All funds received for stamps sold under this subchapter shall be—

(1) accounted for by the Postal Service or the Secretary, as appropriate;

(2) paid into the Treasury of the United States; and

(3) reserved and set aside as a special fund, to be known as the “Migratory Bird Conservation Fund” (referred to in this section as the “fund”), to be administered by the Secretary, in which there shall be a subaccount to which the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer all amounts in excess of $15 that are received from the sale of each stamp sold for each hunting year after hunting year 2013.

All funds received into the fund are appropriated for the following purposes, to remain available until expended:

(1) Advance allotments Except as provided in paragraph (4), so much as may be necessary shall be used by the Secretary for engraving, printing, issuing, selling, and accounting for Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamps and moneys received from the sale thereof, in addition to expenses for personnel services in the District of Columbia and elsewhere, and such other expenses as may be necessary in executing the duties and functions required of the Postal Service.

(2) Areas for refuges Except as provided in paragraphs (3) and (4) and subsection (c), the remainder shall be available for the location, ascertainment, and acquisition of suitable areas for migratory bird refuges under the provisions of the Migratory Bird Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 715 et seq.) and for the administrative costs incurred in the acquisition of such areas.

(3) Conditions on use of funds The Secretary may use funds made available under paragraph (2) for the purposes of that paragraph, and such other funds as may be appropriated for the purposes of that paragraph or this paragraph, to acquire, or defray the expense incident to the acquisition by gift, devise, lease, purchase, or exchange of, small wetland and pothole areas, interests therein, and rights-of-way to provide access thereto. Such small areas, to be designated as “Waterfowl Production Areas”, may be acquired without regard to the limitations and requirements of the Migratory Bird Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 715 et seq.), but all of the provisions of such Act which govern the administration and protection of lands acquired thereunder, except the inviolate sanctuary provisions of such Act, shall be applicable to areas acquired pursuant to this paragraph.

(4) Conservation easements Amounts in the subaccount referred to in subsection (a)(3) shall be used by the Secretary solely to acquire easements in real property in the United States for conservation of migratory birds.

The Secretary may use funds from the sale of Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamps, not to exceed $1,000,000 in each of fiscal years 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003, for the promotion of additional sales of those stamps, in accordance with a Migratory Bird Conservation Commission approved annual marketing plan. Such promotion shall include the preparation of reports, brochures, or other appropriate materials to be made available to the public that describe the benefits to wildlife derived from stamp sales.

The Secretary shall include in each annual report of the Commission under section 3 of the Migratory Bird Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 715b)—

(1) a description of activities conducted under subsection (c) in the year covered by the report;

an annual assessment of the status of wetlands conservation projects for migratory bird conservation purposes, including a clear and accurate accounting of—

(A) all expenditures by Federal and State agencies under this section; and

(B) all expenditures made for fee-simple acquisition of Federal lands in the United States, including the amount paid and acreage of each parcel acquired in each acquisition;

an analysis of the refuge lands opened, and refuge lands closed, for hunting and fishing in the year covered by the report, including—

(A) identification of the specific areas in each refuge and the reasons for the closure or opening; and

(B) a detailed description of each closure including detailed justification for such closure;

(4) the total number of acres of refuge land open for hunting and fishing, and the total number of acres of refuge land closed for hunting and fishing, in the year covered by the report; and

(5) a separate report on the hunting and fishing status of those lands added to the system in the year covered by the report.

(Mar. 16, 1934, ch. 71, § 4, 48 Stat. 451; June 15, 1935, ch. 261, title I, §§ 3, 4, 49 Stat. 379, 380; 1939 Reorg. Plan No. II, § 4(f), eff. July 1, 1939, 4 F.R. 2731, 53 Stat. 1433; Aug. 12, 1949, ch. 421, § 2, 63 Stat. 600; Oct. 20, 1951, ch. 520, 65 Stat. 451; Pub. L. 85–585, §§ 2, 3, Aug. 1, 1958, 72 Stat. 486, 487; Pub. L. 89–669, § 6, Oct. 15, 1966, 80 Stat. 929; Pub. L. 92–214, § 2, Dec. 22, 1971, 85 Stat. 777; Pub. L. 94–215, § 3(d), Feb. 17, 1976, 90 Stat. 190; Pub. L. 105–269, § 2, Oct. 19, 1998, 112 Stat. 2381; Pub. L. 109–266, § 10(e), Aug. 3, 2006, 120 Stat. 676; Pub. L. 113–264, §§ 2(3), 3, Dec. 18, 2014, 128 Stat. 2939, 2940.)