The Department of the Interior (Department) is taking this opportunity to consult on whether it should reconsider its prior decision to ban re-petitioning under 25 CFR part 83 (Part 83) - the regulations establishing the process and criteria for how the Department administratively acknowledges Indian Tribes.
The Department initially proposed continuing the ban on re-petitioning and conducted two tribal consultations and one listening session in June 2022. After reviewing the written comments, as well as the transcripts of the consultation and listening sessions, the Department engaged in further deliberation and is now proposing to create a limited exception to the ban through implementation of a re-petition authorization process. The re-petition authorization would require an unsuccessful petitioner that seeks to re-petition to plausibly allege that the outcome of the previous, negative final determination would change to positive on reconsideration based on one or both of the following: (1) a change in part 83 (from the 1978 or 1994 version of the Part 83 regulations to the 2015 version of the regulations); and/or (2) new evidence.
The Department seeks Tribal leader input on this matter.
Invitation
Consultation Materials
Sessions
Comment Deadline
You may provide written comments to consultation@bia.gov by 11 :59 pm ET on September 13, 2024.
