Published Proposed Rule (RIN 1018-BB84; 88 FR 95590)

95590

Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 231 / Monday, December 2, 2024 / Proposed Rules

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 80
[FWS–HQ–WSFR–2023–0125;
FVWF51100900000–XXX–FF09W11000;
FVWF94100900000–XXX–FF09W11000]
RIN 1018–BB84

Administrative Requirements; PittmanRobertson Wildlife Restoration and
Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish
Restoration Acts
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
AGENCY:

We, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, are proposing to
update the regulations pertaining to
Federal financial assistance programs
and subprograms authorized under the
Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration
Act and the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish
Restoration Act. We propose these
updates to our regulations to ensure
they reflect recent legislation; to align
with the Office of Management and
Budget’s administrative rules for
Federal financial assistance; to align
with other laws, standards, and
administrative processes; to respond to
comments and feedback on our 2019
rulemaking action; and to provide
clarity to help ensure consistency in
administering our financial assistance
programs and subprograms across the
Nation.

SUMMARY:

We will accept comments
received or postmarked on or before
January 31, 2025.
Information collection requirements:
If you wish to comment on the
information collection requirements in
this proposed rule, please note that the
Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) is required to make a decision
concerning the collection of information
contained in this proposed rule between
30 and 60 days after the date of
publication of this proposed rule in the
Federal Register. Therefore, comments
should be submitted to the Service
Information Collection Clearance
Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
(see ‘‘Information collection
requirements’’ below under ADDRESSES)
by January 31, 2025.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments,
identified by the regulation identifier
number 1018–BB84, by any of the
following methods:
(1) Electronically: Go to the Federal
eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov. In the Search box,
enter FWS–HQ–WSFR–2023–0125,

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DATES:

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which is the docket number for this
rulemaking. Then, click on the Search
button. On the resulting page, in the
panel on the left side of the screen,
under the Document Type heading,
check the Proposed Rule box to locate
this document. You may submit a
comment by clicking on ‘‘Comment.’’
(2) By hard copy: Submit by U.S. mail
to: Public Comments Processing, Attn:
FWS–HQ–WSFR–2023–0125, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W,
5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA
22041–3803.
We request that you send comments
only by the methods described above.
We will post all comments on https://
www.regulations.gov. This generally
means that we will post any personal
information you provide us (see Request
for Comments, below, for more
information).
Information collection requirements:
Send your comments on the information
collection request by mail to the Service
Information Collection Clearance
Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
by email to [email protected]; or by
mail to 5275 Leesburg Pike, MS: PRB
(JAO/3W), Falls Church, VA 22041–
3803. Please reference OMB Control
Number 1018–0100 in the subject line of
your comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Diana Swan-Pinion, Wildlife and Sport
Fish Restoration Program, Policy, and
Programs Branch at [email protected] or (404) 821–6844.
Individuals in the United States who are
deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have
a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY,
TDD, or TeleBraille) to access
telecommunications relay services.
Individuals outside the United States
should use the relay services offered
within their country to make
international calls to the point-ofcontact in the United States. In
compliance with the Providing
Accountability Through Transparency
Act of 2023, please see docket FWS–
HQ–WSFR–2023–0125 on https://
www.regulations.gov for a document
that summarizes this proposed rule.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s
(Service) Wildlife and Sport Fish
Restoration Program (WSFR) annually
apportions to fish and wildlife agencies
of States, Territories, and the District of
Columbia more than $1.6 billion for
programs and subprograms under the
Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration
Act (Wildlife Restoration Act, 50 Stat.
917, as amended; 16 U.S.C. 669 et seq.)
and the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish

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Restoration Act (Sport Fish Restoration
Act, 64 Stat. 430, as amended; 16 U.S.C.
777–777m, except 777e–1 and g–1)
(Acts). We are proposing to update the
regulations in title 50 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR) at part 80,
which is titled, ‘‘Administrative
Requirements, Pittman-Robertson
Wildlife Restoration and DingellJohnson Sport Fish Restoration Acts.’’
The primary users of these regulations
are the fish and wildlife agencies of the
50 States; the Commonwealths of Puerto
Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands;
the territories of Guam, the U.S. Virgin
Islands, and American Samoa; and the
District of Columbia (DC). We use
‘‘State’’ or ‘‘States’’ collectively to refer
to these entities. The Wildlife
Restoration Act does not authorize
funding for DC, which receives funds
only under the Sport Fish Restoration
Act.
These regulations tell States how they
may receive annual apportionments
from the Federal Aid to Wildlife
Restoration Fund (16 U.S.C. 669b) and
the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating
Trust Fund (26 U.S.C. 9504), how they
may use hunting and fishing license
revenues, and what requirements States
must follow when participating in the
programs and subprograms under the
Acts. These programs and subprograms
provide financial assistance to State fish
and wildlife agencies to restore or
manage wildlife and sport fish and
associated habitats; offer hunter and
recreational shooter education and
safety programs, development,
recruitment, retention, and reactivation;
develop and increase recreational
boating access; enhance the public’s
understanding of water resources,
aquatic life forms, and sport fishing; and
develop responsible attitudes and ethics
toward aquatic and related
environments.
Assistance Listings for these programs
may be found at: https://sam.gov/
content/assistance-listings. On that
website, search for numbers 15.605,
15.611, and 15.626 using the ‘‘Search
Assistance Listings’’ function.
We published the last revision of
these regulations with a proposed rule
in 2017 (82 FR 59564, December 15,
2017) and a final rule in 2019 (84 FR
44772, August 27, 2019; referred to
below as ‘‘the 2019 final rule’’). Our
December 15, 2017, proposed rule was
intended to be the first step in a phased
approach to updating 50 CFR part 80
over a period of a few years, addressing
multiple topics of concern, and
ultimately leading to publishing a final
rule that addressed all issues identified
as important to resolve. A team of
Federal and State subject matter experts

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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 231 / Monday, December 2, 2024 / Proposed Rules
were engaged in developing the strategy
and topics to be addressed.
Unfortunately, that process was stalled,
and we were unable to complete the
phased approach, so we published a
final rule in 2019 that did not include
all identified topics.
The passage of two new laws in 2019
that amended the Wildlife Restoration
Act compels the Service to reflect those
changes in this proposed rule. In 2019,
the Target Practice and Marksmanship
Training Support Act (Pub. L. 116–17,
May 10, 2019) amended the Wildlife
Restoration Act to provide
administrative advantages for States
engaged in acquiring land for,
expanding, and constructing public
target ranges, and the Modernizing the
Pittman-Robertson Fund for Tomorrow’s
Needs Act (Pub. L. 116–94, December
20, 2019) amended the Wildlife
Restoration Act to provide additional
eligible activities focused on increasing
communication and participation in
hunting and recreational shooting. This
statutory update also provided the
Service the opportunity to consider
topics that were left unresolved from the
phased approach begun with our 2017–
2019 rulemaking process, as well as to
incorporate principles established
through continued collaborative
engagement between the Service, States,
and partners into the rulemaking
process.
On September 30, 2019, the Service
issued ‘‘Interim Guidance for Applying
Public Law 116–17, the Target Practice
and Marksmanship Training Support
Act, to the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife
Restoration Act’’ (interim guidance;
https://www.fws.gov/guidance/sites/
guidance/files/documents/
WSFR%20Interim%20Guidance
%20Implementing%20PL%20116/17FINAL.pdf), and on July 14, 2021, the
Service issued ‘‘Implementing the
Modernizing the Pittman-Robertson
Fund for Tomorrow’s Needs Act’’
(https://www.fws.gov/guidance/sites/
guidance/files/documents/
Implementing_the_Modernizing_the_
PittmanRobertson_Act.pdf). Each of
these documents has provided WSFR
and States with guidance for how to
apply the amendments to the Acts to
grants, enhance understanding, and
strive for consistency, while we
developed proposed updates to the
regulations. When published and
effective, the final rule for this proposed
rule will supersede these guidance
documents where there are differences;

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however, we intend for the guidance
documents and any updates to them to
continue to provide supplemental
information that will assist WSFR and
States in administering financial
assistance awards. WSFR intends to
continue to provide policy and training
support on eligible activities under the
Acts.
The Service was assisted in this
rulemaking by the Joint Federal/State
Task Force on Federal Assistance Policy
(JTF), an advisory group that was
chartered on September 5, 2002, under
an agreement between the Service and
the Association of Fish and Wildlife
Agencies to support the cooperation
between the Service and State fish and
wildlife agencies in wildlife and sport
fish restoration and management
projects. The JTF is exempt from the
Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub.
L. 92–463, as amended; 5 U.S.C. 1001 et
seq.) through the Acts. The role of the
JTF is to consider operational policies
and administrative problems and to
recommend solutions. The JTF
supported this rulemaking action by
nominating State and Federal subject
matter experts to serve on a preregulatory review team to consider
proposed changes and assess them for
viability, clarity, applicability, gaps in
understanding, and potential
controversy, and provide other support
as requested. The team began work on
this endeavor in September 2021 and
had its last meeting in May 2023. During
this period, the Service offered two
review-and-comment periods to gather
input and encourage engagement from
Service staff in WSFR, State fish and
wildlife agencies, and partners in
wildlife and sport fish restoration and
associated outdoor recreation. WSFR
also provided six open forums to
encourage active participation and
discussion on topics of interest in the
rulemaking process.
In 2013, the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) published
regulations at 2 CFR part 200 (Uniform
Administrative Requirements, Cost
Principles, and Audit Requirements for
Federal Awards) that updated and
amended rules for Federal financial
assistance for all Federal agencies (78
FR 78608, December 26, 2013). In this
proposed rule to update 50 CFR part 80,
we align the terminology we use for
administering financial assistance under
the Acts to the terms used in 2 CFR part
200. These proposed revisions would
provide consistency across Federal

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financial assistance regulations and
improve understanding of applicable
Service requirements.
We propose these updates to our
regulations to improve clarity,
consistency, readability, and alignment
with current administrative practices,
and to reflect the currently applicable
laws, standards, and practices.
Proposed Amendments to Existing
Regulations
Even though we are not proposing
revisions or additions to every section
in 50 CFR part 80 in this proposed rule,
for clarity and readability, we are setting
forth the entire part in this proposed
rule (see Proposed Regulation
Promulgation, below).
The regulations at 2 CFR part 200
have a goal to standardize terms to
support standardizing grant
management business processes. To
support those efforts and to assist grant
management practitioners, we propose
to amend the following terms to align
them more accurately with 2 CFR part
200: Award and subaward (primarily
replacing grant), recipient and
subrecipient (replacing grantee and
subgrantee), and period of performance
(replacing grant period). We propose to
insert the amended terms throughout 50
CFR part 80. We also propose to
incorporate helpful references in 50 CFR
part 80 to applicable sections of 2 CFR
part 200.
In the information below, we do not
discuss in detail editorial changes that
we propose to improve readability,
clarity, consistency, or continuity. We
instead focus on substantive changes to
the current regulations.
Proposed amendments and the
rationale for changes are described here.
I. Subpart A—General
Section 80.1—What does this part do?
We propose to update § 80.1 to
include a new purpose under the
Wildlife Restoration Act to facilitate the
construction and expansion of public
target ranges (per Pub. L. 116–17) and to
add reference to activities for hunter
recruitment and recreational shooter
recruitment (per Pub. L. 116–94).
Section 80.2—What terms do I need to
know?
We propose to add the following
terms to the definitions section of the
regulations for the following reasons:

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Proposed new term

Purpose

90/10/5 ............................................

In describing activities associated with Public Law 116–17 where the Federal cost share is up to 90 percent (and, therefore, the non-Federal cost share is 10 percent or more) and the period of availability of
funds is 5 years when specifically engaging in activities for acquiring land for, expanding, or constructing
public target ranges, we propose to abbreviate this concept as ‘‘90/10/5’’.
Supporting activities associated with Public Law 116–17 for acquiring real property for public target ranges,
as well as the sections of the regulations pertaining to real property.
Supporting the financial action of assigning funds to associated, eligible activities.
Clarifying how we address permissibility of activities and costs under 2 CFR part 200 (distinguished from
50 CFR part 80).
Enhancing understanding of the grant process and how funds are disbursed to States.
Clarifying how we address permissibility of funding activities under 50 CFR part 80 (distinguished from 2
CFR part 200).
Responding to a request to include this term as defined at 2 CFR part 200 in the regulations at 50 CFR
part 80.
Supporting activities associated with Public Law 116–17 for physically expanding access to public target
ranges, to mean acquiring land for or constructing public target ranges, or physical improvements to an
existing public target range that add to the utility of the range in a manner that ultimately increases
range capacity to accommodate more participants.
Supporting understanding and consistency throughout the rule.
Differentiating the Federal definition from the State equivalent term.
Adding as defined under Public Law 116–94 for State license years.
Adding a condensed version from the Sport Fish Restoration Act to provide parity to the definition of Wildlife restoration project (see below).
Adding as defined under Public Law 116–94, included in the Act under 16 U.S.C. 669c(c)(4).

Acquisition .......................................
Allocate ...........................................
Allowable .........................................
Apportioned funds ...........................
Eligible .............................................
Equipment .......................................
Expanding .......................................

Facility .............................................
Federal fiscal year ..........................
Fiscal year .......................................
Fish restoration and management
project.
Hunter recruitment and recreational
shooter recruitment.
Law enforcement ............................
Maintenance ....................................
Operations .......................................
Public ..............................................
Public access ..................................
Public relations ................................
Public target range ..........................
R3 ....................................................
Traditional Wildlife Restoration program.

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Wildlife restoration project ..............

Resolving a longstanding issue that has caused confusion and inconsistencies for what activities may be
eligible under the Acts; clarifying these parameters would allow us to broaden the scope of eligible activities that support the Acts but do not fall into the ineligible categories.
Clarifying for those instances where maintenance and operations are not both eligible activities under a
funding source.
Clarifying for those instances where maintenance and operations are not both eligible activities under a
funding source, such as under 90/10/5 funding where operational activities are ineligible.
Resolving a longstanding issue as to what constitutes ‘‘the public’’ because using Federal assistance funds
for a project and then limiting access to an exclusive group is not permissible.
Resolving a longstanding issue as to physical access to projects funded under the Acts; supported also by
50 CFR 80.58.
Adding because Public Law 116–94 removed public relations as a prohibited activity but 2 CFR part 200
restricts allowability, meaning public relations activities are not always eligible.
Adding as defined under Public Law 116–17.
Adding as an abbreviation for ‘‘recruiting, retaining, or reactivating’’ and applicable to both Acts, to support
activities under Public Law 116–94.
Adding to mean the activities that are funded under apportionments authorized at 16 U.S.C. 669c(b), which
reflects the original program funded under the Wildlife Restoration Act, to support distinctions in funding
sources due to passage of Public Law 116–17 and Public Law 116–94.
Supporting the part of the definition from the Wildlife Restoration Act that is applicable to the Wildlife Restoration Program, and not the sections of the Act amended by Public Law 106–553 to create the Wildlife
Conservation and Restoration Program.

In this proposed rule, we propose to
remove a term only when we replace it
with a term that better aligns with 2 CFR
part 200 and current grant management
processes. We propose to amend some
terms to update to current standards,
such as adding a clause to the term
‘‘construction’’ to accommodate projects
under Public Law 116–17 for
constructing public target ranges. Upon
the advice of State representatives, we
propose to simplify the list of terms by
removing the term ‘‘agency’’ as a
separate definition and instead adding
‘‘(agency)’’ after the term ‘‘State fish and
wildlife agency’’ to indicate that those
terms mean the same thing. We propose
to amend the term ‘‘angler’’ to
acknowledge applicable Federal law, as
one State reviewer commented that
sometimes fishing in a State involves

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meeting standards of both State and
Federal laws. Five of the 50 U.S. States
apply for Federal funds using a
‘‘comprehensive management system
(CMS)’’ method of operations, which we
define at § 80.2. We consulted
representatives from those States to
inform the proposed updates to this
term in this proposed rule. We propose
to update the term ‘‘personal property’’
to align better with the definition and
use of that term in the Service Manual
chapter at 520 FW 6, ‘‘Real Property—
Overview.’’ We propose to clarify the
term ‘‘subaccount’’ based on
recommendations from the preregulatory review team. We propose to
amend the term ‘‘useful life’’ to apply to
a capital asset or equipment in addition
to a capital improvement, based on
definitions and other regulatory

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requirements provided in 2 CFR part
200.
II. Subpart B—State Fish and Wildlife
Agency Eligibility
We are not proposing any substantive
changes to subpart B.
III. Subpart C—License Revenue
We are not proposing any substantive
changes to subpart C.
IV. Subpart D—Certifying License
Holders
In our August 27, 2019, final rule (84
FR 44772), we made significant changes
to subpart D. Those regulatory changes
included a compliance date of
September 27, 2021 (2 years from the
effective date of the 2019 final rule), for
State fish and wildlife agencies to make
the needed changes in their laws and

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processes to accommodate the new
standards to licenses for the purposes of
certifying paid license holders during
the annual certification period.
Certifying license holders is an
important component to both the
Wildlife Restoration and the Sport Fish
Restoration programs because, under the
Acts, annual apportionment to State fish
and wildlife agencies is based in part,
under the mandatory funding formulae
in the Acts, on the number of paid
hunting and fishing license holders that
the agency certifies.
We propose to make some editorial
changes to subpart D to change the title
to reflect active voice, place more
emphasis on ‘‘individual paid license
holders,’’ and improve clarity and
consistency in how we present
information. At § 80.33, How does a
State fish and wildlife agency decide
who to count as paid license holders in
the annual certification?, we propose to
address some misunderstandings that
have come to our attention as to how
different types of licenses allow license
holders to be counted in the annual
certification. State fish and wildlife
agencies develop many varying
structures for how they package and sell
hunting and fishing licenses in their
State.
As an example of the disparities and
how we address them, consider these
two scenarios. State A and State B both
have ‘‘fiscal/license years’’ that are June
1–May 31. This is the ‘‘certification
period’’ for both States when reporting
individual paid license holders.
However, State A and State B follow
different processes for issuing licenses:
• State A sells annual licenses that,
regardless of when you purchase your
license, are valid only during the
‘‘fiscal/license year.’’ For example, if
you purchase your license on April 1, it
will expire May 31 if you are buying
that license for the current license year,
or it will not be valid until June 1 if you
are buying that license for the next
license year.
• State B sells annual licenses that,
regardless of when you purchase your
license, are valid for a full year starting
with the day you purchase the license
and ending 1 year later (this type of
license is also known as a ‘‘365-day
license’’). For example, if you purchase
your license on April 1, it is good from
that day (April 1) through the following
March 31.
State A can easily determine which
individual paid license holders may be
counted during the certification period
as they all fall into the fiscal/license
year. However, State B has individual
paid license holders that are holding a
valid license in two different fiscal/

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license years. It would not be fair if
State B certified license holders in two
certification periods for licenses that are
essentially the same in both States.
To align these scenarios, we propose
to clearly state the following:
• An individual paid license holder
may be counted only in the certification
period in which the license first
becomes valid.
• A single-year license may be valid
for any period from 1 day up to 2 years.
• A license that is valid for 2 years or
more is considered a multiyear license.
• A license holder cannot be counted
in more certification periods than a
license is valid, i.e., if holding a 5-year
license, the holder can be counted only
in five certification periods for that
license.
• A license holder may be counted
only for certification periods that align
with the years the license is valid, i.e.,
if a 5-year license is valid from June 1,
2018, through May 31, 2023, the license
holder may not be counted for that
license for the certification period that
ends between October 1, 2024, and
September 30, 2025, or any certification
period after that.
The criterion above becomes
important when considering multiyear
licenses that were sold before the 2019
final rule became effective on
September 26, 2019, and a State fish and
wildlife agency is recalculating to
determine if it may certify the license
holder in an upcoming certification
period. For example, a 10-year license
that was sold in 2016 for $100 could be
counted only once under the regulations
in effect at that time. Under the 2019
final rule, the State fish and wildlife
agency may apply the current standards
in § 80.34 to that license and count the
license holder in the certification
periods that include 2019 until the
license expires in 2025, so that license
holder may potentially be counted in
seven additional certification periods.
The State agency cannot certify that
license holder beyond that date, for that
license, as it is no longer valid. Using
the same example, except for a lifetime
license, under the 2019 final rule, the
State agency may certify the license
holder for up to an additional 49 years,
provided the license holder is still alive.
Under this proposal, a State would be
allowed to certify a license holder only
for the number of years that the license
is valid and only in the certification
years that correspond to the period that
the license is valid.
At § 80.34, Must a State fish and
wildlife agency receive a minimum
amount of revenue for each license
holder certified?, we propose to remove
the statement that all States must be

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following the requirements in § 80.34(b)
by September 27, 2021, as that date is
now in the past. The subpart includes
other references to that date, and we
propose revisions to update the
regulations appropriately.
We propose to amend § 80.35, What
additional requirements apply to
multiyear licenses?, based on comments
we have received since the 2019 final
rule that certain language set forth by
the 2019 final rule is unclear or
confusing. We propose no changes to
the basic principles established in
§ 80.35 by the 2019 final rule; rather we
propose revisions similar to those we
are proposing for § 80.34 in removing
language identifying dates for regulatory
compliance that are no longer relevant.
We also propose revisions for simplicity
and clarity, to encourage consistent
understanding and implementation of
the regulations.
At § 80.37, which pertains to the
question of whether the State fish and
wildlife agency can certify a license sold
at a discount, we propose to remove the
phrase ‘‘when combined with another
license or privilege,’’ as the answer to
the question does not depend on
combining the license with another
privilege. It can be discounted under
other circumstances. We also propose to
amend the heading of § 80.38, which
asks whether an entity other than the
State fish and wildlife agency may offer
a discounted or free license under any
circumstances, to instead ask whether a
State fish and wildlife agency can
certify a license when an entity other
than the agency offers a discounted or
free license. The emphasis would be
placed on the ability to certify the
license holder, which ultimately is the
concept that we want to establish
throughout the regulations in subpart D.
Proposed amendments to the
regulations in subpart D were presented
to the JTF in December 2021 for review
and input. Prior to the 2019 final rule,
the Service relied on the advice of the
JTF to inform the new standards for
certifying license holders with the goal
of establishing rules that were fair and
could be consistently applied by State
fish and wildlife agencies. The JTF
again had the opportunity to review
proposed subpart D regulations during
one of the preliminary review and
comment periods on the proposed rule.
V. Subpart E—Eligible Activities
We propose to amend subpart E by
editing the regulations for active voice,
clarity, and better readability. We
propose to strategically amend the
regulations in subpart E more than those
in any other subpart in 50 CFR part 80
to accommodate activities newly

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eligible under the 2019 amendments to
the Wildlife Restoration Act. The WSFR
pre-rulemaking policy process and
preliminary guidance developed to
address the amendments to the Act
greatly informed the proposed changes
to this subpart.
We describe here several areas of
focus that greatly expand eligible
activities set forth in subpart E, how we
are proposing to reformat the
regulations in this subpart, the analyses
we engaged in to determine how to
improve the current regulations, and
how we support certain concepts
throughout this proposed rule.
Background Information on the Wildlife
Restoration Act
To better understand amendments to
the Wildlife Restoration Act for
programs and subprograms, additional
eligible activities, and how all eligible
activities under the Act intersect with
funding sources under the Act and the
Service’s administration of awards, we
provide some background on the
Wildlife Restoration Act.
The Federal Aid in Wildlife
Restoration Act (Sept. 2, 1937, ch. 899,
section 1, 50 Stat. 917) set forth a
program that apportioned funds to State
fish and wildlife agencies for eligible
activities related to acquiring land,
improving habitat, and conducting
research associated with wildlife
restoration and management. Funding
was available from revenue accrued
during the Federal fiscal year (FFY) on
taxes imposed on firearms, shells, and
cartridges under the Revenue Act of
1932 (47 Stat. 169) and deposited into
‘‘the Federal aid to wildlife restoration
fund,’’ which we now refer to as the
Wildlife Restoration Trust Fund.
Each of the Act’s programs and
subprograms has specific eligible
activities, and costs must be assigned to
separate fiscal subaccounts to support
accurate administration of the funds.
The Service tracks apportionments and
available funding using the Department
of the Interior’s Financial and Business
Management System (FBMS), which
supports business management
processes related to financial
management, grants and cooperative
agreements, real and personal property
management, and several other
functions. FBMS employs the use of
subaccounts, which allows the Service
to use a ‘‘first-in, first-out’’ method of
accounting.
The Service also uses subaccounts to
administer the specific use requirements
for program and subprogram funding
sources under the Act. States that have
funding that has not been obligated to
an award within the period of

