I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3117 

To grant the Secretary of the Interior permanent authority to authorize 

States to issue electronic duck stamps, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 6, 2011 

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

was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To grant the Secretary of the Interior permanent authority 

to authorize States to issue electronic duck stamps, and 

for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Permanent Electronic 

5 Duck Stamp Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

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

9 means a Federal migratory-bird hunting and con10 servation stamp required under the Act of March 


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

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

3 and sold through a means in use immediately before 

4 the date of enactment of this Act. 

5 (2) AUTOMATED LICENSING SYSTEM.— 

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

7 licensing system’’ means an electronic, comput8 erized licensing system used by a State fish and 

9 wildlife agency to issue hunting, fishing, and 

10 other associated licenses and products. 

11 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘automated li12 censing system’’ includes a point-of-sale, Inter13 net, or telephonic system used for a purpose de14 scribed in subparagraph (A). 

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

16 stamp’’ means an electronic version of an actual 

17 stamp that— 

18 (A) is a unique identifier for the individual 

19 to whom it is issued; 

20 (B) can be printed on paper; 

21 (C) is issued through a State automated li22 censing system that is authorized, under State 

23 law and by the Secretary under this Act, to 

24 issue electronic stamps; 


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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. 3. AUTHORITY TO ISSUE ELECTRONIC DUCK STAMPS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may authorize any 

10 State to issue electronic stamps in accordance with this 

11 Act. 

12 (b) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall implement 

13 this section in consultation with State management agen14 cies. 

15 SEC. 4. STATE APPLICATION. 

16 (a) APPROVAL OF APPLICATION REQUIRED.—The 

17 Secretary may not authorize a State to issue electronic 

18 stamps under this Act unless the Secretary has received 

19 and approved an application submitted by the State in ac20 cordance with this section. 

21 (b) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—The Secretary 

22 may not approve a State application unless the application 

23 contains— 

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

25 stamp that the State will issue under this Act, inVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:35 Oct 07, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3117.IH H3117

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1 cluding identifying features of the licensee that will 

2 be specified on the stamp; 

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

4 charge for issuance of an electronic stamp; 

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

6 use to account for and transfer to the Secretary the 

7 amounts collected by the State that are required to 

8 be transferred to the Secretary under the program; 

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

10 electronic stamp customer data to the Secretary; 

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

12 delivered; 

13 (6) the policies and procedures under which the 

14 State will issue duplicate electronic stamps; and 

15 (7) such other policies, procedures, and infor16 mation as may be reasonably required by the Sec17 retary. 

18 (c) PUBLICATION OF DEADLINES, ELIGIBILITY RE19 QUIREMENTS, AND SELECTION CRITERIA.—Not later than 

20 30 days before the date on which the Secretary begins ac21 cepting applications under this section, the Secretary shall 

22 publish— 

23 (1) deadlines for submission of applications; 

24 (2) eligibility requirements for submitting appli25 cations; and 


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1 (3) criteria for approving applications. 

2 SEC. 5. STATE OBLIGATIONS AND AUTHORITIES. 

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

4 shall require that each individual to whom a State sells 

5 an electronic stamp under this Act shall receive an actual 

6 stamp— 

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

8 electronic stamp expires under section 6(c); and 

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

10 Secretary. 

11 (b) COLLECTION AND TRANSFER OF ELECTRONIC

12 STAMP REVENUE AND CUSTOMER INFORMATION.— 

13 (1) REQUIREMENT TO TRANSMIT.—The Sec14 retary shall require each State authorized to issue 

15 electronic stamps to collect and submit to the Sec16 retary 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 (B) the face value amount of each elec21 tronic stamp sold by the State; and 

22 (C) the amount of the Federal portion of 

23 any fee required by the agreement for each 

24 stamp sold. 


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1 (2) TIME OF TRANSMITTAL.—The Secretary 

2 shall require the submission under paragraph (1) to 

3 be made with respect to sales of electronic stamps 

4 by a State occurring in a month— 

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

6 subsequent month; or 

7 (B) as otherwise specified in the applica8 tion of the State approved by the Secretary 

9 under section 4. 

10 (3) ADDITIONAL FEES NOT AFFECTED.—This 

11 section shall not apply to the State portion of any 

12 fee collected by a State under subsection (c). 

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

14 authorized to issue electronic stamps may charge a reason15 able fee to cover costs incurred by the State and the De16 partment of the Interior in issuing electronic stamps 

17 under this Act, including costs of delivery of actual 

18 stamps. 

19 (d) DUPLICATE ELECTRONIC STAMPS.—A State au20 thorized to issue electronic stamps may issue a duplicate 

21 electronic stamp to replace an electronic stamp issued by 

22 the State that is lost or damaged. 

23 (e) LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY TO REQUIRE PUR24 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 this Act. 

3 SEC. 6. ELECTRONIC STAMP REQUIREMENTS; RECOGNI4 TION OF ELECTRONIC STAMP. 

5 (a) STAMP REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall re6 quire an electronic stamp issued by a State under this 

7 Act— 

8 (1) to have the same format as any other li9 cense, validation, or privilege the State issues under 

10 the automated licensing system of the State; and 

11 (2) to specify identifying features of the licensee 

12 that are adequate to enable Federal, State, and 

13 other law enforcement officers to identify the holder. 

14 (b) RECOGNITION OF ELECTRONIC STAMP.—Any 

15 electronic stamp issued by a State under this Act shall, 

16 during the effective period of the electronic stamp— 

17 (1) bestow upon the licensee the same privileges 

18 as are bestowed by an actual stamp; 

19 (2) be recognized nationally as a valid Federal 

20 migratory bird hunting and conservation stamp; and 

21 (3) authorize the licensee to hunt migratory wa22 terfowl in any other State, in accordance with the 

23 laws of the other State governing that hunting. 

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

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


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

2 exceed 45 days. 

3 SEC. 7. TERMINATION OF STATE PARTICIPATION. 

4 The authority of a State to issue electronic stamps 

5 under this Act may be terminated— 

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

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

8 the terms of the application of the State ap9 proved by the Secretary under section 4; and 

10 (B) provides to the State written notice of 

11 the termination by not later than the date that 

12 is 30 days before the date of termination; or 

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

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

15 days before the termination date. 

Æ 


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