Proposed regulations for removing persons erroneously included on the roll of Native Alaskans eligible for benefits under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act are being published in the Federal Register, Acting Secretary of the Interior Kent Frizzell announced today.
A roll of eligible Alaska Natives was conditionally approved December 17 1973, subject to correction based upon appeals or other legal determinations of individual eligibility. The proposed regulations establish procedures for the disenrollment, with due process of persons not entitled to the benefits. Under the Act, persons on the roll will share ownership, through stock holding in their regional and village corporations, of 40 million acres of land and cash distributions, over a period of years, of $962.5 million. According to the proposed procedures, when the enrollment coordinator concludes, after investigation, that an individual was improperly enrolled he shall initiate a contest proceeding by filing a complaint with the Office of Hearings and Appeals. An Administrative Law Judge will then be assigned to the case. Copies of the complaint and other pertinent documents must be served upon all parties and hearings are to be held in a location as convenient as possible for the contestee, the person whose eligibility is being questioned.
Comments on the proposed regulations should be sent, within 30 days of publication, to the Office of the Secretary of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D. C. 20240.
