South Carolina H 3986: Public restrooms

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 3986 Text of Previous Version (Feb. 13, 2025) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 3986

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A house RESOLUTION

TO COMMEMORATE THE SEVENTY-FIFTH 
ANNIVERSARY OF THE SPORT FISH RESTORATION PROGRAM AS PART OF THE AMERICAN 
SYSTEM OF CONSERVATION FUNDING.

Whereas, the South Carolina House of Representatives is pleased to 
recognize America's anglers, boaters, sport fishing industry, state fish and 
wildlife agencies, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for their leading 
role in restoring healthy populations of fish and aquatic resources, both game 
and nongame, to the abundance we see today, with the help of the Sport Fish 
Restoration Program, in this the seventy-fifth anniversary year of the 
program's establishment as part of the American System of Conservation Funding; 
and

Whereas, more than a century ago, hunters and anglers were among the 
first conservationists who realized America's natural resources were in peril 
and could not sustain unregulated harvest and habitat destruction; and

Whereas, sportsmen and women took it upon themselves to support laws 
that stopped excessive harvest of fish and wildlife; established state agencies 
to protect fish, wildlife, and their habitat; and supported special fishing and 
hunting license fees to help fund the new agencies' efforts to provide healthy 
natural resources for future generations; and

Whereas, the South Carolina House has long recognized that the 
primary authority to protect and manage fish within their state waters resides 
in the state agencies; and

Whereas, upon realizing that license fees alone were insufficient to 
restore and sustain healthy fish populations, anglers supported excise taxes on 
fishing equipment to raise additional funds to support restoration and 
enhancement efforts of the state agencies; and

Whereas, the Sport Fish Restoration Program, which began seventy-five 
years ago with the passage of the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act in 
1950 (further expanded with the Wallop-Breaux amendment to the Sport Fish 
Restoration Act in 1984) is a vital part of conservation funding in the United 
States; and

Whereas, a manufacturer's excise tax on fishing equipment, along with 
an excise tax on motorboat and small engine fuels, is mostly distributed back 
to the states through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for fisheries 
conservation, management, and angler and boater access; and

Whereas, this cooperative partnership between the sport fishing 
industry, anglers, boaters, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and state 
natural resource agencies has resulted in the most successful model of 
fisheries management in the world, one that restores and enhances populations 
across the United States and its territories; and

Whereas, since 1939, the combined contribution of the Wildlife and 
Sport Fish Restoration Programs and license fees to state fish and wildlife 
agencies exceeds $78 billion, more than any other single conservation effort in 
American history -- which efforts constitute, collectively, the American System 
of Conservation Funding. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:

That the members of the South 
Carolina House of Representatives, by this 
resolution, commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Sport Fish 
Restoration Program as part of the American System of Conservation Funding.

Be it further resolved that a copy 
of this resolution be presented to the South Carolina Department of Natural 
Resources.

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This web page was last updated on February 13, 2025 at 11:27 AM