The Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs is conducting a virtual consultation session to seek Tribal input on a proposed streamline procedure to evaluate environmental risk using pre-acquisition environmental site assessments (e.g., Phase I) before acquiring real property and land in trust.
Background
The Department of the Interior’s (Department) Land Acquisition regulations at 25 CFR Part 151 require that the Secretary comply with the Department’s policy at 602 Departmental Manual (DM) 2 - Real Property Pre-Acquisition Environmental Site Assessments when reviewing applications to acquire land in trust. Part 151 also requires that applicants seeking to have land taken into trust submit information to ensure compliance with 602 DM 2.
602 DM 2 specifies Departmental policy, responsibilities, and requirements for evaluating environmental risks using environmental site assessments (e.g., Phase I) before acquiring real property. 602 DM 2 also authorizes the Department’s bureaus to establish additional assessment procedures to meet their individual needs. The Assistant Secretary is proposing such a procedure.
Proposed Procedure
The Assistant Secretary is proposing a streamlined procedure to evaluate environmental risk using pre-acquisition environmental site assessments (e.g., Phase I) before acquiring real property and land in trust. The proposed procedure would apply only to programs and offices under the authority of the Assistant Secretary who would then no longer need to comply with 602 DM 2. The proposed procedure would be limited to discretionary real property and fee-to-trust acquisitions.
Invitation
Consultation Materials
Sessions
Comment Deadline
Please submit written comments to consultation@bia.gov by 11:59 PM ET on December 12, 2024.
