PHOENIX — The Arizona Game and Fish Department has issued a Notice of Intent to Pursue Rulemaking to begin the process to amend its Article 4 rules (live wildlife) to implement the recommendations made in the recent five-year review report.

The amendments proposed in the five-year review report are intended to increase the effectiveness of the rules to meet the department’s mission, ensure consistency with state and federal statutes, and to increase the clarity of the existing rules.

Except for the amendments proposed for the rule that allows the possession of live wildlife taken under a hunting or fishing license rule, the department does not believe any of the proposed changes will increase the regulatory burden beyond that which is already required, and will instead serve the goal of simplifying processes, increasing the understandability of the rules, and increasing public accessibility for department services. After evaluating the scope and effectiveness of the proposed amendments specified in the review, additional amendments may be proposed.

The department will accept written comments regarding the live wildlife rules for 30 days, ending on August 8, 2024.

Visit www.azgfd.gov/rulemaking to view the Article 4 rules (click on the link to the AZGFD Laws and Rules Book) and the Article 4 five-year review report.

All questions or comments about the Article 4 rules can be submitted to rulemaking@azgfd.gov or via the online comment form.