OPA

WASHINGTON – Interior Associate Deputy Secretary James E. Cason today announced that the Indian Affairs Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development (IEED) will be competitively awarding grants of up to $25,000 to federally recognized tribes interested in participating in DOI’s employment and training initiative known as the 477 Program. The IEED is seeking to encourage non-participating tribes to consider the using the 477 Program through grants that will help them develop plans for implementing the program in their communities.

“The 477 Program has proven to be a great tool for tribes seeking to decrease administrative costs, enhance budget flexibility and support their economic development and job creation efforts,” Cason said. “This grant opportunity will allow tribes not currently 477 participants to take another look at how the program can help them meet their economic development, employment and job training needs.”

Established in 1994 under Public Law 102-477, the Indian Employment, Training and Related Services Act, the 477 Program has enabled approximately 240 tribes to use federal funds more effectively to educate and train an estimated 44,000 children, youth and adults. There are fewer tribal participants from the lower 48 states due to the lack of resources to help them decide if the program would work in their communities.

Cason formally notified tribal leaders of the grant competition on March 14, 2006. The Department published a notice in the Federal Register on June 7 containing details about the grant application process. The deadline for submitting applications is July 7, 2006.

The act allows federally recognized tribes to combine funds from up to 12 federal employment, training and welfare reform programs administered by Interior and the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services into a single, tribally operated program with a single reporting system. In addition, tribes can devote up to 25 percent of their total funding for economic development projects that provide employment opportunities for their members.

The 477 Program is built around three basic elements: a single plan for delivering services in an integrated manner, a single budget which commingles all funds and a single reporting system replacing 12 different reports. Federal programs which can be included in a tribal 477 program are DOL Work Force Investment Act adult and youth programs; HHS Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), Native Employment Works and Child Care Development Fund (both mandatory and discretionary) programs; and DOI General Assistance, Tribal Work Experience, Higher Education, Adult Education, Johnson-O’Malley, Job Placement and Training programs. The program has been highly rated under the Office of Management and Budget’s Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) for meeting Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) standards for accountability and efficiency.

The Interior Department has estimated that in Fiscal Year 2006 over $100 million will have been integrated under tribal 477 programs.

To be eligible for a 477 participation planning grant, a tribe must be able to document that it has undergone successful single audits for the past two years. Awardees will be selected based on need, i.e., that the tribe lacks the resources necessary to prepare an implementation plan; the extent to which tribal staff responsible for implementing the program has been or will be involved in preparing the plan; and the extent to which job creation activities are planned and obstacles to employment are addressed.

The Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development was established to provide high-level support for the Department’s goal of serving communities by providing access to energy resources and by stimulating job creation and economic development. The Office assists economic development on Indian lands by identifying economic opportunities, assisting development of workforce capacity, providing low cost loans for business development and facilitating partnerships between tribes and the Federal or private sector. The Office also supports the President’s National Energy Policy by fostering development of domestic energy resources to reduce this country’s dependence on foreign energy sources.

For additional information, please contact Lynn Forcia, Chief, Division of Workforce Development, Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development, U.S. Department of the Interior, at (202) 219-5270. To view the Federal Register notice, visit https://www.bia.gov/as-ia/ieed

WASHINGTON – Interior Associate Deputy Secretary James E. Cason today announced that the Indian Affairs Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development (IEED) has approved a $140,000 grant to the Pueblo of Laguna Utility Authority to study the feasibility of having the PLUA provide affordable electricity service throughout the tribe’s lands in west-central New Mexico. The Pueblo of Laguna is located approximately 45 miles west of the city of Albuquerque.

“When a tribe forms its own electric utility, it takes a first step toward achieving energy independence,” Cason said. “I commend the Pueblo of Laguna and the PLUA on their vision of becoming an electric service provider as one way to support their economic future.”

The study will examine the feasibility of the PLUA operating the electrical utility system serving the tribe’s main reservation and three separate land areas while providing improved service at costs no higher than its customers now pay. The study also will establish electrical reliability standards, and identify the type and cost of electrical distribution system improvements needed to meet those standards, as well as address the practicality of developing village-scale renewable energy projects.

Established by the tribe in 1998 to promote using utility services to improve the health and welfare of tribal members, the PLUA also seeks to improve electricity service in order to attract high technology businesses to the 533,000-acre reservation, which is traversed by Interstate 40, a major east-west thoroughfare spanning the state.