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availability may encounter the
possibility of having to return
apportioned funds to the Service (see
table 1 to § 80.92 under Proposed
Regulation Promulgation, below, for
information on how the Service
disburses returned funds). The Service
uses a ‘‘safety margin’’ system to track
apportioned funds, obligated funds, and
periods of availability and will alert a
State agency if the agency is
approaching a situation where they may
need to return funds. (Note: the
formulas for awarding funds and cost
share requirements for insular areas, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the
District of Columbia vary from the
formula applied to the 50 States.)
Since enactment of the Wildlife
Restoration Act, several amendments
have revised the original eligibilities
that impact changes addressed in this
proposed rule:
• The addition of maintenance of
wildlife restoration projects as eligible
(Pub. L. 79–533, July 24, 1946).
• Law enforcement and public
relations excluded as eligible activities
(Pub. L. 84–375, August 12, 1955).
• The addition of the Basic Hunter
Education and Safety subprogram to the
Act (Pub. L. 91–503, October 23, 1970).
• The addition of the Enhanced
Hunter Education and Safety program to
the Act (Pub. L. 106–408, November 1,
2000; also known as ‘‘the Improvement
Act’’).
• The addition of an administrative
funding advantage to encourage and
assist States in acquiring land for,
expanding, and constructing public
target ranges, under the Target Practice
and Marksmanship Training Support
Act (Pub. L. 116–17, May 10, 2019),
which we refer to as ‘‘90/10/5.’’
• The addition of new eligible
activities for hunter recruitment and
recreational shooter recruitment (which
we refer to as ‘‘R3’’) under the
Modernizing the Pittman-Robertson
Fund for Tomorrow’s Needs Act (Pub. L.
116–94, December 20, 2019), which also
removed the exclusion of public
relations activities that was added to the
Act in 1955.
Section 80.50—What activities are
eligible for funding under the Wildlife
Restoration Act?
Updated Terms and Arrangement
As noted above, we propose to begin
using the term ‘‘Traditional Wildlife
Restoration program’’ to refer to the
original program that is funded under
16 U.S.C. 669c(b) and ‘‘90/10/5’’ to refer
to activities for acquiring land for,
expanding, or constructing public target
ranges that qualify for the

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administrative advantage of a 90 percent
Federal/10 percent non-Federal cost
share, with a period of availability to
obligate funds of 5 years.
We propose to reorganize the
regulations at § 80.50(b) under the
general categories of Basic Hunter
Education and Safety subprogram and
Hunter Recruitment and Recreational
Shooter Recruitment, and separate
eligible activities for the Basic Hunter
Education and Safety subprogram into
§ 80.50(b)(1) and eligible activities for
recruiting, retaining, or reactivating
hunters and recreational shooters (R3)
into a new § 80.50(b)(2). This proposed
revision would allow us to recognize the
common funding source, while
providing the distinctions between
eligible activities under each. We also
propose to remove regulations that
describe activities that are eligible under
all programs under the Acts from
current § 80.50 and add them to
proposed § 80.52.
Traditional Wildlife Restoration
Program
We propose that eligible research may
include social sciences, to assist States
in improving communication and
benefits to the public they serve. We
also propose that a State may use funds
under a Traditional Wildlife Restoration
program award for maintaining and
operating projects or equipment under
the ownership or management control of
the State fish and wildlife agency and
that support eligible activities under the
Wildlife Restoration Act. This proposed
change is intended to support the ability
for State agencies to use Traditional
Wildlife Restoration program funds for
eligible maintenance and operations on
projects or activities on Traditional
Wildlife Restoration-managed land that
may have been funded in accordance
with regulations in another subpart or
from an external source. As an example,
a wildlife management area has a public
target range. Maintenance activities
such as mowing the lawn or operations
such as providing lighting to the facility
would be eligible activities using
Traditional Wildlife Restoration
program funds, as they are eligible
Traditional Wildlife Restoration
program activities, without the need to
allocate costs to other funding sources.
However, activities such as constructing
a public target range or providing staff
to run and operate the public target
range would not be eligible Traditional
Wildlife Restoration program activities
and must be charged to an eligible
funding source.
We also propose to add to § 80.50 that
a State agency may use funds under a
Traditional Wildlife Restoration

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Communication and Public Relations

Some of the eligible communication
activities we describe in this proposed
rule are prompted by our engagement in
the newly introduced activities
associated with R3, but we do not limit
the opportunity to expand on eligible
communication activities to strictly R3.
We propose amendments throughout
the regulations that clarify and allow for
expanded communication activities that
support other eligible activities.

With the passage of Public Law 116–
94, the prohibition for funding public
relations activities was removed from
the Wildlife Restoration Act, making
public relations potentially an eligible
activity. The regulations at 2 CFR part
200 specifically define public relations
and provide principles establishing
when these costs are and are not
allowable. We have considered that
perhaps the overlap of public relations
with other communication terms (such
as ‘‘outreach,’’ ‘‘marketing,’’ and
‘‘advertising’’) would cause confusion
and inconsistencies in determining
which associated activities may be
funded under the Acts. Using
preliminary guidance that we already
have developed (‘‘Implementing the
Modernizing the Pittman-Robertson
Fund for Tomorrow’s Needs Act,’’ July
14, 2021), in this proposed rule we
focus on public relations and other
activities that would be considered
eligible for communicating with the
public.
We propose to define the term ‘‘public
relations’’ by referencing 2 CFR part
200; therefore, ‘‘public relations’’ would
mean activities that are dedicated to
maintaining the image of the State fish
and wildlife agency or subrecipient or to
maintaining or promoting
understanding and favorable relations
with the community or public at large
or any segment of the public. As ‘‘public
relations’’ activities are described in 2
CFR part 200, costs for the activities are
unallowable unless meeting the
objectives of, or necessary for the
performance of, a Federal award, or
when conducting general liaison on
matters of public concern. To clarify, if
the form of communication solely
benefits the State or the State agency,
then the costs are unallowable, but if the
form of communication supports the
objectives or performance of the Federal
award then costs would likely be
allowable. We propose to include at
§ 80.50(a)(8) examples of eligible
communication types that support a
State’s ability to have an informed and
engaged public. We would describe at
proposed § 80.50(a)(9) what
communication activities require prior
approval.

Law Enforcement and Eligible Activities
We propose to begin foundationally at
§ 80.2, as described above, by defining
the term ‘‘law enforcement’’ to mean
enforcing laws, orders, and regulations.
We also would describe at proposed
§ 80.55 how activities for both law
enforcement and the process of making
State laws are ineligible for funding.
Using these two standards of ineligible
activities under the Acts allows us to
take an approach with this proposed
rulemaking to clarify and more
distinctly define those activities that are
eligible, as the prohibition of activities
connected to law enforcement has been
interpreted over the years to extend
beyond these restrictions. Based on this
approach, we propose to include the
following activities in the regulation as
eligible:
• Research, data collection, surveys,
meeting with boards, and other
preliminary activities that State agency
staff do to collect information, make
assessments, develop internal
recommendations, and inform
legislators, who then use the
information when engaging in the
ineligible activity associated with a
formal legislative process for making
public policy. These eligible activities
are also supported under both Acts.
When defining ‘‘wildlife restoration
project’’ and ‘‘fish restoration and
management project,’’ the Acts include,
respectively, ‘‘research into problems of
wildlife management as may be
necessary to efficient administration
affecting wildlife resources’’ (16 U.S.C.
669a(11)) and ‘‘acquisition of such facts
as are necessary to guide and direct the
regulation of fishing by law’’ (16 U.S.C.
777a(1)(B)).
• Activities that are otherwise eligible
being conducted by law enforcement
personnel. Examples are activities such
as participating in hunter education and
safety courses, supporting public access
at boat ramps, or conducting outreach to
educate the public or for R3 purposes.
If an activity is eligible, the staff
involved with conducting the activity,
even if law enforcement, may be
included as an eligible part of an award.
Of course, if law enforcement staff are
involved in an eligible activity, and

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program award for maintaining and
operating projects or equipment that a
third party owns or manages provided a
third-party binding agreement is in
place that ensures the project continues
to serve the intended purposes under
the award. This third-party binding
agreement may be in the form of a
subaward.

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something occurs that activates them to
conduct law enforcement activities, the
State or subrecipient would have to
prorate costs accordingly and charge
only eligible activities to the award or
subaward.
• Interpreting, translating, printing, or
disseminating published State hunting
regulations to inform and educate the
public about their responsibilities to
comply with laws, orders, and
regulations. Once the laws are
published in the official legal registry
(State Register or other), the lawmaking
process is complete. However, the State
agency should then make this
information readily available to
members of the public in a manner they
can understand. Such efforts to simplify
the rules in a different format, translate
the law into other languages, include
information on the laws in hunter or
angler guides, and other associated
projects would be eligible.
Technology
Considering that State agencies may
provide many forms of innovation in
communication with the public, such as
phone applications (apps), social media,
websites, software products, and
whatever is on the horizon, we propose
to add the flexibility for States to
employ these methods and tools when
associated with an eligible activity.
R3 Flexibility
We understand that the ability to use
funds under these Acts for R3 activities
will provide State fish and wildlife
agencies opportunities to be somewhat
creative in finding various ways to
approach different audiences, thereby
helping the agencies achieve the R3
success they are seeking. We want to
provide flexibility in the regulations for
States to take advantage of those
opportunities as much as possible,
while still meeting the requirements for
being necessary and reasonable and
supporting objectives in an award. We,
therefore, propose to list eligible
activities that support R3 for items such
as hiring shooting trainers and hunting
guides, paying for optimizing State
websites, acquiring supplies that help
enhance the experience and skills of
participants, and various types of
education to include mentoring, field
demonstrations, and training simulators.
Many of the activities for R3 under
Wildlife Restoration can be applied
similarly to R3 under Sport Fish
Restoration. We propose to leave
sufficient flexibility to allow a State
agency to have an award approved for
activities that the agency can clearly
demonstrate are targeted toward eligible
R3 objectives.

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Section 80.51—What activities are
eligible for funding under the Sport Fish
Restoration Act?
We propose to amend eligible
activities in § 80.51 to align with those
in the proposed revised § 80.50, as
appropriate, including expansion of
eligible activities for communication.
Recreational Boating Access
Subprogram
We propose to add some activities to
provide more context, based on the
Service Manual chapter at 517 FW 7.
Based on recommendations from States,
we would clarify that projects may be
for motorized or nonmotorized vessels
and users.

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State Outreach and Communications
Subprogram
We propose to add the word ‘‘State’’
to this subprogram. The Act provides for
a National Outreach and
Communications Program, which is a
competitive program administered out
of the Service’s Headquarters Office.
The Act also provides for a State
Outreach and Communications program
(an R3 program), which is to be an
extension of the National program
focused on State priorities. Each State
may use up to 15 percent of its Sport
Fish Restoration program apportioned
funds (16 U.S.C. 777c) for the costs of
the combined Aquatic Resources
Education and State Outreach and
Communications subprograms. We
propose to add a provision for
‘‘Interpreting, translating, printing, or
disseminating published State fishing
regulations to inform and educate the
public about their responsibilities to
comply with laws, orders, and
regulations’’ to the regulations to
provide parity with eligible activities
under proposed revised § 80.50.
Section 80.52—What activities are
eligible for funding under all programs
and subprograms under the Acts?
We propose to add this new section
to the regulations as we identified
multiple activities currently discussed
in §§ 80.50 and 80.51 and in this
proposed rule that are eligible to all
programs and subprograms. Below we
describe two new proposed provisions
to accommodate activities newly
eligible under the 2019 amendments to
the Wildlife Restoration Act.
State Electronic Data Systems
License sales are an important
component of the congressionally
mandated funding formula the Service
uses for awarding annual
apportionments to State agencies.
Originally a manual process, tracking of

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license sales became automated as
technology improved and State agencies
began using automated point of sale or
electronic licensing systems for
collecting payments for hunting and
fishing licenses and accounting for
license sales. As the primary purpose
for these electronic systems was
management of hunting and fishing
license revenue for the State fish and
wildlife agency, using grant funds to
support the system was considered
ineligible for funding as activities
conducted for the primary purpose of
producing income (see 50 CFR 80.54(c)),
and all associated costs, are ineligible.
As technology has further improved and
agency activities expanded over the
years, traditional licensing systems
evolved to accommodate a variety of
needs and purposes and have been
combined with other public-facing
electronic systems designed to collect
and share data and information as a
public interface. A Director’s
Memorandum issued on July 11, 1996
(Automated Sportsman’s Data Systems
(ASDS)—Formerly Point of Sale),
describes the Service’s awareness of the
changing technology and the potential
eligibility of some costs associated with
the expanding system. More than 25
years later, systems have become a tool
for a variety of actions related to the
conservation of fish and wildlife
resources and associated administration
of a State agency. Some electronic
systems may be combined within a State
to accommodate multiple purposes or
be used in conjunction with other State
agencies. States are using technology to
increase efficiency and generate cost
savings, so it is possible that the
electronic system that sells hunting and
fishing licenses may include
components for collecting data and
funds, distributing information, or
administering activities for other
purposes such as driver’s licenses,
vehicle registrations, park entry permits,
and other sources of revenue for States.
In June 2021, WSFR published
guidance that describes how States may
apply costs of an electronic system that
support eligible activities to a Wildlife
Restoration or Sport Fish Restoration
award. As we have had 2 years to
implement and receive feedback on this
guidance and have received no negative
responses from States, we propose to
add such costs to the list of eligible
activities in the regulations. The
processes in the guidance would still
have to be followed for costs to be
eligible.
Oversight Activities
We propose to add provisions to the
regulations that clarify as eligible those

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activities pertaining to oversight, such
as monitoring, evaluating, and
reporting. We would include as eligible
the costs associated with monitoring
and compliance activities when they
lead to the discovery of an area of
noncompliance with an award, a
potential diversion of funds under the
Acts, or a situation where property
acquired under the Acts is infringed
upon—improprieties that could result in
an action in the legal system. This
proposed regulatory change would
continue to build on the flexibilities for
activities that do not fall into the
category of law enforcement or State
lawmaking. The State agency would still
be unable to use award funds for
conducting law enforcement activities,
such as issuing a citation, but the
agency could use award funds for
obtaining evidence, testifying in court,
meeting with attorneys, and other
activities to protect resource and
property interests under an award. Here
is an example: While a State is
monitoring real property holdings that
were acquired under an award, the State
finds that an adjacent landowner has
put a shed on a State-owned property.
Eligible activities would include the
work that non-law enforcement staff do
to collect information and evidence (i.e.,
take photographs, check lot lines in the
files, etc.), notify managers and officials,
write letters to the other party informing
them of the situation and offering an
opportunity to correct, consult with
attorneys to assess the situation and
potential alternatives, and, if needed,
testify and provide evidence in a court
of law.
Section 80.53—May an activity be
eligible for funding if it is not explicitly
eligible in this part?
We propose to add in § 80.53 that an
activity must be allowable under 2 CFR
part 200 to be eligible if the activity is
not explicitly described as eligible in
the regulations in part 80.
Section 80.55—What activities are
ineligible for funding?
We propose to expand on the
prohibition for law enforcement to
include the definition of ‘‘law
enforcement’’ but also the making of
laws. We also propose to remove
‘‘public relations’’ as ineligible under
the Acts in response to Public Law 116–
94.
State Lawmaking as Ineligible
We propose to clearly describe as an
ineligible activity participation in the
State lawmaking process using Federal
funds under an award. This provision is
primarily because State agencies need to

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retain their State law authority to make
policy decisions, and once these
activities are included in a grant and
paid for with Federal financial
assistance funds, they are ‘‘federalized,’’
creating a Federal nexus to what is
inherently a State responsibility. When
a federally funded project includes the
making of State laws, a Federal
compliance review is automatically
triggered. Even if the project is
determined to be categorically excluded
from some Federal compliance
requirements, the Federal nexus on a
State’s responsibility and authority to
promulgate laws is inappropriate and is
deemed ineligible. Therefore, this
proposed rule would clarify and more
distinctly define what law-related
activities are eligible and ineligible
under the Acts.
Public Access Denied
We also propose to add that when
public access is required under an
award and is not provided, the project
becomes ineligible for funding. This
provision does not include temporary
closings or closings because of reasons
established at proposed § 80.58 but
refers to blatant exclusion or denial of
public access when that access is
required under an award.

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Section 80.57—How does a proposed
project qualify as substantial in
character and design?
We propose to add to § 80.57 planned
approaches, appropriate procedures,
and accepted principles that would
relate to R3, access, and communication
to accommodate additional eligible
activities described in this proposed
rule.
Section 80.58—What are public access
requirements for activities in an
approved award under the Wildlife
Restoration or Sport Fish Restoration
programs?
The parameters for public access have
been a longstanding issue for the
Service and States, and we propose to
set some basic principles in the
regulations to assist with understanding
and encourage consistent application.
We propose to start with stating that
there are certain eligible activities under
an award for which the primary purpose
is to provide public access. A prime
example of such an activity is public
target ranges, which are prominent in
both Public Law 116–17, which focuses
on offering advantages to States to
encourage further development of such
facilities, and Public Law 116–94,
which seeks to provide public target
ranges and other support to recruit,
retain, or reactivate members of the

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public in hunting and recreational
shooting activities. We have
encountered situations where potential
subrecipients were actively seeking to
partner with States in using funds under
the Wildlife Restoration Act for range
projects but did not want the range open
to the public. Often, we encounter
situations where the desire is to limit
access to members only, and
membership costs are very high, or
memberships are not offered to all. This
includes projects under both Acts.
From the public side, we also have
encountered situations where certain
groups with specific interests want to
access property acquired under an
award for various purposes that are not
consistent with the purposes of the
award under which they were acquired.
For example, a real property acquisition
for the purposes of conserving a
sensitive species in recovery may not be
compatible with all-terrain vehicle use
or horseback riding on that property.
Proposed § 80.58 would give the State
agency authority, within the purposes of
the Acts, to set parameters for public
access. We understand that many States
have standards for public access already
institutionalized in their laws and
practices. Proposed § 80.58 would also
describe how a State agency may work
under a third-party binding agreement
(which may be accomplished as a
subaward) to partner with non-State
entities on projects that must provide
public access.
We purposely do not discuss in the
proposed regulations any set formulas
for determining the amount of public
access to provide when the project with
a third party is not available for public
access 100 percent of the time. In May
2017, the Service published Best
Practices for Third-Party Agreements
guidance (best practices guidance),
which we updated in September 2019.
In the best practices guidance, we
describe that the determination as to the
adequacy of public access will be
accomplished on a case-by-case basis
and will be considered as follows:
The WSFR-prescribed method used to
determine the amount of public access
is:
(1) A reasonable number of regularly
scheduled and posted hours of
availability must be available to the
public that reflects, at minimum, the
amount of the Federal and State
investment;
(2) Hours of operation may take into
consideration safety and security issues,
but must not impose impediments such
as mandatory membership or excessive
fees beyond those needed to offset
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(3) If there is potential for closing a
site for targeted, non-public use, the
recipient must define a process whereby
the third party must notify the public of
any changes in availability and must
compensate the recipient when it
reduces the minimum public access
defined in the agreement (the preferred
method is for the third party to offer
additional public access at an alternate
time that compensates for the
interruption); and
(4) If there are gates, locks, or other
controls to access, the third party must
clearly indicate at the control point how
the public may gain access to the
facility.
VI. Subpart F—Allocation of Funds by
an Agency
With the passage of Public Law 116–
17 and Public Law 116–94, many more
interrelationships are available for
developing projects and engaging in
eligible activities that could potentially
include using funds from a different
funding source under the Wildlife
Restoration Act. Because these statutory
changes prompted a more holistic
approach in subpart F, we propose to
expand current § 80.60 and add three
new sections as follows:
• Proposed § 80.60—What is the
relationship between the Traditional
Wildlife Restoration Program, the Basic
Hunter Education and Safety
subprogram (Basic Hunter Education),
and the Enhanced Hunter Education
and Safety program (Enhanced Hunter
Education) for acquiring land for,
expanding, or constructing public target
ranges?
• Proposed § 80.61—What sources of
funding in the Wildlife Restoration Act
may a State fish and wildlife agency use
to support public target range projects,
and may funds from multiple sources be
used in a single award?
• Proposed § 80.62—What are eligible
and ineligible 90/10/5 activities?
• Proposed § 80.63—What exception
is provided for Enhanced Hunter
Education and Safety funds in relation
to Basic Hunter Education and Safety
funds?
We propose in these sections, based
on the ‘‘Interim Guidance for Applying
Public Law 116–17, the Target Practice
and Marksmanship Training Support
Act, to the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife
Restoration Act’’ (interim guidance),
how a State may apply the 90 percent
Federal/10 percent non-Federal cost
share and period of availability of up to
5 years to eligible public target range
projects. The proposed sections also
describe what amount of funds, if any,
a State may allocate to public target
range projects and the process a State

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agency must take when applying
apportioned Traditional Wildlife
Restoration program funds to those
projects. The current regulations at
§ 80.60 focus on the differences between
the Basic Hunter Education and Safety
subprogram and the Enhanced Hunter
Education and Safety program. We
propose to address the relationship
between the two programs and one
subprogram that may include public
target range activities using the 90/10/5
approach as allowable under the
amendments from Public Law 116–17.
Proposed § 80.61 would engage with
all the options that a State may use
when funding public target range
projects. We would identify, in a table
to proposed § 80.61, seven different
potential approaches to use under the
regulations.
Proposed § 80.62 would describe
eligible and ineligible 90/10/5 activities.
The proposed revisions would include a
topic that we need to address as,
following a legal review of Public Law
116–17, it became clear that the intent
of the law is to increase physical access
to more or expanded public target
ranges. In the interim guidance and this
proposed rule, we make it clear that
‘‘expanding’’ means, for the purposes of
projects for acquiring land for,
expanding, or constructing public target
ranges (90/10/5), physical
improvements to an existing public
target range that add to the utility of the
range in a manner that ultimately
increases range capacity to
accommodate more participants.
Physical improvements do not
necessarily have to increase the size of
the facility but must result in an
increase in physical usability that will
accommodate more participants. This
legal interpretation led us to include in
this proposed rule definitions for the
terms ‘‘maintenance’’ and ‘‘operations.’’
In the grant programs under the Acts,
we tend to combine operations and
maintenance under single awards, and
this approach is acceptable for most of
the eligible activities under the Acts.
However, for 90/10/5 awards, an
activity defined as ‘‘operations’’ is not
an eligible activity. An activity defined
as ‘‘maintenance’’ may be, depending on
whether it integrally supports a
construction or expansion project. For
example, if a project includes activities
to expand a 6-stall range to a 12-stall
range, but the roof and structure of the
existing 6 lanes need repair and
maintenance at the same time to allow
for successful construction, it may be
necessary and reasonable to support the
expansion project and ensure that all 12
lanes will be accessible to the public.
Other examples may include when a

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safety feature of a public target range
needs maintenance, and closure of the
facility will occur if the need is not
resolved. When combined with other
activities for expanding the range, this
maintenance activity may be included
as necessary and reasonable. A State
fish and wildlife agency would have to
clearly justify how the maintenance
activity supports the 90/10/5 objectives
and is not just a stand-alone
maintenance activity that does nothing
to increase range capacity for more
participants.
We include in this proposed rule that
public target ranges may be on property
where title is held by a third party
provided the State agency holds a lease
or other binding agreement that ensures
the terms and conditions of the award
will be met. Mobile public target ranges
would also be eligible. Although
personnel and administrative costs for
managing and operating a public target
range once the project is completed
would be ineligible, personnel and
administrative costs associated with
activities that directly support
development of public target ranges,
such as acquiring land and construction,
would be eligible. Examples include
those activities associated with planning
for projects, which may include
identifying potential parcels of land,
investigating and obtaining permits,
conducting real property appraisals,
engineering, coordinating projects on a
State level, and administering specific
projects. Costs that are also eligible
when combined with an expansion or
construction project are the associated
amenities that are necessary and
reasonable to ensure the public can fully
access and utilize the public target
range, such as public restrooms, storage
facilities, safety amenities, signs, roads
and parking lots, and infrastructure for
utilities. We also propose to include as
eligible the possibility to justify a
project using the 90/10/5 approach
when the range has deteriorated to a
condition where it is no longer operable
or accessible. We do not expect this
situation to happen often, and anyone
considering this option would have to
consult the regional WSFR office.
We would list the following activities
as ineligible: operations, maintenance
unless necessary for completing a
construction or expansion project, longterm monitoring, and any other
activities that are not directly related to
the goals of 90/10/5 for providing new
or increased physical capacity for public
target ranges.
Proposed § 80.63 would describe the
exception that is in the Wildlife
Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669 et seq.)
for use of Enhanced Hunter Education

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and Safety funds. The amendments to
the Act from Public Law 116–94
complicate administration in some
respects. The funding source for both
the Basic Hunter Education and Safety
subprogram and the newly added
hunter recruitment and recreational
shooter recruitment (which we refer to
as ‘‘R3’’) activities is described in the
Act at 16 U.S.C. 669c(c)(1)–(3). When
applied to the Basic Hunter Education
and Safety subprogram, the eligible
activities are described in the Act at 16
U.S.C. 669g(b). The new eligible
activities for R3 are included in the Act
under 16 U.S.C. 669c(c)(4). The Act also
includes an exception for the Enhanced
Hunter Education and Safety program
that, if a State uses all its Basic Hunter
Education and Safety subprogram funds
for purposes under 16 U.S.C. 669g(b)
during the FFY, the State may then use
its Enhanced Hunter Education and
Safety program funds for any purpose
under the Act. When applying the
amendments for R3 activities in the Act,
if a State uses any of its funds under 16
U.S.C. 669c(c) for R3 activities, it voids
the exception, and the State must use all
its Enhanced Hunter Education and
Safety program funds for Enhanced
Hunter Education and Safety program
purposes. We propose to revise § 80.63
to explain and clarify the exception and
associated restrictions when using those
funds for R3 activities.
Section 80.64—What requirements
apply to funds for the Recreational
Boating Access subprogram?
We propose to update § 80.64 to
clarify that a State need not set aside
funds out of each annual apportionment
for this subprogram, provided that the
standard is accomplished within the
designated 5-year period. We propose to
update the 5-year periods starting with
2023.
Section 80.66—Must a State fish and
wildlife agency allocate costs in
multipurpose projects and facilities?
And section 80.67—How does a State
fish and wildlife agency allocate costs to
an award in multipurpose projects and
facilities?
We propose to amend §§ 80.66 and
80.67 slightly to accommodate for
various funding sources within the Acts
and to support that a State agency may
describe ineligible activities in a
proposal that supports eligible activities
provided that the proposal clearly
shows that no costs for ineligible
activities are part of the award. The
Service has had a few instances in
which auditors have identified any
discussion of ineligible activities in a
proposal as making the award ineligible.

