I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1494 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 6, 2005 

Mr. KIND (for himself and Mr. PICKERING) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Resources 

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 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) On March 16, 1934, the Congress passed 

9 and President Roosevelt signed the Act popularly 
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1 known as the Duck Stamp Act (16 U.S.C. 718a et 

2 seq.), which requires all migratory waterfowl hunters 

3 16 years of age or older to buy a Federal migratory 

4 bird hunting and conservation stamp annually. 

5 (2) The Federal Duck Stamp program has be6 come one of the most popular and successful con7 servation programs ever initiated. Because of it, our 

8 country again is teeming with migratory waterfowl 

9 and other wildlife that benefits from the wetland 

10 habitats. 

11 (3) Today, 1.7 million migratory bird hunting 

12 and conservation stamps are sold each year. As of 

13 2003, such stamps have generated more than 

14 $600,000,000 in revenue that has been used to pre15 serve over 5 million acres of migratory waterfowl 

16 habitat in the United States. Many of the more than 

17 540 national wildlife refuges have been paid for all 

18 or in part with such revenue. 

19 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

20 In this section: 

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

22 means a Federal migratory-bird hunting and con23 servation stamp required under the Act of March 

24 16, 1934 (chapter 71; 16 U.S.C. 718a et seq., popu25 larly known as the Duck Stamp Act), that is printed 
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1 on paper and sold through a means in use imme2 diately before the enactment of this section. 

3 (2) AUTOMATED LICENSING SYSTEM.—The 

4 term ‘‘automated licensing system’’— 

5 (A) means an electronic, computerized li6 censing system used by a State fish and wildlife 

7 agency to issue hunting, fishing, and other as8 sociated licenses and products; and 

9 (B) includes a point-of-sale, Internet, or 

10 telephonic system used for such purpose. 

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

12 stamp’’ means an electronic version of an actual 

13 stamp, that— 

14 (A) is a unique identifier for the individual 

15 to whom it is issued; 

16 (B) can be printed on paper; 

17 (C) is issued through a State automated li18 censing system that is authorized, under State 

19 law and by the Secretary under this section, to 

20 issue electronic stamps; 

21 (D) is compatible with the hunting licens22 ing system of the State that issues the elec23 tronic stamp; and 

24 (E) is described in the State application 

25 approved by the Secretary under section 4(b). 
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1 SEC. 4. ELECTRONIC DUCK STAMP PILOT PROGRAM. 

2 (a) REQUIREMENT TO CONDUCT PROGRAM.—The 

3 Secretary of the Interior shall conduct a 3-year pilot pro4 gram under which up to 15 States authorized by the Sec5 retary may issue electronic stamps. 

6 (b) COMMENCEMENT AND DURATION OF PRO7 GRAM.—The Secretary— 

8 (1) shall use all means necessary to expedi9 tiously implement this section no later than one year 

10 after the beginning of the first full Federal migra11 tory waterfowl hunting seasons after the date of the 

12 enactment of this Act; and 

13 (2) shall carry out the pilot program for 3 Fed14 eral migratory waterfowl hunting seasons. 

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

16 the program in consultation with State management agen17 cies. 

18 SEC. 5. STATE APPLICATION. 

19 (a) APPROVAL OF APPLICATION REQUIRED.—A 

20 State may not participate in the pilot program under this 

21 Act unless the Secretary has received and approved an ap22 plication submitted by the State in accordance with this 

23 section. 

24 (b) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—The Secretary 

25 may not approve a State application unless the application 

26 contains the following: 
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1 (1) A description of the format of the electronic 

2 stamp that the State will issue under the pilot pro3 gram, including identifying features of licensee that 

4 will be specified on the stamp. 

5 (2) A description of any fee the State will 

6 charge for issuance of an electronic stamp. 

7 (3) A description of the process the State will 

8 use to account for and transfer to the Secretary the 

9 amounts collected by the State that are required to 

10 be transferred to the Secretary under the program. 

11 (4) The manner by which the State will trans12 mit electronic stamp customer data to the Secretary. 

13 (5) The manner by which the State will deliver 

14 actual stamps. 

15 (6) The policies and procedures under which 

16 the State will issue duplicate electronic stamps. 

17 (7) Such other policies, procedures, and infor18 mation as may be reasonably required by the Sec19 retary. 

