[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 101 (Thursday, May 23, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 25785-25787]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-12833]



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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

36 CFR Part 242

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 100

RIN 1018-AC82


Subsistence Management Regulations for Public Lands in Alaska, 
Subpart D; Subsistence Taking of Fish and Wildlife Regulations; 
Extension

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA; Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Final rule; extension of effective date.

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SUMMARY: This rule amends the Subsistence Management Regulations for 
Public Lands in Alaska implementing the subsistence priority for rural 
residents of Alaska under Title VIII of the Alaska National Interest 
Lands Conservation Act of 1980 by extending the effective date of 50 
CFR 100.25 and 36 CFR 242.25 (Subsistence taking of wildlife) (60 FR 
31542). The regulations, now set to expire on June 30, 1996, are 
extended through July 31, 1996, to ensure continuity of the subsistence 
hunting and fishing seasons until the 1996-1997 season regulations can 
be issued in final form.

EFFECTIVE DATE: Effective June 30, 1996, the effective date of 50 CFR 
100.25 and 36 CFR 242.25 (Subsistence taking of wildlife) which were 
added at 60 FR 31553 is extended from July 1, 1996, through July 31, 
1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Thomas H. Boyd, Office of Subsistence Management, U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, 1011 E. Tudor Road, Anchorage, Alaska 99503; 
telephone (907) 786-3864. For questions specific to National Forest 
System lands, contact Ken Thompson, Regional Subsistence Manager, 
USDA--Forest Service, Alaska Region, P.O. Box 21628, Juneau, Alaska 
99802; telephone (907) 586-7921.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Title VIII of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act 
(ANILCA) (16 U.S.C. 3111-3126) requires that the Secretary of the 
Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretaries) implement a 
joint program to grant a preference for subsistence uses of fish and 
wildlife resources on public lands, unless the State of Alaska enacts 
and implements laws of general applicability which are consistent with 
ANILCA, and which provide for the subsistence definition, preference, 
and participation specified in Sections 803, 804, and 805 of ANILCA. 
The State implemented a program that the Department of the Interior 
previously found to be consistent with ANILCA. However, in December 
1989, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled in McDowell v. State of Alaska 
that the rural preference in the State subsistence statute violated the 
Alaska Constitution. The court's ruling in McDowell required the State 
to delete the rural preference from the subsistence statute, and 
therefore, negated State compliance with ANILCA. The Court stayed the 
effect of the decision until July 1, 1990.

    As a result of the McDowell decision, the Department of the 
Interior and the Department of Agriculture assumed, on July 1, 1990, 
responsibility for implementation of Title VIII of ANILCA on public 
lands. On June 29, 1990, the Temporary Subsistence Management 
Regulations for Public Lands in Alaska were published in the Federal 
Register (55 FR 27114-27170). Consistent with Subparts A, B, and C of 
these regulations, a Federal Subsistence Board was established to 
administer the Federal Subsistence Management Program. The Board's 
composition includes a Chair appointed by the Secretary of the Interior 
with concurrence of the Secretary of Agriculture; the Alaska Regional 
Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; the Alaska Regional Director, 
U.S. National Park Service; the Alaska State Director, U.S. Bureau of 
Land Management; the Alaska Area Director, U.S. Bureau of Indian 
Affairs; and the Alaska Regional Forester, USDA Forest Service. Through 
the Board, these agencies have participated in development of 
regulations for Subparts A, B, and C, and the annual Subpart D 
regulations.

    On June 15, 1995, the 1995-1996 Seasons and Bag Limits for 
Subsistence Management Regulations for Public Lands in Alaska ware 
published in the Federal Register (60 FR 31542-31594). Those 
regulations included the section on the taking of wildlife, scheduled 
to expire June 30, 1996.

