Final Decisions Regarding Self-Determination and Self-Governance Funding Agreement Language on Fiduciary Trust Records Management, 51081-51083 [05-17137]
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Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 166 / Monday, August 29, 2005 / Notices
(2) Evaluate the accuracy of the
agency’s estimate of the burden of the
collection of information, including the
validity of the methodology and
assumptions used;
(3) Enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be
collected; and
(4) Minimize the burden of the
collection of information on those who
are to respond, including through the
use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other
technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology,
e.g., permitting electronic submission of
responses.
Overview of this information
collection:
(1) Type of Information Collection:
Extension of a previously approved
information collection.
(2) Title of the Form/Collection:
Nonimmigrant Petition Based on
Blanket L Petition.
(3) Agency form number, if any, and
the applicable component of the
Department of Homeland Security
sponsoring the collection: Form I–129S,
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services.
(4) Affected public who will be asked
or required to respond, as well as a brief
abstract: Primary: Individuals or
Households. This information collection
will be used by an employer to classify
employees as L–1 nonimmigrant
intracompany transferees under a
blanket L petition approval. The USCIS
will use the data on this form to
determine eligibility for the requested
immigration benefit.
(5) An estimate of the total number of
respondents and the amount of time
estimated for an average respondent to
respond: 250,000 responses at 35
minutes (.583 hours) per response.
(6) An estimate of the total public
burden (in hours) associated with the
collection: 145,750 annual burden
hours.
If you have additional comments,
suggestions, or need a copy of the
information collection instrument,
please contact Richard A. Sloan,
Director, Regulatory Management
Division, U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services, U.S. Department
of Homeland Security, 111
Massachusetts Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20529.
Dated: August 24, 2005.
Richard A. Sloan,
Director, Regulatory Management Division,
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
[FR Doc. 05–17147 Filed 8–26–05; 8:45 am]
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Office of the Secretary
Office of the Secretary
Invasive Species Advisory Committee
Final Decisions Regarding SelfDetermination and Self-Governance
Funding Agreement Language on
Fiduciary Trust Records Management
AGENCY:
Office of the Secretary, Interior.
Notice of public meetings of the
Invasive Species Advisory Committee.
ACTION:
SUMMARY: Pursuant to the provisions of
the Federal Advisory Committee Act,
notice is hereby given of meetings of the
Invasive Species Advisory Committee.
The purpose of the Advisory Committee
is to provide advice to the National
Invasive Species Council, as authorized
by Executive Order 13112, on a broad
array of issues related to preventing the
introduction of invasive species and
providing for their control and
minimizing the economic, ecological,
and human health impacts that invasive
species cause. The Council is Cochaired by the Secretary of the Interior,
the Secretary of Agriculture, and the
Secretary of Commerce. The duty of the
Council is to provide national
leadership regarding invasive species
issues. The purpose of a meeting on
October 11–13, 2005 is to convene the
full Advisory Committee; and to discuss
implementation of action items outlined
in the National Invasive Species
Management Plan, which was finalized
on January 18, 2001.
Meeting of Invasive Species
Advisory Committee: Tuesday, October
11, 2005 through Thursday, October 13,
2005; beginning at approximately 8
a.m., and ending at approximately 5
p.m. each day.
DATES:
Wyndham City Center
Hotel, 1143 New Hampshire Avenue,
NW., Washington, DC 20037. Meeting
will be held all three days in the New
Hampshire Ballroom.
ADDRESSES:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Kelsey Brantley, National Invasive
Species Council Program Analyst;
Phone: (202) 513–7243; Fax: (202) 371–
1751.
Dated: August 24, 2005.
Lori C. Williams,
Executive Director, National Invasive Species
Council.
[FR Doc. 05–17133 Filed 8–26–05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–RK–P
15:17 Aug 26, 2005
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Office of the Secretary, Interior.
Notice of final decision.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
BILLING CODE 4410–10–M
VerDate Aug<18>2005
51081
SUMMARY: This notice announces the
final decision regarding SelfDetermination and Self-Governance
language to be negotiated into funding
agreements for 2006 regarding fiduciary
trust records management. The Federal
Register notice published on February
2, 2005 (70 FR 5457) presented a
proposed policy on fiduciary trust
records management for SelfDetermination (Title I) and SelfGovernance (Title IV) Tribes/Consortia
and language to be negotiated into 2006
Title I and Title IV funding agreements.
