GAO-03-1149R 

United States General Accounting Office

Washington, DC 20548 

B-292775 

September 12, 2003 

The Honorable James M. Inhofe 

Chairman 

The Honorable James M. Jeffords 

Ranking Minority Member 

Committee on Environment and Public Works 

United States Senate 

The Honorable Richard W. Pombo 

Chairman 

The Honorable Nick J. Rahall II 

Ranking Minority Member 

Committee on Resources 

House of Representatives 

Subject: Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service: Migratory Bird 

Hunting; Migratory Bird Hunting Regulations on Certain Federal Indian 

Reservations and Ceded Lands for the 2003-04 Early Season

Pursuant to section 801(a)(2)(A) of title 5, United States Code, this is our report on a 

major rule promulgated by the Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service 

(Service), entitled “Migratory Bird Hunting; Migratory Bird Hunting Regulations on 

Certain Federal Indian Reservations and Ceded Lands for the 2003-04 Early Season” 

(RIN: 1018-AI93). We received the rule on August 28, 2003. It was published in the 

Federal Register as a final rule on August 29, 2003. 68 Fed. Reg. 51919. 

The final rule prescribes special early season migratory bird hunting regulations for 

certain tribes on federal Indian reservations, off-reservation trust lands, and ceded 

lands. 

Enclosed is our assessment of the Service’s compliance with the procedural steps 

required by section 801(a)(1)(B)(i) through (iv) of title 5 with respect to the rule. 

Our review indicates that the Service complied with the applicable requirements. 

If you have any questions about this report, please contact James W. Vickers, 

Assistant General Counsel, at (202) 512-8210. The official responsible for GAO 

evaluation work relating to the subject matter of the rule is Robert Robinson, 
Page 2 GAO-03-1149R 

Managing Director, Natural Resources and Environment. Mr. Robinson can be 

reached at (202) 512-3841. 

 signed 

Kathleen E. Wannisky 

Managing Associate General Counsel 

Enclosure 

cc: Craig Manson 

Assistant Secretary for Fish and 

 Wildlife and Parks 

Department of the Interior 
GAO-03-1149R 

ENCLOSURE 

ANALYSIS UNDER 5 U.S.C. § 801(a)(1)(B)(i)-(iv) OF A MAJOR RULE 

ISSUED BY THE 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, 

FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 

ENTITLED 

"MIGRATORY BIRD HUNTING; MIGRATORY BIRD HUNTING REGULATIONS 

ON CERTAIN FEDERAL INDIAN RESERVATIONS AND 

CEDED LANDS FOR THE 2003-04 EARLY SEASON" 

(RIN: 1018-AI93) 

(i) Cost-benefit analysis

The migratory bird hunting regulations (of which this final rule is a part) collectively 

have an expected welfare benefit of $50 million to $192 million. 

(ii) Agency actions relevant to the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. §§ 603-605, 

607, and 609

The Service’s compliance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act consisted of a “Small 

Entity Flexibility Analysis” based on the 1996 National Hunting and Fishing Survey 

issued in 1998. The survey is updated on a 5-year basis. It appears that the analysis 

was limited because the regulation’s impact is primarily beneficial to a very 

substantial number of small entities. The survey estimated that bird hunters would 

spend between $4329 million and $1.084 billion at small businesses in 2003. 

(iii) Agency actions relevant to sections 202-205 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform 

Act of 1995, 2 U.S.C. §§ 1532-1535

The final rule does not impose either an intergovernmental or private sector 

mandate, as defined in title II, of more than $100 million in any one year. 

(iv) Other relevant information or requirements under acts and executive orders

Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. §§ 551 et seq. 

The final rule was published using the notice and comment procedures contained at 

5 U.S.C. 553. On August 8, 2003, the Service published a Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking in the Federal Register. 68 Fed. Reg. 47424. The Service responds to the 

comments received in the preamble to the final rule. 
Page 2 GAO-03-1149R 

Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. §§ 3501-3520 

The Service states that it uses various information collection requirements to 

develop future migratory game bird hunting regulations. The information 

requirements of the Migratory Bird Harvest Information Programs have been 

approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and assigned Control No. 

1018-0015, expiration date of October 31, 2004. OMB has also approved the Sandhill 

Crane Harvest Questionnaire, Control No. 1018-0023, with an expiration date of 

October 31, 2004. 

Statutory authorization for the rule 

The rules concerning migratory waterfowl hunting are authorized by 16 U.S.C. 703-

712 and 742a-j. 

Executive Order No. 12866 

Collectively, the rules for migratory bird hunting are reviewed by OMB and are 

considered to be economically significant. 

Executive Order No. 13132 (Federalism) 

According to the Service, the final rule does not have sufficient federalism 

implications to warrant the preparation of a Federalism Assessment.