    The Federal Subsistence Management Program initiates a process each 
fall with a proposed rule (60 FR 42085-42130) to provide the public 
with an opportunity to propose changes to the subsistence regulations. 
The proposals that are received are reviewed by the public and analyzed 
by a regional team, staff anthropologists, and biologists. The

[[Page 25786]]

Regional Councils then meet in public forum and develop recommendations 
to the Federal Subsistence Board on each proposal. Because of the 
Federal furloughs occurring in November and later in December and 
January, the public review process and the proposal analysis process 
were delayed. This consequently resulted in scheduling delays for the 
Regional Council meetings and the Federal Subsistence Board meeting. As 
a result, implementation of the 1996-1997 Subsistence Management 
Regulations for Public Lands in Alaska will be delayed until August 1, 
1996.
    This rule effectively extends the existing regulations through July 
31, 1996.
    The Board finds that public notice and comment requirements under 
the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) for this extension are 
impracticable, unnecessary, and contrary to the public interest. A 
lapse in regulatory control after July 1 could seriously affect the 
continued viability of wildlife populations, adversely impact future 
subsistence opportunities for rural Alaskans, and would generally fail 
to serve the overall public interest. Therefore, the Board finds good 
cause pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) to waive the public notice and 
comment procedures prior to publication of this extension.
    The Board also finds good cause for the existing rule to be 
extended through July 31, 1996. This July 31 date is consistent with 
the anticipated Regional Council and Board actions to implement the 
1996-1997 Federal Subsistence Management Regulations for Public Lands 
in Alaska scheduled for August 1, 1996. The Board therefore finds good 
cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) to make this extension effective upon 
publication.

Conformance with Statutory and Regulatory Authorities

National Environmental Policy Act Compliance

    A Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) that described four 
alternatives for developing a Federal Subsistence Management Program 
was distributed for public comment on October 7, 1991. That document 
described the major issues associated with Federal subsistence 
management as identified through public meetings, written comments and 
staff analysis and examined the environmental consequences of the four 
alternatives. Proposed regulations (Subparts A, B, and C) that would 
implement the preferred alternative were included in the DEIS as an 
appendix. The DEIS and the proposed administrative regulations 
presented a framework for an annual regulatory cycle regarding 
subsistence hunting and fishing regulations (Subpart D). The Final 
Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) was published on February 28, 
1992.
    Based on the public comment received, the analysis contained in the 
FEIS, and the recommendations of the Federal Subsistence Board and the 
Department of the Interior's Subsistence Policy Group, it was the 
decision of the Secretary of the Interior, with the concurrence of the 
Secretary of Agriculture, through the U.S. Department of Agriculture-
Forest Service, to implement Alternative IV as identified in the DEIS 
and FEIS (Record of Decision on Subsistence Management for Federal 
Public Lands in Alaska (ROD), signed April 6, 1992). The DEIS and the 
selected alternative in the FEIS defined the administrative framework 
of an annual regulatory cycle for subsistence hunting and fishing 
regulations. The final rule for Subsistence Management Regulations for 
Public Lands in Alaska, Subparts A, B, and C (57 FR 22940-22964) 
implements the Federal Subsistence Management Program and includes a 
framework for an annual cycle for subsistence hunting and fishing 
regulations.

Compliance with Section 810 of ANILCA

    The intent of all Federal subsistence regulations is to accord 
subsistence uses of fish and wildlife on public lands a priority over 
the taking of fish and wildlife on such lands for other purposes, 
unless restriction is necessary to conserve healthy fish and wildlife 
populations. A Section 810 analysis was completed as part of the FEIS 
process. The final Section 810 analysis determination appears in the 
April 6, 1992, ROD which concluded that the Federal Subsistence 
Management Program, under Alternative IV with an annual process for 
setting hunting and fishing regulations, may have some local impacts on 
subsistence uses, but it does not appear that the program may 
significantly restrict subsistence uses.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
3507(d), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has received approval for 
this collection of information, with approval number 1018-0075, with 
the expiration date of July 31, 1996.
    The collection of information will be achieved through the use of 
the Federal Subsistence Hunt Permit Application. This collection 
information will establish whether the applicant qualifies to 
participate in a Federal subsistence hunt on public land in Alaska and 
will provide a report of harvest and location of harvest.
    The likely respondents to this collection of information are rural 
Alaska residents who wish to participate in specific subsistence hunts 
on Federal land. The collected information is necessary to determine 
harvest success and harvest location in order to make management 
decisions relative to the conservation of healthy wildlife populations. 
The annual burden of reporting and recordkeeping is estimated to 
average 0.25 hours per response, including time for reviewing 
instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and 
reviewing the form. The estimated number of likely respondents under 
the correcting amendments is less than 50, yielding a total annual 
reporting and recordkeeping burden of 13 hours or less.
    Direct comments on the burden estimate or any other aspect of this 
form to: Information Collection Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, 1849 C Street, NW., MS 224 ARLSQ, Washington, DC 20240; and 
the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (1018-
0075), Washington, D.C. 20503. Additional information collection 
requirements may be imposed if Local Advisory Committees subject to the 
Federal Advisory Committee Act are established under subpart B. Such 
requirements will be submitted to OMB for approval prior to their 
implementation.