The February 2, 2005, notice also
announced three consultation meetings
and an invitation to submit written
comments on the proposed policy and
funding agreement language.
Final Decision: After reviewing
numerous comments and suggestions,
both written and oral, the Department
decided not to institute the proposed
policy on fiduciary trust records
management for Title I and Title IV
Tribes/Consortia; rather, the Department
will negotiate with each Tribe/
Consortium a specific section in the
funding agreement that addresses
Tribe’s/Consortium’s and the Secretary’s
respective responsibilities regarding the
management of fiduciary trust records.
This specific section will include the
definition of ‘‘fiduciary trust records,’’
‘‘Indian trust assets,’’ and
‘‘management.’’ The language to be
negotiated into the 2006 Title I and Title
IV funding agreements regarding
fiduciary trust records management is
the following and will replace the three
options used in the past.
The Tribe/Consortium and Secretary
agree to the following:
The Tribe/Consortium agrees to:
(a) Preserve, protect and manage all
fiduciary trust records, created and/or
maintained by the Tribes/Consortia
during their management of trust
programs in their Title IV agreements.
(A fiduciary trust record is any
document that reflects the existence of
an Indian trust asset and was used in the
management of an Indian trust asset. An
Indian trust asset refers to lands, natural
resources, monies or other assets held in
trust at a particular time by the Federal
Government for a Tribe, Alaska natives
E:\FR\FM\29AUN1.SGM
29AUN1
51082
Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 166 / Monday, August 29, 2005 / Notices
or that are or were at a particular time
restricted against alienation, for
individual Indians. Management
includes actions that influence, affect,
govern, or control an Indian trust asset.
The following are examples not
considered to be fiduciary trust records:
General administrative, personnel or
travel records; education records; law
enforcement records; health records;
law making unrelated to Indian trust
assets; tribal council resolutions and
laws unrelated to Indian trust assets;
and tribal elections.)
(b) Make available to the Secretary all
fiduciary trust records maintained by
the Tribe/Consortium, provided that the
Secretary gives reasonable oral or
written advance request to the Tribe/
Consortium. Access shall include visual
inspection and, at the expense of the
Secretary, the production of copies (as
agreed upon between the parties), and
shall not include the removal of the
records without tribal approval; and
(c) Store and permanently retain all
inactive fiduciary trust records at the
Tribe/Consortium or allow such records
to be removed and stored at the
American Indian Records Repository
(AIRR) in Lenexa, Kansas, at no cost to
the Tribe/Consortium.
The Secretary agrees to:
(a) Allow the Tribe/Consortium to
determine what records it creates to
implement the trust programs assumed
under its Title IV agreement, except that
the Tribe/Consortium must create and
maintain the information required by
statute and regulation. No additional
record keeping requirements are
required by this agreement.
(b) Store all inactive fiduciary trust
records at the American Indian Records
Repository (AIRR) at no cost to the
Tribe/Consortium when the Tribe/
Consortium no longer wishes to keep
the records. Further, the Tribe/
Consortium will retain legal custody
and determine access to these records.
Such records shall not be treated as
Federal records for purposes of chapter
5 of Title 5 of the United States Code
unless expressly agreed to by the Tribe;
(c) Create and manage a single tribal
storage and retrieval system for all
fiduciary trust records stored at AIRR
(No records will be accepted at AIRR
until such a retrieval system exists); and
(d) Provide filing equipment and
technical assistance for Tribes/Consortia
in preserving, protecting and managing
their fiduciary trust records from
available funds appropriated for this
purpose.
Summary of Comments: The final
decision above is the result of a nearly
2-year consultation process by the
Department with some Title I and IV
VerDate Aug<18>2005
15:17 Aug 26, 2005
Jkt 205001
Tribes/Consortia. This process included:
Conducting pre-scoping telephone
conversations with tribal leaders, staff
and consultants; holding a scoping
meeting as part of a 2-day conference on
Indian trust records management at
Haskell Indian Nations University;
forming a Tribal Fiduciary Trust
Records Management Workgroup;
conducting four workgroup meetings;
transmitting a tribal leader letter
soliciting comments on the proposed
policy language to be presented for
consultation; and engaging in
discussions with Tribal leaders and staff
at the Fall 2004, Self-Governance
Conference. This process culminated
with three consultation meetings held in
Nashville, Tennessee; Portland, Oregon;
and Phoenix, Arizona that were
attended by approximately 60 tribal
leaders, staff and consultants. In
addition, written comments were
received from 14 tribes, tribal
organizations or tribal consultants some
of whom attended the consultation
meetings.
