[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4315 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4315

To amend the Acts popularly known as the Duck Stamp Act and the Wetland 
 Loan Act to reauthorize appropriations to promote the conservation of 
   migratory waterfowl and to offset or prevent the serious loss of 
    important wetlands and other waterfowl habitat essential to the 
        preservation of such waterfowl, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 14, 2005

 Mr. Kennedy of Minnesota (for himself and Mr. Thompson of California) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                               Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Acts popularly known as the Duck Stamp Act and the Wetland 
 Loan Act to reauthorize appropriations to promote the conservation of 
   migratory waterfowl and to offset or prevent the serious loss of 
    important wetlands and other waterfowl habitat essential to the 
        preservation of such waterfowl, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. AUTHORIZATION OF FUNDS FOR CONSERVATION OF MIGRATORY 
              WATERFOWL AND HABITAT.

    The first section of Public Law 87-383 (16 U.S.C. 715k-3), 
popularly known as the Wetlands Loan Act, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``for the period'' and all that follows 
        through the end of the sentence and inserting ``$400,000,000 
        for fiscal years 2007 through 2016.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following: ``Funds 
        appropriated pursuant to this Act shall be treated as an 
        advance, without interest, to the migratory bird conservation 
        fund. Such appropriated funds, beginning on July 1, 2007, shall 
        be repaid to the Treasury out of the migratory bird 
        conservation fund. Such repayment shall be made in annual 
        amounts comprising the moneys accruing annually to such fund 
        that are attributable to the portion of the price of migratory 
        bird hunting stamps sold that year that is in excess of $15 per 
        stamp.''.

SEC. 2. SALES OF DUCK STAMPS; PRICE.

    (a) Sales of Stamps.--Sections 2(a) of the Act of March 16, 1934 
(chapter 71; 16 U.S.C. 718b(a)), popularly known as the Duck Stamp Act, 
is amended--
            (1) in the first sentence--
                    (A) by striking ``issued and sold by the Postal 
                Service, and may be sold by the Department of the 
                Interior'' and inserting ``sold by the Postal Service, 
                the Secretary of the Interior, and any other person 
                authorized by the Secretary of the Interior'';
                    (B) by striking ``each post office of the first- 
                and second-class'' and inserting ``any post office''; 
                and
                    (C) by striking ``as the Postal Service and the 
                Secretary of the Interior'' and inserting ``the Postal 
                Service, the Secretary of the Interior, or a person so 
                authorized'';
            (2) in the third sentence by striking ``by the Postal 
        Service'' and all that follows through the end of the sentence 
        and inserting ``by the person selling the stamp the applicable 
        price under subsection (b)'';
            (3) in the fifth sentence by inserting ``hunting'' before 
        ``year'';
            (4) in the sixth sentence--
                    (A) by striking ``Postal Service'' and inserting 
                ``Secretary of the Interior'';
                    (B) by striking ``prescribed by it'' and inserting 
                ``prescribed by the Secretary'';
                    (C) by striking ``of blocks composed of two or more 
                attached''; and
                    (D) by inserting ``authorized by the Secretary of 
                the Interior to sell stamps on consignment''; and
            (5) by adding at the end the following: ``The Postal 
        Service shall not sell stamps to any individual on consignment, 
        and shall not redeem stamps sold on consignment by the 
        Secretary of the Interior or a person authorized by the 
        Secretary of the Interior to sell stamps on consignment.''.
    (b) Price of Stamp.--
            (1) Amendment.--Section 2(b) of such Act is amended to read 
        as follows:
    ``(b) A person authorized to sell stamps under this section shall 
collect, for each stamp sold--
            ``(1) $25 for a stamp for any of hunting years 2007 through 
        2014; and
            ``(2) $35 for a stamp for each hunting year after hunting 
        year 2014.''.
            (2) Limitation on application.--This subsection shall not 
        affect the application of section 2 of such Act before July 1, 
        2007.
    (c) Disposition of Unsold Stamps.--Section 3(a) of the Act of July 
30, 1956 (chapter 782; 16 U.S.C. 718b-1(a)) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``and conservation'' after ``migratory-
        bird hunting'' each place it appears;
            (2) by inserting ``or the Secretary of the Interior'' after 
        ``Postal Service'' the first place it appears;
            (3) by striking ``Philatelic Agency'' and inserting 
        ``Postal Service and the Secretary of the Interior, or a person 
        authorized by the Secretary,''; and
            (4) by inserting ``and the Secretary of the Interior'' 
        after ``Postal Service'' the second place it appears.

SEC. 3. DISPLAY OF STAMP.

    The first section of the Act of March 16, 1934 (chapter 71; 16 
U.S.C. 718a), popularly known as the Duck Stamp Act, is amended by 
adding at the end the following: ``Nothing in this Act shall be 
construed to require a person to affix a stamp sold under this Act to 
any other license as a condition of engaging in hunting under the 
authority of the stamp.''.

SEC. 4. TECHNICAL CORRECTION.

    Section 4 of the Act of March 16, 1934 (chapter 71; 16 U.S.C. 
718d), popularly known as the Duck Stamp Act, is amended by striking 
``personal'' and inserting ``personnel''.

SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING THE EXPENDITURES OF FUNDS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the funds provided pursuant to the amendments made by 
        this Act--
                    (A) should be used for preserving and increasing 
                waterfowl populations in accordance with the goals and 
                objectives of the North American Waterfowl Management 
                Plan; and
                    (B) to that end, should be used to supplement and 
                not replace current conservation funding, including 
                funding for other Federal and State habitat 
                conservation programs; and
            (2) this Act should be implemented in a manner that helps 
        private landowners achieve their long-term land use objectives 
        in ways that enhance the conservation of wetlands and wildlife 
        habitat.
                                 <all>