Wildlife conservation license plates.

ORIGINAL
House
Bill No
.
HB0039

ENROLLED ACT NO. 39,

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SIXTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WYOMING
2018 Budget Session

AN ACT relating to motor vehicle license plates; authorizing wildlife conservation license plates; specifying requirements; authorizing fees; creating an account; providing for termination of the issuance of the plates as specified; requiring a report upon termination; authorizing rulemaking; and providing for effective dates.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section
1
.

W.S. 31
‑
2
‑
231 is created to read:

31
‑
2
‑
231
.

Wildlife conservation license plates
; wildlife conservation account
.

(a)

Any person required to register a vehicle in Wyoming pursuant to this article may apply to the department for a statement of eligibility for wildlife conservation license plates for any motor vehicle that is not a commercial vehicle or multipurpose vehicle owned or leased by that person upon registration of the vehicle. Upon payment by the applicant of a fee of one hundred
fifty
dollars ($1
5
0.00)
to the department
, the department shall issue a written statement of eligibility for wildlife conservation license pl
ates
.
The department shall assess an annual fee of fifty dollars ($50.00) for a person to retain eligibility for wildlife conservation plates, but this annual fee shall not be charged in the year the person pays the one hundred fifty dollars ($150.00) eligibility fee
.

(b)

The fee
s
collected under subsection (a) of this section shall be payable to the department and shall be accounted for separately. The

fee
s
collected shall be distributed to
the wildlife
conservation account within the state highway fund
, which is hereby created. Funds in the
wildlife conservation
account shall only be used to provide
for wildlife conservation efforts related to the transportation system, including
signage,
wildlif
e corridors, wildlife crossings
and game fences.

(c)

Applicants shall apply at least thirty (30) days before registration is required for the vehicle for which the plates are intended.
Except as provided in this section, a
pplication for, issuance and renewal of the wildlife conservation license plates under this section shall be subject to the same requirements and fees as provided in this article in addition to the fee collected under subsection (a) of this section. The license plate fee
s
required under W.S. 31
‑
3
‑
102(a)(viii) shall accompany each application.
The license plates under this section shall be issued by the county treasurer of each county and shall
be displayed only upon the vehicle for which they are issued.

(d)

The department shall prescribe the design of the wildlife conservation license plates authorized by this section in consultation with
the public and other interested parties
, which shall include an image of the bucking horse and rider described in W.S. 8
‑
3
‑
117. License plates authorized by this section need
not include A
rabic numerals designating the county. The department shall arrange for production of the license plates. Following initial approval,
wildlife conservation
license plates shall be subject to redesign on the same schedule as all license plates beginning with the year 2025 reissuance.

(e)

The department may prepare any special forms and
promulgate
any rules necessary to carry out this section.

(f)

Unless one thousand (1,000) sets of license plates are issued under this section before December 31,
2023, the plates authorized under this section shall be eliminated from production and the department shall report the cessation of production to the legislature not later than January 15, 2025.

Section 2
.

The department of transportation shall prescribe the design of the wildlife conservation license plates authorized by this act and promulgate any rules necessary to implement this act on or before January 1, 2019.

Section 3
.

For purposes of accounting and investing only, the wildlife conservation account may be treated as a separate account from the state highway fund.

Section
4
.

(a)

Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, this act is effective January 1, 2019.

(b)

Section 2 of this act
is effective immediately upon completion of all acts necessary for a bill to become law as provided by Article 4, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constitution.

(END)

Speaker of the House

President of the Senate

Governor

TIME APPROVED: _________

DATE APPROVED: _________

I hereby certify that this act originated in the
House
.

Chief Clerk

1