The comments received can be
grouped into the following four major
categories:
Category 1: New funding agreement
language is not needed because existing
compact and funding agreement
language sufficiently provides for the
maintenance of records of trust
programs managed by the Tribes/
Consortia, and Tribes/Consortia should
not be required to implement a Federal
policy on fiduciary trust records
management through their funding
agreements. The Department
respectfully disagrees. The Department
believed that the three options available
to Tribes/Consortia in the past are too
vague and do not specifically address
the Secretary’s primary concerns that
fiduciary trust records not be destroyed
and that the Secretary have the right to
access those records if needed in her
capacity as trustee delegate. The
Department does agree with the
comments that a Federal policy does not
need to be instituted through the
Departmental Manual. Instead the
Department has chosen to negotiate
language with each Tribe/Consortium
into its funding agreement to address
fiduciary trust records management.
Category 2: The definition of
‘‘fiduciary trust records’’ is too broad
and vague and the Department should
produce a specific list of what fiduciary
trust records should be maintained and
preserved by the Tribe/Consortium. The
definition is purposely broad in
recognition of tribal sovereignty. It
allows Tribes/Consortia the flexibility to
create those records they believe are
necessary to properly manage their trust
PO 00000
Frm 00076
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
assets through their Title I or Title IV
funding agreements. For the Department
to create a list of fiduciary trust records
would have been both overly restrictive
for some Tribes/Consortia and overly
expansive for others. A Departmentgenerated list to be used by all Tribes/
Consortia would have been restrictive in
that it could deter tribes from creating
certain records they feel were
appropriate and at the same time it
could be expansive by ‘‘requiring’’
Tribes/Consortia to create fiduciary trust
records they did not believe were
necessary for effective management of
their trust assets. The Department’s
concern is that whatever trust records
are created be properly protected and
available to the Secretary.
Category 3: The funding agreement
language creates an unfunded mandate
because no funding is being provided,
and the language requires Tribes/
Consortia to maintain record facilities
and administer and monitor a records
policy. The Department believes that the
language proposed for negotiation does
not require Tribes/Consortia to create
and keep any additional records beyond
those they now keep; namely, those that
are required by statute or regulation or
those records the Tribe/Consortium
chooses to create in the management of
its own trust resources. The language
does not require a tribe to have any
other kind of record keeping system
other than the ones they currently
operate. Before becoming a Title I or
Title IV Tribe/Consortium, a Tribe/
Consortium had to demonstrate that it
had a functional record keeping system
and this language does not expand that
requirement. Further, while the
language does indicate that Tribes/
Consortia are to preserve, protect and
manage all fiduciary trust records and
that all fiduciary trust records are to be
kept permanently, once the Tribe/
Consortium chooses that it no longer
wants to house their inactive fiduciary
trust records at their facility, the
Secretary has offered to store those
records, at the Secretary’s expense, at
the American Indian Records
Repository. Finally, the Secretary is
willing to provide to the Tribes/
Consortia equipment, training and
technical assistance, subject to
availability of appropriated funds for
that purpose.
Category 4: A potential problem exists
for Tribes/Consortia in storing records at
AIRR in that outside interests might
gain access to Tribal/Consortium trust
records through the Freedom of
Information Act because the Tribal/
Consortium trust records are held on the
Tribe’s/Consortium’s behalf by the
Department in a Federal facility. To
E:\FR\FM\29AUN1.SGM
29AUN1
Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 166 / Monday, August 29, 2005 / Notices
accommodate this concern, language
was inserted stating that the Tribe/
Consortium retains legal custody and
determines access to those records.
Further, language was inserted stating
that such records shall not be treated as
Federal records for purposes of chapter
5 of Title 5 of the United States Code,
unless expressly agreed to by the Tribe.
Dated: August 19, 2005.
