§669h–1 Firearm and bow hunter education and safety program grants

Summary

The law sets aside money each year for states: $7,500,000 for fiscal years 2001 and 2002, and $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2003 and every year after. The Secretary of the Interior splits that money among the states using the law’s rules. If a state has not spent all of its other apportioned funds in the specific way the law requires, the grant must be used to improve hunter education, hunter and firearm safety, hunter development, interstate coordination, bow and archery programs, building or upgrading shooting and archery ranges (including safety features), and recruiting hunters and recreational shooters. If a state already used its other apportioned funds as required, it may spend these grants for any uses allowed by the law, including hunter safety and building, running, or maintaining public target ranges. A state does not have to spend more than the limit set elsewhere in the law on hunter safety and public target ranges. A state may also choose to use up to 10% of another apportioned amount, combined with these grants, to buy land or build or expand a public target range. Generally the federal government will pay up to 75% of a project’s cost. For buying land or building or expanding a public target range, the federal share can be up to 90%. Normally the grant money must be spent in the fiscal year it is given. Money for buying land or building or expanding a public target range can be spent for up to five fiscal years starting October 1 of the first year it was made available. Any of the grant money left unused after that period will be reallocated by the Secretary of the Interior to states that had already used their other apportioned funds, for use under the chapter.