Wildlife Restoration Projects Fund¹

Louis Alan Talley
Research Analyst in Taxation
Economics Division

May 2, 1997

97-506 E

Brief Legislative History

On September 2, 1937, President Franklin Roosevelt signed into law a cooperative program between the federal and state governments for wildlife restoration.² Under this program federal grant-in-aid are made to state agencies for conservation through land and water management for wild birds and mammals. The Act is commonly known as the Pittman-Robertson Act after the names of its sponsors (Senator Key Pittman and Representative A. Willis Robertson in the House of Representatives, who later became a member of the Senate). The trust fund is officially known as the Wildlife Restoration Projects Fund.

The original 1937 act provided for the excise taxes only on sporting arms and ammunition to be placed into the fund. At the time of enactment, no new excise taxes were levied and no rates were raised. The 1937 Act only provided a dedication of existing tax receipts that previously had gone into the general fund of the U.S. Treasury Department. The excise tax was (and is still) based upon either the wholesale selling price or a constructive wholesale price equal to 75% of the actual retail sales price if sold directly at retail.

Excise taxes on pistols and revolvers were added to trust fund revenues in October 1970 when President Nixon signed into law the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act Amendments of 1970 (P.L. 91-503). Under prior law, the existing excise tax on pistols and revolvers had gone into the Treasury's general fund. The legislation provided that one-half of the tax on pistols and revolvers is to be used exclusively for wildlife restoration projects; the other one-half is to be apportioned among the states on the basis of population. From this one-half of excise taxes on pistols and revolvers, up to 75% of the costs for state hunter safety programs and the construction, operation, and maintenance of public outdoor target ranges may be paid. While the state's 25% share of costs may be collected from hunting license fees, it may not come from other federal grant programs This law also redefined "wildlife-restoration project" to include the maintenance and management of wildlife areas and resources as well as the acquisition or rehabilitation of new areas included under prior law. Further, this law permitted states for the first time to submit a comprehensive fish and wildlife resource management plan rather than the prior law requirement that allowed only for the submission of a detailed statement for any wildlife restoration project.

A new 11% excise tax was added to bows and arrows (along with their parts and accessories such as bow sights, bow stabilizers, bow levels, bow strings, arrow rests, string silencers, feathers, shaft, tip or arrowhead, and quiver) during the Nixon presidency. The law, simply called Bows and Arrows; Tax on Sales (P.L. 92-558) imposed the tax on the sale by the manufacturer, producer, or importer.³ The rationale was that those that hunt with bows and arrows should share in the costs associated with maintaining and preserving wildlife bunting areas and for target range programs. While this law was passed in October 1972, it provided that tax receipts collected from the excise taxes on bows and arrows would accrue to the trust fund beginning in fiscal year 1975. Prior to this Act, outdoor target ranges could be funded from the hunter safety programs that included the construction, operation,and maintenance of target ranges. This Act changed the law to also allow funding for indoor target ranges.

Thus, under current law, monies collected for the Wildlife Restoration Project Fund come from excise taxes imposed on firearms, ammunition, and archery equipment. The commodities taxed and their corresponding tax rate are pistols and revolvers taxed at 10%, firearms other than pistols and revolvers taxed at 11%, shells and cartridges taxed at 11%, and bows and arrows taxed at 11%.

Disbursement of Funds

The excise taxes are collected by agencies within the U.S. Treasury Department. The taxes on guns, shells, and cartridges are collected by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; the excise tax on bows and arrows is collected by the Internal Revenue Service. Current law provides that up to 8% of collected revenues may be retained by the federal government to offset costs incurred for the administration (overhead and operation) of the Wildlife Restoration Projects Fund and the Migratory Bird Conservation Act. All remaining funds are apportioned by the Secretary of the Interior to the states' and territories' fish and game departments, either for use in wildlife restoration and/or hunter safety and education programs. After apportionment, amounts are available for a two year period. If a state fails to avail itself of apportioned monies, then the Secretary of Interior may expend those funds for carrying out the provisions of the Migratory Bird Conservation Act.

The original 1937 Act provided that state hunting-license revenues must be dedicated to operate the state's fish and wildlife agency. Loss of a capital asset acquired with use of license revenues and income generated by license assets or revenues is treated as a diversion of the license receipts. Regulations provide that if funds are diverted for unapproved purposes then the state must replace those funds or become ineligible for future fund disbursements. Further, lands purchased and improvements built with trust fund receipts must continue to be used for their acquired or constructed functions. These provisions safeguard wildlife funds so they are not diverted and assures the continued commitment of funds for wildlife restoration purposes.

Disbursement Formula

In the case of wildlife restoration, state entitlement is based upon the following formulas:

1. One-half of the entitlement is based upon the land area of the state;

2. One-half of the entitlement is based upon paid hunting-license holders of the states (in the second fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the apportionment is made and certified by the state fish and game department);

3. No state may receive more than 5% of the total entitlement amount;

4. No state may receive less than 1/2 of 1% of the total entitlement amounts.

5. The amounts of entitlements for territories are given as:

1/2 of 1% for Puerto Rico;

1/6 of 1% each for Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

The hunter safety and education program distributes its funds solely on the basis of population. No state may receive more than 3% or less than 1% of the funds. While Puerto Rico receives no funds under this portion of the program, the other territories each receive 1/6 of 1%. The District of Columbia is not a designated recipient. Since it is neither a state or territory, it receives no funds from the Wildlife Restoration Projects Fund.

Financial Status of Wildlife Restoration Fund

The table that follows provides dollar amounts held in trust for the Wildlife Restoration Trust Fund. As a permanent-indefinite appropriation these amounts are available without further congressional approval. The earnings on investments held in the Wildlife Restoration Fund fund the North American Wetlands Conservation Act.⁴

TABLE 1. Federal Aid to Wildlife Restoration Fund:
Miscellaneous Permanent Appropriation
(in millions of dollars)

Source: Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 1998.

TABLE 2. Final Apportionment of Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Funds
by State for Fiscal Year 1997

Source: U.S. Department of Interior. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Federal Aid. Certificate of Apportionment of $165,790,260 of the Appropriation for Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration to the States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands for Fiscal Year 1997. District of Columbia, February 27, 1997.

References:

¹ This report does not track particular bills or legislation. It will be updated as needed to reflect changes in the financial status of the trust fund and apportionment to states.

² Statutory language defining a wildlife restoration project can be found at 16 U.S.C. §669a Definitions. The language states that a project "shall be construed to mean and include the selection, restoration, rehabilitation, and improvement of areas of land or water adaptable as feeding, resting, or breeding places for wildlife, including acquisition by purchase, condemnation, lease, or gift 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 such projects." This definition was later amended to include "maintenance of completed projects."

³ The law exempts bows and arrows manufactured by Indians on Indian reservations or in Indian schools.

⁴ Provides funds for the acquisition, restoration, management, or enhancement of wetlands for waterfowl and other migratory birds, fish, and wildlife.