Abraham E. Haspel,
Assistant Deputy Secretary—Office of the
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 05–17137 Filed 8–26–05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–W8–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Receipt of an Application for an
Incidental Take Permit for the Florida
Scrub-jay Resulting From Construction
of a Single-Family Home in Charlotte
County, FL
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas
Tamburri (Applicants) request an
incidental take permit (ITP) for a period
of one year, pursuant to section
10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species
Act of 1973 (Act), as amended (U.S.C.
1531 et seq.). The Applicants anticipate
removal of about 1.2 acres of occupied
Florida scrub-jay (Aphelocoma
coerulescens) (scrub-jay) nesting,
foraging, and sheltering habitat,
incidental to partial land clearing of
their 5-acre lot and subsequent
residential construction of a singlefamily home and supporting
infrastructure in Charlotte County,
Florida. Up to three scrub-jay
individuals could be taken as a result of
the Applicants’ proposed action. It is
not currently known if these three
scrub-jays are part of the same scrub-jay
family.
The Applicants’ Habitat Conservation
Plan (HCP) describes the mitigation and
minimization measures proposed to
address the effects of the project to the
scrub-jay. These measures are outlined
in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
section below. We announce the
availability of the ITP application, HCP,
and accompanying Environmental
Assessment (EA). Copies of the
application, HCP, and EA may be
obtained by making a request to the
Southeast Regional Office (see
ADDRESSES). Requests must be in writing
to be processed. This notice is provided
pursuant to section 10 of the Act and
VerDate Aug<18>2005
15:17 Aug 26, 2005
Jkt 205001
National Environmental Policy Act
regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).
DATES: Written comments on the ITP
application and HCP, and EA should be
sent to the Service’s Southeast Regional
Office (see ADDRESSES) and should be
received on or before October 28, 2005.
ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review
the application, HCP, and EA may
obtain a copy by writing the Service’s
Southeast Regional Office at the address
below. Please reference permit number
TE093169–0 in such requests.
Documents will also be available for
public inspection by appointment
during normal business hours at the
Southeast Regional Office, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, 1875 Century
Boulevard, Suite 200, Atlanta, Georgia
30345 (Attn: Endangered Species
Permits), or also at the South Florida
Ecological Services Office, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, 1339 20th Street, Vero
Beach, Florida 32960–3559 (Attn: Field
Supervisor).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.
David Dell, Regional HCP Coordinator,
Southeast Regional Office (see
ADDRESSES above), telephone: 404/679–
7313, facsimile: 404/679–7081; or Ms.
Constance Cassler, Fish and Wildlife
Biologist, South Florida Ecological
Services Office (see ADDRESSES above),
telephone: 772/562–3909, ext. 243.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: If you
wish to comment, you may submit
comments by any one of several
methods. Please reference permit
number TE093169–0 in such comments.
You may mail comments to the
Service’s Southeast Regional Office (see
ADDRESSES). You may also comment via
the Internet to david_dell@fws.gov.
Please submit comments over the
Internet as an ASCII file, avoiding the
use of special characters and any form
of encryption. Please also include your
name and return address in your e-mail
message. If you do not receive a
confirmation from us that we have
received your e-mail message, contact
us directly at either telephone number
listed above (see FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT). Finally, you may
hand-deliver comments to either Service
office listed above (see ADDRESSES). Our
practice is to make comments, including
names and home addresses of
respondents, available for public review
during regular business hours.
Individual respondents may request that
we withhold their home addresses from
the administrative record. We will
honor such requests to the extent
allowable by law. There may also be
other circumstances in which we would
withhold from the administrative record
a respondent’s identity, as allowable by
PO 00000
Frm 00077
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
51083
law. If you wish us to withhold your
name and address, you must state this
prominently at the beginning of your
comments. We will not, however,
consider anonymous comments. We
will make all submissions from
organizations or businesses, and from
individuals identifying themselves as
representatives or officials of
organizations or businesses, available
for public inspection in their entirety.
The Florida scrub-jay (scrub-jay) is
geographically isolated from other
species of scrub-jays found in Mexico
and the western United States. The
scrub-jay is found exclusively in
peninsular Florida and is restricted to
xeric uplands (well-drained, sandy soil
habitats supporting a growth of oakdominated scrub). Increasing urban and
agricultural development has resulted in
habitat loss and fragmentation, which
has adversely affected the distribution
and numbers of scrub-jays. The total
estimated population is between 7,000
and 11,000 individuals. The decline in
the number and distribution of scrubjays in Florida has been exacerbated by
tremendous urban growth in the past 50
years.
