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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 777. Federal-State relationships
(a) Cooperation between Federal Government and State fish and game
departments; expenditure of funds
The Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed to
cooperate with the States through their respective State fish and
game departments in fish restoration and management projects as
hereinafter set forth: No money apportioned under this chapter to
any State, except as hereinafter provided, shall be expended
therein until its legislature, or other State agency authorized by
the State constitution to make laws governing the conservation of
fish, shall have assented to the provisions of this chapter and
shall have passed laws for the conservation of fish, which shall
include a prohibition against the diversion of license fees paid by
fishermen for any other purpose than the administration of said
State fish and game department, except that, until the final
adjournment of the first regular session of the legislature held
after passage of this chapter, the assent of the governor of the
State shall be sufficient. The Secretary of the Interior and the
State fish and game department of each State accepting the benefits
of this chapter shall agree upon the fish restoration and
management projects to be aided in such State under the terms of
this chapter, and all projects shall conform to the standards fixed
by the Secretary of the Interior.
(b) Allocation of amounts by coastal States between marine fish
projects and freshwater fish projects
(1) In general
Subject to paragraph (2), each coastal State, to the extent
practicable, shall equitably allocate amounts apportioned to such
State under this chapter between marine fish projects and
freshwater fish projects in the same proportion as the estimated
number of resident marine anglers and the estimated number of
resident freshwater anglers, respectively, bear to the estimated
number of all resident anglers in that State.
(2) Preservation of freshwater project allocation at 1988 level
(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), the amount allocated by a
State pursuant to this subsection to freshwater fish projects for
each fiscal year shall not be less than the amount allocated by
such State to such projects for fiscal year 1988.
(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to a State with respect to
any fiscal year for which the amount apportioned to the State
under this chapter is less than the amount apportioned to the
State under this chapter for fiscal year 1988.
(3) "Coastal State" defined
As used in this subsection, the term "coastal State" means any
one of the States of 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. The term also includes the Commonwealth
of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American
Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
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