(A) The Department of Motor Vehicles may issue "Ducks Unlimited" special motor vehicle license plates to owners of private passenger motor vehicles as defined in § 56-3-630 registered in their names which may have imprinted on them an emblem, seal, or symbol of the South Carolina Ducks Unlimited State Committee. The South Carolina Ducks Unlimited State Committee must submit to the department for its approval the emblem, seal, or symbol it wishes to display on the plates. The South Carolina Ducks Unlimited State Committee must submit to the department written authorization for use of any copyrighted or registered logos, trademarks, or designs. The South Carolina Ducks Unlimited State Committee may request a change in the emblem, seal, or symbol not more than once every five years. The plates must be issued or revalidated for a biennial period which expires twenty-four months from the month they are issued. The fee for the plate is the regular motor vehicle registration fee contained in Article 5, Chapter 3 of this title and a special motor vehicle license fee of fifty dollars.

(B) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, from the fees collected pursuant to this section, the Comptroller General shall place into the State Highway Fund as established by § 57-11-20, to be distributed as provided in § 11-43-167, an amount equal to the expenses of the department in producing and administering the plates. The remaining funds collected from the special motor vehicle license fee must be distributed to the South Carolina Ducks Unlimited State Committee for wetlands conservation projects in South Carolina. Any remaining funds must be administered by the South Carolina Ducks Unlimited State Committee and deposited in an appropriate nonprofit account designated by the South Carolina Ducks Unlimited State Committee.

(C) Before the department produces and distributes a plate authorized under this section, it must receive:

(1) four hundred prepaid applications for the plate or a deposit of four thousand dollars from the individual or organization seeking issuance of the license plate. If a deposit of four thousand dollars is made by an individual or organization pursuant to this section, the department must refund the four thousand dollars once an equivalent amount of fees is collected for the plate. If the equivalent amount is not collected within four years of the first issuance of the license plate, then the department must retain the deposit; and

(2) a plan to market the sale of the plate which must be approved by the department.

(D) If the department receives less than three hundred biennial applications and renewals for the plate, it shall not produce additional plates in that series. The department shall continue to issue plates of that series until the existing inventory is exhausted.