Xeric upland vegetative communities
in southwestern Florida are restricted
primarily to ancient coastal dunes
which are typically much dryer and less
susceptible to flooding due to their
deep, well-drained soils. Historically,
these areas extended in a nearly
continuous, narrow band along the
western mainland portions of northern
Charlotte to southern Hillsborough
County. However, the same physical
attributes that resulted in the evolution
of xeric vegetation on these sandy dunes
also provided sites for both agricultural
and urban development. Over the past
50 years, these ancient dunes have
served as the backbone of residential
and commercial growth in southwestern
Florida. The project area is under
tremendous development pressure, as is
much of Charlotte County. Much of the
remaining scrub-jay habitat is now
relatively small and isolated. What
remains is largely degraded, due to
interruption of the natural fire regime
that is needed to maintain xeric uplands
in conditions suitable for scrub-jays.
Florida scrub-jays were documented
using this residential lot on ten separate
occasions between October 9 and
October 16, 2002, by consultants from
AMS Engineering and Environmental,
Incorporated. Based on the consultant’s
report, it appears that at least three
scrub-jays use this residential lot. It is
not known whether these scrub-jays
previously nested on the subject lot,
though the birds roost regularly on a
turkey oak there. Scrub-jays using the
E:\FR\FM\29AUN1.SGM
29AUN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 166 (Monday, August 29, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51081-51083]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-17137]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Office of the Secretary
Final Decisions Regarding Self-Determination and Self-Governance
Funding Agreement Language on Fiduciary Trust Records Management
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of final decision.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This notice announces the final decision regarding Self-
Determination and Self-Governance language to be negotiated into
funding agreements for 2006 regarding fiduciary trust records
management. The Federal Register notice published on February 2, 2005
(70 FR 5457) presented a proposed policy on fiduciary trust records
management for Self-Determination (Title I) and Self-Governance (Title
IV) Tribes/Consortia and language to be negotiated into 2006 Title I
and Title IV funding agreements. The February 2, 2005, notice also
announced three consultation meetings and an invitation to submit
written comments on the proposed policy and funding agreement language.
Final Decision: After reviewing numerous comments and suggestions,
both written and oral, the Department decided not to institute the
proposed policy on fiduciary trust records management for Title I and
Title IV Tribes/Consortia; rather, the Department will negotiate with
each Tribe/Consortium a specific section in the funding agreement that
addresses Tribe's/Consortium's and the Secretary's respective
responsibilities regarding the management of fiduciary trust records.
This specific section will include the definition of ``fiduciary trust
records,'' ``Indian trust assets,'' and ``management.'' The language to
be negotiated into the 2006 Title I and Title IV funding agreements
regarding fiduciary trust records management is the following and will
replace the three options used in the past.
The Tribe/Consortium and Secretary agree to the following:
The Tribe/Consortium agrees to:
(a) Preserve, protect and manage all fiduciary trust records,
created and/or maintained by the Tribes/Consortia during their
management of trust programs in their Title IV agreements. (A fiduciary
trust record is any document that reflects the existence of an Indian
trust asset and was used in the management of an Indian trust asset. An
Indian trust asset refers to lands, natural resources, monies or other
assets held in trust at a particular time by the Federal Government for
a Tribe, Alaska natives
[[Page 51082]]
or that are or were at a particular time restricted against alienation,
for individual Indians. Management includes actions that influence,
affect, govern, or control an Indian trust asset. The following are
examples not considered to be fiduciary trust records: General
administrative, personnel or travel records; education records; law
enforcement records; health records; law making unrelated to Indian
trust assets; tribal council resolutions and laws unrelated to Indian
trust assets; and tribal elections.)
(b) Make available to the Secretary all fiduciary trust records
maintained by the Tribe/Consortium, provided that the Secretary gives
reasonable oral or written advance request to the Tribe/Consortium.
Access shall include visual inspection and, at the expense of the
Secretary, the production of copies (as agreed upon between the
parties), and shall not include the removal of the records without
tribal approval; and
(c) Store and permanently retain all inactive fiduciary trust
records at the Tribe/Consortium or allow such records to be removed and
stored at the American Indian Records Repository (AIRR) in Lenexa,
Kansas, at no cost to the Tribe/Consortium.
