IB 
Union Calendar No. 568 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3742 
[Report No. 116–685, Part I] 
To amend the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act to make supple-
mental funds available for management of fish and wildlife species of 
greatest conservation need as determined by State fish and wildlife agen-
cies, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 12, 2019 
Mrs. DINGELL (for herself, Mr. FORTENBERRY, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. VELA, 
Ms. LEE of California, Mr. CRIST, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. 
AMODEI, Mr. ROUZER, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. SCHA-
KOWSKY, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, 
Mr. HILL of Arkansas, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. SCHRADER, Ms. DEAN, Ms. 
JACKSON LEE, Mr. KILMER, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. AUS-
TIN SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. COLE, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. VEASEY, Mr. 
CARBAJAL, Mr. UPTON, Mr. PAPPAS, Mrs. AXNE, Mr. MICHAEL F. 
DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. SOTO, Mr. COURTNEY, Mrs. RADEWAGEN, 
Mr. MAST, Mr. CUELLAR, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. COOPER, Mr. BLU-
MENAUER, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. RUTHERFORD, Mr. BROWN of Maryland, 
Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. BUDD, Mr. 
LUJA´N, Mr. STIVERS, Ms. HAALAND, Mr. COHEN, Mr. RUSH, Mr. 
FLEISCHMANN, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. GRI-
JALVA, Ms. NORTON, Miss GONZA´LEZ-COLO´N of Puerto Rico, Mr. LONG, 
Mr. KILDEE, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, and Ms. TLAIB) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in 
addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently 
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
DECEMBER 24, 2020 
Additional sponsors: Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. HIMES, 
Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. RYAN, Mr. TURNER, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. 
AGUILAR, Ms. SLOTKIN, Mr. BERGMAN, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. 
LARSEN of Washington, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. LUCAS, Ms. 
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JUDY CHU of California, Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, 
Mrs. HAYES, Mr. STANTON, Mr. KIND, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Mrs. 
TRAHAN, Ms. SHALALA, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. THOMPSON of California, 
Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. MCHENRY, Ms. 
SCHRIER, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. VAN DREW, Mr. CICILLINE, Mrs. WATSON 
COLEMAN, Mr. MORELLE, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. ENGEL, 
Mr. HARDER of California, Mr. CASTEN of Illinois, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. 
GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. KUSTOFF of Tennessee, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, 
Mr. GOLDEN, Mr. LIPINSKI, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mr. MALINOWSKI, 
Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of 
New York, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Ms. STEVENS, Mr. WITTMAN, Mr. OLSON, 
Mr. TONKO, Mr. DOGGETT, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. LOFGREN, 
Mr. HUIZENGA, Mr. O’HALLERAN, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. WALBERG, Mrs. 
BUSTOS, Mr. CLEAVER, Ms. CRAIG, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsyl-
vania, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. SMUCKER, Ms. WILD, Ms. HOULAHAN, Mr. 
SMITH of Washington, Mr. CARTER of Georgia, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. 
KENDRA S. HORN of Oklahoma, Mr. GALLEGO, Ms. MOORE, Mr. KEL-
LER, Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. LAMB, Mr. HECK, 
Mr. POCAN, Mr. HORSFORD, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. 
SCANLON, Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania, Mr. WELCH, Mrs. DEMINGS, Mrs. 
RODGERS of Washington, Mr. GOODEN, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, 
Mr. PHILLIPS, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas, Ms. DEGETTE, 
Mr. LEWIS, Mr. EVANS, Mr. SABLAN, Mr. HURD of Texas, Mr. COX of 
California, Mr. NEAL, Mr. KATKO, Mr. CLAY, Ms. BASS, Mr. 
