Have you ever wondered how
the Arizona Game and Fish Department creates
the rules for hunters, anglers and
other customers? In addition to making sure that Game and Fish
rules and policies are concise
and easy to understand, the Department’s
Rules and Risk Section is responsible
for ensuring that all rules and policies meet statutory requirements before they
are submitted to the Secretary of State,
Attorney General or Governor’s Regulatory
Review Council for final approval.
The rulemaking process
- Rulemaking officially begins when the
Department submits a “Notice of
Docket Opening.” This allows the
process to start.
- The Department then holds internal
meetings to come up with a course
of action and draft rule language.
- The Department notifies the public
about opportunities to comment
on the draft. The Department usually
holds
public meetings specifically to
get input from the community that will
be affected by the rule. These
meetings
are typically held at the Department’s
regional offices across the state.
- Once comments are received, the
Department reconvenes to discuss
the comments and the possibility of
including
them.
- The Department then revises
its draft language and also economic
impact
statements (EIS). The revised
language and the EIS are submitted
to the Arizona
Game and Fish Commission for its
approval.
- If the Commission approves, the
Department then notifies
the public that the rules will be submitted
to
the Secretary of State
to be published as a Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking in the Arizona Administrative
Register.
Once the rules are published,
the public has 30 days to submit further
comments.
- The Department reconvenes again
internally to determine
how to address the comments it has received,
either
by incorporating them
into the rulemaking or not.
- The rulemaking is then finalized,
and the Department
submits a “Notice
of Final Rulemaking” to
the Commission for
its approval once more.
If the
Commission approves,
the Department submits
the package to the
Governor’s
Regulatory Review Council (GRRC).
- GRRC holds a regularly scheduled
public meeting to
review the final rulemaking and determine
whether to
approve or reject
it.
The above rulemaking description is not comprehensive. It is meant only to provide a brief overview of the
rulemaking process and is not binding on the
Commission or Department. Furthermore, different types of rulemakings, such as
emergency rulemaking or exempt rulemaking,
require separate procedures for completion.
For more information
on our rules or to submit a comment
on a rulemaking, contact our Rules and Risk Departmen:
Rules and Risk Department
Office: (623) 236-7390
E-mail: Rulemaking@azgfd.gov
Arizona Game and Fish Laws and Rules, 2007-2008 Edition [PDF,
1mb]
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