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This determination is inaccurate. In
many multipurpose projects, eligible
and ineligible activities work together
for the success of the overall project,
and describing the ineligible activities
makes it clearer to the grant reviewer
how the entire project is supported.
Therefore, this is an acceptable
approach that supports the information
required at § 80.82(b).
Section 80.69—What requirements
apply to allocation of funds between
marine and freshwater fisheries
projects?
We propose to amend § 80.69 to
remove the term ‘‘obligated’’ and
replace it with the term ‘‘allocated’’ to
better align with current administrative
practices.

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VII. Subpart G—Applying for an
Award
We propose to amend the title of
subpart G to reflect active voice and to
replace the term ‘‘grant’’ with ‘‘award’’
to align with 2 CFR part 200.
The Service has had several changes
to systems and processes for States
applying for an award and for Service
staff administering awards. In response
to these changed circumstances, we
propose to revise subpart G to become
more generic in some places, not
referencing specific systems and
processes and referring applicants to the
notice of funding opportunity for
specific information. As many actions
that used to require hardcopy
submissions and signatures are now
accomplished electronically, we also
propose changes to reflect modern
procedures. Effective January 1, 2020,
SAM.gov (https://sam.gov/content/
home) became the central repository for
common certifications and
representations required of Federal
grants recipients. Effective October 28,
2022, the Service no longer requires
applicants to submit the ‘‘Assurances
for Non-Construction Programs (SF–
424B)’’ form or the ‘‘Assurances for
Construction Programs (SF–424D)’’ form
with their applications. Therefore, we
propose to remove this requirement
from the regulations.
Section 80.83—What is the Federal
share of allowable costs? And section
80.84—How does the Service establish
the non-Federal share of allowable
costs?
On October 22, 2022, the U.S.
Department of the Interior issued a
notification (DOI–PGM–PAN Reference
No: 2023–0022) that the Office of the
Solicitor has determined Public Law
96–205, title VI, section 601, as
amended, in conjunction with 48 U.S.C.

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1469a(d), requires Department of the
Interior offices and bureaus to waive the
cost sharing requirement for grants to
the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam,
American Samoa, and the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands, commonly called ‘‘insular
areas.’’ Based on this determination, we
propose to amend these sections of the
regulations to show that the Service will
not require those insular areas to
provide cost share to awards under
these Acts. The insular areas may
provide voluntary cost share, but it is
not required. The Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia
must still provide a minimum 25
percent cost share.
We also propose to amend these
sections to reflect that for those
activities that meet the criteria for
acquiring land for, expanding, or
constructing public target ranges, the
Federal share may be up to 90 percent
of costs under an award, except for
insular areas where it is 100 percent.
Section 80.85—What requirements
apply to cost share or match?
We propose to revise § 80.85 to refer
only to the requirements for cost share
as described at 2 CFR 200.306. We
would maintain the text that describes
at what level of accounting to apply cost
share.
VIII. Subpart H—General Award
Administration
Section 80.92—How long are funds
available for a Federal obligation?
We propose to supplement § 80.92 by
providing a table that describes all
programs and subprograms under the
Acts and shows the name of the
program or subprogram, the period of
availability for obligation (how many
FFYs), and the disbursement of funds at
the end of the period of availability for
obligation. This table would clearly
show all sources of funding and what
happens to the funding should it not be
obligated within the period of
availability.
Section 80.94—May a State fish and
wildlife agency incur costs before the
beginning of the period of performance?
We propose to add a clause at the end
of paragraph (c) of § 80.94 that would
state that the agency can receive
reimbursement for pre-award costs only
after the beginning of the period of
performance and, for activities requiring
compliance, only after the compliance is
satisfied. This proposed revision would
emphasize that if a State agency receives
approval for pre-award costs that
require compliance, the compliance

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must be completed to the satisfaction of
the Service before reimbursement will
be made. For activities that do not
require compliance, reimbursement may
be accomplished as soon as practicable.
Section 80.97—What is barter, and may
a State fish and wildlife agency use
barter of goods or services to carry out
a grant-funded project? And section
80.98—How must a State fish and
wildlife agency include barter in an
award and report barter transactions?
The final rule published on August 1,
2011 (76 FR 46150), introduced in the
regulations how a State agency may use
the barter of goods and services to carry
out a grant-funded project and how
barter must be reported. This revision
was in response to audit findings
reported by the Office of the Inspector
General in several States and
recommendations that the Service
provide clear guidance. In January 2020,
the JTF began a process where,
annually, WSFR sends out a request for
State agencies to submit topics of
national concern in the programs under
the Acts for our consideration and
possible policy action. In 2021, we
received a concern that barter
transactions in a State had again been
identified as an audit finding. This
situation prompted WSFR to reexamine
the topic and determine how States
were managing barter requirements. The
JTF supported WSFR staff working with
the Federal Assistance Coordinators
Working Subcommittee, a group of State
representatives and subject matter
experts chartered under the Association
of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, to assist
in reaching out to States and to provide
advice on regulatory changes.
Barter is an accounting activity that is
addressed under the Generally Accepted
Accounting Principles (GAAP) and the
associated standards for State and local
governments set by the Governmental
Accounting Standards Board (GASB).
We determined that the current GASB
standard that includes barter
transactions was published after
§§ 80.97 and 80.98 were set forth in the
proposed rule (75 FR 32877, June 10,
2010) for the August 1, 2011, rule (76 FR
46150), and we were unaware of the
change until consulting with our
accounting experts when reassessing the
topic in 2021. Therefore, we propose to
amend those sections of the regulations
to reflect current standards. The
proposed revised sections would assign
the responsibility to each individual
State for developing and maintaining
processes that follow GAAP/GASB
standards for how to manage barter
transactions within that State fish and
wildlife agency. This proposed revision

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is consistent with 2 CFR part 200, which
requires States to establish and follow
their own processes under existing laws.
The definition for ‘‘barter
transactions’’ would remain the same—
that it is an accounting term and means
a nonmonetary exchange (reciprocal
transfer) transaction. The requirement to
report barter transactions in the Federal
financial report also would remain. The
barter exchange needs to be accounted
for according to the GAAP standard.
The GAAP standard for States is
dictated by the GASB Statement No. 62.
In general, accounting for nonmonetary
transactions should be based on the fair
values of the assets (or services)
involved, which is the same basis as
that used in monetary transactions.
Therefore, barter could result in an even
exchange when the fair values of the
assets exchanged are the same or result
in a gain or a loss when one part of the
exchange has a higher value than the
other. A gain could be program income
and a loss a project expense.
In the current regulations, the Service
describes cooperative farming and
grazing, a very typical activity with
State agencies that is considered an
even-exchange barter transaction. In this
proposed rule, we propose to remove
cooperative farming and grazing from
§ 80.98 not because it is no longer
considered as an even-exchange barter
transfer but because, under the current
GASB standard, each State, and not the
Service, is responsible for establishing
processes for making those
determinations for their State and then
following the resulting processes.
Therefore, any State desiring to include
cooperative farming and grazing as an
even-barter exchange must include it in
the State’s processes. A State could
potentially add more parameters within
GAAP/GASB standards that could
benefit the agency’s approaches and
objectives. WSFR has been providing
technical assistance to States through
the Federal Assistance Coordinators
Working Subcommittee to assist them in
identifying any existing State policies
on barter transactions and establishing
or refining barter policies for the State
fish and wildlife agency to use. By
establishing State fish and wildlife
agency policies on barter transactions
that meet the standards established
under GASB, and then following those
policies, State agencies may avoid
future audit findings related to barter.
One concern related to barter
transactions that was brought to our
attention is when a State agency wants
to incentivize certain activities to
support its program objectives and
offers something of value to private
entities in exchange for a desired action.

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We do not address incentives in this
rulemaking but did address them in a
policy advisory (Advisory 2020–016,
October 15, 2020 (https://fawiki.fws.gov/
pages/viewpage.action?pageId=
117669889)) when the question was
presented to WSFR. We describe an
‘‘incentive’’ as something that motivates
or encourages someone to do a desired
behavior or action, that is, it stimulates
a reaction or response. An incentive is
not a barter transaction unless it meets
the criteria for barter. A State agency
offering incentives to prompt a desired
reaction or response may take many
forms, many of which are not barter
transactions. When the incentive is
more transactional and includes a
nonmonetary exchange on both ends, it
is a barter transaction and must follow
the State processes and the regulations
at 50 CFR part 80.
IX. Subpart I—Program Income
Section 80.120—What is program
income?
We propose to update § 80.120 to
better align with 2 CFR part 200. To this
section, we propose to add barter
transactions as a form of program
income when the value of goods or
services received exceeds the value of
goods or services the agency provided.
X. Subpart J—Real Property
We propose to revise the heading of
§ 80.134 and make one substantive
change to subpart J. We would add a
new paragraph (e) under § 80.134 stating
that real property acquired with license
revenue (see § 80.20(b)) must be
controlled by the State fish and wildlife
agency and used only for administration
of the agency (see § 80.10(c)).
Paragraphs (a) through (d) of § 80.134
address how State agencies must use
real property acquired under an award.
The proposed addition of new
paragraph (e) to this section would close
the loop by referring to § 80.20(b),
which includes real or personal
property acquired with license revenue
as ‘‘hunting and fishing license
revenue’’ that must be protected, and
then back to § 80.10(c), which requires
that hunting and fishing license revenue
be controlled by the State fish and
wildlife agency and used only for the
administration of that agency. We
would impose no new requirements by
adding this new paragraph (e); rather,
this proposed addition would align the
requirements in a meaningful way in the
real property subpart.
XI. Subpart K—Revisions and Appeals
We are not proposing any substantive
changes to subpart K.

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XII. Subpart L—Information Collection
We are proposing to update subpart L
to the current standardized paragraph
for information collection.
Statutory Authority
The authorities for this action are 16
U.S.C. 669 et seq., and 777–777m,
except 777e–1 and g–1.
Request for Comments
You may submit comments and
materials on this proposed rule by any
one of the methods listed in ADDRESSES.
We will not accept comments sent by
email or fax or to an address not listed
in ADDRESSES. We will not consider
hand-delivered comments that we do
not receive, or mailed comments that
are not postmarked, by the date
specified in DATES.
We will post your entire comment on
https://www.regulations.gov. Before
including personal identifying
information in your comment, you
should be aware that we may make your
entire comment—including your
personal identifying information—
publicly available at any time. While
you can ask us in your comment to
withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we
cannot guarantee that we will be able to
do so. We will post all hardcopy
comments on https://
www.regulations.gov.
Required Determinations
Regulatory Planning and Review
(Executive Orders 12866, 13563, and
14094)
Executive Order (E.O.) 12866, as
reaffirmed by E.O. 13563 and E.O.
14094, provides that the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs
(OIRA) in the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) will review all significant
rules. OIRA has determined that this
proposed rule is not significant.
Executive Order 13563 reaffirms the
principles of E.O. 12866 while calling
for improvements in the Nation’s
regulatory system to promote
predictability, to reduce uncertainty,
and to use the best, most innovative,
and least burdensome tools for
achieving regulatory ends. The
Executive order directs agencies to
consider regulatory approaches that
reduce burdens and maintain flexibility
and freedom of choice for the public
where these approaches are relevant,
feasible, and consistent with regulatory
objectives. E.O. 13563 emphasizes
further that regulations must be based
on the best available science and that
the rulemaking process must allow for

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public participation and an open
exchange of ideas.
Executive Order 14094 reaffirms the
principles of E.O. 12866 and E.O. 13563
and states that regulatory analysis
should facilitate agency efforts to
develop regulations that serve the
public interest, advance statutory
objectives, and are consistent with E.O.
12866, E.O. 13563, and the Presidential
Memorandum of January 20, 2021
(Modernizing Regulatory Review).
Regulatory analysis, as practicable and
appropriate, shall recognize distributive
impacts and equity, to the extent
permitted by law.
We have developed this proposed rule
in a manner consistent with these
requirements.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act
(RFA; 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), as amended
by the Small Business Regulatory
Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996
(SBREFA; 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.),
whenever an agency publishes a
proposed or final rule, it must prepare
and make available for public comment
a regulatory flexibility analysis that
describes the effects of the rule on small
entities (i.e., small businesses, small
organizations, and small government
jurisdictions). However, no regulatory
flexibility analysis is required if the
head of the agency certifies the rule will
not have a significant economic impact
on a substantial number of small
entities. The SBREFA amended the RFA
to require Federal agencies to provide a
certification statement of the factual
basis for certifying that the rule will not
have a significant economic impact on
a substantial number of small entities.
We have examined this proposed
rule’s potential effects on small entities
as required by the RFA. We have
determined that this proposed rule
would not have a significant economic
effect on a substantial number of small
entities and does not require a
regulatory flexibility analysis because
only eligible State, Territorial, and the
District of Columbia fish and wildlife
agencies may receive funding under the
Acts and regulations. Therefore, small
entities (small businesses, small
organizations, and small governmental
jurisdictions) would not be affected by
this proposed rule.
In summary, we have considered
whether this proposed rule would result
in a significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities. We
certify that, if made final, this proposed
rule will not have a significant
economic effect on a substantial number
of small entities as defined under the
RFA, as amended. An initial regulatory

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flexibility analysis is not required.
Accordingly, a small entity compliance
guide is not required.
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
This proposed rule would not impose
an unfunded mandate on State, local, or
Tribal governments, or the private sector
of more than $100 million per year. The
proposed rule would not have a
significant or unique effect on State,
local, or Tribal governments or the
private sector.
(a) As discussed above under
Regulatory Flexibility Act, this proposed
rule would not have a significant
economic effect on a substantial number
of small entities.
(b) The regulations do not require a
small government agency plan or any
other requirement for expending local
funds.
(c) The programs governed by the
current regulations and enhanced by the
proposed amendments in this document
potentially assist small governments
financially when they occasionally and
voluntarily participate as subrecipients
of an eligible agency.
(d) The proposed rule clarifies and
improves upon the current regulations
allowing State, local, and Tribal
governments, and the private sector, to
receive the benefits of financial
assistance funding in a more flexible,
efficient, and effective manner.
(e) Any costs incurred by a State,
local, or Tribal government or the
private sector are voluntary. There are
no mandated costs associated with the
proposed rule other than a required cost
share, in some cases. No cost share is
required under this proposed rule for
insular areas.
(f) The benefits of grant funding
outweigh the costs. Of the 50 States and
6 other jurisdictions that voluntarily are
eligible to apply for grants in these
programs each year, all participate. This
is clear evidence that the benefits of this
grant funding outweigh the costs.
(g) This proposed rule would not
produce a Federal mandate of $100
million or greater in any year, i.e., it is
not a ‘‘significant regulatory action’’
under the Unfunded Mandates Reform
Act.
A statement containing the
information required by the Unfunded
Mandates Reform Act (2 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.) is not required.
Takings (E.O. 12630)
This proposed rule would not affect a
taking of private property or otherwise
have taking implications under
Executive Order 12630. This proposed
rule has no provision for taking private
property. Any real property acquisitions

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with private landowners are strictly
voluntary and only with willing sellers.
A takings implication assessment is not
required.
Federalism (E.O. 13132)
Under the criteria in section 1 of
Executive Order 13132, this proposed
rule does not have sufficient federalism
implications to warrant the preparation
of a federalism summary impact
statement. It would not interfere with
the States’ ability to manage themselves
or their funds. We work closely with the
States administering these programs.
They helped us identify those sections
of the current regulations needing
further consideration and new issues
that prompted us to develop a
regulatory response. A federalism
summary impact statement is not
required.
Civil Justice Reform (E.O. 12988)
This proposed rule complies with the
requirements of Executive Order 12988.
Specifically, this proposed rule:
(a) Meets the criteria of section 3(a)
requiring that all regulations be
reviewed to eliminate errors and
ambiguity and be written to minimize
litigation; and
(b) Meets the criteria of section 3(b)(2)
requiring that all regulations be written
in clear language and contain clear legal
standards.
Consultation With Indian Tribes (E.O.
13175, Department Policy, and U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service Native American
Policy)
The Department of the Interior strives
to strengthen its government-togovernment relationship with Indian
Tribes through a commitment to
consultation with Indian Tribes and
recognition of their right to selfgovernance and Tribal sovereignty. We
have evaluated this proposed rule under
the Department’s consultation policy
and under the criteria in Executive
Order 13175 and have determined that
it would have no substantial direct
effects on federally recognized Indian
Tribes and that consultation under the
Department’s Tribal consultation policy
is not required. This proposed rule
would inform States, Territories, and
the District of Columbia as the eligible
recipients under the Acts how to apply
for funding, what activities are eligible
for funding, and other administrative
requirements. Eligible entities may
partner with Indian Tribes on projects,
but Indian Tribes are not eligible to
receive funds directly.

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Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.
3501 et seq.)
This proposed rule contains existing
and new information collections. All
information collections require approval
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). We may
not conduct or sponsor and you are not
required to respond to a collection of
information unless it displays a
currently valid Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) control number. The
OMB has reviewed and approved the
information collection requirements
associated with the administration of
financial assistance through grants and
cooperative agreement awards to States,
local governments, Indian Tribes,
institutions of higher education,
nonprofit organizations, foreign
organizations, foreign public entities,
for-profit entities, and individuals and
has assigned OMB Control Number
1018–0100, Administrative Procedures
for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Financial Assistance Programs (expires
02/28/2025).
In accordance with the PRA and its
implementing regulations at 5 CFR
1320.8(d)(1), we provide the general
public and other Federal agencies with
an opportunity to comment on our
proposal to revise OMB Control Number
1018–0100. This input will help us
assess the impact of our information
collection requirements and minimize
the public’s reporting burden. It will
also help the public understand our
information collection requirements and
provide the requested data in the
desired format.
As part of our continuing effort to
reduce paperwork and respondent
burdens, we invite the public and other
Federal agencies to comment on any
aspect of this information collection,
including:
(1) Whether or not the collection of
information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the
agency, including whether or not the
information will have practical utility;
(2) The accuracy of our estimate of the
burden for this collection of
information, including the validity of
the methodology and assumptions used;
(3) Ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and
(4) Ways to minimize the burden of
the collection of information on those
who are to respond, including through
the use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other
technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology,
e.g., permitting electronic submission of
response.

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Comments that you submit in
response to this proposed rulemaking
are a matter of public record. Before
including your address, phone number,
email address, or other personal
identifying information in your
comment, you should be aware that
your entire comment—including your
personal identifying information—may
be made publicly available at any time.
While you can ask us in your comment
to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we
cannot guarantee that we will be able to
do so.
The proposed revisions to existing
and new reporting and/or recordkeeping
requirements identified below require
approval by OMB:
(1) (NEW) Notice of Annual
Apportionment Nonacceptance (50 CFR
80.12)—If a State fish and wildlife
agency does not want to receive the
annual apportionment of funds, it must
notify the Service in writing within 60
days after receiving a preliminary
certificate of apportionment.
(2) (NEW) State Agency Hunting and
Sport Fishing License Certification
Revision (50 CFR 80.39)—A State fish
and wildlife agency must submit revised
certified data on license holders within
90 days after it becomes aware of errors
in its certified data. The State may
become ineligible to participate in the
benefits of the relevant Act if the State
becomes aware of errors in its certified
data and does not resubmit accurate
certified data within 90 days.
(3) (NEW) Voluntary Display of
Program Symbols (50 CFR 80.100)—A
State fish and wildlife agency does not
have to display one of the symbols in
§ 80.99 on a project completed under
the Acts. However, the Service
encourages agencies to display the
appropriate symbol as follows:
a. An agency may display the
appropriate symbol(s) on:
1. Areas such as wildlife-management
areas, shooting ranges, and sportfishing
and boating-access facilities that were
acquired, developed, operated, or
maintained with funds authorized by
the Acts; and
2. Printed or web-based material or
other visual representations of project
accomplishments.
b. An agency may establish a
requirement for similar standards for
displaying the appropriate symbol or
symbols, in the places described in
paragraph (a) of this section, that is
passed through to subrecipients. An
agency may require a subrecipient to
display the appropriate symbol or
symbols in the places described in
paragraph (a) of this section.