DESAULNIER, Mr. ALLRED, Mr. LYNCH, Mrs. FLETCHER, Mr. HIGGINS 
of New York, Mr. MCCAUL, Mrs. MCBATH, Mr. CROW, Ms. GABBARD, 
Mrs. MURPHY of Florida, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. TORRES SMALL 
of New Mexico, Mr. MARCHANT, Miss RICE of New York, Ms. PINGREE, 
Mr. PANETTA, Mr. BUCHANAN, and Ms. CASTOR of Florida 
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DECEMBER 24, 2020 
Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources with an amendment 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
DECEMBER 24, 2020 
Committee on the Budget discharged; committed to the Committee of the 
Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 12, 2019] 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Recovering America’s 
Wildlife Act of 2019’’. 
TITLE I—WILDLIFE CONSERVA-
TION AND RESTORATION 
SEC. 101. WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION 
SUBACCOUNT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 of the Pittman-Robertson 
Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669b) is amended in 
subsection (c)— 
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as 
paragraphs (9) and (10); and 
(2) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF SUBACCOUNT.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—There is established in 
the fund a subaccount to be known as the ‘Wild-
life Conservation and Restoration Subaccount’ 
(referred to in this section as the ‘Subaccount’). 
‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts in the Sub-
account shall be available without further appro-
priation, for each fiscal year, for apportionment 
in accordance with this Act. 
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‘‘(C) DEPOSITS INTO SUBACCOUNT.—Begin-
ning in fiscal year 2020, the Secretary of the 
Treasury shall transfer $1,300,000,000 from the 
general fund of the treasury each fiscal year to 
the fund for deposit in the Subaccount. 
‘‘(2) SUPPLEMENT
NOT
SUPPLANT.—Amounts 
transferred to the Subaccount shall supplement, but 
not replace, existing funds available to the States 
from— 
‘‘(A) the funds distributed pursuant to the 
Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act (16 
U.S.C. 777 et seq.); and 
‘‘(B) the fund. 
‘‘(3) INNOVATION GRANTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall dis-
tribute 10 percent of funds apportioned from the 
Subaccount through a competitive grant pro-
gram to State fish and wildlife departments, the 
District of Columbia fish and wildlife depart-
ment, fish and wildlife departments of terri-
tories, or to regional associations of fish and 
wildlife departments (or any group composed of 
more than 1 such entity). 
‘‘(B) PURPOSE.—Such grants shall be pro-
vided for the purpose of catalyzing innovation of 
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techniques, tools, strategies, or collaborative part-
nerships that accelerate, expand, or replicate ef-
fective and measurable recovery efforts for species 
of greatest conservation need and species listed 
under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (15 
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and the habitats of such spe-
cies. 
‘‘(C) REVIEW COMMITTEE.—The Secretary 
shall appoint a review committee comprised of— 
‘‘(i) a State Director from each re-
gional association of State fish and wildlife 
departments; 
‘‘(ii) the head of a department respon-
sible for fish and wildlife management in a 
territory; and 
‘‘(iii) four individuals representing 
four different nonprofit organizations each 
of which is actively participating in car-
rying out wildlife conservation restoration 
activities using funds apportioned from the 
Subaccount. 
‘‘(D) SUPPORT FROM UNITED STATES FISH 
AND
WILDLIFE
SERVICE.—The United States 
Fish and Wildlife Service shall provide any per-
sonnel or administrative support services nec-
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essary for such Committee to carry out its re-
sponsibilities under this Act. 
‘‘(E) EVALUATION.—Such committee shall 
evaluate each proposal submitted under this 
paragraph and recommend projects for funding, 
giving preference to solutions that accelerate the 
recovery of species identified as priorities 
through regional scientific assessments of species 
of greatest conservation need. 
