Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations Under Cobell Settlement, 69879-69880 [2014-27773]
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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 226 / Monday, November 24, 2014 / Notices
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND
URBAN DEVELOPMENT
[Docket No. FR–5600–FA–38]
Announcement of Funding Awards for
the Border Community Capital
Initiative Fiscal Year 2013
Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Community Planning and
Development, HUD.
ACTION: Notice of Funding Awards.
AGENCY:
In accordance with section
102(a)(4)(C) of the Department of
Housing and Urban Development
Reform Act of 1989, this announcement
notifies the public of funding decisions
made by the Department in a
competition for funding under the
Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA)
for the Border Community Capital
Initiative. This announcement contains
the names of the awardees and the
amounts of the awards made available
by HUD.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jackie L. Williams, Ph.D., Director,
Office of Rural Housing and Economic
Development, Office of Community
Planning and Development, 451
Seventh Street SW., Room 7137,
SUMMARY:
Washington, DC 20410–7000; telephone
(202) 708–2290 (this is not a toll free
number). Hearing- and speech-impaired
persons may access this number via
TTY by calling the Federal Relay
Service toll-free at 1–800–877–8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Funds
used for the Border Community Capital
Initiative were appropriated to the
Office of Rural Housing and Economic
Development in Annual Appropriations
between 1999 and 2009 (Public Laws
105–276; 106–74; 106–377; 107–73;
108–7; 108–199; 108–447; 109–115;
110–5; 110–161; and/or 111–8) and
subsequently recaptured from or
surrendered by underperforming or
nonperforming grantees. The
competition was announced in the
Federal Register (FR Doc. FR–5600–N–
38) on Tuesday, February 26, 2013.
Applications were rated and selected for
funding on the basis of selection criteria
contained in that notice.
The Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance number for this Border
Community Capital Initiative program is
14.266. The Border Capital Community
Initiative is designed to support local
rural nonprofits and federally
recognized Indian tribes serving
colonias for lending and investing
69879
activities in affordable housing, small
businesses, and/or community facilities,
and for securing additional sources of
public and private capital for these
activities. Eligible applicants for the
Border Community Capital Initiative are
local rural nonprofits and federally
recognized Indian Tribes with
demonstrated experience in lending or
investing for affordable housing, small
business development, and/or
community facilities. Such applicants
may be certified CDFIs, but CDFI
certification is not required. The funds
made available under this program were
awarded competitively, through a
selection process conducted by HUD.
In accordance with section
102(a)(4)(C) of the Department of
Housing and Urban Development
Reform Act of 1989 (103 Stat. 1987, 42
U.S.C. 3545), the Department is
publishing the grantees and amounts of
the awards in Appendix A to this
document.
Dated: November 19, 2014.
Clifford Taffet,
General Deputy Assistant Secretary for
Community Planning and Development.
Appendix A
FY 2013 BORDER COMMUNITY CAPITAL INITIATIVE PROGRAM GRANTEES
Grantee
State
Accion Texas, Inc ..........................................................................................................................................................
Affordable Homes of South Texas, Inc .........................................................................................................................
Community Resource Group, Inc ..................................................................................................................................
International Sonoran Desert Alliance ...........................................................................................................................
Tierra Del Sol Housing Corporation ..............................................................................................................................
TX ............
TX ............
AR ............
AZ ............
NM ...........
Office of the Deputy Secretary,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
Country to raise awareness of the
Program and will host a listening
session on March 19, 2015, in Laveen,
Arizona. We hope to receive feedback
on the Report from tribes and
individuals.
DATES: The listening session will take
place on March 19, 2015, at the Vee
Quiva Hotel, 15091 South Komatke
Lane, Laveen, AZ 85339. Comments
must be received by April 20, 2015.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.
