30490 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 116 / Friday, June 14, 1996 / Proposed Rules

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Part 20

RIN 1018–AD69

Migratory Bird Hunting; Supplemental

Proposals for Migratory Game Bird

Hunting Regulations

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,

Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule; supplemental.

SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service (hereinafter the Service)

proposed in an earlier document to

establish annual hunting regulations for

certain migratory game birds for the

1996–97 hunting season. This

supplement to the proposed rule

describes the Service’s proposed

regulatory alternatives for the 1996–97

duck hunting season and announces the

Service’s intent to consider establishing

a special youth waterfowl hunting day.

DATES: The Service Migratory Bird

Regulations Committee will consider

and develop proposed regulations for

early-season migratory bird hunting on

June 25, 26, and 27, and for late-season

migratory bird hunting on July 31,

August 1, and 2. The Service will hold

public hearings on proposed early- and

late-season frameworks at 9:00 a.m. on

June 27 and August 2, 1996,

respectively. The Service Migratory Bird

Regulations Committee will discuss the

proposed regulatory alternatives for the

1996–97 duck hunting season and the

special youth waterfowl hunting day at

the June 25, 26, and 27 meetings.

The comment period on the proposed

regulatory alternatives for the 1996–97

duck hunting season ends on July 5,

1996. The comment period for proposed

migratory bird hunting-season

frameworks for Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto

Rico, the Virgin Islands, and other early

seasons, including the consideration of

a proposed youth hunting day, ends on

July 25, 1996. The comment period for

late-season frameworks ends on

September 3, 1996. The Service will

publish the final regulatory alternatives

for the 1996–97 duck hunting season in

a July supplemental containing the

Service’s proposed early-season

frameworks.

ADDRESSES: The Service Migratory Bird

Regulations Committee will meet in

room 200 of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service’s Arlington Square Building,

4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Arlington,

Virginia. The Service will hold public

hearings in the Auditorium of the

Department of the Interior Building,

1849 C Street, NW., Washington, DC.

Parties should submit written comments

on the proposals and/or a notice of

intent to participate in either hearing to

the Chief, Office of Migratory Bird

Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service, Department of the Interior, ms

634—ARLSQ, 1849 C Street, NW.,

Washington, DC 20240. The public may

inspect comments during normal

business hours in room 634, ARLSQ

Building, 4401 N. Fairfax Drive,

Arlington, Virginia.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul

R. Schmidt, Chief, Office of Migratory

Bird Management, U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service, (703) 358–1714.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Regulations Schedule for 1996

On March 22, 1996, the Service

published in the Federal Register (61

FR 11992) a proposal to amend 50 CFR

part 20. The proposal dealt with the

establishment of seasons, limits, and

other regulations for migratory game

birds under §§ 20.101 through 20.107,

20.109, and 20.110 of subpart K. On

June 13, 1996, the Service published a

second document providing

supplemental proposals for early- and

late-season migratory bird hunting

regulations frameworks. The June 13

supplement also provided detailed

information on the 1996–97 regulatory

schedule and announced the Service

Migratory Bird Regulations Committee

and Flyway Council meetings.

This document is the third in a series of

proposed, supplemental, and final rules

for migratory game bird hunting

regulations. The Service will propose

early-season frameworks in late June

and late-season frameworks in early

August. The Service will publish final

regulatory alternatives for the regular

duck hunting season on or about July

15, 1996. The Service will publish final

regulatory frameworks for early seasons

on or about August 14, 1996, and those

for late seasons on or about September

23, 1996.

This supplement describes the

Service’s proposed regulatory

alternatives for the 1996–97 duck

hunting season and the Service’s

consideration of a proposed youth

waterfowl hunting day. The Service

published specific Flyway Council

recommendations regarding the

formation of these regulatory

alternatives in the June 13 Federal

Register. The Service will consider all

comments in the regulationsdevelopment process and will publish

responses to proposals, written

comments, and public-hearing

testimony when developing final

regulatory alternatives and final

frameworks.

New proposals and modifications to

previously described proposals are

discussed below. The headings

correspond to the numbered items in

the March 22, 1996, Federal Register.