The grant will be administered under IEED’s 477 Program, established in 1994 under the Indian Employment, Training and Related Services Act (Public Law 102-477), which allows federally recognized tribes to combine funds from up to 12 federal employment, training and welfare reform programs administered by Interior and the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services into a single, tribally operated program with a single reporting system. Participating tribes, which includes the Pueblo of Laguna, can devote up to 25 percent of their total 477 funding for economic development projects to provide employment opportunities for their members.

The Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development was established to provide high-level support for the Department’s goal of serving tribal communities by providing access to energy resources and helping tribes stimulate job creation and economic development, and supporting the President’s National Energy Policy by fostering development of domestic energy resources to reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign energy sources.

The IEED sponsored a conference in March on tribal utility formation at Fort Mojave, Nev. “As a result of that conference, more tribes are showing an interest in establishing their own electric utilities,” Cason said.

For more information on the IEED grant award, tribal utility initiative or the 477 Program’s economic development features, contact Jack Stevens, Chief, Division of Economic Development, Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development, at (202) 208-6764.

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WASHINGTON – Interior Associate Deputy Secretary James E. Cason today announced that the Indian Affairs Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development (IEED) has given final approval to the Tulalip Tribes of Washington State to participate in DOI’s 477 Program, a comprehensive employment, education, training and welfare program for federally recognized tribes to address economic and workforce needs in their communities. According to the 2000 Census nearly 40 percent of the Native Americans who reside on the Tulalip Reservation live below the federal poverty level.

“We are delighted that the Tulalip Tribes has joined the 477 Program,” Cason said. “They, like other tribal 477 Program participants, will be able to streamline the management of their federal workforce, training and welfare funds to better address their employment and economic development needs.”

According to the Tribes’ 477 Program mission statement, they are seeking “to empower unemployed and underemployed community tribal members; to provide a one stop for support services; job coaching and life skill workshops that will uplift; and bring tribal members to a level of success and get them on the path to self-sufficiency.” They plan to incorporate more than $1.3 million of federal resources from Interior and the Departments of Labor (DOL) and Health and Human Services (DHHS) into a comprehensive employment, training and welfare reform program to help tribal members succeed in the job market, improve each individual’s social and economic conditions, increase employment opportunities and prevent future generations from becoming welfare dependent.

The 477 Program, established in 1994 under the Indian Employment, Training and Related Services Act (Public Law 102-477), allows federally recognized tribes to combine funds from up to 12 federal employment, training and welfare reform programs administered by Interior, the lead agency, DOL, DHHS and the Department of Education into a single, tribally operated program with a single reporting system. Participating tribes can devote up to 25 percent of their total 477 funding for economic development projects to provide employment opportunities for their members.

In Fiscal Year 2006, the 477 Program serves over 243 federally recognized tribes with a combined funding of approximately $100 million. Since its inception, the 477 Program has enabled the tribes to use federal funds more effectively to educate and train an estimated 44,000 children, youth and adults.

The program has been highly rated under the Office of Management and Budget’s Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) for meeting Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) standards for accountability and efficiency.

The Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development was established to provide high-level support for the Department’s goal of serving tribal communities by providing access to energy resources and helping tribes stimulate job creation and economic development. IEED also supports economic development on Indian lands by identifying economic opportunities, assisting in the development of tribal workforce capacity, providing low-cost loans for business development and facilitating partnerships between tribes and the federal or private sector. The Office also supports the President’s National Energy Policy by fostering development of domestic energy resources to reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign energy sources.

For more information, contact Lynn Forcia, Chief, Division of Workforce Development, Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development, U.S. Department of the Interior, at (202) 219- 5270.

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WASHINGTON – Interior Associate Deputy Secretary James E. Cason today announced that the Indian Affairs Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development (IEED) has published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding tribal energy resource agreements (TERAs) designated under Title V, Section 503, of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 in the August 21, 2006, issue of the Federal Register. TERAs offer federally recognized tribes a new alternative for overseeing and managing energy and mineral resource development on their lands: the authority to enter into energy-related business agreements and leases and for granting rights-of-way for pipelines, electric transmission and distribution lines.

