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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 33 / Monday, February 22, 2021 / Proposed Rule Flyway Council Recommendations, below, for more information.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jerome Ford, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior, 202 2081050.

50 CFR Part 20
Docket No. FWSHQMB20200032;
FF09M21200212FXMB1231099BPP0
RIN 1018BE34

Migratory Bird Hunting; Proposed 202122 Frameworks, and Special Procedures for Issuance of Annual Hunting Regulations Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule; supplemental.
AGENCY:

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Service or we is proposing to establish the 202122 hunting regulations for certain migratory game birds, and make a minor change to the special procedures for issuance of annual hunting regulations. We annually prescribe outside limits, frameworks, within which States may select hunting seasons. Frameworks specify the outside dates, season lengths, shooting hours, bag and possession limits, and areas where migratory game bird hunting may occur.
These frameworks are necessary to allow State selections of seasons and limits and to allow harvest at levels compatible with migratory game bird population status and habitat conditions. Migratory game bird hunting seasons provide opportunities for recreation and sustenance, and aid Federal, State, and Tribal governments in the management of migratory game birds.

SUMMARY:

You must submit comments on the proposed migratory bird hunting frameworks and special procedures for issuance of annual hunting regulations by March 24, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Comments: You may submit comments on the proposals by one of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http
www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWSHQMB2020
0032.
U.S. Mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: FWSHQMB2020
0032; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: JAO/3W, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 220413803.
We will not accept emailed or faxed comments. We will post all comments on http www.regulations.gov. This generally means that we will post any personal information you provide us see Review of Public Comments and
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The process for promulgating annual regulations for the hunting of migratory game birds involves the publication of a series of proposed and final rulemaking documents. In this proposed rule, in addition to our normal procedure of setting forth proposed frameworks for the annual hunting regulations described below, we are also proposing minor changes to the permanent regulations that govern the migratory bird hunting program. The annual regulations are set forth in subpart K of part 20 of the regulations in title 50 of the Code of Federal Regulations CFR. In this document, we also propose minor changes to subpart N of 50 CFR part 20, as follows:

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Proposed Changes to Regulations at 50
CFR Part 20 Subpart N
The regulations governing special procedures for issuance of annual hunting regulations are at 50 CFR part 20, subpart N. The rules of subpart N
apply only to subpart K regarding the issuance of the annual regulations establishing seasons, bag limits, and other requirements for the seasonal hunting of migratory birds.
In subpart N, the current regulations require that the Service publish a notice of meetings of the Services Regulations Committee and the Flyway Councils in the process of developing frameworks for migratory bird hunting seasons.
Specifically, notice of each meeting of the Regulations Committee and Flyway Council to be attended by any official of the Department of the Interior will be published in the Federal Register at least 2 weeks before the meeting or as soon as practicable after the Service learns of the Flyway Council meeting.
In addition to or in place of publishing a meeting notice in the Federal Register, we propose to add that we post on the Services Migratory Bird Program website as a method to notify the public of these meetings. We are proposing this change because it will increase our ability to provide more timely information as meeting information becomes available, and more flexibility to inform the public of changes in meeting dates and locations should such changes be necessary.
Greater flexibility has become critical when unforeseen exigencies require venue changes for these meetings.

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Process for Establishing Annual Migratory Game Bird Hunting Regulations Subpart K
As part of the Department of the Interiors retrospective regulatory review, in 2015 we developed a schedule for migratory game bird hunting regulations that is more efficient and establishes hunting season dates earlier than was possible under the previous process. Under the current process, we develop proposed hunting season frameworks for a given year in the fall of the prior year. We then finalize those frameworks a few months later, thereby enabling the State agencies to select and publish their season dates in early summer. We provided a detailed overview of the current process in the August 3, 2017, Federal Register 82 FR 36308. This proposed rule is the second in a series of proposed and final rules that establish regulations for the 202122
migratory bird-hunting season.
Regulations Schedule for 2021
On October 9, 2020, we published in the Federal Register 85 FR 64097 a proposal to amend 50 CFR part 20. The proposal provided a background and overview of the migratory bird hunting regulations process, and addressed the establishment of seasons, limits, and other regulations for hunting migratory game birds under 20.101 through 20.107, 20.109, and 20.110 of subpart K.
This document is the second in a series of proposed and final rules for migratory game bird hunting regulations. Major steps in the 202122 regulatory cycle relating to open public meetings and Federal Register notifications were illustrated in the diagram at the end of the October 9, 2020, proposed rule. For this regulatory cycle, we have combined elements of the document that is described in the diagram as Supplemental Proposals with the document that is described as Proposed Season Frameworks.
Further, in the October 9, 2020, proposed rule we explained that all sections of subsequent documents outlining hunting frameworks and guidelines would be organized under numbered headings, which were set forth at 85 FR 64097. This and subsequent documents will refer only to numbered items requiring attention. We will omit those items not requiring attention, and remaining numbered items may be discontinuous and appear incomplete.
We provided the meeting dates and locations for the Service Regulations Committee SRC and Flyway Council meetings on Flyway calendars posted on
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