeting the customer 

18 service objectives of the States with respect to those 

19 stamps; 

20 (3) maintained actual stamps as an effective 

21 and viable conservation tool; and 

22 (4) maintained adequate retail availability of 

23 the traditional paper stamp. 
11 

•S 1496 IS

1 (b) REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit to Con2 gress a report on the findings of the Secretary under sub3 section (a). 

Æ