Proposed regulations for the preparation of plans for the use or distribution of judgments made to American Indian tribes or groups by the Indian Claims Commission or the United States Court of Claims have been drafted and can now be commented on, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.
The proposed regulations to implement the Act of October 19, 1973 were published in the Federal Register on November 14, 1973. In compliance with the new law, a public hearing on the proposed regulations will be held at Denver, Colorado, on December 13, 1973, at the Federal Post Office Building, Room 269, 1823 Stout Street, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
In addition, written comments, suggestions or objections to the proposed regulations may be sent to the Division of Tribal Government Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, D.C. 20245, and will receive consideration equal to that given to all oral testimony presented at the public hearing. Although the proposed regulations cite December 14, 1973, as a date for the receipt of such written expressions, Commissioner Thompson said the Bureau will accept and consider any postmarked not later than January 5, 1974.
In implementing a 180-day time schedule set by the 1973 Act for the disposition of judgment funds, the new regulations would do this:
Require the earliest possible completion of research to identify the ultimate .Require the earliest possible completion or present-day beneficiaries of judgments.
Give the Commissioner of Indian Affairs 75 days from the date of appropriation of funds to cover a judgment in which to submit the results of all research to the involved Area Director or Directors of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. They, in turn, would present the results of the research to the effected tribe or tribes.
Require an affected Indian tribe or group to hold a preliminary meeting of the tribal governing body, or a public meeting, to develop a suggested plan for the use or distribution of its judgment funds. The Area Director or Directors would assist in arranging these meetings and would make the expertise of the Bureau of Indian Affairs available to them.
Require the Area Director to call a hearing of record, to receive testimony on the proposed tribal plan, within 60 days after receiving the results of the research from the Commissioner.
Within 180 days of the appropriation of judgment funds, or in the case of awards for which covering funds were appropriated prior to passage of the 1973Act, within 180 days from the date of that Act, the Secretary of the Interior is required by the Act to submit the final proposed plan, and other pertinent items, to the Chairmen of the Interior and Insular Affairs Committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives. At the same time, he will submit these items to the governing body of each affected tribe or group, and to the appropriate Area Director and Agency Superintendent. Unless one of the Committees disapproves a submitted plan by resolution, it becomes effective on the 60th day from its submission to the Committees. Disapproval of a plan will require the Secretary of the Interior to resubmit it in the form of proposed legislation, after further consultation with the affected Indian tribe or group.
