Subchapter A. PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS

§ 51.1. Statutory authority.

 This chapter is promulgated under the code.

 (a)  The address of the principal office of the Commission is:
Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission
Post Office Box 1673
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17105-1673.

 (b)  The addresses of the Bureau of Fisheries and the Bureau of Property and Facilities Management of the Commission are as follows:
Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission
Bureau of Fisheries
450 Robinson Lane
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania 16823
Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission
Bureau of Property and Facilities Management
450 Robinson Lane
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania 16823

 (c)  The address of the Boat Registration Division of the Bureau of Boating is:
Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission
Boat Registration Division
Post Office Box 1852
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17105-1852

§ 51.4. Definitions.

 The following words and terms, when used in this part, have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

   Code—30 Pa.C.S. (relating to the Fish and Boat Code).

   Commission—The Fish and Boat Commission.

   Executive Director—The Executive Director of the Commission.

 If the Executive Director or the staff of the Commission discovers an error or omission in the text of Commission regulations as published in the Pennsylvania Code or Pennsylvania Bulletin, the Executive Director is authorized to take immediate corrective action on behalf of the Commission, including, if necessary, the issuance of orders or notices required to make the necessary corrections.

   The provisions of this §  51.5 issued under the Fish and Boat Code, 30 Pa.C.S. § §  2102 and 5122—5124.

 (a)  Form. Petitions or requests for regulations addressed to the Commission shall be submitted in the format set forth in 1 Pa. Code §  35.18 (relating to petitions for issuance, amendment, waiver or deletion of regulations).

 (b)  Initial staff review.

   (1)  The staff will review every petition for regulations to ensure that:

     (i)   It is complete as required by 1 Pa. Code §  35.18.

     (ii)   The petition requests an action within the authority or jurisdiction of the Commission.

     (iii)   The petition does not conflict with applicable Commonwealth or Federal law.

   (2)  If the staff determines the petition is not acceptable for one of the reasons set forth in paragraph (1), it will return the petition to the petitioner together with a statement of the reason why it is not acceptable.

 (c)  Oral presentation. A petitioner will be given the opportunity to make a 5-minute oral presentation on a petition that the staff determines is appropriate for further consideration. The oral presentation will be scheduled for the next meeting of the Commission occurring more than 30 days after completion of the initial staff review.

 (d)  Commission determination. After the oral presentation, the Commission will determine whether or not to accept the petition for further review. The Commission may refuse to accept the petition when one or more of the following conditions exist:

   (1)  The Commission has within the previous 3 years considered the issue addressed by the petition or request.

   (2)  The action requested by the petitioner concerns a matter in litigation.

   (3)  The action is not appropriate for rulemaking by the Commission.

   (4)  The petition involves an issue previously considered by the Commission and it does not contain information which is new or sufficiently different to warrant reconsideration. If a petition does present new or sufficiently different information, this information must have been unavailable at the time of the Commission’s previous decision.

 (e)  Staff report. If the Commission accepts the petition, the staff has 180 days to prepare a report evaluating the petition and containing the staff’s recommendations for disposition. The staff may request additional time to evaluate a petition. Upon completion of the staff report, it will be sent to the petitioner who may, within 30 days, submit written comments, objections or suggestions concerning the staff report. The staff may append their response to the petitioner’s comments when forwarding the report and the comments to the Boating Advisory Board, in cases of petitions for boating regulations, or the Commission, in cases of other regulations.

 (f)  Boating regulations. For boating regulations, the staff will submit the petition, the staff report, the petitioner’s response, if any, and the staff response, if any, to the Boating Advisory Board for review and consideration at its next regular meeting occurring more than 30 days after the file is deemed complete. The Boating Advisory Board shall review the materials and provide advice and recommendations to the Commission as provided in section 5121(c) of the code (relating to promulgation).