1. Ducks

A. Harvest Strategy Considerations

In the March 22, 1996, Federal

Register, the Service described the

underlying principles of Adaptive

Harvest Management (AHM) and the

progress made on its implementation in

1995. In addition, the Service reported

recommendations made by an AHM

technical working group for the 1996–97

regulatory process. Comprised of

representatives from the Service and the

four Flyway Councils, the working

group was established in 1992 to

develop technical recommendations for

improving duck harvest regulations.

One of the recommendations of the

AHM working group for the 1996–97

regulatory process was to continue the

regulatory alternatives used in 1995,

with a minor exception in the Pacific

Flyway. In 1995, the Service limited the

choice of regulatory alternatives for the

1995–96 regular duck hunting season to

three sets of frameworks similar to those

in effect during the 1979–93 hunting

seasons. These three sets of frameworks,

or regulatory alternatives, were

described in a relative sense as

restrictive, moderate, and liberal. In

general, specific guidelines for selection

of one of the regulatory alternatives are

based on the size of the mallard

breeding population and habitat

conditions.

In the June 13, 1996, Federal Register,

the Service reported that all four

Flyways continued to express support

for the AHM approach to setting duck

hunting regulations. The Mississippi,

Central, and Pacific Flyway Councils

recommended some specific

modifications to the regulatory

alternatives recommended by the

working group and these

recommendations were identified in the

June 13, 1996, document.

For the 1996–97 regular duck hunting

season, the Service proposes the three

regulatory alternatives detailed in the

accompanying table. Alternatives are

specified for each Flyway and are

designated as ‘‘RES’’ for the restrictive,

‘‘MOD’’ for the moderate, and ‘‘LIB’’ for

the liberal alternative. The Service will

publish final regulatory alternatives in

July and propose a specific regulatory

alternative when survey data on

waterfowl population and habitat status

are available.
Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 116 / Friday, June 14, 1996 / Proposed Rules 30491

G. Special Seasons/Species

Management

The long-term conservation of North

America’s migratory bird resources

depends on the future paths and actions

of today’s youth. To assist in the

formation and development of a

conservation ethic in future generations,

the Service is considering proposing the

establishment of a ‘‘Youth Waterfowl

Hunting Day’’ and is seeking public

comment on such an action. The special

day would provide an opportunity for

young hunters (16 or under),

accompanied by an adult (18 or older),

to experience a safe, quality

waterfowling experience. The hunt day

would have to be on a weekend or

holiday when youth hunters would

have the maximum opportunity to

participate. Both the youth hunters and

accompanying adults (who could not

duck hunt) would have to be licensed

according to State law. The intent of

establishing this special day would be to

introduce youth to the concepts of

ethical utilization and stewardship of

waterfowl and other natural resources,

encourage youngsters and adults to

experience the outdoors together, and

contribute toward the long-term

conservation of the migratory bird

resource. Because the special 1-day hunt

would be limited to youths, the Service

believes that waterfowl populations

could support the additional harvest

and that the hunt would produce longterm benefits to the resource.

To facilitate public comment, the

Service is considering proposing the

following guidelines:

1. States may select 1 day, designated

as ‘‘Youth Waterfowl Hunting Day’’, in

addition to their regular duck seasons.

2. The day must be held outside of

any regular duck season on either a

weekend or holiday when youth hunters

would have the maximum opportunity

to participate.

3. The day could be held up to 10

days before or after any regular duck

season or within any split of a regular

duck season.

4. The daily bag limit may be no more

than 4 ducks. Flyway species

restrictions would remain in effect.

5. Youth hunters must be 16 years of

age or younger.

6. An adult at least 18 years of age

must accompany the youth hunter into

the field. This adult could not duck

hunt.

7. Both the youth hunter and the

accompanying adult must be fully

licensed to hunt according to State law.

8. The special youth hunt day will be

considered a trial for its initial season

and will be evaluated by the Service.

Public Comment Invited

The Service intends that adopted final

rules be as responsive as possible to all

concerned interests and wants to obtain

comments from all interested areas of

the public, as well as other government

agencies. Such comments, and any

additional information received, may

lead to final regulations that differ from

these proposals.

