I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4685 

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 

JUNE 24, 2004 

Mr. KIND (for himself, Mr. PICKERING, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. 

WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mr. BERRY, Mr. BOSWELL, Mr. BOEHLERT, 

and Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota) 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 2004’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 
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1 (1) On March 16, 1934, the Congress passed 

2 and President Roosevelt signed the Act popularly 

3 known as the Duck Stamp Act (16 U.S.C. 718a et 

4 seq.), which requires all migratory waterfowl hunters 

5 16 years of age or older to buy a Federal migratory 

6 bird hunting and conservation stamp annually. 

7 (2) The Federal Duck Stamp program has be8 come one of the most popular and successful con9 servation programs ever initiated. Because of it, our 

10 country again is teeming with migratory waterfowl 

11 and other wildlife that benefits from the wetland 

12 habitats. 

13 (3) Today, 1.7 million migratory bird hunting 

14 and conservation stamps are sold each year. As of 

15 2003, such stamps have generated more than 

16 $600,000,000 in revenue that has been used to pre17 serve over 5 million acres of migratory waterfowl 

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

19 540 national wildlife refuges have been paid for all 

20 or in part with such revenue. 

21 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this section: 

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

24 means a Federal migratory-bird hunting and con25 servation stamp required under the Act of March 
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1 16, 1934 (chapter 71; 16 U.S.C. 718a et seq., popu2 larly known as the Duck Stamp Act), that is printed 

3 on paper and sold through a means in use imme4 diately before the enactment of this section. 

5 (2) AUTOMATED LICENSING SYSTEM.—The 

6 term ‘‘automated licensing system’’— 

7 (A) means an electronic, computerized li8 censing system used by a State fish and wildlife 

9 agency to issue hunting, fishing, and other as10 sociated licenses and products; and 

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

12 telephonic system used for such purpose. 

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

14 stamp’’ means an electronic version of an actual 

15 stamp, that— 

16 (A) is a unique identifier for the individual 

17 to whom it is issued; 

18 (B) can be printed on paper; 

19 (C) is issued through a State automated li20 censing system that is authorized, under State 

21 law and by the Secretary under this section, to 

22 issue electronic stamps; 

23 (D) is compatible with the hunting licens24 ing system of the State that issues the elec25 tronic stamp; and 
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1 (E) is described in the State application 

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

3 SEC. 4. ELECTRONIC DUCK STAMP PILOT PROGRAM. 

4 (a) REQUIREMENT TO CONDUCT PROGRAM.—The 

5 Secretary of the Interior shall conduct a 3-year pilot pro6 gram under which up to 15 States authorized by the Sec7 retary may issue electronic stamps. 

8 (b) COMMENCEMENT AND DURATION OF PRO9 GRAM.—The Secretary— 

10 (1) shall use all means necessary to expedi11 tiously implement this section no later than one year 

12 after the beginning of the first full Federal migra13 tory waterfowl hunting seasons after the date of the 

14 enactment of this Act; and 

15 (2) shall carry out the pilot program for 3 Fed16 eral migratory waterfowl hunting seasons. 

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

18 the program in consultation with State management agen19 cies. 

20 SEC. 5. STATE APPLICATION. 

21 (a) APPROVAL OF APPLICATION REQUIRED.—A 

22 State may not participate in the pilot program under this 

23 Act unless the Secretary has received and approved an ap24 plication submitted by the State in accordance with this 

25 section. 
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1 (b) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—The Secretary 

2 may not approve a State application unless the application 

3 contains the following: 

4 (1) A description of the format of the electronic 

5 stamp that the State will issue under the pilot pro6 gram, including identifying features of licensee that 

7 will be specified on the stamp. 

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

9 charge for issuance of an electronic stamp. 

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

11 use to account for and transfer to the Secretary the 

12 amounts collected by the State that are required to 

13 be transferred to the Secretary under the program. 

14 (4) The manner by which the State will trans15 mit electronic stamp customer data to the Secretary. 

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

17 actual stamps. 

18 (6) The policies and procedures under which 

19 the State will issue duplicate electronic stamps. 

20 (7) Such other policies, procedures, and infor21 mation as may be reasonably required by the Sec22 retary. 

