Section 312IAC5-3.5-5. Advance date approval

   (a) The department shall conduct an organizational meeting or meetings between October 1 and November 15 to establish dates for the following year on which fishing tournaments or other organized activities can be conducted. The department may apply any reasonable process in an organizational meeting, including holding a drawing, to reserve a date or dates for a scheduled event and to minimize user conflict. As a condition for participation in a drawing, an individual may be required to identify the organization that the individual represents. The department shall not approve more than one (1) scheduled event for an individual on the same waterway, if the events would be separated by fewer than fourteen (14) days.

  (b) In addition to the establishment of dates under subsection (a), the department may establish a date for a tournament beyond the following year if an individual presents satisfactory evidence that a tournament would have national significance.

  (c) An individual who receives a reserved date must submit a completed license application within thirty (30) days of notification and at least sixty (60) days before the scheduled event, whichever is earlier. Failure to submit a timely completed application releases the reservation.

  (d) An individual is disqualified from participating in an organizational meeting unless the individual and the organization that the individual represents have paid any outstanding fee or cost established in section 10 of this rule. (Natural Resources Commission; 312 IAC 5-3.5-5; filed Aug 27, 2015, 10:40 a.m.: 20150923-IR-312140515FRA)