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c. The Director or Regional Director
may authorize an agency to use the
symbols in a manner other than as
described in paragraph (a) of this
section.
d. The Director or Regional Director
may authorize other persons,
organizations, agencies, or governments
to use the symbols for purposes related
to the Acts by entering into a written
agreement with the user. An applicant
must state how it intends to use the
symbol(s), to what it will attach the
symbol(s), and the relationship to the
specific Act.
e. The user of the symbol(s) must
indemnify and defend the United States
and hold it harmless from any claims,
suits, losses, and damages from:
1. Any allegedly unauthorized use of
any patent, process, idea, method, or
device by the user in connection with
its use of the symbol(s), or any other
alleged action of the user; and
2. Any claims, suits, losses, and
damages arising from alleged defects in
the articles or services associated with
the symbol(s).
f. The appearance of the symbol(s) on
projects or products indicates that the
manufacturer of the product pays excise
taxes in support of the respective Act(s)
and that the project was funded under
the respective Act(s) (26 U.S.C. 4161,
4162, 4181, 4182, 9503, and 9504). The
Service and the Department of the
Interior make no representation or
endorsement whatsoever by the display
of the symbol(s) as to the quality, utility,
suitability, or safety of any product,
service, or project associated with the
symbol(s).
g. No one may use any of the symbols
in any other manner unless the Director
or Regional Director authorizes it.
Unauthorized use of the symbol(s) is a
violation of 18 U.S.C. 701 and subjects
the violator to possible fines and
imprisonment.
(4) (NEW) Required Display of CVA
Program Symbol, Slogan, and
Information (50 CFR 85.43 and 85.47)—
Facilities must display appropriate
information signs at pumpout and
portable toilet dump stations. Those
signs should indicate fees, restrictions,
hours of operation, operating
instructions, a contact name, and 1–
800–ASK–FISH telephone number for
boaters to get additional information or
to report an inoperable facility. As the
source of funding for Clean Vessel Act
facilities, the Sport Fish Restoration
program should get credit through use
of the Sport Fish Restoration logo. Grant
recipients may use the crediting logo
identified in 50 CFR 80.99 to identify
projects funded by the Clean Vessel Act.

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(5) (REVISION) Adjust previously
approved burden estimates as follows:
• Reduce burden estimates due to the
archival of the following programs:
15.641 Wildlife Without Borders–
Mexico, 15.633 Landowner Incentive,
and 15.656 Recovery Act Funds. We
propose to reduce burden estimates
based on the number of awards under
these programs that were pending
closeout reports as of our previous
clearance.
• Increase burden estimates
associated with new 15.069 Zoonotic
Disease Initiative program. This new
program was funded and then defunded
since our last renewal. We propose to
increase burden estimates for only postaward requirements (amendments and
reporting) for the 21 awards issued by
the program before funding recission.
• Increase burden estimates for
increased financial assistance funding
and activities resulting from
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
(BIL) appropriations supplementing 14
Service financial assistance programs.
• Add the new 15.685 National Fish
Passage and 15.686 National Fish
Habitat Partnership programs, but we
have not proposed a corresponding
increase in burden estimates. These
longstanding programs were previously
managed and reported as subprograms
under our 15.608 Fish and Wildlife
Management Assistance program.
We also propose to renew the existing
reporting and/or recordkeeping
requirements identified below:
(1) Application Package—We use the
information provided in applications to:
(1) Determine eligibility under the
authorizing legislation and applicable
program regulations; (2) determine
allowability of major cost items under
the Cost Principles at 2 CFR part 200;
(3) select those projects that will
provide the highest return on the
Federal investment; and (4) assist in
compliance with laws, as applicable,
such as the National Environmental
Policy Act, the National Historic
Preservation Act, and the Uniform
Relocation Assistance and Real Property
Acquisition Policies Act of 1970. The
full application package (submitted by
the applicant) generally includes the
following:
• Required Federal financial
assistance application forms (SF–424
suite of forms, as applicable to specified
project).
• Project Narrative—generally
includes items such as:
—Statement of need,
—Project goals and objectives,
—Methods used and timetable,
—Description of key personnel
qualifications,

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95603

Real Property Status Report (Disposition
or Encumbrance Request), as
appropriate. For real property
acquisition awards in which the Service
will retain an interest, we require
recipients to submit certain information,
including:
• Transactions, such as dates, method
• Pertinent project budget-related
of transfer, title holder, and seller;
information—generally includes items
• Identifiers, such as State and
such as:
Federal Record ID, parcel number, and
—Budget justification,
property name;
—Detail on costs requiring prior
• Values, such as appraised value,
approval,
purchase price, and other cost
—Indirect cost statement,
—Federally funded equipment list, and/ information, and acres or acre feet;
• Encumbrances;
or
• Partners;
—Certifications and disclosures.
• Copies of any options, purchase
(2) Amendments—Recipients must
agreements, mineral assessment reports,
provide written explanation and submit
and draft conservation easements; and
prior approval requests for budget or
• Documentation to demonstrate
project plan revisions, due date
compliance with 2 CFR part 1402.
extensions for required reports, or other
Title of Collection: Administrative
changes to approved award terms and
Procedures for U.S. Fish and Wildlife
conditions. The information provided
Service Financial Assistance Programs.
by the recipient is used by the Service
OMB Control Number: 1018–0100.
to determine the eligibility and
Form Number: None.
allowability of activities and to comply
Type of Review: Revision of a
with the requirements of 2 CFR part
currently approved collection.
200.
Respondents/Affected Public:
(3) Reporting Requirements—
Individuals/households, private sector,
Reporting requirements associated with and State/local/Tribal governments.
financial assistance awards generally
Total Estimated Number of Annual
include the following types of reports:
Respondents: 15,199.
• Federal Financial Reports (using the
Total Estimated Number of Annual
required SF–425),
Responses: 17,170.
• Performance Reports, and
Estimated Completion Time per
• Real Property Status Reports, when Response: Varies from 15 minutes to
applicable (using the required SF–429
100 hours, depending on activity.
forms series).
Total Estimated Number of Annual
(4) Recordkeeping Requirements—In
Burden Hours: 403,086.
accordance with 2 CFR 200.334,
Respondent’s Obligation: Required to
financial records, supporting
obtain or retain a benefit.
documents, statistical records, and all
Frequency of Collection: On occasion,
other non-Federal entity records
quarterly, or annually, depending on
pertinent to a Federal award must be
activity.
retained for a period of 3 years after the
Total Estimated Annual Nonhour
date of submission of the final
Burden Cost: None.
expenditure report or, for Federal
Send your written comments and
awards that are renewed quarterly or
suggestions on this information
annually, from the date of the
collection by the date indicated in
submission of the quarterly or annual
DATES to the Service Information
financial report, respectively, as
Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish
reported to the Federal awarding agency and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/PERMA
or pass-through entity (in the case of a
(JAO), 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls
subrecipient) (unless an exemption as
Church, VA 22041–3803 (mail); or by
described in 2 CFR 200.334 applies that email to [email protected]. Please
requires retention of records longer than reference OMB Control Number 1018–
3 years).
0100 in the subject line of your
(5) Real Property Reporting/
comments.
Recordkeeping Requirements—Service
National Environmental Policy Act (42
recipients purchasing real property
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.)
under their award in which the Federal
Government retains an interest must
This proposed rule is not anticipated
report on the status and request
to constitute a major Federal action
approval to dispose of those per 2 CFR
significantly affecting the quality of the
part 200 and 2 CFR part 1402 using the
human environment. The Service has
SF–429–A, Real Property Status Report
preliminarily determined that
(General Reporting) and the SF–429–C,
categorical exclusion 43 CFR 46.210(i)
—Description of stakeholders or other
relevant organizations/individuals
involved and level of involvement,
—Project monitoring and evaluation
plan, and/or
—Other pertinent project-specific
information.

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applies as the proposed regulation is of
an administrative nature and no
extraordinary circumstances in 43 CFR
46.215 apply. Therefore, preparation of
an environmental assessment or
environmental impact statement
associated with this proposed
rulemaking action is not required. Once
eligible applicants have available
funding, they would submit project
proposals for review and consideration
and an assessment under the National
Environmental Policy Act and
appropriate compliance would be
completed prior to awarding a grant.
Effects on Energy Supply (E.O. 13211)
This proposed rule is not a significant
energy action under the definition in
Executive Order 13211. This proposed
rule is not a significant regulatory action
under Executive Order 12866 or any
successor order, and it would have no
effect on energy supply, distribution, or
use. A statement of energy effects is not
required.

For the reasons discussed in the
preamble, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service proposes to revise 50 CFR part
80 to read as follows:

■

PART 80—ADMINISTRATIVE
REQUIREMENTS, PITTMANROBERTSON WILDLIFE
RESTORATION AND DINGELLJOHNSON SPORT FISH
RESTORATION ACTS
Subpart A—General
Sec.
80.1
80.2

What does this part do?
What terms do I need to know?

Subpart B—State Fish and Wildlife Agency
Eligibility
80.10 Who is eligible to receive the benefits
of the Acts?
80.11 How does a State become ineligible to
receive the benefits of the Acts?
80.12 Must a State fish and wildlife agency
confirm that it wants to receive an
annual apportionment of funds?

Clarity of This Regulation

Subpart C—License Revenue

We are required by Executive Orders
12866 (section 1(b)(12)), 12988 (section
3(b)(1)(B)), and 13563 (section 1(a)), and
by the Presidential Memorandum of
June 1, 1998, to write all rules in plain
language. This means that each rule we
publish must:
(a) Be logically organized;
(b) Use the active voice to address
readers directly;
(c) Use common, everyday words and
clear language rather than jargon;
(d) Be divided into short sections and
sentences; and
(e) Use lists and tables wherever
possible.
If you feel that we have not met these
requirements, send us comments by one
of the methods listed in ADDRESSES. To
better help us revise the rule, your
comments should be as specific as
possible. For example, you should tell
us the numbers of the sections or
paragraphs that you find unclear, which
sections or sentences are too long, the
sections where you feel lists or tables
would be useful, etc.

80.20 What does revenue from hunting and
fishing licenses include?
80.21 What if a State diverts license
revenue from the control of its fish and
wildlife agency?
80.22 What must a State do to resolve a
declaration of diversion?
80.23 Does a declaration of diversion affect
a previous Federal obligation of funds?

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 80
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS4

Proposed Regulation Promulgation

Fish, Fishing, Grant programs—
natural resources, Grant programs—
recreation, Grants administration,
Hunting, Licensing and Registration,
Natural resources, Rates and fares, Real
property acquisition, Recreation and
recreation areas, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Signs and
symbols, Wildlife.

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Subpart D—Certifying License Holders
80.30 Why must a State fish and wildlife
agency certify the number of paid license
holders?
80.31 How does a State fish and wildlife
agency certify the number of paid license
holders?
80.32 What is the certification period?
80.33 How does a State fish and wildlife
agency decide who to count as paid
license holders in the annual
certification?
80.34 Must a State fish and wildlife agency
receive a minimum amount of revenue
for each year a license holder is
certified?
80.35 What additional options and
requirements apply to multiyear
licenses?
80.36 May a State fish and wildlife agency
count license holders in the annual
certification if the agency receives funds
from the State or other entity to cover the
holders’ license fees?
80.37 May the State fish and wildlife
agency certify a license sold at a
discount?
80.38 May a State fish and wildlife agency
certify a license when an entity other
than the agency offers a discount on a
license or offers a free license?
80.39 What must a State fish and wildlife
agency do if it becomes aware of errors
in its certified license data?

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80.40 May the Service recalculate an
apportionment if a State fish and wildlife
agency submits revised data?
80.41 May the Director correct a Service
error in apportioning funds?
Subpart E—Eligible Activities
80.50 What activities are eligible for
funding under the Wildlife Restoration
Act?
80.51 What activities are eligible for
funding under the Sport Fish Restoration
Act?
80.52 What activities are eligible for
funding under all programs and
subprograms under the Acts?
80.53 May an activity be eligible for
funding if it is not explicitly eligible
according to the regulations in this part?
80.54 Are costs of State central services
eligible for funding?
80.55 What activities are ineligible for
funding?
80.56 May a State fish and wildlife agency
receive an award to carry out part of a
larger project?
80.57 How does a proposed project qualify
as substantial in character and design?
80.58 What are public access requirements
for activities in an approved award
under the Wildlife Restoration or Sport
Fish Restoration programs?
Subpart F—Allocation of Funds by an
Agency
80.60 What is the relationship between the
Traditional Wildlife Restoration
Program, the Basic Hunter Education and
Safety subprogram, and the Enhanced
Hunter Education and Safety program for
acquiring land for, expanding, or
constructing public target ranges?
80.61 What sources of funding in the
Wildlife Restoration Act may a State fish
and wildlife agency use to support
public target range projects, and may
funds from multiple sources be used in
a single award?
80.62 What are eligible and ineligible 90/
10/5 activities?
80.63 What exception is provided for
Enhanced Hunter Education and Safety
program funds in relation to Basic
Hunter Education and Safety subprogram
funds?
80.64 What requirements apply to funds for
the Recreational Boating Access
subprogram?
80.65 What limitations apply to spending
on the Aquatic Resource Education and
the State Outreach and Communications
subprograms?
80.66 Must a State fish and wildlife agency
allocate costs in multipurpose projects
and facilities?
80.67 How does a State fish and wildlife
agency allocate costs to an award in
multipurpose projects and facilities?
80.68 Must a State fish and wildlife agency
allocate funds between marine and
freshwater fisheries projects?
80.69 What requirements apply to
allocation of funds between marine and
freshwater fisheries projects?
80.70 May a State fish and wildlife agency
finance an activity from more than one
annual apportionment?

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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 231 / Monday, December 2, 2024 / Proposed Rules
80.71 What requirements apply to financing
an activity from more than one annual
apportionment?
Subpart G—Applying for an Award
80.80 How does a State fish and wildlife
agency apply for an award?
80.81 What must a State fish and wildlife
agency submit when applying for a
comprehensive-management-system
award?
80.82 What must a State fish and wildlife
agency submit when applying for a
project-by-project award?
80.83 What is the Federal share of
allowable costs?
80.84 How does the Service establish the
non-Federal share of allowable costs?
80.85 What requirements apply to cost
sharing?
Subpart H—General Award Administration
80.90 What are the recipient’s
responsibilities?
80.91 What is a Federal obligation of funds,
and how does it occur?
80.92 How long are funds available for a
Federal obligation?
80.93 When may a State fish and wildlife
agency incur costs under an award?
80.94 May a State fish and wildlife agency
incur costs before the beginning of the
period of performance?
80.95 How does a State fish and wildlife
agency receive Federal award funds?
80.96 May a State fish and wildlife agency
use Federal funds without using cost
sharing?
80.97 What is barter, and may a State fish
and wildlife agency use barter of goods
or services to carry out a grant-funded
project?
80.98 How must a State fish and wildlife
agency include barter in an award and
report barter transactions?
80.99 Are symbols available to identify
projects?
80.100 Must a State fish and wildlife
agency display one of the symbols set
forth in this part on a completed project?

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Subpart I—Program Income
80.120 What is program income?
80.121 May a State fish and wildlife agency
earn program income?
80.122 May a State fish and wildlife agency
deduct the costs of generating program
income from gross income?
80.123 How may a State fish and wildlife
agency use program income?
80.124 How may a State fish and wildlife
agency use unexpended program
income?
80.125 How must a State fish and wildlife
agency treat income that it earns after the
period of performance?
80.126 How must a State fish and wildlife
agency treat income earned by a
subrecipient after the period of
performance?
Subpart J—Real Property
80.130 Must a State fish and wildlife
agency hold title to real property
acquired under an award?

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80.131 Must a State fish and wildlife
agency hold an easement acquired under
an award?
80.132 Must a State fish and wildlife
agency have control over the land or
water where it completes capital
improvements?
80.133 Must a State fish and wildlife
agency maintain acquired or completed
capital improvements?
80.134 How must a State fish and wildlife
agency use real property?
80.135 What if a State fish and wildlife
agency allows a use of real property that
interferes with its authorized purpose?
80.136 Is it a diversion if a State fish and
wildlife agency does not use real
property acquired under an award for its
authorized purpose?
80.137 What if real property is no longer
useful or needed for its original purpose?
Subpart K—Revisions and Appeals
80.150 How does a State fish and wildlife
agency revise an award?
80.151 May a State fish and wildlife agency
appeal a decision?
Subpart L—Information Collection
80.160 What are the information collection
requirements of this part?
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 669 et seq., except for
provisions specific to the Wildlife
Conservation and Restoration program, and
777–777m, except 777e–1 and g–1.

Subpart A—General
§ 80.1

What does this part do?

This part of the Code of Federal
Regulations tells States how they may:
(a) Use revenues derived from State
hunting and fishing licenses in
compliance with the Acts.
(b) Receive annual apportionments
from the Federal Aid to Wildlife
Restoration Fund (16 U.S.C. 669(b)), if
authorized, and the Sport Fish
Restoration and Boating Trust Fund (26
U.S.C. 9504).
(c) Receive Federal financial
assistance awards for eligible activities
under the Traditional Wildlife
Restoration program, the Basic Hunter
Education and Safety subprogram, and
the Enhanced Hunter Education and
Safety program, including those
authorized for hunter recruitment and
recreational shooter recruitment under
16 U.S.C. 669c.
(d) Receive Federal financial
assistance awards for eligible activities
under the Sport Fish Restoration
program, the Recreational Boating
Access subprogram, the Aquatic
Resources Education subprogram, and
the State Outreach and Communications
subprogram.
(e) Comply with the requirements of
the Acts.

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§ 80.2

95605

What terms do I need to know?

The terms in this section pertain only
to the regulations in this part.
90/10/5 means activities authorized
under Public Law 116–17 for acquiring
land for, expanding, or constructing
public target ranges that apply a 90
percent Federal/10 percent non-Federal
cost share and a 5-year period of
availability for obligation.
Acquisition of real property means
taking ownership or control of a
designated area of land or an interest in
land by purchase, assignment,
reversion, gift, eminent domain, or any
other method consistent with State or
Federal law. The purpose of the
acquisition must be for an eligible
activity to meet the objective of an
award.
Acts means the Pittman-Robertson
Wildlife Restoration Act of September 2,
1937 (Wildlife Restoration Act), as
amended (16 U.S.C. 669 et seq., except
for provisions specific to the Wildlife
Conservation and Restoration program),
and the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish
Restoration Act of August 9, 1950 (Sport
Fish Restoration Act), as amended (16
U.S.C. 777–777m, except 777e–1 and g–
1).
Allocate means the process by which
States work with the Service to assign
apportioned funds to a specific
subaccount based on the eligible uses.
Once allocated, the funding becomes
available for obligation to Federal
awards for eligible program activities.
Allowable refers to those costs that
meet the general criteria to be charged
to a Federal financial assistance award
and comply with the basic
considerations at 2 CFR 200.402 through
200.411, as well as the general
principles for selected items of cost at
2 CFR 200.420 through 200.476.
Angler means a person who fishes for
recreational purposes as permitted by
State and/or Federal law.
Apportioned funds are those that are
made available to a State based on
formulas in the Acts. Traditional
Wildlife Restoration program funds are
apportioned using the formula at 16
U.S.C. 669c(b); Basic Hunter Education
and Safety subprogram funds are
apportioned using the formula at 16
U.S.C. 669c(c); Enhanced Hunter
Education and Safety program funds are
apportioned using the formula at 16
U.S.C. 669c(c) and according to the
criteria at 16 U.S.C. 669h-1(a); and Sport
Fish Restoration program funds are
apportioned using the formula at 16
U.S.C. 777c(c).
Asset means all tangible and
intangible real and personal property of
monetary value. This includes ‘‘capital
assets’’ as defined at 2 CFR 200.1,

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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 231 / Monday, December 2, 2024 / Proposed Rules

‘‘equipment’’ as defined at 2 CFR 200.1,
and real property of any value.
Award or grant has the same meaning
as ‘‘Federal award’’ as defined at 2 CFR
200.1. The regulations in this part use
the terms ‘‘award’’ or ‘‘grant’’ for both a
grant and a cooperative agreement for
convenience of reference, and the use
does not affect the legal distinction
between the two instruments. An award
includes all ‘‘project costs’’ as defined at
2 CFR 200.1. We use the term ‘‘grant’’
when making references to programs
(i.e., a grant program).
Capital improvement or capital
expenditure for improvement means:
(1) A structure that costs at least
$25,000 to build, acquire, or install; or
the alteration or repair of a structure or
the replacement of a structural
component, if it increases the structure’s
useful life by at least 10 years or its
market value by at least $25,000.
(2) A State fish and wildlife agency
may use its own definition of ‘‘capital
improvement’’ if the agency’s definition
includes all capital improvements as
defined here.
Comprehensive management system
(CMS) is a State fish and wildlife
agency’s method of operations that links
programs, financial systems, human
resources, goals, products, and services.
When using a CMS method of
operations, a State fish and wildlife
agency assesses the current, projected,
and desired status of fish and wildlife;
develops a strategic plan and carries it
out through an operational planning
process; and evaluates results. The
planning period is at least 5 years using
a minimum 15-year projection of the
desires and needs of the State’s citizens.
A CMS award funds all or part of a
State’s CMS. For those States that
employ a CMS method of operations,
where we refer to a ‘‘project statement’’
in the regulations in this part, a CMS
State might refer to activities as part of
its ‘‘operational plan.’’
Construction means the act of
building or significantly renovating,
altering, or repairing a structure.
Acquiring, clearing, and reshaping land
and demolishing structures are types or
phases of construction. Examples of
structures are buildings, roads, parking
lots, utility lines, fences, piers, wells,
pump stations, ditches, dams, dikes,
water-control structures, fish-hatchery
raceways, and shooting ranges. For the
purposes of 90/10/5 projects (acquiring
land for, expanding, or constructing
public target ranges), constructing
means building a public target range
(see §§ 80.60 and 80.62, 16 U.S.C.
669g(b)(2) and 669h–1(b)(2)).
Cost sharing has the same meaning as
at 2 CFR 200.1. Cost sharing must meet

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the requirements at 2 CFR 200.306(b)(1)
through (7) and §§ 80.83 through 80.85.
Director has the same meaning as at
50 CFR 1.4 and, for the purposes of this
part, means:
(1) The person whom the Secretary
delegated to administer the Acts
nationally; or
(2) A deputy or another person
authorized temporarily to administer
the Acts nationally.
Diversion means any use of revenue
from hunting and fishing licenses for a
purpose other than administration of the
State fish and wildlife agency.
Eligible refers to activities or actions
for a Federal financial assistance
program that are authorized by Congress
through a statute or by Federal agency
regulations to accomplish a public
purpose under that program.
Equipment has the same meaning as
at 2 CFR 200.1.
Expanding means, for the purposes of
projects for acquiring land for,
expanding, or constructing public target
ranges (90/10/5), physical
improvements to an existing public
target range that add to the utility of the
range in a manner that ultimately
increases range capacity to
accommodate more participants.
Physical improvements do not
necessarily have to increase the size of
the facility but must result in an
increase in physical usability that will
accommodate more participants.
Facility means the physical
infrastructure and appurtenances
necessary to support purposes under the
Acts. The physical infrastructure
includes land.
Federal fiscal year (FFY) means the
annual period the Federal Government
uses for budgets and accounting,
beginning October 1 and ending
September 30.
Fee interest means the right to
possession, use, and enjoyment of a
parcel of land or water for an indefinite
period. A fee interest, as used in this
part, may be the:
(1) Fee simple or full-fee interest,
which includes all possible interests or
rights that a person or legal entity can
hold in a parcel of real property (land
or water); or
(2) Fee with exceptions to title or lessthan-full-fee interest, which excludes
one or more real property interests that
would otherwise be part of the fee
simple.
Fiscal year, for the purposes of
determining the number of paid
hunting- or fishing-license holders in a
State, means the State-determined (State
fiscal year or license year) period that it
identifies to certify license holders.