However, special circumstances

involved in the establishment of these

regulations limit the amount of time the

Service can allow for public comment.

Specifically, two considerations

compress the time in which the

rulemaking process must operate: (1) the

need to establish final rules at a point

early enough in the summer to allow

affected State agencies to appropriately

adjust their licensing and regulatory

mechanisms; and (2) the unavailability,

before mid-June, of specific, reliable

data on this year’s status of some

waterfowl and migratory shore and

upland game bird populations.

Therefore, the Service believes allowing

comment periods past the dates

specified is contrary to the public

interest.

Comment Procedure

It is the policy of the Department of

the Interior to afford the public an

opportunity to participate in the

rulemaking process, whenever practical.

Accordingly, interested persons may

participate by submitting written

comments to the Chief, Office of

Migratory Bird Management, U.S. Fish

and Wildlife Service, Department of the

Interior, ms 634—ARLSQ, 1849 C Street,

NW., Washington, DC 20240. The public

may inspect comments during normal

business hours at the Service’s office in

room 634, Arlington Square Building,

4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Arlington,

Virginia. The Service will consider all

comments received and will try to

acknowledge received comments, but

may not provide an individual response

to each commenter.

NEPA Consideration

NEPA considerations are covered by

the programmatic document, ‘‘Final

Supplemental Environmental Impact

Statement: Issuance of Annual

Regulations Permitting the Sport

Hunting of Migratory Birds (FSES 88–

14),’’ filed with EPA on June 9, 1988.

The Service published a Notice of

Availability in the June 16, 1988,

Federal Register (53 FR 22582). The

Service published its Record of Decision

on August 18, 1988 (53 FR 31341).

Copies of these documents are available

from the Service at the address

indicated under the caption ADDRESSES.

Endangered Species Act Consideration

As in the past, the Service will design

hunting regulations to remove or

alleviate chances of conflict between

migratory game bird hunting seasons

and the protection and conservation of

endangered and threatened species.

Consultations are presently under way

to ensure that actions resulting from

these regulatory proposals will not

likely jeopardize the continued

existence of endangered or threatened

species or result in the destruction or

adverse modification of their critical

habitat. Findings from these

consultations will be included in a

biological opinion and may cause

modification of some regulatory

measures proposed in this document.

The final frameworks will reflect any

such modifications. The Service’s

biological opinions resulting from its

consultation under Section 7 are public

documents available for public

inspection in the Division of

Endangered Species and the Office of

Migratory Bird Management, U.S. Fish

and Wildlife Service, Arlington Square

Building, 4401 N. Fairfax Drive,

Arlington, Virginia.

Regulatory Flexibility Act; Executive

Order (E.O.) 12866 and the Paperwork

Reduction Act

In the Federal Register dated March

22, 1996, the Service reported measures

it took to comply with requirements of

the Regulatory Flexibility Act and the

Executive Order. One measure was to

prepare a Small Entity Flexibility

Analysis (Analysis) in 1995

documenting the significant beneficial

economic effect on a substantial number

of small entities. The Analysis estimated

that migratory bird hunters would

spend between $258 and $586 million at

small businesses in 1995. Copies of the

Analysis are available upon request

from the Office of Migratory Bird

Management. This rule was not subject

to review by the Office of Management

and Budget under E.O. 12866.

The Service examined these proposed

regulations under the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995 and found no

information collection requirements.

Authorship

The primary author of this proposed

rule is Ron W. Kokel, Office of

Migratory Bird Management.
30492 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 116 / Friday, June 14, 1996 / Proposed Rules

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 20

Exports, Hunting, Imports, Reporting

and recordkeeping requirements,

Transportation, Wildlife.

The rules that eventually will be

promulgated for the 1996–97 hunting

season are authorized under 16 U.S.C.

703–711, 16 U.S.C. 712, and 16 U.S.C.

742 a–j.

Dated: June 7, 1996.

George T. Frampton, Jr.,

Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and

Parks.

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[FR Doc. 96–15172 Filed 6–13–96; 8:45 am]

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