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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 134 / Friday, July 16, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
Fish and Wildlife Service 50 CFR Part 20
Docket No. FWSHQMB20200032;
FF09M22000212FXMB1231099BPP0
RIN 1018BE34

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

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Service or we is establishing the final frameworks from which States may select season dates, limits, and other options for the 202122 migratory game bird hunting season, and making 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.
DATES: This rule takes effect on July 16, 2021.
ADDRESSES: States should send their season selections to: Chief, Division of Migratory Bird Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: MB, 5275
Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041
3803. You may inspect comments received on the migratory bird hunting regulations at http
www.regulations.gov at Docket No.
FWSHQMB20200032. You may obtain copies of referenced reports from the street address above, or from the Division of Migratory Bird Managements website at http
www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/, or at http www.regulations.gov at Docket No. FWSHQMB20200032.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jerome Ford, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior, 202 2081050.

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SUMMARY:

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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 final rule, in addition to our normal procedure of setting forth frameworks for the annual hunting regulations described below, we are also making 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 make minor changes to subpart N of 50 CFR part 20, as follows:

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

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 add posting on the Services Migratory Bird Program website as a method to notify the public of these meetings. We are making 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.
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
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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 rule is the third 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.
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 64098. 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 our website at https www.fws.gov/
birds/management/flyways.php. We announced the April SRC meeting in the April 9, 2020, Federal Register 85 FR
19952. The October 9, 2020, proposed rule provided detailed information on the proposed 202122 regulatory schedule and announced the October SRC meeting.
On February 22, 2021, we published in the Federal Register 86 FR 10622

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