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Fish restoration and management
project means the restoration and
management of any species of fish that
has material value in connection with
sport or recreation (see Sport fish) in the
marine and/or fresh waters of the
United States.
Hunter recruitment and recreational
shooter recruitment means any activity
or project to recruit or retain and, for the
purposes of the regulations in this part,
reactivate hunters and recreational
shooters including by:
(1) Outreach and communications as
a means—
(i) To improve communications with
hunters, recreational shooters, and the
public with respect to hunting and
recreational shooting opportunities;
(ii) To reduce barriers to participation
in these activities;
(iii) To advance the adoption of sound
hunting and recreational shooting
practices;
(iv) To promote conservation and the
responsible use of the wildlife resources
of the United States; and
(v) To further safety in hunting and
recreational shooting.
(2) Providing education, mentoring,
and field demonstrations;
(3) Enhancing access for hunting and
recreational shooting, including through
range construction; and
(4) Providing education to the public
about the role of hunting and
recreational shooting in funding wildlife
conservation.
Law enforcement means enforcing
laws, orders, and regulations.
Lease means an agreement in which
the owner of a fee interest transfers to
a lessee the right of exclusive possession
and use of an area of land or water for
a fixed period, which may be renewable.
The lessor cannot readily revoke the
lease at their discretion. The lessee pays
rent periodically or as a single payment.
The lessor must be able to regain
possession of the lessee’s interest
(leasehold interest) at the end of the
lease term. An agreement that does not
correspond to this definition is not a
lease even if it is labeled as one.
Maintenance means keeping a facility
or equipment in a condition to serve the
intended purpose. It includes recurring,
cyclical, or occasional actions to keep a
facility or equipment fully functional
that are less than the threshold for a
capital improvement or capital
expenditure for improvement. It does
not include operations. Examples of
maintenance activities include but are
not limited to:
(1) Routine upkeep for physical and
mechanical parts of a facility; and
(2) Replacing components of a facility
or a piece of equipment that are

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expected to need replacement during its
useful life.
Obligation has two meanings
depending on the context:
(1) When a recipient of Federal
financial assistance commits funds by
incurring costs for purposes of the
award, the definition for ‘‘financial
obligations’’ at 2 CFR 200.1 applies.
(2) When the Service sets aside funds
in an award for disbursement
immediately or at a later date in the
formula-based programs under the Acts,
the definition at § 80.91 applies.
Operations means supporting the
availability of a facility and its
components for current public or other
intended use. Operations include
necessary activities that occur
frequently (daily, weekly, monthly). The
term does not include maintenance.
Operations may be divided into the
categories of physical or administrative.
Examples include but are not limited to:
(1) Physical activities such as trash
removal, portable toilet services, and
utility costs; and
(2) Administrative operations such as
personnel costs to manage and keep a
facility open.
Period of performance has the same
meaning as at 2 CFR 200.1.
Personal property means anything
tangible or intangible that is not real
property.
(1) Tangible personal property
includes:
(i) Objects, such as equipment and
supplies, that are movable without
substantive damage to the land or any
structure to which they may be attached
and not considered an inherent part of
the land;
(ii) Soil, rock, gravel, minerals, gas,
oil, or water after excavation or
extraction from the surface or
subsurface;
(iii) Commodities derived from trees
or other vegetation after harvest or
separation from the land; and
(iv) Annual crops before or after
harvest.
(2) Intangible personal property has
the same meaning as at 2 CFR 200.1 and
includes:
(i) Intellectual property, such as
patents or copyrights;
(ii) Securities, such as bonds and
interest-bearing accounts; and
(iii) Licenses, which are personal
privileges (not a real property interest)
granted by consent of a landowner,
lessee, or tenant to use an area of land
or water that would otherwise be
trespass or another violation of law,
with at least one of the following
attributes:
(A) Are revocable at the discretion of
the entity consenting to the license;

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(B) Terminate when the area of land
or water passes to another owner, the
lease or tenancy ends, or the landowner,
lessee, or tenant dies; or
(C) Do not transfer a right of exclusive
use and possession of an area of land or
water.
Project means one or more related
undertakings in a project-by-project
award that are necessary to fulfill a need
or needs, as defined by a State fish and
wildlife agency, consistent with the
purposes of the appropriate Act. For
convenience of reference in this part,
the meaning of ‘‘project’’ includes an
agency’s fish and wildlife program
under a CMS award.
Project-by-project award means an
award of money based on a detailed
statement of a project, or projects, and
other supporting documentation.
Public means of, relating to, or
affecting all people in general.
Public access means the public has
opportunity, permission, and/or ability
to enter, approach, pass to, from, and
within, and appropriately use a place/
facility for an authorized purpose (see
§ 80.58 for further requirements).
Public target range, including mobile
public target ranges and privately
owned target ranges during those times
when open for public use, means a
specific location that—
(1) Is identified by a governmental
agency for recreational shooting;
(2) Is open to the public;
(3) May be supervised; and
(4) May accommodate archery or rifle,
pistol, or shotgun shooting.
Public relations means those activities
dedicated to maintaining the image of
the non-Federal entity (recipient or
subrecipient) or maintaining or
promoting understanding and favorable
relations with the community, public at
large, or any segment of the public. This
term could include communicating with
the public about specific activities or
accomplishments resulting from
approved projects or communication
and liaison necessary to keep the public
informed on matters of public concern
such as notices of funding
opportunities. (See also ‘‘advertising
and public relations’’ in 2 CFR part
200).
R3 means to recruit, retain, and/or
reactivate members of the public to
actively participate in the outdoor
recreational activities of hunting,
angling, boating, and recreational
shooting. State fish and wildlife
agencies and other involved partners
may define R3 more broadly, but
agencies must use funds under the Acts
only for activities that are eligible under
the regulations in this part.

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Real property means one, several, or
all interests, benefits, and rights
inherent in the ownership of a parcel of
land or water. Examples of real property
include fees, conservation easements,
access easements, utility easements, and
mineral rights. A leasehold interest is
also real property except in those States
where the State attorney general
provides an official opinion that
determines a lease is personal property
under State law.
(1) A parcel includes (unless limited
by its legal description) the space above
and below it and anything physically
affixed to it by a natural process or
human action. Examples include
standing timber, other vegetation
(except annual crops), buildings, roads,
fences, and other structures.
(2) A parcel may also have rights
attached to it by a legally prescribed
procedure. Examples include water
rights or an access easement that allows
the parcel’s owner to travel across an
adjacent parcel.
(3) The legal classification of an
interest, benefit, or right depends on its
attributes rather than the name assigned
to it. For example, a grazing permit is
often incorrectly labeled a lease, which
can be real property, but most grazing
permits are actually licenses, which are
not real property.
Recipient for the purposes of the
regulations in this part means the
entities eligible to receive
apportionments under the Acts (see
§ 80.10).
Regional Director has the same
meaning as at 50 CFR 1.7. This person’s
responsibility does not extend to any
administrative units that the Service’s
Washington Office supervises directly
in that geographic region.
Secretary has the same meaning as at
50 CFR 1.8.
Service has the same meaning as at 50
CFR 1.3.
Sport fish means aquatic, gillbreathing, vertebrate animals with
paired fins, having material value for
recreation in the marine and fresh
waters of the United States.
State means any State of the United
States, the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico, and the insular areas of the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands, the Territory of Guam, the
Territory of the U.S. Virgin Islands, and
the Territory of American Samoa.
(1) ‘‘State’’ also includes the District
of Columbia for purposes of the Sport
Fish Restoration Act, the Sport Fish
Restoration program, and its
subprograms. ‘‘State’’ does not include
the District of Columbia for purposes of
the Wildlife Restoration Act and the
programs and subprogram under the Act

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because the Wildlife Restoration Act
does not authorize funding for the
District.
(2) References to ‘‘the 50 States’’
apply only to the 50 States of the United
States and do not include the
Commonwealths of Puerto Rico and the
Northern Mariana Islands, the District of
Columbia, or the Territories of Guam,
the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American
Samoa.
State fish and wildlife agency (or
agency) means the administrative unit
designated by State law or regulation to
carry out State laws for management of
fish and wildlife resources. If an agency
has other jurisdictional responsibilities,
the agency is considered the State fish
and wildlife agency only when
exercising responsibilities specific to
management of the State’s fish and
wildlife resources.
Subaccount (and account) means the
fiscal management designation used in
the Service’s financial system to identify
funds by program and subprogram
allocation (see § 80.61 for a description
of subaccounts and the financial
system). Different subaccounts also
distinguish between benefits to marine
or freshwater fisheries in the programs
and subprograms authorized by the
Sport Fish Restoration Act.
Subaward has the same meaning as at
2 CFR 200.1 A subaward may serve as
a third-party binding agreement where
required.
Subrecipient has the same meaning as
at 2 CFR 200.1.
Traditional Wildlife Restoration
program, for the purposes of the
regulations in this part and associated
policies, means the activities that are
funded under apportionments
authorized at 16 U.S.C. 669c(b), which
reflects the original program funded
under the Wildlife Restoration Act of
1937 (see eligible activities at
§ 80.50(a)). We use this term for clarity
when administering awards, as many
eligible activities are specific to funding
sources within the Act.
Useful life means the period during
which a federally funded capital
improvement, capital asset, or
equipment is capable of fulfilling its
intended purpose with adequate routine
maintenance.
Wildlife means the indigenous or
naturalized species of birds or mammals
that are either:
(1) Wild and free-ranging;
(2) Held in a captive-breeding
program established to reintroduce
individuals of a depleted indigenous
species into previously occupied range;
or
(3) Under the jurisdiction of a State
fish and wildlife agency.

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Wildlife restoration project means the
selection, restoration, rehabilitation, and
improvement of areas of land or water
adaptable as feeding, resting, or
breeding places for wildlife, including
acquisition of such areas or estates or
interests therein as are suitable or
capable of being made suitable therefor,
and the construction thereon or therein
of such works as may be necessary to
make them available for such purposes
and also including such research into
problems of wildlife management as
may be necessary to efficient
administration affecting wildlife
resources, and such preliminary or
incidental costs and expenses as may be
incurred in and about those projects.
Subpart B—State Fish and Wildlife
Agency Eligibility
§ 80.10 Who is eligible to receive the
benefits of the Acts?

States acting through their fish and
wildlife agencies are eligible for benefits
of the Acts only if they pass and
maintain legislation that:
(a) Assents to the provisions of the
Acts;
(b) Ensures the conservation of fish
and wildlife; and
(c) Requires that revenue from
hunting and fishing licenses be:
(1) Controlled only by the State fish
and wildlife agency; and
(2) Used only for administration of the
State fish and wildlife agency, which
includes only the functions required to
manage the agency and the fish- and
wildlife-related resources for which the
agency has authority under State law.
§ 80.11 How does a State become
ineligible to receive the benefits of the
Acts?

A State becomes ineligible to receive
the benefits of the Acts if the State:
(a) Fails materially to comply with
any law, regulation, or terms and
conditions of the Federal award as it
relates to acceptance and use of funds
under the Acts;
(b) Does not have legislation required
at § 80.10 or passes legislation contrary
to the Acts; or
(c) Diverts hunting and fishing license
revenue from:
(1) The control of the State fish and
wildlife agency; or
(2) Purposes other than the agency’s
administration.
§ 80.12 Must a State fish and wildlife
agency confirm that it wants to receive an
annual apportionment of funds?

No. However, if a State fish and
wildlife agency does not want to receive
the annual apportionment of funds, it
must notify the Service in writing

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within 60 days after receiving a
preliminary certificate of
apportionment.
Subpart C—License Revenue
§ 80.20 What does revenue from hunting
and fishing licenses include?

Hunting and fishing license revenue
includes:
(a) All proceeds from State-issued
general or special hunting and fishing
licenses, permits, stamps, tags, access
and use fees, and other State charges to
hunt or fish for recreational purposes.
Revenue from licenses sold by vendors
is net income to the State after
deducting reasonable sales fees or
similar amounts retained by vendors.
(b) Real or personal property acquired
with license revenue.
(c) Income from the sale, lease, or
rental of, granting rights to, or a fee for
access to real or personal property
acquired or constructed with license
revenue.
(d) Income from the sale, lease, or
rental of, granting rights to, or a fee for
access to a recreational opportunity,
product, or commodity derived from
real or personal property acquired,
managed, maintained, or produced by
using license revenue.
(e) Interest, dividends, or other
income earned on license revenue.
(f) Reimbursements for expenditures
originally paid with license revenue.
(g) Payments received for services
funded by license revenue.
§ 80.21 What if a State diverts license
revenue from the control of its fish and
wildlife agency?

The Director may declare a State to be
in diversion if it violates the
requirements of § 80.10 by diverting
license revenue from the control of its
fish and wildlife agency to purposes
other than the agency’s administration.
The State is then ineligible to receive
benefits under the relevant Act from the
date the Director signs the declaration
until the date the State resolves the
diversion. Only the Director may
declare a State to be in diversion, and
only the Director may rescind the
declaration.
§ 80.22 What must a State do to resolve a
declaration of diversion?

The State must complete the actions
in paragraphs (a) through (e) of this
section to resolve a declaration of
diversion. The State must use a source
of funds other than license revenue to
fund the replacement of license
revenue.
(a) If necessary, the State must enact
adequate legislative prohibitions to
prevent diversions of license revenue.

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(b) The State fish and wildlife agency
must replace all diverted funds derived
from license revenue and the interest
lost up to the date of repayment. The
agency must update financial records
for the receipt of the diverted funds and
interest accordingly.
(c) The agency must receive either the
revenue earned from diverted property
during the period of diversion or the
current market rental rate of any
diverted property, whichever is greater.
(d) The agency must take one of the
following actions to resolve a diversion
of real, personal, or intellectual
property:
(1) Regain management control of the
property, which must be in about the
same condition as before diversion;
(2) Receive replacement property that
meets the criteria in paragraph (e) of this
section; or
(3) Receive an amount at least equal
to the current market value of the
diverted property only if the Director
agrees that the actions described in
paragraphs (d)(1) and (2) of this section
are impractical.
(e) To be acceptable under paragraph
(d)(2) of this section:
(1) Replacement property must have
both:
(i) Market value that at least equals
the current market value of the diverted
property; and
(ii) Fish or wildlife benefits that at
least equal those of the property
diverted.
(2) The Director must agree that the
replacement property meets the
requirements of paragraph (e)(1) of this
section.
§ 80.23 Does a declaration of diversion
affect a previous Federal obligation of
funds?

No. Federal funds obligated before the
date that the Director declares a
diversion remain available for
expenditure without regard to the
intervening period of the State’s
ineligibility. See § 80.91 for when a
Federal obligation occurs.

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Subpart D—Certifying License Holders
§ 80.30 Why must a State fish and wildlife
agency certify the number of paid license
holders?

A State fish and wildlife agency must
certify the number of individuals having
paid licenses to hunt and paid licenses
to fish because the Service uses these
data in statutory formulas to apportion
funds in the Wildlife Restoration and
Sport Fish Restoration programs among
the States.

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§ 80.31 How does a State fish and wildlife
agency certify the number of paid license
holders?

(a) A State fish and wildlife agency
certifies the number of paid license
holders by responding to the Director’s
annual request for the following
information:
(1) The number of individual paid
hunting license holders in the State
during the State-specified certification
period (certification period); and
(2) The number of individual paid
fishing license holders in the State
during the certification period.
(b) The State fish and wildlife agency
director or their designee:
(1) Must certify the information
described at paragraph (a) of this section
in the format that the Director specifies;
(2) Must provide documentation to
support the accuracy of this information
at the Director’s request;
(3) Is responsible for eliminating
multiple counting of the same
individuals in the information that they
certify and may use statistical sampling,
automated record consolidation, or
other techniques approved by the
Director for this purpose.
(c) If a State fish and wildlife agency
director uses statistical sampling to
eliminate multiple counting of the same
individuals, they must ensure that the
sampling is complete by the earlier of
the following:
(1) Five years after the last statistical
sample; or
(2) Before completing the first
certification following any change in the
licensing system that could affect the
number of license holders.
§ 80.32

What is the certification period?

A certification period must:
(a) Be 12 consecutive months;
(b) Correspond to the State’s fiscal
year or license year;
(c) Be consistent from year to year
unless the Director approves a change;
and
(d) End at least 1 year and no more
than 2 years before the beginning of the
FFY in which the apportioned funds
first become available for expenditure.
§ 80.33 How does a State fish and wildlife
agency decide who to count as paid license
holders in the annual certification?

(a) A State fish and wildlife agency
must count only those individuals who
have a license issued:
(1) In the license holder’s name; or
(2) With a unique identifier that is
traceable to the license holder, who
must be verifiable in State records.
(b) An agency must count an
individual in the annual certification:
(1) Only once, and in the certification
period in which the license first

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95609

becomes valid, when holding a singleyear license. A single-year license is
valid for any length of time from 1 day
to less than 2 years. If valid 2 years or
more, a license is considered a
multiyear license and may be valid for
a specific number of years that is 2 or
more, or for the lifetime of the
individual (see § 80.35(d)).
(2) Only for the number of years the
license is valid and starting in the
certification period in which the license
first becomes valid, unless that year has
already been certified in the case of
multiyear licenses. An individual
holding a multiyear license may be
counted for only the number of years
the license is valid and only during the
applicable certification periods.
(3) Only for the number of years
allowed under § 80.35, when holding a
lifetime license.
(c) An individual is counted as a valid
license holder when meeting
requirements at § 80.34, even if the
individual is not required to have a paid
license.
(d) An individual having more than
one valid hunting license is counted
only once each certification period as a
hunter. An individual having more than
one valid fishing license is counted only
once each certification period as an
angler. An individual having both a
valid hunting license and a valid fishing
license, or a valid combination hunting/
fishing license, may be counted once
each certification period as a hunter and
once each certification period as an
angler. The license holder may have
voluntarily obtained the license(s) or
was required to obtain the license(s) to
receive a different privilege.
(e) An individual who has a license
that allows the license holder only to
trap animals or only to engage in
commercial fishing or other commercial
activities must not be counted.
§ 80.34 Must a State fish and wildlife
agency receive a minimum amount of
revenue for each year a license holder is
certified?

(a) Yes. A State fish and wildlife
agency must receive a minimum amount
of gross revenue for each year a license
holder is certified.
(b) For the State fish and wildlife
agency to certify a license holder, the
agency must establish that it receives
the following minimum gross revenue:
(1) $2 for each year the license is
certified, for either the privilege to hunt
or the privilege to fish; or
(2) $4 for each year the license is
certified for a combination license that
gives privileges to both hunt and fish.

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§ 80.35 What additional options and
requirements apply to multiyear licenses?

In addition to the requirements at
§ 80.34, the following provisions apply
to multiyear licenses:
(a) An agency may spend the proceeds
derived from a multiyear license fee as
soon as the agency receives payment.
(b) A multiyear license may be valid
for either a specific or indeterminate
number of years, but it must be valid for
at least 2 years.
(c) The agency may count a license
holder for the number of certification
periods for which all the following
requirements are met:
(1) The license holder meets all other
requirements of this subpart;
(2) The license is currently valid;
(3) The agency received the minimum
required revenue for each certification
period during the duration of the
license, in the case of a multiyear
license with a specified ending date;
(4) The license holder remains alive
(see paragraph (d) of this section), in the

case of a lifetime license or other license
with no specified ending date; and
(5) If the license is valid for less than
the number of years that it meets the
minimum required revenue, or the
license exceeds the life expectancy of
the holder, the agency may count the
license holder only for the number of
years during which all certification
requirements are met. For example, an
agency may count for 12 certification
periods a license holder who purchased
a single-privilege, multiyear license that
sells for $25 and is valid for at least 12
years.
(d) The agency must use and
document a reasonable technique for
deciding how many multiyear-license
holders remain alive in the certification
period. Some examples of reasonable
techniques are specific identification of
license holders, statistical sampling,
life-expectancy tables, and mortality
tables. The agency may instead use 80

years of age as a default for life
expectancy.
(e) For currently valid multiyear
licenses sold prior to September 26,
2019 (the effective date of the rule
promulgated at 84 FR 44772, August 27,
2019), an agency may apply the
provisions of § 80.34 to those multiyear
licenses under the following situations:
(1) All the requirements in paragraph
(c) of this section are met.
(2) The agency may count a multiyear
license holder only once in any
certification period (see § 80.33) when
the license holder purchased another
license with the same privilege within
an allowable future certification period.
(3) An agency must count the license
holder only for the appropriate number
of current or future certification periods.
The provisions of § 80.34 are not
retroactive to past certification periods.
(4) For an illustration of the
applications provided in this paragraph
(e), see table 1 to paragraph (e):

TABLE 1 TO PARAGRAPH (e)—SCENARIOS FOR COUNTING LICENSE HOLDERS UNDER THE REQUIREMENTS FOR GROSS
REVENUE AT § 80.34
[For use in counting valid multiyear licenses sold prior to September 26, 2019]
Scenario 1

Scenario 2

An agency sold a single-privilege multiyear license, valid for 10 years, for $100 in 2014 (term of license 2014–2023)
The agency spent the money and was able to count the license during
only one certification period based on the regulations promulgated in
2014.
Applying the standard at § 80.34(b)(1) to the original license cost results in a potential for 50 certification periods ($100/$2 per year =
50).
After subtracting the 1 certification period that was already counted, 49
potential certification periods remain.
Because the license is valid for only 10 years, and through 2023, under
scenario 1 the agency could count the license holder only from 2019
through the end of the term of the license (2023) or an additional five
certification periods.

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§ 80.36 May a State fish and wildlife
agency count license holders in the annual
certification if the agency receives funds
from the State or other entity to cover the
holders’ license fees?

If a State fish and wildlife agency
receives funds from the State or other
entity to cover fees for some license
holders, the agency may count those
license holders in the annual
certification only under the following
conditions:
(a) The State funds to cover license
fees must come from a source other than
hunting- and fishing-license revenue.
(b) The State must identify funds to
cover license fees separately from other
funds provided to the agency.
(c) The State fish and wildlife agency
must receive at least the average amount
of State-provided discretionary funds
that it received for the administration of

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The agency invested the funds into an annuity that produced enough
income to allow the license holder to be counted in all certification
periods since the date of the license sale.
Applying the standard at § 80.34(b)(1) to the original license cost results in a potential for 50 certification periods ($100/$2 per year =
50).
After subtracting the 6 (2014–2019) certification periods already counted, 44 potential certification periods remain.
Because the license is valid for only 10 years, under scenario 2 the
agency could count the license holder in an additional four (2020–
2023) certification periods.

the State’s fish and wildlife agency
during the State’s 5 previous fiscal
years.
(1) State-provided discretionary funds
are those from the State’s general fund
that the State may increase or decrease
if it chooses to do so.
(2) Some State-provided funds are
from special taxes, trust funds, gifts,
bequests, or other sources specifically
dedicated to the support of the State fish
and wildlife agency. These funds
typically fluctuate annually due to
interest rates, sales, or other factors.
They are not discretionary funds for
purposes of this part as long as the State
does not take any action to reduce the
amount available to its fish and wildlife
agency.

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(d) The State fish and wildlife agency
must receive and account for the State
or other entity funds as license revenue.
(e) The State fish and wildlife agency
must issue licenses in the license
holder’s name or by using a unique
identifier that is traceable to the license
holder, who is verifiable in State
records.
(f) The license fees must meet all
other requirements in this part.
§ 80.37 May the State fish and wildlife
agency certify a license sold at a discount?

Yes. A State fish and wildlife agency
may certify a license that is sold at a
discount if the agency meets the rules
for minimum gross revenue at § 80.34.

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§ 80.38 May a State fish and wildlife
agency certify a license when an entity
other than the agency offers a discount on
a license or offers a free license?

A State fish and wildlife agency may
certify a license when an entity other
than the agency offers a license that
costs less than the regulated price only
if:
(a) The license is issued to the
individual according to the
requirements at § 80.33;
(b) The amount received by the
agency meets all other requirements in
this subpart; and
(c) The license meets any other
conditions required by the agency.
§ 80.39 What must a State fish and wildlife
agency do if it becomes aware of errors in
its certified license data?

A State fish and wildlife agency must
submit revised certified data on license
holders within 90 days after it becomes
aware of errors in its certified data. The
State may become ineligible to
participate in the benefits of the relevant
Act if the State becomes aware of errors
in its certified data and does not
resubmit accurate certified data within
90 days.
§ 80.40 May the Service recalculate an
apportionment if a State fish and wildlife
agency submits revised data?

The Service may recalculate an
apportionment of funds based on
revised certified license data under the
following conditions:
(a) If the Service receives revised
certified data for a pending
apportionment before the Director
approves the final apportionment, the
Service may recalculate the pending
apportionment.
(b) If the Service receives revised
certified data for an apportionment after
the Director has approved the final
version of that apportionment, the
Service may recalculate the
apportionment only if it would not
reduce funds to other State fish and
wildlife agencies.
§ 80.41 May the Director correct a Service
error in apportioning funds?

