[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1641 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1641
To amend Public Law 87-383 to reauthorize appropriations to promote the
conservation of migratory waterfowl and to offset or prevent the
serious loss of important wetland and other waterfowl habitat essential
to the preservation of migratory waterfowl, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 18, 2007
Mr. Coleman (for himself and Mr. Baucus) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and
Public Works
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend Public Law 87-383 to reauthorize appropriations to promote the
conservation of migratory waterfowl and to offset or prevent the
serious loss of important wetland and other waterfowl habitat essential
to the preservation of migratory 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. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Wetlands Loan Act of 2007''.
SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF FUNDS FOR CONSERVATION OF MIGRATORY WATERFOWL
AND HABITAT.
The first section of Public Law 87-383 (16 U.S.C. 715k-3) is
amended--
(1) by striking ``That in'' and inserting the following:
``SECTION 1. AUTHORIZATION OF FUNDS FOR CONSERVATION OF MIGRATORY
WATERFOWL HABITAT.
``(a) In General.--In'';
(2) by striking ``for the period'' and all that follows
through the end of the sentence and inserting ``$40,000,000 for
each of fiscal years 2009 through 2018.''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(b) Advance to Migratory Bird Conservation Fund.--Funds
appropriated pursuant to this Act shall be treated as an advance,
without interest, to the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund.
``(c) Repayment to Treasury.--
``(1) In general.--Effective beginning July 1, 2010, funds
appropriated pursuant to this Act shall be repaid to the
Treasury out of the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund.
``(2) Amounts.--Repayment under this subsection shall be
made in annual amounts that are equal to the funds accruing
annually to the Migratory Bird Conservation 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.
``(3) Use of amounts.--In any year for which funds are not
appropriated pursuant to this Act, and no amount remains to be
repaid to the Treasury out of the Migratory Bird Conservation
Fund under paragraph (1), the total amount attributable to the
portion of the price of migratory bird hunting stamps sold for
that year that is in excess of $15 per stamp shall be deposited
in the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund.''.
SEC. 3. PRICE OF STAMPS.
Section 2 of the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp Act
(16 U.S.C. 718b) is amended by striking subsection (b) and inserting
the following:
``(b) Price of Stamps.--
``(1) In general.--For each stamp sold by an authorized
entity under subsection (a)(1), the authorized entity shall
collect--
``(A) $22 during each of hunting years 2009 through
2015;
``(B) $29 during each of hunting years 2016 through
2022; and
``(C) $35 during hunting year 2023 and each hunting
year thereafter.
``(2) Reports.--
``(A) Initial report.--Not later than 1 year after
the date of enactment of the Wetlands Loan Act of 2007,
the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the
Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife
Service, shall submit to Congress a report that
includes a comparison by the Secretary of the Interior
of--
``(i) the price of each stamp sold under
subsection (a)(1) during the hunting year
following the hunting year in which the
Wetlands Loan Act of 2007 was enacted; and
``(ii) for each hunting year during the
period beginning with hunting year 1991 and
ending with the hunting year in which the
Wetlands Loan Act of 2007 was enacted, the
purchasing power of the amount of revenue
generated by the total quantity of stamps sold
during the hunting year under subsection
(a)(1).
``(B) Final report.--Not later than 1 year after
the date on which the funds advanced under section 1 of
Public Law 87-383 (16 U.S.C. 715k-3) are repaid, the
Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director
of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, shall
submit to Congress a report that includes a comparison
by the Secretary of the Interior of--
``(i) the price of each stamp sold under
subsection (a)(1) during the hunting year in
which the funds advanced under section 1 of
Public Law 87-383 (16 U.S.C. 715k-3) are
repaid; and
``(ii) for each hunting year during the
period beginning with hunting year 1991 and
ending with the hunting year in which the funds
advanced under section 1 of Public Law 87-383
(16 U.S.C. 715k-3) are repaid, the purchasing
power of the amount of revenue generated by the
total quantity of stamps sold during the
hunting year under subsection (a)(1).''.
SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING THE USE OF CERTAIN FUNDS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the funds generated 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;
(2) where practicable, fee title acquisitions under this
Act should be managed for public access in accordance with the
requirements of any waterfowl production area designated as a
component of the National Wildlife Refuge System under section
4 of the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of
1966 (16 U.S.C. 668dd(a)(1)); and
(3) this Act and the amendments made by this Act should be
implemented in a manner that helps private landowners achieve
long-term land use objectives in a manner that enhances the
conservation of wetland and wildlife habitat.
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