PERMANENT RULES
FISH AND WILDLIFE
Effective Date of Rule: Thirty-one days after filing.
Purpose: To implement the provisions of ESHB 1249 relating to a once in a lifetime, one-license-year deferral of hunter education classes for people who are accompanied by a nondeferred, Washington-licensed hunter.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 77.12.047.
Adopted under notice filed as WSR 07-18-093 on September 5, 2007.
Changes Other than Editing from Proposed to Adopted Version: In WAC 232-12-228, subsection (1)(a) is changed to provide:
(1)(a) The applicant for deferral must:
(i) Be at least ten years of age when applying for the deferral; and
(ii) Not have failed the hunter education training course within the previous twelve months, if they took the course.
A subsection (1)(d) is added:
(1)(d) An accompanying hunter must remain close enough to the deferred hunter to have uninterrupted, unaided visual and auditory communication with the deferred hunter.
A (iii) is added to subsection (3)(b) to provide that deferred hunters:
(3)(b)(iii) Are only eligible to participate in general hunting seasons and/or youth opportunities.
Reasons for the above changes:
• Specific proximity requirements based on the age of the deferred hunter were removed. Instead, the same proximity requirement applies to all deferred hunters, no matter their age. This will provide for easier enforcement of the requirement.
• Deferred hunters must not have failed the hunter education training course within the previous twelve months. This will provide better assurance that deferred hunters are knowledgeable and skilled in the safe handling of firearms and are physically able to handle firearms safely.
• Deferred hunters will not be eligible to participate in permit hunts or raffle hunts. This will help to prevent fraud and abuse in the program.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Date Adopted: November 2, 2007.
Susan Yeager
for Jerry Gutzwiler, Chair
Fish and Wildlife Commission
OTS-9801.5
NEW SECTION
WAC 232-12-228
Hunter education deferral.
(1) Pursuant
to RCW 77.32.155, individuals may apply for a
director-authorized, once in a lifetime, one-license-year
deferral of hunter education training. To qualify, the
applicant for deferral and his or her accompanying, licensed
hunter must comply with the following requirements:
(a) The applicant for deferral must:
(i) Be at least ten years of age when applying for the deferral; and
(ii) Not have failed the hunter education training course within the previous twelve months, if he or she took the course.
(b) The accompanying, licensed hunter, as defined in RCW 77.32.155, must:
(i) Be over eighteen years of age; and
(ii) Provide proof that he or she had a Washington hunting license for the three years prior to being an accompanying, licensed hunter.
(c) To provide maximum supervision and to enhance safety afield, an accompanying, licensed hunter must supervise only one deferred hunter while afield.
(d) An accompanying hunter must remain close enough to the deferred hunter to have uninterrupted, unaided visual and auditory communication with the deferred hunter.
(2) Application procedures.
(a) Applicants for deferral must submit their applications to the department's hunter education division office in Olympia, Washington.
(b) Applicants for deferral must submit with each deferral application a twenty-dollar application fee payable via personal or cashier's check written to WDFW. Applications submitted without the required fee or information will not be processed and will be returned to the applicant.
(c) Deferral applications will be on forms prescribed by the department and may be made available to the public in both printed and electronic formats.
(3) License purchases.
(a) Individuals granted a deferral under this section will receive a special WILD identification number and a special authorization card that allow the applicant to purchase hunting licenses and tags for the license year during which the applicant requested a deferral. An applicant may not use his or her special WILD identification number and special authorization card for future hunting license purchases in Washington state.
(b) Individuals deferred under this administrative regulation:
(i) Must purchase hunting licenses and tags in accordance with current licensing procedures;
(ii) Must pay all hunting license and tag fees established under current law; and
(iii) Are only eligible to participate in general hunting seasons and/or youth opportunities.
(4) Possession of deferral authorization.
(a) Individuals hunting with a deferral under this administrative regulation must carry their department-issued deferral card at all times while hunting.
(b) Request for replacement of deferral cards must be made by the licensee. A duplicate deferral card may be issued at department offices.
(5) If either the deferred education licensee or the required nondeferred accompanying person, hunting under the authority of RCW 77.32.155(2), is convicted of a violation of this title, except for a violation of unlawful hunting of wild birds, RCW 77.15.400 (1) through (3), the department may revoke all hunting licenses and tags and order a suspension of one or both the deferred education licensee and the nondeferred accompanying person's hunting privileges for one year.
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