“To foster economic development within Indian country and to promote energy self-sufficiency by tribes, I am delighted to make public proposed regulations for tribal energy resource agreements,” Cason said. “TERAs will bring efficiency to the tribal energy resource development process, enhance tribal self-determination and improve economic development opportunities on tribal lands while supporting the administration’s National Energy Policy to increase use of domestic energy resources.”

The proposed rule is intended to provide a process under which the Secretary would grant authority to a tribe through an approved TERA to review and approve leases, business agreements and rights-of-way for specific energy development activities on tribal lands. Currently, tribes must first seek secretarial approval of such actions through the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).

The Department is seeking comments on the proposed regulations from all stakeholders. The 30-day comment period for the proposed rule ends September 20, 2006. Comments must include Regulatory Information Number (1076-AE80) and a contact name and return address. Comments may be submitted to DOI in any of the following ways:

• By email at IEED@bia.edu
• By telefax at (202) 208-4564, or
• By mail or hand-delivery to: U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development, 1951 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Room 20–South Interior Building, Washington, D.C. 20245.

The Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development was established to provide high-level support for the Department’s goal of serving tribal communities by providing access to energy resources and helping tribes stimulate job creation and economic development, and supporting the President’s National Energy Policy by fostering development of domestic energy resources to reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign energy sources.

Questions concerning this proposed rule may be directed to (202) 219-0740. All public comments received will be reviewed and considered before the proposed rule is finalized.

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WASHINGTON – Associate Deputy Secretary James E. Cason today issued a Final Determination in which he declined to acknowledge that a group known as the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Inc. (BLB), located near Brutus, Mich., is an Indian tribe within the meaning of Federal law. The evidence reviewed for this Final Determination showed that the petitioner failed to meet three out of seven mandatory criteria – 83.7(b), (c) and (e) – under 25 CFR Part 83, the regulations that govern the Federal Acknowledgment Process.

Under criterion 83.7(a), the available evidence demonstrated that external observers have identified the petitioning group as an American Indian entity on a substantially continuous basis since 1917.

Because the U.S. Department of Justice argued on their behalf in U.S. District Court for Eastern Michigan in 1917, the BLB were able to use a provision in the regulations that reduces the evidentiary burden placed on them under the regulations to demonstrate they have continuously existed as an Indian tribe.

Under criterion 83.7(b), with the reduced evidentiary burden, the BLB only needed to demonstrate that it is a distinct community at present. The evidence does not show that BLB members form a distinct community. Rather, it shows that the petitioner’s members are active participants in a social community comprised principally of former BLB members and other Burt Lake descendants enrolled in a federally recognized tribe, the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians (LTBB). Over half of BLB members participate only rarely in social events with other BLB members. They link to other BLB members only through a parent or grandparent enrolled in LTBB. The petitioner is not a distinct social community at present.

Under criterion 83.7(c), the available evidence prior to 1978 demonstrates, with one exception, political activity by Burt Lake band descendants within entities much larger than the petitioner, often organizations of Ottawa Indians in northern Michigan. This historical pattern persists to the present. In 1978, Lansing-based BLB members led the formal organization of the BLB. When Congress recognized nearby LTBB in 1994, many BLB members joined it. Both these LTBB members and BLB members participate informally in BLB political affairs within a group of Burt Lake band descendants larger than the current membership of the petitioner. The evidence does not demonstrate a bilateral relationship between leaders and members within the petitioning group.

Under criterion 83.7(d), the petitioner presented a copy of its current governing document, which includes its membership criteria and the processes by which it governs itself. The members voted via absentee ballots in February 2005, and certified that constitution as the group’s governing document by a resolution dated April 9, 2005.

Under criterion 83.7(e), the petitioner submitted a membership list that identified 320 members, but documented that only 68 percent, or 218 of the 320 current BLB members, have ancestors who were a part of the historical Burt Lake band, also known as the Cheboygan band. Under criterion 83.7(f), the petitioner demonstrated that its membership is composed principally of persons who are not members of any federally acknowledged North American Indian tribe.

Under criterion 83.7(g), the evidence demonstrates that neither the petitioner nor its members are the subject of congressional legislation that has expressly terminated or forbidden the Federal relationship. This determination will become effective 90 days from publication of the Final Determination in the Federal Register, unless the petitioner or an interested party requests reconsideration before the Interior Board of Indian Appeals (IBIA).