 (g)  Commission action. The staff shall submit the petition, the staff report, the petitioner’s response, if any, the staff response, if any and, in the case of boating regulations, the advice and opinions of the Boating Advisory Board to the Commission for consideration as part of the agenda of the next regular meeting occurring more than 30 days after the file is deemed complete. The Commission will determine what action to undertake with respect to the petition at a public meeting.

   The provisions of this §  51.6 issued under section 10 of the Sunshine Act (65 P. S. §  280); and section 506 of The Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P. S. §  186).

 (a)  General rules. The Commission may provide a brief public comment period of no more than 15 minutes duration at the conclusion of each public meeting. The Commission may limit comments to matters that are related to fishing, boating and other matters within the Commission’s jurisdiction that are not repetitive or duplicative of other comments. Individual comments during the public comment period may not exceed 3 minutes in duration.

 (b)  Consideration of agenda items. The Commission ordinarily does not permit public comments during the course of its meetings when it considers agenda items or other matters before the Commission. The Commission president or other presiding officer may invite brief public comments on items other than regulatory actions when he determines that allowing the comments will be useful in the best interests of the Commission. Since regulatory actions ordinarily involve the opportunity for public comment, the Commission will not accept public comments on them during public meetings except in cases when the president or other presiding officer finds either that the regulations are being considered for approval without a formal public comment period or that extraordinary circumstances justify receipt of additional public comments.

   The provisions of this §  51.7 issued under section 10 of the Sunshine Act (65 P. S. §  280); and section 506 of The Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P. S. §  186).

 Under section 925(d) of the code (relating to acknowledgment of guilt and receipts for payment), the field acknowledgment of guilt may be used in Philadelphia County.

   The provisions of this §  51.8 issued under the Fish and Boat Code, 30 Pa.C.S. §  925.

 (a)  Consistent with the Right-to Know Law (65 P. S. § §  67.101—67.3104), and sections 324 and 5503 of the code (relating to Commission records; and accident reports), the Commission will make public records contained in its files available to requesters for inspection and duplication during the Commission’s regular business hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday (excluding Commonwealth holidays).

 (b)  Requests for release of public records contained in Commission files must be made in writing and submitted to: Director, Bureau of Administration, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, Post Office Box 67000, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17106-7000. Written requests for release of public records may be sent by mail or by means of facsimile or by e-mail, or they may be delivered in person during the Commission’s regular business hours. The Commission will not accept anonymous or oral requests.

 (c)  The requester will be charged the fee prescribed by the Office of Open Records for the reproduction and release of documents on paper or in electronic media. The Commission will charge $1 per page up to $5 per document for certified copies. If the Commission mails copies of documents duplicated under this section to the requester, the requester will be charged the actual cost of postage or shipping. All charges shall be payable by check or money order made payable to ‘‘Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.’’ The Commission may require a requester to prepay fees if the fees are expected to exceed $100. The Commission may waive copy charges and mailing charges for good cause or in the public interest.

 (d)  Requests for records made by subpoena, in addition to collection of subpoena fees, are subject to a reproduction charge of $0.50 per page for black and white copies and $1 per page for color copies. Copies provided on electronic media will be charge at $1 per document, plus $2 per diskette or compact disc. The Commission will charge $1 per page up to $5 per document for certified copies requested under a subpoena.

   The provisions of this §  51.9 issued under sections 3 and 8(a) of the Right to Know Law (65 P. S. § §  66.3 and 66.8(a)); and section 506 of The Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P. S. §  186); amended under section 504 of the Right-to-Know Law (65 P. S. §  67.504) and section 506 of The Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P. S. §  186).

 It is unlawful for persons to perform the functions of or to represent themselves as fishing license issuing agents or issuing agents for temporary boat registrations without being appointed or designated as such by the Commission.

   The provisions of this §  51.10 issued under the Fish and Boat Code, 30 Pa.C.S. § §  2711(c) and 5304(d.1).

   The provisions of this §  51.10 adopted March 14, 2003, effecitve March 15, 2003, 33 Pa.B. 1348.