Federal Partners Meetings

The purpose of the Federal Partners Meetings are to serve as a Department of Interior (DOI) inter-bureau/office forum for Indian energy and mineral resource development, royalty management coordination, and information exchange at the local office level. The departmental bureaus and offices represented at the Federal Partners Meetings operate under the federal trust responsibility to federally-recognized Indian tribes, Indian mineral owners, and Alaska Natives.

The Federal Partners Meetings are attended by the Partnership Team comprised of representatives of the following DOI bureaus/offices who are appointed, as applicable, by their respective region/agency or state office:

• Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
• Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
• Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR)
• Bureau of Trust Funds Administration (BTFA)
• Indian Energy Service Center (IESC)
• Division of Energy and Mineral Development (DEMD)

The Partnership Team will invite the following agencies/offices or other federal agency representatives as needed:

• Department of Energy (DOE)
• Appraisal and Valuation Services Office (AVSO)
• US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
• Bureau of Reclamation (BOR)
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• United States Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS)
• Office of the Solicitor (SOL)
• Any other federal agency representatives as needed

The Partnership Team is created to identify, review, and resolve local mineral coordination issues in accordance with existing statutory, regulatory, and policy authority. Recommendations to update or modernize policy are communicated to the bureau/office manager that has responsibility for the policy. Regarding Indian energy and mineral development and royalty management for federally-recognized Indian Tribes, and Indian mineral owners, the Partnership Team will:

• Identify and facilitate resolution of issues and concerns at the organizational level of each member bureau/office;
• Refer unresolved issues and concerns, including analysis, options, and alternatives to the next higher-level program manager(s) that have responsibility for the issues; BIA, BLM, ONRR, DEMD, IESC or DEMD;
• Identify and propose means for addressing the mineral development and mineral royalty revenue needs and priorities of Indian tribes and mineral owners;
• Identify and implement ways to improve and modernize processes including permitting, leasing, revenue distribution, and consultation;
• Support and facilitate Tribal self-determination and self-governance in management of Indian energy and mineral development through applicable statutes and regulations;
• Promote and facilitate information exchange between offices and bureaus represented on the Partnership Team and the Indian Energy and Minerals Steering Committee (IEMSC) and Tribes;
• Proactively support and facilitate education, communication and outreach with Tribes and Indian mineral owners;
• Identify communication and training needs and identify opportunities for training as outlined in the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP);
• Pursue opportunities to improve coordination with industry in support of the Partnership Team's purposes;
• Periodically provide status updates to the IEMSC on the issues identified, resolved, unresolved and lessons learned;

The Partnership Team will meet at a minimum semi-annually, or quarterly (as needed) to build a firm foundation of communication and develop its ability to identify and promptly resolve issues.

The designated bureaus/offices representatives will conduct official business of the Partnership Team. At each meeting representatives tasked with action items from the previous meeting will present oral or written reports on those items and representatives identified with agenda items will present information on those items. The Partnership Team will operate through consensus decision-making and where issues or concerns cannot be resolved through consensus, those items will be elevated to the next bureau/office management level with responsibility for the decision, as appropriate.

IESC has been designated as the Partnership Team leader. The Partnership Team leader is responsible for administrative duties including, but not limited to:

• Arrange for a meeting date, location and space;
• Solicit agenda items from member bureaus and offices;
• Set meeting agendas and distribute them to Partnership Team members at least two weeks before meetings;
• Log action items and distribute them to Partnership Team members;
• Maintain a current list of current Partnership Team members;
• Ensure that decision items or items of concern that cannot be resolved within the Partnership Team are documented and provided to the bureau/office representative for elevation as appropriate;
• Elevate to responsible program managers issues that need Solicitor's Office input; and:
• Provide updates to IEMSC no less than annually or as requested by IEMSC.