‘‘(4) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds apportioned from 
the Subaccount— 
‘‘(A) shall be used to implement the Wildlife 
Conservation Strategy of a State, territory, or 
the District of Columbia, as required under sec-
tion 4(d), by carrying out, revising, or enhanc-
ing existing wildlife and habitat conservation 
and restoration programs and developing and 
implementing new wildlife conservation and res-
toration programs to recover and manage species 
of greatest conservation need and the key habi-
tats and plant community types essential to the 
conservation of those species as determined by 
the appropriate State fish and wildlife depart-
ment; 
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‘‘(B) shall be used to develop, revise, and 
enhance the Wildlife Conservation Strategy of a 
State, territory, or the District of Columbia, as 
may be required by this Act; 
‘‘(C) shall be used to assist in the recovery 
of species found in the State, territory, or the 
District of Columbia that are listed as endan-
gered species, threatened species, candidate spe-
cies or species proposed for listing, or species pe-
titioned for listing under the Endangered Species 
Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) or under 
State law; 
‘‘(D) may be used for wildlife conservation 
education 
and 
wildlife-associated 
recreation 
projects; 
‘‘(E) may be used to manage a species of 
greatest conservation need whose range is shared 
with another State, territory, Indian Tribe, or 
foreign government and for the conservation of 
the habitat of such species; 
‘‘(F) may be used to manage, control, and 
prevent invasive species, disease, and other risks 
to species of greatest conservation need; and 
‘‘(G) may be used for law enforcement ac-
tivities that are directly related to the protection 
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and conservation of a species of greatest con-
servation need and the habitat of such species. 
‘‘(5) MINIMUM REQUIRED SPENDING FOR ENDAN-
GERED SPECIES RECOVERY.—Not less than an aver-
age of 15 percent over a 5-year period of amounts ap-
portioned to a State, territory, or the District of Co-
lumbia from the Subaccount shall be used for pur-
poses described in paragraph (4)(C). The Secretary 
may reduce the minimum requirement of a State, ter-
ritory, or the District of Columbia on an annual 
basis if the Secretary determines that the State, terri-
tory, or the District of Columbia is meeting the con-
servation and recovery needs of all species described 
in paragraph (4)(C). 
‘‘(6) PUBLIC ACCESS TO PRIVATE LANDS NOT RE-
QUIRED.—Funds apportioned from the Subaccount 
shall not be conditioned upon the provision of public 
access to private lands, waters, or holdings. 
‘‘(7) REQUIREMENTS FOR MATCHING FUNDS.— 
‘‘(A) For the purposes of the non-Federal 
fund matching requirement for a wildlife con-
servation or restoration program or project fund-
ed by the Subaccount, a State may use as match-
ing non-Federal funds— 
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‘‘(i) funds from Federal agencies other 
than the Department of the Interior and the 
Department of Agriculture; 
‘‘(ii) donated private lands and waters, 
including privately owned easements; 
‘‘(iii) in circumstances described in 
subparagraph 
(B), 
revenue 
generated 
through the sale of State hunting and fish-
ing licenses; and 
‘‘(iv) other sources consistent with part 
80 of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations, 
in effect on the date of enactment of the Re-
covering America’s Wildlife Act of 2019. 
‘‘(B) Revenue described in subparagraph 
(A)(iii) may only be used to fulfill the require-
ments of such non-Federal fund matching re-
quirement if— 
‘‘(i) no Federal funds apportioned to 
the State fish and wildlife department of 
such State from the Wildlife Restoration 
Program or the Sport Fish Restoration Pro-
gram have been reverted because of a failure 
to fulfill such non-Federal fund matching 
requirement by such State during the pre-
vious 2 years; and 
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‘‘(ii) the project or program being 
funded benefits the habitat of a hunted or 
fished species and a species of greatest con-
servation need. 
‘‘(8) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the fol-
lowing definitions apply: 
‘‘(A) SPECIES OF GREATEST CONSERVATION 
NEED.—The term ‘species of greatest conserva-
tion need’ has the meaning given to it by each 
State fish and wildlife department, with respect 
to funds apportioned to such State. 
‘‘(B) TERRITORY AND TERRITORIES.—The 
terms ‘territory’ and ‘territories’ mean the Com-
monwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American 
Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mar-
iana Islands, and the United States Virgin Is-
lands. 
