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(H) Special Provisions.

(i) Wildlife Management Associations and Cooperatives.

(I) The department may enroll a wildlife management association or cooperative in the CO under the provisions of this subsection, provided:

(-a-) the application contains the name, address, and express consent of the landowner of each tract of land for which enrollment is sought; and

(-b-) a single WMP that addresses all tracts of land within the wildlife management association or cooperative is submitted and approved by the department.

(II) A wildlife management association or cooperative may choose to receive antlerless-only or either-sex tag issuance.

(III) The department shall issue MLDP tags to the individual landowners within a wildlife management association or cooperative and the tags are valid only on the tract of land for which they are issued.

(ii) Other Aggregate Acreages. Multiple landowners may combine contiguous tracts of land to create an aggregate acreage for program enrollment, provided:

(I) the application contains the name, address, and express consent of the landowner of each tract of land for which enrollment is sought;

(II) a single WMP that addresses all tracts of land within the aggregate acreage is submitted and approved by the department; and

(III) the landowners designate a single program participant to receive MLDP tags for all of the aggregate acreage.

(I) Program eligibility under this subsection is specifically restricted to tracts of land in counties for which an open season for white-tailed deer is provided under §65.42 of this title.

(d) MLDP — Mule Deer. The provisions of subsection (c)(2)(A)-(I) of this section also shall govern the authorization and conduct of program participation with respect to mule deer, except:

(1) the harvest of mule deer shall occur only between the Saturday closest to September 30 and the last Sunday of January, as follows:

(A) from the Saturday closest to September 30 for 35 consecutive days, the lawful means of harvest is restricted to lawful archery equipment; and

(B) from the first Saturday in November through the last Sunday in January, any lawful means may be used to harvest deer; and

(2) program eligibility is specifically restricted to tracts of land in counties for which an open season for mule deer is provided under §65.42 of this title (relating to Deer).

(e) Refusal of Enrollment.

(1) The department may refuse to allow or continue enrollment in the MLDP for any applicant who:

(A) as of a reporting deadline has failed to report to the department any information required to be reported under the provisions of this section;

(B) has exceeded the total harvest recommendation established for an enrolled tract of land; or

(C) has failed to implement three habitat management practices specified in a department-approved WMP during each year of program participation, if the tract of land is enrolled in the CO.

(2) The department may prohibit any person from participating in the MLDP if the person has a final conviction or has been assessed an administrative penalty for a violation of:

(A) Parks and Wildlife Code, Chapter 43, Subchapter C, E, L, R, or R-1;

(B) a provision of the Parks and Wildlife Code that is not described by subparagraph (A) of this paragraph that is punishable as a Parks and Wildlife Code:

(i) Class A or B misdemeanor;

(ii) state jail felony; or

(iii) felony;

(C) Parks and Wildlife Code, §63.002; or

(D) the Lacey Act (16 U.S.C. §§3371-3378).

(3) The department may refuse to allow or continue enrollment in the MLDP to any person the department has evidence is acting on behalf of or as a surrogate for another person who is prohibited by the provisions of this section from participation in the MLDP.

(g) Special Provisions.

(1) On September 1, 2016:

(A) the provisions of this section take effect;

(B) the annual bag limit established under §65.42 of this title (relating to Deer) does not apply to deer lawfully taken and tagged under the provisions of this section;

(C) the tagging requirements of Parks and Wildlife Code, §42.108, do not apply to deer lawfully taken under the provisions of this section;

(D) completion of the harvest log required under §65.7 of this title (relating to Harvest Log) is not required for deer lawfully tagged under the provisions of this section; and

(E) the provisions of §65.10 of this title (relating to Possession of Wildlife Resources apply to deer lawfully taken under this section.

(2) To the extent that any provision of this subchapter conflicts with the provisions of this section, the provisions of this section prevail.

(3) In the event that the department’s web-based application is unavailable or inoperable, the department may specify manual procedures for compliance with the requirements of this section.