Economic Effects

    This rule was not subject to OMB review under Executive Order 
12866.
    The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) 
requires preparation of flexibility analyses for rules that will have a 
significant effect on a substantial number of small entities, which 
include small businesses, organizations or governmental jurisdictions. 
The Departments have determined that this rulemaking will not have a 
significant economic effect on a substantial number of small entities 
within the meaning of the Regulatory Flexibility Act.
    This rulemaking will impose no significant costs on small entities; 
the exact number of businesses and the amount of trade that will result 
from this Federal land-related activity is unknown. The aggregate 
effect is an insignificant positive economic effect on a number of 
small entities. The number

[[Page 25787]]

of small entities affected is unknown; but, the fact that the positive 
effects will be seasonal in nature and will, in most cases, merely 
continue preexisting uses of public lands indicates that they will not 
be significant.
    As of the 1990 census there are 163,000 rural Alaskans qualified to 
participate in subsistence hunting or fishing. Although some of the 
subsistence users may conduct their activities on State or private 
lands, it is likely that a large portion of the 163,000 rural Alaskans 
utilize Federal lands to some extent.
    These regulations do not meet the threshold criteria of 
``Federalism Effects'' as set forth in Executive Order 12612. Title 
VIII of ANILCA requires the Secretaries to administer a subsistence 
preference on public lands. The scope of this program is limited by 
definition to certain public lands. Likewise, these regulations have no 
significant takings implication relating to any property rights as 
outlined by Executive Order 12630.
    The Service has determined and certifies pursuant to the Unfunded 
Mandates Act, 2 U.S.C. 1502 et seq., that this rulemaking will not 
impose a cost of $100 million or more in any given year on local or 
State governments or private entities.
Drafting Information
    These regulations were drafted by William Knauer under the guidance 
of Thomas H. Boyd, Office of Subsistence Management, Alaska Regional 
Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Anchorage, Alaska. Additional 
guidance was provided by Peggy Fox, Alaska State Office, Bureau of Land 
Management; Sandy Rabinowitch, Alaska Regional Office, National Park 
Service; John Borbridge, Alaska Area Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs; 
and Ken Thompson, USDA--Forest Service.
List of Subjects

36 CFR Part 242
    Administrative practice and procedure, Alaska, Fish, National 
Forests, Public Lands, Reporting and record keeping requirements, 
Wildlife.

50 CFR Part 100
    Administrative practice and procedure, Alaska, Fish, Public Lands, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Subsistence, Wildlife.

Words of Issuance

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, Title 36, Part 242, and 
Title 50, Part 100, of the Code of Federal Regulations, are amended as 
set forth below.

PART______--SUBSISTENCE MANAGEMENT REGULATIONS FOR PUBLIC LANDS IN 
ALASKA

    1. The authority citation for both 36 CFR Part 242 and 50 CFR Part 
100 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 3, 472, 551, 668dd, 3101-3126; 18 U.S.C. 
3551-3586; 43 U.S.C. 1733.

    2. Effective June 30, 1996, the effective date for 36 CFR 242.25 
and 50 CFR 100.25 which were added at 60 FR 31553 is extended from July 
1, 1996 through July 31, 1996.

    Dated: April 3, 1996.
Thomas H. Boyd,

Acting Chair, Federal Subsistence Board.

    Dated: April 15 1996.

John C. Capp,

Acting Regional Forester, USDA--Forest Service.
[FR Doc. 96-12833 Filed 5-22-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M and 4310-55-M