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WHITERIVER, Ariz. – The Bureau of Indian Affairs Task Force located on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona today announced the arrest of a suspect in a series of sexual attacks that have occurred there. Jimi Aday, 29, an enrolled member of the White Mountain Apache Tribe, has been charged with 18 U.S.C. 1153, Offenses Committed in Indian Country, 18 U.S.C. 1201(a)(2) Kidnapping, and two counts of 18 U.S.C. 2244(a) (1) Aggravated Sexual contact. Aday will be transported to Flagstaff, Ariz., for his initial arraignment.

“We are extremely pleased with our law enforcement officers and the cooperation of the tribal community and the Department of Justice to apprehend the suspect who is now in custody,” said BIA Director W. Patrick Ragsdale. “Today’s arrest has come as a result of their hard work and dedication. The Task Force is still operational, however, because we are not convinced the investigation is complete.”

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WASHINGTON – Interior Associate Deputy Secretary James E. Cason today announced that the Indian Affairs Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development (IEED) has approved a $106,000 grant to the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota for the Intertribal Council On Utility Policy (ICOUP) to train tribal members for employment in the wind turbine construction, installation, operation, and maintenance industry.

“The Northern Great Plains tribes have significant wind resources flowing over their lands,” observed Cason. “This grant will support ICOUP’s efforts to increase the technical capacity among tribes to undertake and sustain large-scale wind energy projects that will move them closer to energy self-sufficiency.”

The grant will fund ICOUP’s preparation of curriculum for a two-week intensive course in wind turbine construction, retention of a tribal educator for a wind energy employment training class, and production of a multi-part DVD outlining wind turbine construction and operation methods and digital documentation of the training course for distribution to tribes outside of the Northern Plains area.

ICOUP sought the IEED grant on behalf of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, which passed a resolution urging the Interior Department to fund a wind employment training program. In its resolution the tribe cited unemployment levels on Indian reservations in the Northern Great Plains ranging from 65 percent to 80 percent and stated that wind energy development “represents an important opportunity for new jobs and a better quality of life for tribal members.”

The tribe plans to install a 30-megawatt wind farm on its reservation in the coming year and has secured a power purchase agreement. ICOUP proposes to design and conduct the wind energy construction training program in anticipation of the Rosebud wind farm development project.

Cason noted that since the majority of trained wind construction crews reside outside of ICOUP member areas, the tribes must contract with such crews to assist with their wind projects. However, training tribal members would create locally available crews to reduce the cost of constructing what amount to large-scale economic development projects both on and off reservation.

“For tribes to undertake wind projects that can bring employment opportunities to their communities, they must have tribal members who possess the necessary skills in wind energy development, operation and maintenance,” Cason said. “Training is essential for ensuring that such projects succeed in becoming independent, self-sustaining business ventures for those they serve.”

The grant will be administered under IEED’s 477 Program. Established in 1994 under the Indian Employment, Training and Related Services Act (Public Law 102-477), the program allows federally recognized tribes to combine funds from up to 12 federal employment, training and welfare reform programs administered by Interior and the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services into a single, tribally operated program with a single reporting system. Participating tribes, which includes the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, can devote up to 25 percent of their total 477 funding for economic development projects to provide employment opportunities for their members.

ICOUP was organized in 1994 to provide a tribal forum for discussing utility policy issues, particularly those concerning telecommunications and energy utility operations and services, from both regulatory and economic perspectives. Its member tribes are located in North and South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa. The nonprofit organization is chartered by the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and has its headquarters on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation.

The Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development was established to provide high-level support for the Department’s goal of serving tribal communities by providing access to energy resources and helping tribes stimulate job creation and economic development, and supporting the President’s National Energy Policy by fostering development of domestic energy resources to reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign energy sources.

For more information, contact Dr. Robert Middleton, Director, Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development, at (202) 219-0740. For information on the Intertribal Council On Energy Policy, visit www.intertribalcoup.org.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Interior Associate Deputy Secretary James E. Cason today announced that the Department of the Interior has completed its review of the Environmental Analysis (EA) of the proposed Monticello Raceway Casino project submitted by the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe of New York. Cason has determined that, under the National Environmental Policy Act, the EA is sufficient and an Environmental Impact Statement is not required. Cason has signed and the Bureau of Indian Affairs is issuing a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the project.

“The present action is narrow in scope and should not be regarded as suggesting a future commitment to take the subject land into trust or to approve a compact to conduct gaming on that property pursuant to Section 20 of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act,” wrote Cason in a letter to the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe dated Dec. 21, 2006.