Treci Johnson, Public Relations
Specialist, Land Buy-Back Program for
Tribal Nations, (202) 208–6916.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
The Land Buy-Back Program
for Tribal Nations has released its 2014
Status Report that details what the
Program has been doing to execute
terms of the Cobell Settlement. The
Program continues to actively engage
tribes and individuals across Indian
I. Background
The Land Buy-Back Program for
Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program or
Program) is the Department of the
Interior’s (Department) collaborative
effort with Indian Country to realize the
historic opportunity afforded by the
[FR Doc. 2014–27790 Filed 11–21–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210–67–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Office of the Secretary
[Fund: 133D5670LC, Fund Center:
DS10100000 Functional Area:
DLCAP0000.000000 WBS: DX.10120]
Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal
Nations Under Cobell Settlement
asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
AGENCY:
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
20:32 Nov 21, 2014
Jkt 235001
PO 00000
Frm 00058
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Amount
awarded
$800,000.00
600,000.00
200,000.00
200,000.00
200,000.00
Cobell Settlement—a $1.9 billion Trust
Land Consolidation Fund—to
compensate individuals who willingly
choose to transfer fractional land
interests to tribal nations for fair market
value. Directly following final approval
of the Settlement in December 2012 and
early consultations in 2011, the
Department established the Buy-Back
Program and published an Initial
Implementation Plan in light of
consultation that occurred in 2011 and
2012. The Department released an
Updated Implementation Plan in
November 2013 after several rounds of
additional government-to-government
consultation with tribes and feedback
on the Initial Implementation Plan.
The Department is currently
implementing the Buy-Back Program at
multiple locations across Indian
Country. Thus far, the Program has
made $754 million in offers to
individual landowners and paid more
E:\FR\FM\24NON1.SGM
24NON1
69880
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 226 / Monday, November 24, 2014 / Notices
than $209 million directly to more than
16,000 individuals that decided to sell
fractional interests. This has restored
the equivalent of more than 350,000
acres to tribes. Our working
relationships with tribes (12 cooperative
agreements or other arrangements to
date) and continued outreach to
landowners are important elements of
continued progress.
asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
II. Listening Session
The purpose of the upcoming
listening session is to gather input from
tribes in order for the Department to
continue to refine its land consolidation
processes, and engage individual
landowners who may have questions
about the Program. An agenda and
RSVP information will be announced
closer to the date of the event.
III. Seeking Tribal Input
The Buy-Back Program is committed
to continuous consultations throughout
the life of the Program in compliance
with the letter and spirit of Executive
Order 13175 (Consultation and
Coordination with Indian Tribal
Governments) and Secretarial Order
3314 (Department of the Interior Policy
on Consultation with Indian Tribes).
At the beginning of 2013, Department
officials conducted extensive tribal
consultations on the following:
(1) Developing an efficient, fair
process for landowners of fractionated
interests to participate in the Buy-Back
Program;
(2) Identifying and maximizing
opportunities for tribal involvement;
and
(3) Offering tribes flexibility to
execute Program requirements in the
manner best suited for the unique needs
of each community.
While the Department welcomes
feedback related to any aspect of the
Program, the following areas are of
particular interest:
• Implementation at LessFractionated Locations. There are about
110 less-fractionated locations that
contain approximately 10 percent of the
outstanding fractional interests. The
Program continues to explore ways for
additional less-fractioned locations to
participate in buy-back efforts in an
efficient and cost-effective manner. For
example, the Buy-Back Program has
received requests from tribes for
reimbursement of past and future
purchases of fractionated interests
acquired under tribal or other land
consolidation efforts. To date, no
reimbursement requests have been
awarded through the Buy-Back Program.
Until the Program renders a decision on
such reimbursement requests, no
VerDate Sep<11>2014
20:32 Nov 21, 2014
Jkt 235001
reimbursement requests will be granted,
and tribes should not proceed with that
expectation. The Program encourages
the submission of comments or ideas on
whether and how reimbursements might
work.
• Whereabouts Unknown.
Whereabouts unknown (WAU) is the
term used to describe IIM account
holders without current address
information on file with OST. The
Settlement provides for an outreach
effort to locate landowners whose
whereabouts are unknown as of the date
of final approval of the Settlement. The
Program has not exercised WAU
purchases thus far and is seeking input
from tribes and individuals on whether
and how it should implement the
provision. Since the Program’s
inception, the focus has been locating
WAU through outreach efforts so the
individuals can receive and consider an
offer.