23 (c) PUBLICATION OF DEADLINES, ELIGIBILITY RE24 QUIREMENTS, AND SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Secretary 
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1 shall, by not later than 30 days before receiving applica2 tions for participation in the pilot program, publish— 

3 (1) deadlines for submission of applications to 

4 participate in the program; 

5 (2) eligibility requirements for participation in 

6 the program; and 

7 (3) criteria for selecting States to participate in 

8 the program. 

9 SEC. 6. STATE OBLIGATIONS AND AUTHORITIES. 

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

11 shall require that a State must provide an actual stamp 

12 to each individual to whom the State sells an electronic 

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

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

15 (b) COLLECTION AND TRANSFER OF ELECTRONIC

16 STAMP REVENUE AND CUSTOMER INFORMATION.— 

17 (1) REQUIREMENT TO TRANSMIT.—The Sec18 retary shall require that each State participating in 

19 the pilot program State must collect and transmit to 

20 the Secretary in accordance with this section— 

21 (A) the first name, last name, and com22 plete mailing address of each individual that 

23 purchases an electronic stamp from the State; 

24 and 
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1 (B) the face value amount of each elec2 tronic stamp sold by the State. 

3 (2) TIME OF TRANSMITTAL.—The Secretary 

4 shall require the transmittal under paragraph (1) to 

5 be made with respect to sales of electronic stamps 

6 by a State occurring in a month— 

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

8 subsequent month; or 

9 (B) as otherwise specified in the applica10 tion of the State approved by the Secretary 

11 under section 5. 

12 (3) ADDITIONAL FEES NOT AFFECTED.—This 

13 section shall not apply to any fee collected by a 

14 State under subsection (c). 

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

16 participating in the pilot program may charge a reason17 able fee to cover costs incurred by the State in issuing 

18 electronic stamps under the program, including costs of 

19 delivery of actual stamps. 

20 (d) DUPLICATE ELECTRONIC STAMPS.—A State par21 ticipating in the pilot program may issue a duplicate elec22 tronic stamp to replace an electronic stamp issued by the 

23 State that is lost or damaged. 

24 (e) LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY TO REQUIRE PUR25 CHASE OF STATE LICENSE.—A State may not require 
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1 that an individual purchase a State hunting license as a 

2 condition of issuing an electronic stamp under the pilot 

3 program. 

4 SEC. 7. ELECTRONIC STAMP REQUIREMENTS; RECOGNI5 TION OF ELECTRONIC STAMP. 

6 (a) STAMP REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall re7 quire that an electronic stamp issued by a State under 

8 the pilot program must— 

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

10 validation, or privilege the State issues under its 

11 automated licensing system; and 

12 (2) specify identifying features of the licensee 

13 that are adequate to enable Federal, State, and 

14 other law enforcement officers to identify the holder. 

15 (b) RECOGNITION OF ELECTRONIC STAMP.—Any 

16 electronic stamp issued by a State under the pilot program 

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

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

19 are bestowed by an actual stamp; 

20 (2) be recognized nationally as a valid Federal 

21 migratory bird hunting and conservation stamp; and 

22 (3) authorize the licensee to hunt migratory wa23 terfowl in any other State, in accordance with the 

24 laws of the other State governing such hunting. 
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1 (c) DURATION.—An electronic stamp issued by a 

2 State under the pilot program shall be valid for 45 days. 

3 SEC. 8. TERMINATION OF STATE PARTICIPATION. 

4 Participation by a State in the pilot program may be 

5 terminated—

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

7 (A) finds that the State has violated the 

8 terms of the application of the State approved 

9 by the Secretary under section 5; and 

10 (B) provides to the State written notice of 

11 such termination by not later than 30 days be12 fore the date of termination; or 

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

14 the Secretary by not later 30 days before the termi15 nation date. 

16 SEC. 9. EVALUATION. 

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

18 with State fish and wildlife management agencies, shall 

19 evaluate the pilot program and determine if it has pro20 vided a cost-effective and convenient means for issuing mi21 gratory-bird hunting and conservation stamps, including 

22 whether the program has—

23 (1) increased the availability of such stamps; 

24 (2) assisted States in meeting their customer 

25 service objectives with respect to such stamps; and 
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1 (3) maintained actual stamps as an effective 

2 and viable conservation tool. 

3 (b) REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit a report on 

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

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