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Yes. The Director may correct any
error that the Service makes in
apportioning funds.
Subpart E—Eligible Activities
§ 80.50 What activities are eligible for
funding under the Wildlife Restoration Act?

The following activities are eligible
for funding in these programs and
subprograms under the Wildlife
Restoration Act:
(a) Traditional Wildlife Restoration
program. The following wildlife

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restoration projects and other associated
activities are eligible for funding under
apportionments authorized at 16 U.S.C.
669c(b).
(1) Restoring and managing wildlife
for the benefit of the public.
(2) Conducting research on the
problems of managing wildlife and its
habitat if necessary to administer
wildlife resources efficiently. This
research may include social science
activities.
(3) Obtaining data to guide and direct
the regulation of hunting.
(4) Acquiring real property suitable or
capable of being made suitable for:
(i) Wildlife habitat or management;
(ii) Providing public access for
hunting or other wildlife-oriented
recreation; or
(iii) Supporting other eligible
activities described under this
paragraph (a).
(5) Wildlife restoration projects for
restoring, rehabilitating, improving,
managing, or maintaining areas of lands
or waters as wildlife habitat.
(6) Building structures or acquiring
equipment, goods, and services for:
(i) Restoring, rehabilitating, or
improving lands or waters as wildlife
habitat;
(ii) Supporting wildlife management;
(iii) Providing public access for
hunting or other wildlife-oriented
recreation; or
(iv) Supporting other eligible
activities described under this
paragraph (a).
(7) Acquiring land for, expanding, or
constructing public target ranges
following the requirements of § 80.60
when combining up to 10 percent of
annually apportioned Traditional
Wildlife Restoration funds (16 U.S.C.
669c(b)) with Enhanced Hunter
Education and Safety funds (16 U.S.C.
669h–1). When Traditional Wildlife
Restoration funds are committed to the
Wildlife Restoration for Public Target
Ranges 90/10/5 subaccount, they are no
longer eligible for Traditional Wildlife
Restoration activities.
(8) Communicating with the public
(see § 80.52(h)), including:
(i) Outreach and sharing information
on award activities, accomplishments,
performance, or other communication
related to meeting the objectives of an
award;
(ii) Providing the public with
information on Wildlife Management
Areas; public access for hunting or other
wildlife-associated recreation; notices
on safety, rule changes, and topics of
interest to the public related to wildlife
management; and other opportunities
available to the public as a result of a
Traditional Wildlife Restoration award;

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(iii) Liaising with the media or other
venues to provide public information
related to the objectives of an award; or
(iv) Other forms of communication
that support a State’s wildlife
restoration and management objectives
in an award.
(9) Public relations, advertising as a
form of outreach, and marketing that are
associated with achieving eligible
objectives require prior approval of the
Service. These activities are allowable
only when included in the approach of
an approved award to accomplish
eligible activities and meet award
objectives. Communication that solely
benefits the agency is unallowable
public relations and is not eligible for
funding under the Act.
(b) Basic Hunter Education and Safety
subprogram and Hunter Recruitment
and Recreational Shooter Recruitment.
(1) The following activities are eligible
under the Basic Hunter Education and
Safety subprogram for activities
authorized at 16 U.S.C. 669g(b):
(i) Teaching the skills, knowledge,
and attitudes necessary to be a
responsible hunter.
(ii) Developing and improving access
to public target ranges by:
(A) Acquiring real property suitable or
capable of being made suitable for
public target ranges, including through
licenses or third-party binding
agreements that provide assurances for
public access (see § 80.58).
(B) Constructing, upgrading, or
restoring public target ranges to a useful
condition.
(C) Operating or maintaining public
target ranges.
(D) Acquiring land for, expanding, or
constructing public target ranges as 90/
10/5 projects following §§ 80.60 and
80.62.
(E) Constructing, operating, or
maintaining educational facilities to
support Hunter Education.
(2) The following activities are
eligible when directly supporting
recruiting, retaining, or reactivating
hunters or recreational shooters (R3), as
authorized at 16 U.S.C. 669c(c)(4).
(i) Communicating with hunters,
recreational shooters, and the public
about hunting and recreational shooting
and associated opportunities by:
(A) Promoting conservation and the
responsible use of the wildlife resources
of the United States as part of an effort
to recruit, retain, or reactivate hunters or
recreational shooters.
(B) Promoting a State’s R3 program,
special events, and opportunities.
(C) Providing outreach on public
target range availability, access, and
locations.

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(D) Marketing, publications, press
releases, and media relations for content
directly related to R3 activities.
(ii) Interpreting, translating, printing,
or disseminating published State
hunting regulations to inform and
educate the public about their
responsibilities to comply with laws,
orders, and regulations.
(iii) Using a State fish and wildlife
agency’s website, cell phone or software
products, online support systems, or
other appropriate communication tools
to engage the public in activities
supporting a State’s R3 efforts (see
§ 80.55(c) for exclusions related to
income-producing activities).
(iv) Supporting the scope and impact
of a State’s R3 program by:
(A) Reducing barriers to hunting and
recreational shooting opportunities;
(B) Furthering safety in hunting and
recreational shooting;
(C) Providing education, mentoring,
field demonstrations, and other similar
opportunities to recruit, retain, or
reactivate hunters or recreational
shooters;
(D) Constructing, operating, or
maintaining educational facilities to the
extent they support R3 activities;
(E) Supporting programs for hunting
or recreational shooting that have been
developed or are delivered by other
entities; and
(F) Offering activities that support R3
for youth and beginner hunters or
recreational shooters, such as R3 camps
and mentoring programs.
(v) Constructing, operating, or
maintaining public target ranges,
including mobile public target ranges.
(vi) Educating the public about the
role of hunting and recreational
shooting in funding wildlife
conservation.
(vii) Supplying services that support
R3 activities, such as hunt guides,
trainers for shooting, and celebrity
endorsements.
(viii) Acquiring supplies that enhance
the experience and skills for hunters
and recreational shooters.
(ix) Engaging in other allowable
activities that directly support
recruiting, retaining, or reactivating
hunters or recreational shooters.
(c) Enhanced Hunter Education and
Safety program. The following activities
are eligible under Enhanced Hunter
Education and Safety for activities
authorized at 16 U.S.C. 669h–1:
(1) Enhancing programs for hunter
education, hunter development, and
firearm and archery safety. Hunterdevelopment programs introduce
individuals to and recruit them to take
part in hunting, bow hunting, target
shooting, or archery.

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(2) Enhancing interstate coordination
and developing hunter-education and
public target range programs.
(3) Enhancing programs for education,
safety, or development of firearm and
bow hunters and recreational shooters.
(4) Enhancing development,
construction, upgrades, rehabilitation,
and improved safety features at public
target ranges.
(5) Acquiring real property suitable or
capable of being made suitable for
public target ranges.
(6) Enhancing operation and
maintenance of public target ranges.
(7) Enhancing access for hunting and
recreational shooting opportunities.
(8) Acquiring land for, expanding, or
constructing public target ranges
following the regulations at § 80.60.
(9) Enhancing the hunter and
recreational shooter R3 activities listed
at paragraph (b)(2) of this section.
§ 80.51 What activities are eligible for
funding under the Sport Fish Restoration
Act?

The following activities are eligible
for funding in these programs and
subprograms under the Sport Fish
Restoration Act:
(a) Sport Fish Restoration program.
The following fish restoration and
management projects and other
associated activities are eligible for
funding under apportionments
authorized at 16 U.S.C. 777c(c)(1).
(1) Restoring and managing sport fish
for the benefit of the public.
(2) Conducting research on the
problems of managing fish and their
habitat and the problems of fish culture
if necessary to administer sport fish
resources efficiently. This research may
include social science activities.
(3) Obtaining data to guide and direct
the regulation of fishing. These data
may be on:
(i) Size and geographic range of sport
fish populations;
(ii) Changes in sport fish populations
due to fishing, other human activities,
or natural causes; and
(iii) Effects of any measures or
regulations applied.
(4) Developing and adopting plans to
restock sport fish and forage fish in the
natural areas or districts covered by the
plans and obtain data to develop, carry
out, and test the effectiveness of the
plans.
(5) Stocking fish for recreational
purposes.
(6) Acquiring real property suitable or
capable of being made suitable for:
(i) Sport fish habitat, as a buffer to
protect that habitat, or sport fish
management;
(ii) Providing public access for sport
fishing; or

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(iii) Supporting other eligible
activities described under this
paragraph (a).
(7) Implementing fish restoration and
management projects to restore,
rehabilitate, improve, manage, or
maintain:
(i) Aquatic areas adaptable for sport
fish habitat; or
(ii) Land adaptable as a buffer to
protect sport fish habitat.
(8) Building structures or acquiring
equipment, goods, and services for:
(i) Restoring, rehabilitating, or
improving aquatic habitat for sport fish
or land as a buffer to protect aquatic
habitat for sport fish;
(ii) Supporting sport fish
management;
(iii) Providing public access for sport
fishing; or
(iv) Supporting other eligible
activities described under this
paragraph (a).
(9) Constructing, renovating,
operating, or maintaining pumpout and
dump stations. A pumpout station is a
facility that pumps or receives sewage
from a type III marine sanitation device
that the U.S. Coast Guard requires on
some vessels. A dump station, also
referred to as a ‘‘waste reception
facility,’’ is specifically designed to
receive waste from portable toilets on
vessels.
(10) Communicating with the public
(see § 80.52(h)) to include:
(i) Conducting outreach and sharing
information on award activities,
accomplishments, performance, or other
communication related to meeting the
objectives of an award;
(ii) Providing the public with
information on sport fish management
areas; public access for fishing or other
sport fish-associated recreation; notices
on safety, rule changes, and topics of
interest to the public related to sport
fish management; and other
opportunities available to the public as
a result of a Sport Fish Restoration
award;
(iii) Liaising with the media or other
venues to provide public information
related to the objectives of an award; or
(iv) Engaging in other forms of
communication that support a State’s
sport fish restoration and management
objectives in an award.
(11) Conducting public relations,
advertising as a form of outreach, and
marketing that are associated with
achieving eligible objectives require
prior approval of the Service. These
activities are allowable only when
included in the approach of an
approved award to accomplish eligible
activities and meet award objectives.
Communication that solely benefits the

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agency is unallowable public relations
and is not eligible for funding under the
Act.
(b) Sport Fish Restoration—
Recreational Boating Access
subprogram. (1) Conducting projects
and activities that may include those for
motorized or nonmotorized vessels and
users.
(2) Acquiring real property, including
water rights, suitable or capable of being
made suitable for:
(i) Building, renovating, or improving
facilities to create or enhance public
access to the waters of the United States;
(ii) Improving the suitability of these
waters for recreational boating; or (iii)
Providing benefits for recreational
boating.
(3) Constructing a broad range of
recreational boating access facilities that
also may provide services or amenities
to recreational boaters. ‘‘Facilities’’
includes auxiliary structures necessary
to ensure safe use of recreational boating
access facilities.
(4) Conducting surveys to determine
the adequacy, number, location, and
quality of facilities providing access to
recreational waters for all sizes of
recreational boats.
(5) Developing new, or redeveloping
or expanding existing, boating access
sites.
(c) Sport Fish Restoration—Aquatic
Resource Education subprogram.
Enhancing the public’s understanding of
water resources, aquatic life forms, and
sport fishing, and developing
responsible attitudes and ethics toward
the aquatic environment.
(d) Sport Fish Restoration—State
Outreach and Communications
subprogram. (1) Improving
communications with anglers, boaters,
and the public on sport fishing and
boating opportunities.
(2) Interpreting, translating, printing,
or disseminating published State fishing
regulations to inform and educate the
public about their responsibilities to
comply with laws, orders, and
regulations.
(3) Increasing participation in sport
fishing and boating through R3
programs and activities.
(4) Advancing the adoption of sound
fishing and boating practices including
safety.
(5) Promoting conservation and
responsible use of the aquatic resources
of the United States.
§ 80.52 What activities are eligible for
funding under all programs and
subprograms under the Acts?

The following activities, when
supporting other eligible activities
under a program or subprogram and

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costs are allocated to the appropriate
funding source, are eligible for funding:
(a) Conducting planning and
compliance activities such as
engineering, designing, surveying,
obtaining permits or appraisals, and
conducting environmental and
archeological assessments.
(b) Engaging in oversight activities
related to an award, such as:
(1) Monitoring, evaluating, and
reporting;
(2) Investigating noncompliance or
diversions; and
(3) Protecting property rights for real
property that is carrying out the
purposes of the Acts.
(c) Maintaining and operating
facilities and equipment under the
ownership or management control of the
State fish and wildlife agency, or under
a third-party binding agreement, that
support eligible activities under the
Wildlife Restoration Act or Sport Fish
Restoration Act.
(d) Covering costs associated with
State electronic data systems (SEDS),
when appropriately allocated and
approved by the Service. A SEDS is an
electronic system used by a State fish
and wildlife agency to sell licenses or
support other financial transactions,
collect and manage data, and
communicate information. The
functions and abilities of a SEDS may
vary depending on the State fish and
wildlife agency needs and organization.
(e) Administering awards (see also
§ 80.54) and coordinating awards in
associated programs and subprograms.
(f) Providing technical assistance.
(g) Making payments in lieu of taxes
on real property under the control of the
State fish and wildlife agency when the
payment is:
(1) Required by State or local law; and
(2) Required for all State lands,
including those acquired with Federal
funds and those acquired with nonFederal funds.
(h) Communicating with the public on
eligible activities in an award, when
allowable under 2 CFR part 200, subpart
E. This communication may include
using various forms of media and
technology and does not require prior
approval (see also §§ 80.50(a)(8) and
80.51(a)(10)).
(i) Advertising (see 2 CFR 200.421) to
hire personnel for eligible activities, for
procuring goods or services for an
eligible activity, or to inform the public
or a target audience about events or
opportunities that support purposes of
the Acts.

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§ 80.53 May an activity be eligible for
funding if it is not explicitly eligible
according to the regulations in this part?

Yes. An activity may be eligible for
funding even if the regulations in this
part do not explicitly designate it as an
eligible activity if:
(a) The State fish and wildlife agency
justifies in the project statement how
the activity will help carry out the
purposes of the program or subprogram
under the Wildlife Restoration Act or
the Sport Fish Restoration Act;
(b) The activities are allowable under
2 CFR part 200; and
(c) The Regional Director concurs
with the justification.
§ 80.54 Are costs of State central services
eligible for funding?

Yes. Administrative costs in the form
of overhead or indirect costs for State
central services outside of the State fish
and wildlife agency are eligible for
funding under the Acts and must follow
an approved cost-allocation plan. These
expenses must not exceed 3 percent of
the funds apportioned annually to the
State under the Acts.
§ 80.55 What activities are ineligible for
funding?

The following activities are ineligible
for funding under the Acts, except when
necessary to carry out project purposes
approved by the Regional Director:
(a) Law enforcement activities (see
definition at § 80.2).
(b) The formal administrative process
for establishing State fish and wildlife
agency regulations. This process:
(1) Begins when boards, commissions,
or other policymakers receive
information and recommendations from
State fish and wildlife agencies and use
this input to develop and implement
public policy.
(2) Involves official filing and
publication of regulations, including
State administrative procedures to
officially adopt rules and laws to meet
authoritative requirements.
(3) Includes printing and distributing
the official code of regulations, or State
equivalent, except as provided for under
§§ 80.50(b)(2)(ii) and 80.51(d)(2) (which
pertains to the agency’s interpretive
guides and regulatory resources for the
public) for the purposes of R3.
(c) License sales and other activities
conducted for the primary purpose of
producing income. These activities
include processes and procedures
directly related to the sale of items
listed at § 80.20(a).
(d) Activities, projects, or programs
that promote or encourage opposition to
the regulated taking of fish, hunting, or
the trapping of wildlife.

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(e) Activities or projects that do not
provide public access when access is a
purpose of the funding or an objective
of the award (see § 80.58).
§ 80.56 May a State fish and wildlife
agency receive an award to carry out part
of a larger project?

Yes. A State fish and wildlife agency
may receive an award to carry out part
of a larger project that uses funds
unrelated to the award. The part of the
larger project funded by the award must:
(a) Result in an identifiable outcome
consistent with the purposes of the
grant program;
(b) Be substantial in character and
design (see § 80.57);
(c) Meet the requirements of §§ 80.130
through 80.137 for any real property
acquired under the award and any
capital improvements completed under
the award; and
(d) Meet all other requirements of the
grant program.
§ 80.57 How does a proposed project
qualify as substantial in character and
design?

A proposed project qualifies as
substantial in character and design if it:
(a) Describes a need consistent with
the Acts;
(b) States a purpose and sets
objectives, both of which are based on
the need;
(c) Uses a planned approach,
appropriate procedures, and accepted
principles of fish and wildlife
conservation and management, research,
construction, wildlife- and fishassociated-recreation participation and
access, communication, education, or
other eligible purposes; and
(d) Is cost effective.

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§ 80.58 What are public access
requirements for activities in an approved
award under the Wildlife Restoration or
Sport Fish Restoration programs?

(a) Public access is required for some
eligible activities (see §§ 80.50 and
80.51) when supporting the purpose of
an award.
(b) The State fish and wildlife agency
has the authority, within the purposes
of the Acts, to establish parameters for
public access and may limit or restrict
public access when the management of
natural resources and public access are
not compatible. Additionally, the
agency may limit or restrict public
access when the funded project or
facility is closed for business or
temporarily closed due to an emergency,
repairs, construction, or as a safety
precaution.
(c) When public access is required for
projects and facilities that are under the

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ownership or management control of a
third party, the State fish and wildlife
agency, following its own State laws
and processes, must ensure a legally
binding instrument setting forth the
terms and conditions, such as a
subaward or third-party agreement, is in
place as follows:
(1) The instrument must be sufficient
to ensure public access is provided as
expected by the agency and described in
the approved award from the Service.
(2) The third-party binding agreement
must include or reference agency
approval for reasonable fees, any rules
and requirements for use, circumstances
for temporary closure or reduction to
public access, duration of the agreement
and any useful life expectations, and
procedures for any modifications to the
agreement.
(3) The Service does not have
authority to approve or reject a State’s
third-party binding agreement but will
include a special award term and
condition to require minimum
standards and that third-party binding
agreements be maintained in agency
award files and provided to the Service,
upon request, for all awards where
funds under the Acts are being used for
renovating, constructing, operating, or
maintaining property that a third party
owns or controls.
Subpart F—Allocation of Funds by an
Agency
§ 80.60 What is the relationship between
the Traditional Wildlife Restoration
Program, the Basic Hunter Education and
Safety subprogram, and the Enhanced
Hunter Education and Safety program for
acquiring land for, expanding, or
constructing public target ranges?

(a) The Target Practice and
Marksmanship Training Support Act
(Pub. L. 116–17, March 10, 2019)
amended the Wildlife Restoration Act
(16 U.S.C. 669 et seq.) to include
activities for acquiring land for,
expanding, or constructing public target
ranges but does not authorize any new
sources of funding. The law became
effective for States beginning October 1,
2019.
(b) When a State fish and wildlife
agency allocates funds to activities for
acquiring land for, expanding, or
constructing public target ranges under
this law, it may apply a 90 percent
Federal/10 percent non-Federal cost
share and funds are available for
obligation up to 5 years, beginning
October 1 of the year the funds first
become available. We abbreviate this
funding method as ‘‘90/10/5.’’
(c) An agency may allocate annually
apportioned funds for 90/10/5 activities

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from the Traditional Wildlife
Restoration program (not to exceed 10
percent), Basic Hunter Education and
Safety subprogram (any amount from 0
up to 100 percent), and/or Enhanced
Hunter Education and Safety program
(any amount from 0 up to 100 percent)
to projects for acquiring land for,
expanding, or constructing public target
ranges. There is no requirement for
States to allocate any amount of funds
to 90/10/5 activities.
(d) When using up to 10 percent of
annually apportioned Traditional
Wildlife Restoration program funds for
90/10/5 activities, the funds must be
allocated to the designated subaccount
and must be used only for eligible 90/
10/5 purposes. Some amount of
available Enhanced Hunter Education
and Safety program funds, at least $1,
must be combined with the Traditional
Wildlife Restoration program funds
allocated to 90/10/5 activities.
(e) An agency must allocate funds to
a 90/10/5 subaccount within the FFY
that funds are first apportioned. Funds
allocated to a 90/10/5 subaccount
during a prior FFY must remain in that
90/10/5 subaccount for obligation
during the period of availability and
until expended.
(f) Acquiring land for, expanding, or
constructing public target ranges may
also be accomplished, in total or when
combined with 90/10/5 funds, using
funds under the Basic Hunter Education
and Safety subprogram, the Enhanced
Hunter Education and Safety program,
or both, but the agency must apply cost
share and period of availability
according to table 1 to § 80.61.
§ 80.61 What sources of funding in the
Wildlife Restoration Act may a State fish
and wildlife agency use to support public
target range projects, and may funds from
multiple sources be used in a single award?

Table 1 to § 80.61 describes the
sources of funding available for public
target range projects and identifies their
subaccount number. The Service uses
subaccounts in the Department of the
Interior’s financial management system,
the Financial and Business Management
System or FBMS, to administer the
specific use requirements for program
and subprogram funding sources under
the Acts. A State fish and wildlife
agency may combine funds from
multiple sources within the Act for
eligible public target range activities.
Your Regional Wildlife and Sport Fish
Restoration Program Office can provide
technical assistance on best practices for
allocating costs to multiple eligible
funding sources.

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TABLE 1 TO § 80.61
[BHE = Basic Hunter Education and Safety subprogram; EHE = Enhanced Hunter Education and Safety program; TWR = Traditional Wildlife
Restoration program]
Program/subprogram

Funding source;
method

Period
available for
obligation

Cost share

Conditions

Eligible activities
described in this
part at:

Options for Funding Public Target Ranges
Traditional Wildlife Restoration
program (Subaccount 5222).

16 U.S.C. 669c(b);
apportioned.

2 years ......

75 percent Federal/
25 percent nonFederal.

Traditional Wildlife Restoration
program for Public Target
Ranges (90/10/5) (Subaccount 5252).

16 U.S.C. 669c(b);
allocated by an
agency from
TWR funds.

5 years ......

90 percent Federal/
10 percent nonFederal.

Basic Hunter Education and
Safety program for activities
described at 16 U.S.C.
669g(b) (Subaccount 5221).

16 U.S.C. 669c(c);
apportioned.

2 years ......

75 percent Federal/
25 percent nonFederal.

Activities for hunter recruitment and recreational
shooter recruitment as described at 16 U.S.C.
669c(c)(4) (Subaccount
5221).
Basic Hunter Education and
Safety subprogram for Public Target Ranges (90/10/5)
(Subaccount 5251).

16 U.S.C. 669c(c);
assigned by an
agency from BHE
funds.

2 years ......

75 percent Federal/
25 percent nonFederal.

16 U.S.C. 669c(c);
allocated by an
agency from BHE
funds.

5 years ......

90 percent Federal/
10 percent nonFederal.

Enhanced Hunter Education
and Safety program (Subaccount 5231).

16 U.S.C. 669h–1;
apportioned.

1 year ........

75 percent Federal/
25 percent nonFederal.

Enhanced Hunter Education
and Safety program for
Public Target Ranges (90/
10/5) (Subaccount 5241).

16 U.S.C. 669h–1;
allocated by an
agency from EHE
funds.

5 years ......

90 percent Federal/
10 percent nonFederal.

ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS4

§ 80.62 What are eligible and ineligible 90/
10/5 activities?

(a) The following are eligible 90/10/5
activities:
(1) Acquiring real property suitable or
capable of being made suitable for
constructing or expanding public target
ranges (see subpart J of this part).
(2) Acquiring title to real property
with an existing target range when the
acquisition will increase public access
or includes construction or expansion
activities on the existing target range.
(3) Constructing a public target range
on land owned or under management

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May use apportioned funds
for maintenance activities at
public target ranges owned
or under the management
control of the agency; may
allocate to 90/10/5 projects
as described for subaccount 5252.
May allocate up to 10 percent
of TWR funds during the
year apportioned to be
combined with at least $1
of EHE funds for acquiring
land for, expanding, or constructing public target
ranges.
May allocate up to 100 percent of apportioned funds
for acquiring land for, constructing, operation of, and
maintenance for public target ranges; does not have
to be part of a hunter education program.
May be used for constructing
public target ranges or
other eligible public target
range activities that directly
support R3.