• Improvements. Where structural
improvements exist on a tract, a number
of issues may complicate the acquisition
of fractional interests in the tract. While
the Program does not intend to acquire
structural improvements, which are
non-trust property, the Program seeks
additional feedback from landowners
and tribes about acquiring interests in
tracts with structural improvements,
including instances in which the
Program might choose to acquire
interests. For example, the Program
might make offers for interests in a tract
with non-residential structural
improvements (e.g., a tract only with an
uninhabited agricultural shed or hay
barn), but not on tract where residences
are located unless the tribe has a policy
or resolution in place ensuring that
residents’ interests are recognized and
protected.
• Public Domain. Under the
Settlement, fractional interests acquired
by the Program are to be immediately
held in trust or restricted status for the
recognized tribe that exercises
jurisdiction over the land. When
identifying the locations with fractional
interests that may be consolidated, the
Program excludes land area names that
include the term public domain or off
reservation because use of these terms
indicate that there may be no recognized
tribe that exercises jurisdiction over the
land. The Program has encouraged
feedback, however, on the list of
locations in its 2012 and 2013
implementation plans. Since then, the
Program has received feedback from
several tribes suggesting that certain
land areas should be included. The
Program is now seeking general
feedback on whether and if so how the
Program should incorporate public
PO 00000
Frm 00059
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
domain or off reservation land areas into
the Program, including any suggested
standards or processes that could be
applied.
IV. Additional Resources
The Land Buy-Back Program for
Tribal Nations 2014 Status Report and
additional information about the BuyBack Program is available at: https://
www.doi.gov/buybackprogram. In
addition, landowners can contact their
local Fiduciary Trust Officer or call
Interior’s Trust Beneficiary Call Center
at (888) 678–6836.
Dated: November 19, 2014.
Michael L. Connor,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014–27773 Filed 11–21–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–10–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS–R8–ES–2015–N208; FXES11130000–
xxx–FF08E00000]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife
and Plants; Draft Recovery Plan for the
Santa Ana Sucker (Catostomus
santaanae)
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of document availability.
AGENCY:
We, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, announce the
availability of the draft recovery plan for
the Santa Ana sucker for public review
and comment. The draft recovery plan
includes recovery objectives and
criteria, and specific actions necessary
to achieve recovery and removal of the
species from the Federal List of
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife.
We request review and comment on this
draft recovery plan from local, State,
and Federal agencies, and the public.
DATES: We must receive any comments
on the draft recovery plan on or before
January 23, 2015.
ADDRESSES: You may obtain a copy of
the draft recovery plan from our Web
site at https://www.fws.gov/endangered/
species/recovery-plans.html.
Alternatively, you may contact the
Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, 2177 Salk
Avenue, Suite 250, Carlsbad, CA 92008
(telephone 760–431–9440).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mendel Stewart, Field Supervisor, at the
above street address or telephone
number (see ADDRESSES).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\24NON1.SGM
24NON1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 226 (Monday, November 24, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69879-69880]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-27773]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Office of the Secretary
[Fund: 133D5670LC, Fund Center: DS10100000 Functional Area:
DLCAP0000.000000 WBS: DX.10120]
Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations Under Cobell Settlement
AGENCY: Office of the Deputy Secretary, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations has released its
2014 Status Report that details what the Program has been doing to
execute terms of the Cobell Settlement. The Program continues to
actively engage tribes and individuals across Indian Country to raise
awareness of the Program and will host a listening session on March 19,
2015, in Laveen, Arizona. We hope to receive feedback on the Report
from tribes and individuals.
DATES: The listening session will take place on March 19, 2015, at the
Vee Quiva Hotel, 15091 South Komatke Lane, Laveen, AZ 85339. Comments
must be received by April 20, 2015.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Treci Johnson, Public Relations
Specialist, Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations, (202) 208-6916.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program or
Program) is the Department of the Interior's (Department) collaborative
effort with Indian Country to realize the historic opportunity afforded
by the Cobell Settlement--a $1.9 billion Trust Land Consolidation
Fund--to compensate individuals who willingly choose to transfer
fractional land interests to tribal nations for fair market value.
Directly following final approval of the Settlement in December 2012
and early consultations in 2011, the Department established the Buy-
Back Program and published an Initial Implementation Plan in light of
consultation that occurred in 2011 and 2012. The Department released an
Updated Implementation Plan in November 2013 after several rounds of
additional government-to-government consultation with tribes and
feedback on the Initial Implementation Plan.