‘‘(C) WILDLIFE.—The term ‘wildlife’ means 
any species of wild, freeranging fauna, including 
fish, and also fauna in captive breeding pro-
grams the object of which is to reintroduce indi-
viduals of a depleted indigenous species into pre-
viously occupied range.’’. 
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(b) ALLOCATION AND APPORTIONMENT OF AVAILABLE 
AMOUNTS.—Section 4 of the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife 
Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669c) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating the second subsection (c), re-
lating to the apportionment of the Wildlife Conserva-
tion and Restoration Account, and subsection (d) as 
subsections (d) and (e) respectively; 
(2) in subsection (d), as redesignated— 
(A) in paragraph (1)— 
(i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 
‘‘to the District of Columbia and to the 
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, each’’ and 
inserting ‘‘To the District of Columbia’’; 
(ii) in subparagraph (B)— 
(I) by striking ‘‘to Guam’’ and 
inserting ‘‘To Guam’’; and 
(II) by striking ‘‘not more than 
one-fourth of one percent’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘not less than one-third of one per-
cent’’; and 
(iii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(C) To the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 
a sum equal to not less than 1 percent thereof.’’; 
(B) in paragraph (2)(A)— 
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(i) by amending clause (i) to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(i) one-half of which is based on the ratio 
to which the land and water area of such State 
bears to the total land and water area of all such 
States;’’; 
(ii) in clause (ii)— 
(I) by striking ‘‘two-thirds’’ and 
inserting ‘‘one-quarter’’; and 
(II) by striking the period and in-
serting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(iii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(iii) one-quarter of which is based upon 
the ratio to which the number of vertebrate and 
invertebrate species listed as endangered or 
threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 
1973 (15 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) in such State bears 
to the total number of such species listed in all 
such States.’’; and 
(C) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘3 per-
cent’’ and inserting ‘‘1.85 percent’’; 
(3) by amending subsection (e)(4)(B), as redesig-
nated, to read as follows: 
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‘‘(B) Not more than an average of 15 percent 
over a 5-year period of amounts apportioned to each 
State under this section for a State’s wildlife con-
servation and restoration program may be used for 
wildlife conservation education and wildlife-associ-
ated recreation.’’; and 
(4) by adding at the end following: 
‘‘(f) MINIMIZATION OF PLANNING AND REPORTING.— 
Nothing in this Act shall be interpreted to require a State 
to create a comprehensive strategy related to conservation 
education or outdoor recreation. 
‘‘(g) ACCOUNTABILITY.—Not more than one year after 
the date of enactment of the Recovering America’s Wildlife 
Act of 2019 and every 3 years thereafter, each State fish 
and wildlife department shall submit a 3-year work plan 
and budget for implementing its Wildlife Conservation 
Strategy and a report describing the results derived from 
activities accomplished under subsection (c)(4) during the 
previous 3 years to— 
‘‘(1) the Committee on Environment and Public 
Works of the Senate; 
‘‘(2) the Committee on Natural Resources of the 
House of Representatives; and 
‘‘(3) the United States Fish and Wildlife Serv-
ice.’’. 
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SEC. 102. TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 2 of the Pittman-Robertson 
Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669a) is amended— 
(1) by striking paragraph (5); 
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (6) through (9) 
as paragraphs (5) through (8), respectively; and 
(3) in paragraph (6), as redesignated by para-
graph (2), by inserting ‘‘Indian Tribes, academic in-
stitutions,’’ before ‘‘wildlife conservation organiza-
tions’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The Pittman-Rob-
ertson Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669a et seq.) is 
amended— 
(1) in section 3— 
(A) in subsection (a)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘(1) An amount equal 
to’’ and inserting ‘‘An amount equal to’’; 
and 
(ii) by striking paragraph (2); 
(B) in subsection (c)— 
(i) in paragraph (9), as redesignated 
by section 101(a)(1), by striking ‘‘or an In-
dian tribe’’; and 
(ii) in paragraph (10), as redesignated 
by section 101(a)(1), by striking ‘‘Wildlife 
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