§ 80.50(a).

May allocate up to 100 percent of apportioned funds
for acquiring land for, expanding, or constructing a
public target range.
May allocate up to 100 percent of apportioned funds
for acquiring land for, constructing, developing, or improving safety features at
public target ranges.
May allocate up to 100 percent of apportioned funds
for acquiring land for, expanding, or constructing a
public target range.

§§ 80.50(b)(1)(ii)(E)
and 80.60.

control of the State fish and wildlife
agency. Construction may occur on land
when title is held by a third party
provided the agency holds a lease or
other third-party binding agreement
under State law that ensures the terms
and conditions of the award will be met.
(4) Constructing or acquiring a mobile
public target range.
(5) Expanding the physical footprint
or configuration of an existing public
target range in a manner that increases
range capacity to accommodate more
participants, provides additional range
activities or functions, or physically

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§§ 80.50(a)(7) and
80.60.

§ 80.50(b)(1).

§ 80.50(b)(2).

§ 80.50(c).

§§ 80.50(c)(9) and
80.60.

modifies to accommodate all
participants, regardless of ability.
Examples include adding more lanes at
a range, adding structures that provide
access that is compliant with the
Americans With Disabilities Act (42
U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), and expanding the
facility to provide new opportunities
that did not exist before, such as adding
an archery range to a former firearmonly facility.
(6) Coordinating 90/10/5 awards that
directly support acquiring land for,
constructing, or expanding public target
ranges through necessary activities that

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address planning, compliance,
appraisals, engineering, and
administering a project.
(7) Auxiliary activities and amenities
that support the primary project and are
necessary to the public’s ability to fully
utilize the public target range. Examples
include public restrooms, storage
facilities, protective bunkers and
barriers, signs and markers, roads and
parking areas, and utilities.
(8) Improvements may be approved if
they are needed to prevent a public
target range facility from becoming
inoperable or suffering from significant
diminished capacity. Consult with your
Regional Wildlife and Sport Fish
Restoration Program Office.
(9) Constructing or expanding public
target range projects on federally owned
land.
(b) The following are ineligible 90/10/
5 activities:
(1) Operations at a public target range.
(2) Maintenance at a public target
range, unless necessary for completing a
project for constructing or expanding a
public target range.
(3) Construction that is not to build a
new or expand an existing public target
range. This includes auxiliary activities
and amenities not associated with an
approved new or expansion project.
(4) Long-term monitoring of a public
target range facility.
(5) Activities that do not provide or
support new or increased physical
capacity for public target ranges.

ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS4

§ 80.63 What exception is provided for
Enhanced Hunter Education and Safety
program funds in relation to Basic Hunter
Education and Safety program funds?

(a) If Basic Hunter Education and
Safety program funds are fully obligated
for activities listed at § 80.50(b)(1) (see
16 U.S.C. 669g(b)), the State fish and
wildlife agency may use Enhanced
Hunter Education and Safety program
funds for Enhanced Hunter Education
and Safety program eligible activities or
may allocate any portion of that FFY’s
Enhanced Hunter Education and Safety
program funds to any eligible activity
under the Wildlife Restoration Act.
(b) If Basic Hunter Education and
Safety program funds are used for R3
activities listed at § 80.50(b)(2), the
exception set forth at paragraph (a) of
this section does not apply and
Enhanced Hunter Education and Safety
program funds must be used for
Enhanced Hunter Education and Safety
program activities.
§ 80.64 What requirements apply to funds
for the Recreational Boating Access
subprogram?

The requirements of this section
apply to allocating and obligating funds

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for the Recreational Boating Access
subprogram.
(a) A State fish and wildlife agency
must allocate funds from annual
apportionments under the Sport Fish
Restoration Act for use in the
subprogram.
(b) Over each 5-year period, the total
allocation for the subprogram in each of
the Service’s geographic regions must
average at least 15 percent of the Sport
Fish Restoration funds apportioned to
the States in that Region. If this
requirement is met, an individual State
fish and wildlife agency may allocate
more or less than 15 percent of its
annual apportionment.
(c) The Regional Director calculates
regional allocation averages for separate
5-year periods that coincide with FFYs
2023–2027, 2028–2032, 2033–2037, and
each subsequent 5-year period.
(d) If the total regional allocation for
a 5-year period is less than 15 percent,
the State agencies may, in a
memorandum of understanding, agree
among themselves which of them will
make the additional allocations to
eliminate the regional shortfall.
(e) The regulations in this paragraph
(e) apply if State fish and wildlife
agencies in a Service region do not agree
on which of them will make additional
allocations to bring the average regional
allocation to at least 15 percent over a
5-year period. If the agencies do not
agree:
(1) The Regional Director may require
States in the region to make changes
needed to achieve the minimum 15percent regional average before the end
of the fifth year; and
(2) The Regional Director must not
require a State to increase or decrease its
allocation if the State has allocated at
least 15 percent over the 5-year period.
(f) A Federal obligation of these
allocated funds must occur by the end
of the fourth consecutive FFY after the
FFY in which the funds first became
available for allocation.
(g) If the agency’s application to use
these funds has not led to a Federal
obligation by that time, these allocated
funds become available for
reapportionment among the State fish
and wildlife agencies for the following
FFY.
§ 80.65 What limitations apply to spending
on the Aquatic Resource Education and the
State Outreach and Communications
subprograms?

The limitations in this section apply
to State fish and wildlife agency
spending on the Aquatic Resource
Education and State Outreach and
Communications subprograms.
(a) Each State’s fish and wildlife
agency may spend a maximum of 15

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percent of the annual amount
apportioned to the State from the Sport
Fish Restoration and Boating Trust
Fund for activities in both subprograms.
The 15-percent maximum applies to
both subprograms as if they were one.
(b) The 15-percent maximum for the
subprograms does not apply to the
Commonwealths of Puerto Rico and the
Northern Mariana Islands, the District of
Columbia, and the Territories of Guam,
the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American
Samoa. These jurisdictions may spend
more than 15 percent of their annual
apportionments for both subprograms
with the approval of the Regional
Director.
§ 80.66 Must a State fish and wildlife
agency allocate costs in multipurpose
projects and facilities?

(a) Yes. A State fish and wildlife
agency must allocate costs in
multipurpose projects and facilities. A
grant-funded project or facility is
multipurpose if it carries out the
purposes of:
(1) A single grant program under the
Acts; and
(2) Another grant program,
subprogram, a different funding source
under the Acts, a grant program not
under the Acts, or an activity unrelated
to awards.
(b) An agency may describe activities
in the project statement that are
ineligible under the Act and must
clearly show that the ineligible activities
are not being funded under the award.
§ 80.67 How does a State fish and wildlife
agency allocate costs to an award in
multipurpose projects and facilities?

A State fish and wildlife agency must
allocate costs in multipurpose projects
based on eligible activities authorized,
sources of funding, and the uses or
benefits for each purpose that will result
from the completed project or facility.
The agency must describe the method
used to allocate costs in multipurpose
projects or facilities in the project
statement included in the award
application.
§ 80.68 Must a State fish and wildlife
agency allocate funds between marine and
freshwater fisheries projects?

Yes. Each coastal State’s fish and
wildlife agency must equitably allocate
the funds apportioned under the Sport
Fish Restoration Act between projects
with benefits for marine fisheries and
projects with benefits for freshwater
fisheries.
(a) The subprograms authorized by
the Sport Fish Restoration Act do not
have to allocate funding in the same
manner if the State fish and wildlife
agency allocates Sport Fish Restoration

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funds equitably between marine and
freshwater fisheries.
(b) The coastal States for purposes of
this allocation are:
(1) Alabama, Alaska, California,
Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia,
Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Mississippi, New
Hampshire, New Jersey, New York,
North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island,
South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and
Washington;
(2) The Commonwealths of Puerto
Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands;
and
(3) The Territories of Guam, the U.S.
Virgin Islands, and American Samoa.

§ 80.70 May a State fish and wildlife
agency finance an activity from more than
one annual apportionment?

ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS4

§ 80.69 What requirements apply to
allocation of funds between marine and
freshwater fisheries projects?

The requirements of this section
apply to allocation of funds between
marine and freshwater fisheries projects.
(a) When a State fish and wildlife
agency allocates funds, it must meet the
following requirements:
(1) The ratio of total funds allocated
for marine fisheries projects to total
funds allocated for marine and
freshwater fisheries projects combined
must equal the ratio of resident marine
anglers to the total number of resident
anglers in the State; and
(2) The ratio of total funds allocated
for freshwater fisheries projects to total
funds allocated for marine and
freshwater fisheries projects combined
must equal the ratio of resident
freshwater anglers to the total number of
resident anglers in the State.
(b) A resident angler is one who fishes
for recreational purposes in the same
State where that person maintains legal
residence.
(c) Agencies must determine the
relative distribution of resident anglers
in the State between those who fish in
marine environments and those who
fish in freshwater environments.
Agencies must use the National Survey
of Fishing, Hunting, and WildlifeAssociated Recreation, or another
statistically reliable survey or technique
approved by the Regional Director, for
this purpose.
(d) If an agency uses statistical
sampling to determine the relative
distribution of resident anglers in the
State between those who fish in marine
environments and those who fish in
freshwater environments, the sampling
must be complete by the earlier of the
following:
(1) Five years after the last statistical
sample; or
(2) Before completing the first
certification following any change in the
licensing system that could affect the
number of sportfishing license holders.

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(e) The amounts allocated from each
year’s apportionment do not necessarily
have to result in an equitable allocation
for each year. However, the amounts
allocated over a variable period, not to
exceed 3 years, must result in an
equitable allocation between marine and
freshwater fisheries projects.
(f) Agencies that fail to allocate funds
equitably between marine and
freshwater fisheries projects may
become ineligible to use Sport Fish
Restoration program funds. These
agencies must remain ineligible until
corrective action is taken and the funds
have been allocated equitably.

A State fish and wildlife agency may
use funds from more than one annual
apportionment to finance projects, such
as construction or acquisition of lands
or interests in lands, including water
rights. An agency may use funds in this
manner, according to a plan approved
by the Regional Director and subject to
the availability of funds, in either of the
following ways:
(a) Finance the entire cost of the
acquisition or construction from a nonFederal funding source. The Service
will reimburse funds to the agency in
succeeding apportionment years.
(b) Negotiate an installment purchase
or contract in which the agency pays
periodic and specified amounts to the
seller or contractor according to a plan
that schedules either reimbursements or
advances of funds immediately before
need.
§ 80.71 What requirements apply to
financing an activity from more than one
annual apportionment?

The following conditions apply to
financing an activity from more than
one annual apportionment:
(a) A State fish and wildlife agency
must agree to complete the project even
if Federal funds are not available. If an
agency does not complete the project,
the agency must recover any expended
Federal funds that did not result in
commensurate wildlife or sport-fishery
benefits. The agency must then
reallocate the recovered funds to
approved projects in the same program.
(b) The project statement included
with the application must have a
complete schedule of payments to finish
the project.
(c) Interest and other financing costs
may be allowable subject to the
restrictions in the applicable Uniform
Administrative Requirements, Cost
Principles, and Audit Requirements for
Federal Awards (2 CFR part 200).

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Subpart G—Applying for an Award
§ 80.80 How does a State fish and wildlife
agency apply for an award?

(a) A State fish and wildlife agency
applies for an award by following the
directions in the annual funding
announcement available on the
electronic Federal financial assistance
grants management system.
(b) The director of the State agency or
their designee must authorize
submission of all requests for Federal
financial assistance under the Acts.
(c) If the State supports the process
under Executive Order 12372,
Intergovernmental Review of Federal
Programs, the agency must follow its
processes for sending copies of all
standard forms and supporting
information to the State Clearinghouse
or Single Point of Contact.
§ 80.81 What must a State fish and wildlife
agency submit when applying for a
comprehensive-management-system
award?

A State fish and wildlife agency must
submit the following documents when
applying for a comprehensivemanagement-system award:
(a) The standard form for an
application for Federal assistance in a
mandatory grant program.
(b) A statement of cost estimates by
subaccount. Agencies may obtain the
subaccount numbers from the Regional
Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration
Program Office.
(c) Supporting documentation
explaining how the proposed work
complies with the Acts, the regulations
in this part, and other applicable laws
and regulations.
(d) A statement of the agency’s intent
to carry out and fund part or all of its
comprehensive management system
through an award.
(e) A description of the agency’s
comprehensive management system
including inventory, strategic plan,
operational plan, and evaluation.
‘‘Inventory’’ refers to the process or
processes that an agency uses to:
(1) Determine actual, projected, and
desired resource and asset status; and
(2) Identify management problems,
issues, needs, and opportunities.
(f) A description of the State fish and
wildlife agency program covered by the
comprehensive management system.
(g) Contact information for the State
fish and wildlife agency employee who
is directly responsible for the integrity
and operation of the comprehensive
management system.
(h) A description of how the public
can take part in decision making for the
comprehensive management system.

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ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS4

§ 80.82 What must a State fish and wildlife
agency submit when applying for a projectby-project award?

A State fish and wildlife agency must
submit the following documents when
applying for a project-by-project award:
(a) The standard form for an
application for Federal assistance in a
mandatory grant program.
(b) A project statement that describes
each proposed project and provides the
following information:
(1) Need. Explain why the project is
necessary and how it fulfills the
purposes of the relevant Act.
(2) Purpose. State the purpose and
base it on the need. The purpose states
the desired outcome of the proposed
project in general or abstract terms.
(3) Objectives. State the objectives and
base them on an identified need(s). The
objectives state the desired outcome of
the proposed project in terms that are
specific and quantified.
(4) Results. Describe the results or
benefits expected.
(5) Approach. Describe the methods
used to achieve the stated objectives.
(6) Useful life. Propose a useful life for
each capital improvement and reference
the method used to determine the useful
life of a capital improvement with a
value greater than $100,000.
(7) Geographic location. Describe the
geographic location(s) where activities
will occur. Maps or other geographic
aids are encouraged and may be
attached. Include geographic
coordinates in decimal degrees, if
relevant and available.
(8) Principal investigator for research
projects. Record the principal
investigator’s name, work address, and
work telephone number.
(9) Program income. (i) Estimate the
amount of program income that the
project is likely to generate.
(ii) Indicate the method or
combination of methods (deduction,
addition, or cost sharing) of applying
program income to Federal and nonFederal outlays.
(iii) Request the Regional Director’s
approval for the additive or cost-sharing
method. Describe how the agency
proposes to use the program income and
the expected results. Describe the
essential need when using program
income as cost sharing.
(iv) Indicate whether the agency
wants to treat income that it earns after
the period of performance as either
license revenue or additional funding
for purposes consistent with the award
terms and conditions or program
regulations.
(v) Indicate whether the agency wants
to treat income that the subrecipient
earns after the period of performance as

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license revenue, additional funding for
the purposes consistent with the award
or subprogram, or income subject only
to the terms of the subaward agreement.
(10) Budget narrative. (i) Provide costs
by project and subaccount with
additional information sufficient to
show that the project is cost effective.
Agencies may obtain the subaccount
numbers from the Regional Wildlife and
Sport Fish Restoration Program Office.
(ii) Describe any item that requires the
Service’s approval and estimate its cost.
Examples are pre-award costs, capital
improvements or expenditures, real
property acquisitions, or equipment
purchases.
(iii) Include a schedule of payments to
finish the project if an agency proposes
to use funds from two or more annual
apportionments.
(11) Multipurpose projects. Describe
the method for allocating costs in
multipurpose projects and facilities as
described in §§ 80.66 and 80.67.
(12) Relationship with other awards.
Describe any relationship between this
project and other work funded by
Federal awards that is planned,
anticipated, or under way.
(13) Timeline. Describe significant
milestones in completing the project
and any accomplishments to date.
(14) General. Provide information in
the project statement that:
(i) Shows that the proposed activities
are eligible for funding and substantial
in character and design; and
(ii) Enables the Service to comply
with the applicable requirements of the
National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 and 4331–4347),
the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), the National
Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C.
470s), and other laws, regulations, and
policies.
§ 80.83 What is the Federal share of
allowable costs?

(a) Except as provided at paragraphs
(e) and (f) of this section, the Regional
Director must provide at least 10
percent and no more than 75 percent of
the allowable costs of a grant-funded
project to the fish and wildlife agencies
of the 50 States. The Regional Director
generally approves any Federal share
from 10 to 75 percent as proposed by 1
of the 50 States if the:
(1) Funds are available; and
(2) Application is complete and
consistent with laws, regulations, and
policies.
(b) The Regional Director may provide
funds to the District of Columbia to pay
75 to 100 percent of the allowable costs
of a grant-funded project in a program
or subprogram authorized by the Sport

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Fish Restoration Act. The decision on
the specific Federal share between 75
and 100 percent will be based on what
the Regional Director decides is fair,
just, and equitable. The Regional
Director may reduce the Federal share to
less than 75 percent of allowable project
costs only if the District of Columbia
provides voluntary committed cost
sharing to pay the remaining allowable
costs. However, the Regional Director
must not reduce the Federal share below
10 percent unless the procedure set
forth at paragraph (e) of this section is
followed.
(c) The Regional Director may provide
funds to pay 75 to 100 percent of the
allowable costs of a grant-funded project
to the fish and wildlife agency of the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The
decision on the specific Federal share
between 75 and 100 percent will be
based on what the Regional Director
decides is fair, just, and equitable. The
Regional Director may reduce the
Federal share to less than 75 percent of
allowable project costs only if the
Commonwealth voluntarily provides
cost sharing to pay the remaining
allowable costs. However, the Regional
Director must not reduce the Federal
share below 10 percent unless the
procedure set forth at paragraph (e) of
this section is followed.
(d) The Regional Director must
provide funds to pay 100 percent of the
allowable costs of a grant-funded project
to a fish and wildlife agency of the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands and the Territories of Guam, the
U.S. Virgin Islands, and American
Samoa. The Service is required to waive
all cost sharing requirements for these
insular areas.
(e) The Regional Director may waive
the 10-percent minimum Federal share
of allowable costs if the State, District of
Columbia, Commonwealth, or territory
requests a waiver and provides
compelling reasons to justify why it is
necessary for the Federal Government to
fund less than 10 percent of the
allowable costs of a project.
(f) The Regional Director must
provide no more than 90 percent of the
allowable costs of a project to a State,
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or
the District of Columbia for the
purposes of acquiring land for,
expanding, or constructing a public
target range when the agency identifies
a project that meets the criteria for 90/
10/5 activities.
§ 80.84 How does the Service establish the
non-Federal share of allowable costs?

(a) To establish the non-Federal share
of a grant-funded project for the 50
States, the Regional Director approves

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an application for Federal assistance in
which the State fish and wildlife agency
proposes the specific non-Federal share
by estimating the Federal and costsharing dollars, consistent with
§ 80.83(a), (e), and (f).
(b) To establish the non-Federal share
of a grant-funded project for the District
of Columbia and the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico, the Regional Director:
(1) Decides which percentage is fair,
just, and equitable for the Federal share
consistent with § 80.83(b) and (c);
(2) Subtracts the Federal share
percentage from 100 percent to
determine the percentage of non-Federal
share; and
(3) Applies the percentage of nonFederal share to the allowable costs of
a grant-funded project to determine the
cost sharing requirement.
(c) For the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands and the
Territories of Guam, the U.S. Virgin
Islands, and American Samoa (insular
areas), the Service must waive all nonFederal cost sharing requirements (see
48 U.S.C. 1469a).
§ 80.85 What requirements apply to cost
sharing?

(a) The requirements that apply to
cost sharing are at 2 CFR 200.306.
(b) The State fish and wildlife agency
must fulfill cost sharing requirements at
the:
(1) Award level if the award has funds
from a single subaccount; or
(2) Subaccount level if the award has
funds from more than one subaccount.
Subpart H—General Award
Administration
§ 80.90 What are the recipient’s
responsibilities?

A State fish and wildlife agency as a
recipient is responsible for all the
actions required by this section:
(a) Complying with all applicable
Federal, State, and local laws and
regulations.

(b) Supervising and administering the
award to ensure that the work follows
the terms and conditions of the award,
including:
(1) Properly and effectively using
funds;
(2) Maintaining accurate records;
(3) Submitting complete and accurate
Federal financial reports and
performance reports, using the Federal
electronic system(s) designated by the
Service, by the due dates in the terms
and conditions of the award; and
(4) Regularly inspecting and
monitoring work in progress.
(c) Selecting and supervising
personnel to ensure that:
(1) Adequate and competent
personnel are available to complete the
grant-funded work on schedule; and
(2) Project personnel meet time
schedules, accomplish the proposed
work, meet objectives, and submit the
required reports.
(d) Settling all procurement-related
contractual and administrative issues.
(e) Giving reasonable access to work
sites and records to employees and
contractual auditors of the Service, the
Department of the Interior, and the
Comptroller General of the United
States.
(1) Access is for the purpose of:
(i) Monitoring progress, conducting
audits, or other reviews of grant-funded
projects; and
(ii) Monitoring the use of license
revenue.
(2) Regulations on the uniform
administrative requirements for awards
issued by the Department of the Interior
describe the records that are subject to
these access requirements (see 2 CFR
part 1402).
(3) The closeout of an award does not
affect the recipient’s responsibilities
described in this section.
(f) Controlling all assets acquired
under the award to ensure that they
serve the purpose for which acquired
throughout their useful life.

95619

§ 80.91 What is a Federal obligation of
funds, and how does it occur?

An obligation of funds is a legal
liability to disburse funds immediately
or later based on a series of actions. All
these actions must occur to obligate
funds for the formula-based grant
programs authorized by the Acts:
(a) The Service sends to a State fish
and wildlife agency an annual
certificate of apportionment, which tells
the agency how much funding is
available according to formulas in the
Acts.
(b) The agency sends the Regional
Director an application for Federal
assistance to use the funds available to
the agency under the Acts and commits
to provide the required cost sharing to
carry out projects that are substantial in
character and design.
(c) The Regional Director notifies the
agency that the application for Federal
assistance is approved and states the
terms and conditions of the award.
(d) The agency accepts the terms and
conditions of the award in one of the
following ways:
(1) Starts work on the grant-funded
project by placing an order, entering
into a contract, entering into a
subaward, receiving goods or services,
or otherwise incurring allowable costs
during the period of performance that
will require payment immediately or in
the future;
(2) Draws down funds for an
allowable activity under the award; or
(3) Accepts the award via electronic
means.
§ 80.92 How long are funds available for a
Federal obligation?

Funds are available for a Federal
obligation starting October 1 of the FFY
in which they are apportioned and for
the number of years indicated in table
1 to § 80.92. Funds not obligated within
the required period of availability will
revert to the Service and be disbursed as
described in the table.

TABLE 1 TO § 80.92
Period of availability
for obligation

Program/subprogram

Disbursement of unobligated funds at the end of the period
of availability for obligation

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WILDLIFE RESTORATION ACT
Enhanced Hunter Education and Safety program.

1 FFY ..........................

Traditional Wildlife Restoration program ...........

2 FFYs ........................

Basic Hunter Education and Safety subprogram.

2 FFYs ........................

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Reapportioned the following year only to States that have fully obligated the current year’s Basic Hunter Education and Safety program funds to activities at 16 U.S.C. 669g(b) (see §§ 80.50(b) and
80.63).
Made available to the Secretary for carrying out the provisions of the
Migratory Bird Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 715 et seq.); hereafter
referred to as ‘‘migratory bird conservation’’ (see 16 U.S.C.
669b(a)(1)).
Migratory bird conservation.

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95620

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TABLE 1 TO § 80.92—Continued
Period of availability
for obligation

Program/subprogram
Basic Hunter Education and Safety subprogram for R3 activities at 16 U.S.C.
669c(c)(4).
Traditional Wildlife Restoration program for
public target ranges (90/10/5).
Basic Hunter Education and Safety subprogram for public target ranges (90/10/5).
Enhanced Hunter Education and Safety program for public target ranges (90/10/5).