The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe already has an existing reservation of almost 15,000 acres of land in the state of New York, which is held in restricted fee status. The tribe has proposed that the United States take another 29.31 acres of land into trust for an approved casino project. The subject property is located in the Village of Monticello more than 450 miles from the reservation.

Cason further advises in his letter that the statutory, regulatory, and policy environment is changing with regard to Section 20 gaming applications. “We share the concerns that many have expressed with off-reservation gaming and so-called “reservation shopping.” The Department will be reviewing the regulations that govern the processing of fee-into-trust applications (25 CFR Part 151). We anticipate changes to the rules that may result in fewer off-reservation properties being accepted into trust.”

The Secretary of the Interior has authority under 25 CFR Part 151 to take land into trust for the benefit of federally recognized tribes. Copies of the signed FONSI statement and letters were sent to the St. Regis Mohawk tribal leadership and to Gov. Pataki on Dec. 21, 2006. The Interior Department will continue to work with the Tribe, representatives of local jurisdictions, and the public in the future consideration of the application.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson will attend the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BCGA) 2005 Native American Summit in Phoenix, Ariz., next month where he will sign a cooperative agreement with the organization to establish BCGA Indian Clubs at or near schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). The summit will take place Feb. 1-3 at the Embassy Suites Hotel Phoenix-North.

The Assistant Secretary will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to encourage cooperation and collaboration between BCGA and the BIA’s Office of Indian Education Programs (OIEP) to address alcohol and drug abuse, gang activity, violence and other issues that adversely affect Indian students while promoting positive alternatives for at-risk children.

The Assistant Secretary oversees the BIA, the 180-year old agency that serves the 562 Federally recognized tribes and their members, and the BIA school system. BIA-funded schools serve approximately 48,000 American Indian children in 184 elementary and secondary day and boarding schools located on or near 63 reservations in 23 states. One-third of these schools are directly operated by the bureau. The rest are tribally operated under BIA contracts or grants.

WHO: Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson

WHAT: Assistant Secretary Anderson will be attending the Boys & Girls Clubs of America 2005 Native American Summit and will sign a Memorandum of Understanding with BGCA to establish Indian clubs at or near BIA-funded schools.

WHEN: Tuesday, February 1, 2005 The program begins at 12:00 noon (local time). The signing will take place at approximately 1:30 p.m.

WHERE: Embassy Suites Hotel Phoenix-North, Salon C, 2577 W. Greenway Rd., Phoenix, Ariz.

Note to Editors: Credentialed media covering the event should be in place by 1:15 p.m. Press seating will be provided.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Carl J. Artman this week invited leaders from the 562 federally recognized tribes to attend a national meeting in Washington, D.C., on January 30, 2008, on the Indian Affairs Modernization Initiative. The one-day event will take place at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, Horizon Room, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (EST).

“Your expressions of frustration with the current delivery of Indian Affairs services illustrate the necessity for a review of the Indian Affairs structure and business processes,” Artman said in his January 14 letter to tribal leaders. “As we have stated since the start of this dialogue, the modernization effort must be Tribally driven to ensure that any revisions are directly responsive to tribal concerns.”

Assistant Secretary Artman launched the initiative last September with a series of dialogue meetings around the country to discuss with the tribes how his office, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) should prepare for projected staff retirements and rising operational costs and seek ways in which to use future technology to improve efficiency in their business processes.

The January 30 meeting will provide tribal leaders with another opportunity to discuss with Indian Affairs officials improvements in a number of Indian Affairs areas. In addition to topics such as improving staff retention and recruitment, business processes and utilizing technology, other areas of discussion will include the tribal self-governance initiative, resolving fractionated land ownership issues, and tribal self-sufficiency and economic development.

A projected goal of the meeting will be to establish an advisory group comprised of tribal representatives to help the Department identify and focus on specific areas of Indian Affairs operations to be improved under the modernization initiative.

“These sessions will provide Tribes an opportunity to engage in proactive dialogue to determine the future of Indian Affairs,” said Artman in his letter. “I am confident a joint Indian Affairs/Tribal effort will result in a progressive, efficient Indian Affairs organization that will improve the delivery of services to Indian people, strengthen Tribal government and promote Tribal sovereignty.”

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