The Department is currently implementing the Buy-Back Program at
multiple locations across Indian Country. Thus far, the Program has
made $754 million in offers to individual landowners and paid more
[[Page 69880]]
than $209 million directly to more than 16,000 individuals that decided
to sell fractional interests. This has restored the equivalent of more
than 350,000 acres to tribes. Our working relationships with tribes (12
cooperative agreements or other arrangements to date) and continued
outreach to landowners are important elements of continued progress.
II. Listening Session
The purpose of the upcoming listening session is to gather input
from tribes in order for the Department to continue to refine its land
consolidation processes, and engage individual landowners who may have
questions about the Program. An agenda and RSVP information will be
announced closer to the date of the event.
III. Seeking Tribal Input
The Buy-Back Program is committed to continuous consultations
throughout the life of the Program in compliance with the letter and
spirit of Executive Order 13175 (Consultation and Coordination with
Indian Tribal Governments) and Secretarial Order 3314 (Department of
the Interior Policy on Consultation with Indian Tribes).
At the beginning of 2013, Department officials conducted extensive
tribal consultations on the following:
(1) Developing an efficient, fair process for landowners of
fractionated interests to participate in the Buy-Back Program;
(2) Identifying and maximizing opportunities for tribal
involvement; and
(3) Offering tribes flexibility to execute Program requirements in
the manner best suited for the unique needs of each community.
While the Department welcomes feedback related to any aspect of the
Program, the following areas are of particular interest:
Implementation at Less-Fractionated Locations. There are
about 110 less-fractionated locations that contain approximately 10
percent of the outstanding fractional interests. The Program continues
to explore ways for additional less-fractioned locations to participate
in buy-back efforts in an efficient and cost-effective manner. For
example, the Buy-Back Program has received requests from tribes for
reimbursement of past and future purchases of fractionated interests
acquired under tribal or other land consolidation efforts. To date, no
reimbursement requests have been awarded through the Buy-Back Program.
Until the Program renders a decision on such reimbursement requests, no
reimbursement requests will be granted, and tribes should not proceed
with that expectation. The Program encourages the submission of
comments or ideas on whether and how reimbursements might work.
Whereabouts Unknown. Whereabouts unknown (WAU) is the term
used to describe IIM account holders without current address
information on file with OST. The Settlement provides for an outreach
effort to locate landowners whose whereabouts are unknown as of the
date of final approval of the Settlement. The Program has not exercised
WAU purchases thus far and is seeking input from tribes and individuals
on whether and how it should implement the provision. Since the
Program's inception, the focus has been locating WAU through outreach
efforts so the individuals can receive and consider an offer.
Improvements. Where structural improvements exist on a
tract, a number of issues may complicate the acquisition of fractional
interests in the tract. While the Program does not intend to acquire
structural improvements, which are non-trust property, the Program
seeks additional feedback from landowners and tribes about acquiring
interests in tracts with structural improvements, including instances
in which the Program might choose to acquire interests. For example,
the Program might make offers for interests in a tract with non-
residential structural improvements (e.g., a tract only with an
uninhabited agricultural shed or hay barn), but not on tract where
residences are located unless the tribe has a policy or resolution in
place ensuring that residents' interests are recognized and protected.
Public Domain. Under the Settlement, fractional interests
acquired by the Program are to be immediately held in trust or
restricted status for the recognized tribe that exercises jurisdiction
over the land. When identifying the locations with fractional interests
that may be consolidated, the Program excludes land area names that
include the term public domain or off reservation because use of these
terms indicate that there may be no recognized tribe that exercises
jurisdiction over the land. The Program has encouraged feedback,
however, on the list of locations in its 2012 and 2013 implementation
plans. Since then, the Program has received feedback from several
tribes suggesting that certain land areas should be included. The
Program is now seeking general feedback on whether and if so how the
Program should incorporate public domain or off reservation land areas
into the Program, including any suggested standards or processes that
could be applied.
IV. Additional Resources
The Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations 2014 Status Report and
additional information about the Buy-Back Program is available at:
https://www.doi.gov/buybackprogram. In addition, landowners can contact
their local Fiduciary Trust Officer or call Interior's Trust
Beneficiary Call Center at (888) 678-6836.
Dated: November 19, 2014.
Michael L. Connor,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-27773 Filed 11-21-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-10-P