Disbursement of unobligated funds at the end of the period
of availability for obligation

2 FFYs ........................

Migratory bird conservation.

5 FFYs ........................

Migratory bird conservation.

5 FFYs ........................

Migratory bird conservation.

5 FFYs ........................

Reapportioned the following year only to States that have fully obligated the current year’s Basic Hunter Education and Safety funds
to activities at 16 U.S.C. 669g(b) (see §§ 80.50(b) and 80.63).

SPORT FISH RESTORATION ACT
Sport Fish Restoration program ........................

2 FFYs ........................

Aquatic Resource Education program ..............
State Outreach and Communications program
Recreational Boating Access subprogram ........

2 FFYs ........................
2 FFYs ........................
5 FFYs ........................

§ 80.93 When may a State fish and wildlife
agency incur costs under an award?

regulations, and policies before the
agency starts work on the ground; and
(ii) Provide the Service all the
necessary information with enough lead
time for the Service to comply with the
applicable laws, regulations, and
policies.
(6) The agency must not complete the
project before the beginning of the
period of performance unless the
Regional Director concurs that doing so
is necessary to take advantage of
temporary circumstances favorable to
the project or to meet legal deadlines.
An agency completes a project when it
incurs all costs and finishes all work
necessary to achieve the project
objectives.
(c) The agency can receive
reimbursement for pre-award costs only
after the beginning of the period of
performance, and, for activities
requiring compliance, only after the
compliance is satisfied.

A State fish and wildlife agency may
incur costs under an award from the
effective date of the period of
performance to the end of the period of
performance except for pre-award costs
that meet the conditions in § 80.94.

ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS4

§ 80.94 May a State fish and wildlife
agency incur costs before the beginning of
the period of performance?

(a) A State fish and wildlife agency
may incur costs of a proposed project
before the beginning of the period of
performance (i.e., pre-award costs).
However, the agency has no assurance
that it will receive reimbursement until
the Regional Director approves an award
that incorporates a project statement
demonstrating that the pre-award costs
conform to all the conditions set forth
in paragraph (b) of this section.
(b) Pre-award costs must meet the
following requirements:
(1) The costs are necessary and
reasonable for accomplishing the award
objectives.
(2) The Regional Director would have
approved the costs if the State fish and
wildlife agency incurred them during
the period of performance.
(3) The agency incurs these costs in
anticipation of the award and in
conformity with the negotiation of the
award with the Regional Director.
(4) The activities associated with the
pre-award costs comply with all laws,
regulations, and policies applicable to a
grant-funded project.
(5) The agency must:
(i) Obtain the Regional Director’s
concurrence that the Service will be
able to comply with the applicable laws,

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Available for expenditure by the Secretary of the Interior to supplement the Sport Fish Restoration apportionment, as provided for in
16 U.S.C. 777c(c), the following year.
Same as apportioned Sport Fish Restoration funds.
Same as apportioned Sport Fish Restoration funds.
Same as apportioned Sport Fish Restoration funds.

§ 80.95 How does a State fish and wildlife
agency receive Federal award funds?

(a) A State fish and wildlife agency
may receive Federal award funds
through either:
(1) A request for reimbursement; or
(2) A request for an advance of funds
if the agency maintains or demonstrates
that it will maintain procedures to
minimize time between transfer of funds
and disbursement by the agency or its
subrecipient.
(b) An agency must use the following
procedures to receive a reimbursement
or an advance of funds:
(1) Request funds through an
electronic payment system designated
by the Regional Director; or
(2) Request funds on a standard form
for that purpose only if the agency is

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unable to use the electronic payment
system.
(c) The Regional Director will
reimburse or advance funds only to the
office or official designated by the
agency and authorized by State law to
receive public funds for the State.
(d) All payments are subject to final
determination of allowability based on
audit or a Service review. The State fish
and wildlife agency must repay any
overpayment as directed by the Regional
Director.
(e) The Regional Director may
withhold payments pending receipt of
all required reports or documentation
for the project.
§ 80.96 May a State fish and wildlife
agency use Federal funds without using
cost sharing?

(a) The State fish and wildlife agency
must not draw down any Federal funds
for a grant-funded project under the
Acts in greater proportion to the use of
cost sharing than total Federal funds
bear to total cost sharing unless:
(1) The recipient draws down Federal
award funds to pay for construction,
including land acquisition;
(2) A third-party in-kind contribution
of cost sharing is not yet available for
delivery to the recipient or subrecipient;
or
(3) The project is not at the point
where it can accommodate a third-party
in-kind contribution.
(b) If an agency draws down Federal
funds in greater proportion to the use of
cost sharing than total Federal funds
bear to total cost sharing under the
conditions described at paragraphs
(a)(1) through (3) of this section, the
agency must:

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Yes. The following distinctive
symbols are available to identify
projects funded by the Acts and
products on which taxes and duties
have been collected to support the Acts:
(a) The symbol of the Wildlife
Restoration Act follows:

§ 80.99 Are symbols available to identify
projects?

(b) The symbol of the Sport Fish
Restoration Act follows:

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(c) The symbol of the Acts when used
in combination follows:

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02DEP4

to use the symbols for purposes related
to the Acts.
(c) Restrictions and requirements on
use of symbols for either agencies or
other entities are as follows:
(1) Users of the symbol(s) indemnify
and defend the United States and hold
it harmless from any claims, suits,
losses, and damages from:
(i) Any allegedly unauthorized use of
any patent, process, idea, method, or
device by the user in connection with
its use of the symbol(s), or any other
alleged action of the user; and
(ii) Any claims, suits, losses, and
damages arising from alleged defects in
the articles or services associated with
the symbol(s).
(2) The appearance of the symbol(s)
on projects or products indicates that
the manufacturer of the product pays
excise taxes in support of the respective
Act(s) and that the project was funded
under the respective Act(s) (26 U.S.C.
4161, 4162, 4181, 4182, 9503, and
9504). The Service and the Department
of the Interior make no representation or
endorsement whatsoever by the display
of the symbol(s) as to the quality, utility,
suitability, or safety of any product,
service, or project associated with the
symbol(s).
(3) No one may use any of the
symbols in any other manner unless
authorized by the Director or Regional
Director. Unauthorized use of the
symbol(s) is a violation of 18 U.S.C. 701

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No. A State fish and wildlife agency
is not required to display one of the
symbols in § 80.99 on a project
completed under the Acts.
(a) However, the Service encourages
agencies to display the appropriate
symbol on projects funded by the Acts.
Appropriate use and requirements for
symbols are as follows:
(1) An agency may display the
appropriate symbol(s) on:
(i) Areas such as wildlife-management
areas, shooting ranges, and sportfishing
and boating-access facilities that were
acquired, developed, operated, or
maintained with funds authorized by
the Acts; and
(ii) Printed or web-based material or
other visual representations of project
accomplishments.
(2) An agency may establish a
requirement for similar standards for
displaying the appropriate symbol or
symbols, in the places described in
paragraph (a) of this section, that is
passed through to subrecipients.
(3) An agency may use the symbols in
a manner other than as described in
paragraph (a) of this section if
authorized by the Director or a Regional
Director.
(b) The Director or Regional Director
may authorize other persons,
organizations, agencies, or governments

§ 80.100 Must a State fish and wildlife
agency display one of the symbols set forth
in this part on a completed project?

(2) The fair value of the goods or services provided by the State fish
and wildlife agency exceeds the fair value of the goods and services
received.
(3) The fair value of the goods or services received exceeds the fair
value of the goods and services the State fish and wildlife agency
provided.

Disclose in the remarks section that the barter transaction(s) occurred,
and the barter transaction(s) resulted in no gain or loss to the agency.
Disclose in the remarks section that the barter transaction(s) occurred
and report the difference in fair value as award expenses in the Federal financial report.
Disclose in the remarks section that the barter transaction(s) occurred
and report the difference in fair value as program income in the Federal financial report.

(1) The barter transaction is determined to be an even exchange of
goods or services.

(a) A State fish and wildlife agency
must identify when barter exchanges are
anticipated in the project when
applying for, or carrying out, an award.
All activities included in a barter
transaction are subject to Federal
compliance requirements under an
award.
(b) An agency must follow its State
processes for authorizing, valuing, and
documenting barter transactions, and
report barter transactions under an
award in the Federal financial report
according to table 1 to § 80.98:

§ 80.98 How must a State fish and wildlife
agency include barter in an award and
report barter transactions?

Then the agency must . . .

TABLE 1 TO § 80.98

(b) A State fish and wildlife agency
may use barter to carry out a grantfunded project when following
approved State policies and procedures
that comply with the generally accepted
accounting practices as defined by the
Governmental Accounting Standards
Board. The State processes, as applied
by the agency, may identify types of
barter (e.g., cooperative farming or
grazing) for which the agency will
consider the barter transaction to be an
even exchange.

95621

If, following the State processes for barter transactions . . .

(a) Barter is a nonmonetary exchange
of goods or services with another entity
(reciprocal transfer). If goods or services
are given or received without
expectation of a reciprocal transfer, the
activity is not barter and is an expense
of or donation to the agency.

§ 80.97 What is barter, and may a State
fish and wildlife agency use barter of goods
or services to carry out a grant-funded
project?

(1) Obtain the Regional Director’s
prior approval; and
(2) Satisfy the project’s cost sharing
requirement before submitting the final
Federal financial report.

.

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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 231 / Monday, December 2, 2024 / Proposed Rules

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95622

Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 231 / Monday, December 2, 2024 / Proposed Rules

and subjects the violator to possible
fines and imprisonment.
Subpart I—Program Income
§ 80.120

What is program income?

(a) Program income is gross income
earned by the recipient or subrecipient
that is directly generated by an award
activity or earned as a result of the
Federal award during the period of
performance (see 2 CFR 200.1 and
200.307).
(b) Program income includes revenue
from:
(1) Services performed under an
award.
(2) Use or rental of real or personal
property acquired, constructed, or
managed with award funds.
(3) Payments by concessioners or
contractors under an arrangement with
the agency or subrecipient to provide a
service in support of award objectives
on real property acquired, constructed,
or managed with award funds.
(4) Sale of items produced under an
award.
(5) Fees collected by the agency for
delivering or providing hunter
education, aquatic education, or other
courses.
(6) Royalties and license fees for
copyrighted material, patents, and
inventions developed as a result of an
award.
(7) Sale of a product of mining,
drilling, forestry, or agriculture during
the period of performance that supports
the:
(i) Mining, drilling, forestry, or
agriculture; or
(ii) Acquisition of the land on which
these activities occurred.
(8) Barter transactions when the value
of goods or services received exceeds
the value of goods or services the agency
provided.

(c) Program income does not include
any of the following:
(1) Interest on award funds, rebates,
credits, discounts, or refunds.
(2) Sales receipts retained by
concessioners or contractors under an
arrangement with the agency to provide
a service in support of award objectives
on real property acquired, constructed,
or managed with award funds.
(3) Cash received by the agency or by
volunteer instructors to cover incidental
costs of hunter education, aquatic
education, or other classes. Incidental
costs are small amounts and typically
not essential to the training delivery.
Materials purchased at cost by the
student, separate from course fees, are
incidental costs.
(4) Proceeds from the sale of real
property, equipment, or supplies.
§ 80.121 May a State fish and wildlife
agency earn program income?

A State fish and wildlife agency may
earn program income from activities
incidental to the award purposes if
producing income is not a primary
purpose. The agency must account for
program income received from these
activities in the project records and
dispose of it according to the terms and
conditions of the award.
§ 80.122 May a State fish and wildlife
agency deduct the costs of generating
program income from gross income?

(a) A State fish and wildlife agency
may deduct the costs of generating
program income from gross income
when the agency calculates program
income if the agency does not:
(1) Pay these costs with:
(i) Federal or cost-sharing funds under
a Federal award; or
(ii) Federal funds unrelated to an
award.
(2) Cover these costs by accepting:
(i) Cost-sharing contributions for a
Federal award; or

(ii) Donations of services, personal
property, or real property unrelated to a
Federal award.
(b) Examples of costs of generating
program income that may qualify for
deduction from gross income if they are
consistent with the regulations in
paragraph (a) of this section are:
(1) The cost of estimating the amount
of commercially acceptable timber in a
forest and marking it for harvest if the
commercial harvest is incidental to a
grant-funded habitat-management or
facilities-construction project.
(2) The cost of publishing research
results as a pamphlet or book for sale if
the publication is incidental to a grantfunded research project.
§ 80.123 How may a State fish and wildlife
agency use program income?

(a) A State fish and wildlife agency
may choose any of the three methods
listed in paragraph (b) of this section for
applying program income to Federal
and non-Federal outlays. The agency
may also use a combination of these
methods. The method or methods that
the agency chooses will apply to the
program income that it earns during the
period of performance and to the
program income that any subrecipient
earns during the period of performance.
The agency must indicate the method or
methods that it wants to use in the
project statement that the agency
submits with each application for
Federal assistance.
(b) Program income must be spent
within the period of performance and
program in which the income is earned
and before the agency requests
additional Federal funds for the activity
for which the program income is earned.
(c) The three methods for applying
program income to Federal and nonFederal outlays are set forth in table 1
to § 80.123(c):

ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS4

TABLE 1 TO § 80.123(c)
Method

Requirements for using the method

(1) Deduction ..................................

(i) The agency must deduct the program income from total allowable costs to determine the net allowable
costs.
(ii) The agency must use program income for current costs under the award unless the Regional Director
authorizes otherwise.
(iii) If the agency does not indicate the method that it wants to use in the project statement, then the agency must use the deduction method.
(i) The agency must request the Regional Director’s approval in the project statement.
(ii) The agency may add the program income to the Federal and non-Federal funds under the award.
(iii) The agency must use the program income for the purposes of the award and under the terms of the
award.
(i) The agency must request the Regional Director’s approval in the project statement.
(ii) The agency must explain in the project statement the expected program income, how the agency proposes to use the program income to satisfy cost-sharing requirements, how the agency will use program
income earned in excess of required cost sharing, and the primary conservation or recreation objective
sufficient to show income as a secondary benefit.

(2) Addition ......................................

(3) Cost sharing ..............................

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95623

TABLE 1 TO § 80.123(c)—Continued
Method

Requirements for using the method
(iii) If neither the agency’s project statement nor the award indicates how program income in excess of
cost-sharing requirements will be applied, the agency must use the deduction method.

§ 80.124 How may a State fish and wildlife
agency use unexpended program income?

A State fish and wildlife agency must
spend program income before
requesting additional payments under
an award. If the agency has unexpended
program income on its final Federal
financial report, it may use the income
under a subsequent award for any
activity eligible for funding in the grant
program that generated the program
income.
§ 80.125 How must a State fish and wildlife
agency treat income that it earns after the
period of performance?

(a) The State fish and wildlife agency
must treat income that it earns after the
period of performance as either:
(1) License revenue for the
administration of the agency; or
(2) Additional funding for purposes
consistent with the award or the
program.
(b) The agency must indicate its
choice of one of the alternatives set forth
in paragraph (a) of this section in the
project statement that the agency
submits with each application for
Federal assistance. If the agency does
not record its choice in the project
statement, the agency must treat the
income earned after the period of
performance as license revenue.

ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS4

§ 80.126 How must a State fish and wildlife
agency treat income earned by a
subrecipient after the period of
performance?

(a) The State fish and wildlife agency
must treat income earned by a
subrecipient after the period of
performance as:
(1) License revenue for the
administration of the agency;
(2) Additional funding for purposes
consistent with the award or the
program; or
(3) Income subject only to the terms
of the subaward agreement and any
subsequent contractual agreements
between the agency and the
subrecipient.
(b) The agency must indicate its
choice of one of the above alternatives
in the project statement that the agency
submits with each application for
Federal assistance. If the agency does
not indicate its choice in the project
statement, the subrecipient does not
have to account for any income earned
after the period of performance unless

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required to do so in the subaward
agreement or in any subsequent
contractual agreement.
Subpart J—Real Property
§ 80.130 Must a State fish and wildlife
agency hold title to real property acquired
under an award?

A State fish and wildlife agency must
hold title to an ownership interest in
real property acquired under an award
to the extent possible under State law.
(a) Some States do not authorize their
fish and wildlife agency to hold the title
to real property that the agency
manages. In these cases, the State or one
of its administrative units may hold the
title to grant-funded real property if the
agency has the authority to manage the
real property for its authorized purpose
under the award. The agency, the State,
or another administrative unit of State
government must not hold title to an
undivided ownership interest in the real
property concurrently with a
subrecipient or any other entity.
(b) An ownership interest is an
interest in real property that gives the
person who holds it the right to use and
occupy a parcel of land or water and to
exclude others. Ownership interests
include fee and leasehold interests but
not easements.
§ 80.131 Must a State fish and wildlife
agency hold an easement acquired under
an award?

A State fish and wildlife agency must
hold an easement acquired under an
award, but it may share certain rights or
responsibilities as described in
paragraph (b) of this section if
consistent with State law.
(a) Any sharing of rights or
responsibilities does not diminish the
agency’s responsibility to manage the
easement for its authorized purpose.
(b) The agency may share the holding
or enforcement of an easement only in
the following situations:
(1) The State or an administrative unit
of State government may hold an
easement on behalf of its fish and
wildlife agency.
(2) The agency may issue a subaward
with the concurrent right to hold the
easement to a nonprofit organization or
to a local or Tribal government. A
concurrent right to hold an easement
means that both the State agency and

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the subrecipient hold the easement and
share its rights and responsibilities.
(3) The agency may issue a subaward
with a right of enforcement to a
nonprofit organization or to a local or
Tribal government. This right of
enforcement may allow the subrecipient
to have reasonable access and entry to
property protected under the easement
for purposes of inspection, monitoring,
and enforcement. The subrecipient’s
right of enforcement must not supersede
and must be concurrent with the
agency’s right of enforcement.
§ 80.132 Must a State fish and wildlife
agency have control over the land or water
where it completes capital improvements?

Yes. A State fish and wildlife agency
must control the parcel of land or water
on which the agency completes a grantfunded capital improvement. An agency
must exercise this control by holding
title to a fee or leasehold interest or
through another legally binding
agreement. Control must be adequate for
the protection, maintenance, and use of
the improvement for its authorized
purpose during its useful life even if the
agency did not acquire the parcel with
award funds.
§ 80.133 Must a State fish and wildlife
agency maintain acquired or completed
capital improvements?

Yes. A State fish and wildlife agency
is responsible for maintaining capital
improvements acquired or completed
under an award to ensure that each
capital improvement continues to serve
its authorized purpose during its useful
life.
§ 80.134 How must a State fish and wildlife
agency use real property?

(a) If an award funds acquisition of an
interest in a parcel of land or water, the
State fish and wildlife agency must use
the land or water for the purpose
authorized in the award.
(b) If an award funds construction of
a capital improvement, the agency must
use the capital improvement for the
purpose authorized in the award during
the useful life of the capital
improvement. The agency must comply
with this requirement even if the agency
did not use award funds to:
(1) Acquire the parcel on which the
capital improvement is located; or
(2) Build the structure in which the
capital improvement is a component.

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(c) If an award funds management,
operation, or maintenance of a parcel of
land or water, or a capital improvement,
the agency must use the parcel or
capital improvement for the purpose
authorized in the award during the
period of performance. The agency must
comply with this requirement even if
the agency did not acquire the parcel or
construct the capital improvement with
award funds.
(d) A State agency may allow
commercial, recreational, and other
secondary uses of a grant-funded parcel
of land or water or capital improvement
if these secondary uses do not interfere
with the authorized purpose of the
award.
(e) Real property acquired with
license revenue (see § 80.20(b)) must be
controlled by the State fish and wildlife
agency and used only for administration
of the agency (see § 80.10(c)).

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§ 80.135 What if a State fish and wildlife
agency allows a use of real property that
interferes with its authorized purpose?

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§ 80.136 Is it a diversion if a State fish and
wildlife agency does not use real property
acquired under an award for its authorized
purpose?

If a State fish and wildlife agency
does not use real property acquired
under an award for its authorized
purpose, a diversion occurs only if both
of the following conditions apply:
(a) The agency used license revenue
as cost sharing for the award; and
(b) The unauthorized use is for a
purpose other than management of the
fish-and-wildlife-related resources for
which the agency has authority under
State law.
§ 80.137 What if real property is no longer
useful or needed for its original purpose?

(a) When a State fish and wildlife
agency allows a use of real property that
interferes with the authorized purpose
of the real property under an award, the
agency must fully restore the real
property to its authorized purpose.
(b) If the agency cannot fully restore
the real property to its authorized
purpose, then the agency must replace
the real property using non-Federal
funds.
(c) The agency must determine that
the replacement property:
(1) Is of at least equal value at current
market prices; and
(2) Has fish-, wildlife-, and public-use
benefits consistent with the purposes of
the original award.
(d) The Regional Director may require
the agency to obtain an appraisal and
appraisal review to estimate the value of
the replacement property at current
market prices if the agency cannot
support its assessment of value.
(e) The agency must obtain the
Regional Director’s approval of:
(1) The agency’s determination of the
value and benefits of the replacement
property; and
(2) The documentation supporting
this determination.
(f) The agency may have up to 3 years
from the date of notification by the
Regional Director to restore the real
property to its authorized purpose or
acquire replacement property. If the

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agency does not restore the real property
to its authorized purpose or acquire
replacement property within 3 years,
the Director may declare the agency
ineligible to receive new awards in the
program or programs that funded the
original acquisition.

If the director of the State fish and
wildlife agency and the Regional
Director jointly decide that real property
acquired with award funds is no longer
useful or needed for the original
purpose of the real property under the
award, the director of the agency must:
(a) Propose another eligible purpose
for the real property under the grant
program and ask the Regional Director
to approve this proposed purpose; or
(b) Follow the regulations at 2 CFR
200.311 and consult with the Regional
Director on how to treat proceeds from
the disposition of real property.
Subpart K—Revisions and Appeals
§ 80.150 How does a State fish and wildlife
agency revise an award?

(a) A State fish and wildlife agency
requests approval for a revision to a
project or award by providing the
Service the following documents:
(1) The Office of Management and
Budget (OMB)-approved common
application information for Federal
assistance, approved by the director of
the agency or the director’s designee, to
update or request a change in the
information that the agency submitted
in an approved application.
(2) A statement that explains:
(i) How the requested revision would
affect the information that the agency
submitted with the original grant
application; and

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(ii) Why the requested revision is
necessary.
(b) If the State maintains the process
under Executive Order 12372,
Intergovernmental Review of Federal
Programs, the agency must follow its
processes for sending any requested
revision of the purpose or objectives of
a project or award to the State
Clearinghouse or Single Point of
Contact.
§ 80.151 May a State fish and wildlife
agency appeal a decision?

Yes. A State fish and wildlife agency
may appeal the Director’s or Regional
Director’s decision on any matter
subject to this part.
(a) The agency must send the appeal
to the Director within 30 days of the
date that the Director or Regional
Director mails or otherwise informs an
agency of a decision.
(b) The agency may appeal the
Director’s decision on an appeal made
under paragraph (a) of this section to the
Secretary. An appeal to the Secretary
must be made within 30 days of the date
the decision was mailed and must
follow procedures in 43 CFR part 4,
subpart G.
Subpart L—Information Collection
§ 80.160 What are the information
collection requirements of this part?

The Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) has approved the information
collection requirements contained in
this part 80 and assigned the following
OMB Control Numbers 1018–0088,
‘‘National Survey of Fishing, Hunting,
and Wildlife-Associated Recreation
(FHWAR)’’ and 1018–0100,
‘‘Administrative Procedures for U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service Financial
Assistance Programs.’’ Federal agencies
may not conduct or sponsor, and a
person is not required to respond to, a
collection of information unless it
displays a currently valid OMB control
number. Direct comments regarding the
burden estimate or any other aspect of
the information collection to the
Service’s Information Collection
Clearance Officer at the address
provided at 50 CFR 2.1(b).
Shannon A. Estenoz,
Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and
Parks, Department of Interior.
[FR Doc. 2024–27095 Filed 11–29–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333–15–P

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