20 (c) PUBLICATION OF DEADLINES, ELIGIBILITY RE21 QUIREMENTS, AND SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Secretary 

22 shall, by not later than 30 days before receiving applica23 tions for participation in the pilot program, publish— 

24 (1) deadlines for submission of applications to 

25 participate in the program; 
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1 (2) eligibility requirements for participation in 

2 the program; and 

3 (3) criteria for selecting States to participate in 

4 the program. 

5 SEC. 6. STATE OBLIGATIONS AND AUTHORITIES. 

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

7 shall require that a State must provide an actual stamp 

8 to each individual to whom the State sells an electronic 

9 stamp under the pilot program, by not later than the date 

10 the electronic stamp expires under section 7(c). 

11 (b) COLLECTION AND TRANSFER OF ELECTRONIC

12 STAMP REVENUE AND CUSTOMER INFORMATION.— 

13 (1) REQUIREMENT TO TRANSMIT.—The Sec14 retary shall require that each State participating in 

15 the pilot program State must collect and transmit to 

16 the Secretary in accordance with this section— 

17 (A) the first name, last name, and com18 plete mailing address of each individual that 

19 purchases an electronic stamp from the State; 

20 and 

21 (B) the face value amount of each elec22 tronic stamp sold by the State. 

23 (2) TIME OF TRANSMITTAL.—The Secretary 

24 shall require the transmittal under paragraph (1) to 
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1 be made with respect to sales of electronic stamps 

2 by a State occurring in a month— 

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

4 subsequent month; or 

5 (B) as otherwise specified in the applica6 tion of the State approved by the Secretary 

7 under section 5. 

8 (3) ADDITIONAL FEES NOT AFFECTED.—This 

9 section shall not apply to any fee collected by a 

10 State under subsection (c). 

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

12 participating in the pilot program may charge a reason13 able fee to cover costs incurred by the State in issuing 

14 electronic stamps under the program, including costs of 

15 delivery of actual stamps. 

16 (d) DUPLICATE ELECTRONIC STAMPS.—A State par17 ticipating in the pilot program may issue a duplicate elec18 tronic stamp to replace an electronic stamp issued by the 

19 State that is lost or damaged. 

20 (e) LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY TO REQUIRE PUR21 CHASE OF STATE LICENSE.—A State may not require 

22 that an individual purchase a State hunting license as a 

23 condition of issuing an electronic stamp under the pilot 

24 program. 
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1 SEC. 7. ELECTRONIC STAMP REQUIREMENTS; RECOGNI2 TION OF ELECTRONIC STAMP. 

3 (a) STAMP REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall re4 quire that an electronic stamp issued by a State under 

5 the pilot program must— 

6 (1) have the same format as any other license, 

7 validation, or privilege the State issues under its 

8 automated licensing system; and 

9 (2) specify identifying features of the licensee 

10 that are adequate to enable Federal, State, and 

11 other law enforcement officers to identify the holder. 

12 (b) RECOGNITION OF ELECTRONIC STAMP.—Any 

13 electronic stamp issued by a State under the pilot program 

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

15 (1) bestow to the licensee the same privileges as 

16 are bestowed by an actual stamp; 

17 (2) be recognized nationally as a valid Federal 

18 migratory bird hunting and conservation stamp; and 

19 (3) authorize the licensee to hunt migratory wa20 terfowl in any other State, in accordance with the 

21 laws of the other State governing such hunting. 

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

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

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

25 exceed 45 days. 
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1 SEC. 8. TERMINATION OF STATE PARTICIPATION. 

2 Participation by a State in the pilot program may be 

3 terminated— 

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

5 (A) finds that the State has violated of the 

6 terms the application of the State approved by 

7 the Secretary under section 5; and 

8 (B) provides to the State written notice of 

9 such termination by not later than 30 days be10 fore the date of termination; or 

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

12 the Secretary by not later 30 days before the termi13 nation date. 

14 SEC. 9. EVALUATION. 

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

16 with State fish and wildlife management agencies, shall 

17 evaluate the pilot program and determine if it has pro18 vided a cost-effective and convenient means for issuing mi19 gratory-bird hunting and conservation stamps, including 

20 whether the program has— 

21 (1) increased the availability of such stamps; 

22 (2) assisted States in meeting their customer 

23 service objectives with respect to such stamps; and 

24 (3) maintained actual stamps as an effective 

25 and viable conservation tool. 
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1 (b) REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit a report on 

2 the findings of the Secretary under subsection (a). 

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