The Secretary agrees to:
(a) Allow the Tribe/Consortium to determine what records it creates
to implement the trust programs assumed under its Title IV agreement,
except that the Tribe/Consortium must create and maintain the
information required by statute and regulation. No additional record
keeping requirements are required by this agreement.
(b) Store all inactive fiduciary trust records at the American
Indian Records Repository (AIRR) at no cost to the Tribe/Consortium
when the Tribe/Consortium no longer wishes to keep the records.
Further, the Tribe/Consortium will retain legal custody and determine
access to these records. Such records shall not be treated as Federal
records for purposes of chapter 5 of Title 5 of the United States Code
unless expressly agreed to by the Tribe;
(c) Create and manage a single tribal storage and retrieval system
for all fiduciary trust records stored at AIRR (No records will be
accepted at AIRR until such a retrieval system exists); and
(d) Provide filing equipment and technical assistance for Tribes/
Consortia in preserving, protecting and managing their fiduciary trust
records from available funds appropriated for this purpose.
Summary of Comments: The final decision above is the result of a
nearly 2-year consultation process by the Department with some Title I
and IV Tribes/Consortia. This process included: Conducting pre-scoping
telephone conversations with tribal leaders, staff and consultants;
holding a scoping meeting as part of a 2-day conference on Indian trust
records management at Haskell Indian Nations University; forming a
Tribal Fiduciary Trust Records Management Workgroup; conducting four
workgroup meetings; transmitting a tribal leader letter soliciting
comments on the proposed policy language to be presented for
consultation; and engaging in discussions with Tribal leaders and staff
at the Fall 2004, Self-Governance Conference. This process culminated
with three consultation meetings held in Nashville, Tennessee;
Portland, Oregon; and Phoenix, Arizona that were attended by
approximately 60 tribal leaders, staff and consultants. In addition,
written comments were received from 14 tribes, tribal organizations or
tribal consultants some of whom attended the consultation meetings.
The comments received can be grouped into the following four major
categories:
Category 1: New funding agreement language is not needed because
existing compact and funding agreement language sufficiently provides
for the maintenance of records of trust programs managed by the Tribes/
Consortia, and Tribes/Consortia should not be required to implement a
Federal policy on fiduciary trust records management through their
funding agreements. The Department respectfully disagrees. The
Department believed that the three options available to Tribes/
Consortia in the past are too vague and do not specifically address the
Secretary's primary concerns that fiduciary trust records not be
destroyed and that the Secretary have the right to access those records
if needed in her capacity as trustee delegate. The Department does
agree with the comments that a Federal policy does not need to be
instituted through the Departmental Manual. Instead the Department has
chosen to negotiate language with each Tribe/Consortium into its
funding agreement to address fiduciary trust records management.
Category 2: The definition of ``fiduciary trust records'' is too
broad and vague and the Department should produce a specific list of
what fiduciary trust records should be maintained and preserved by the
Tribe/Consortium. The definition is purposely broad in recognition of
tribal sovereignty. It allows Tribes/Consortia the flexibility to
create those records they believe are necessary to properly manage
their trust assets through their Title I or Title IV funding
agreements. For the Department to create a list of fiduciary trust
records would have been both overly restrictive for some Tribes/
Consortia and overly expansive for others. A Department-generated list
to be used by all Tribes/Consortia would have been restrictive in that
it could deter tribes from creating certain records they feel were
appropriate and at the same time it could be expansive by ``requiring''
Tribes/Consortia to create fiduciary trust records they did not believe
were necessary for effective management of their trust assets. The
Department's concern is that whatever trust records are created be
properly protected and available to the Secretary.
Category 3: The funding agreement language creates an unfunded
mandate because no funding is being provided, and the language requires
Tribes/Consortia to maintain record facilities and administer and
monitor a records policy. The Department believes that the language
proposed for negotiation does not require Tribes/Consortia to create
and keep any additional records beyond those they now keep; namely,
those that are required by statute or regulation or those records the
Tribe/Consortium chooses to create in the management of its own trust
resources. The language does not require a tribe to have any other kind
of record keeping system other than the ones they currently operate.
Before becoming a Title I or Title IV Tribe/Consortium, a Tribe/
Consortium had to demonstrate that it had a functional record keeping
system and this language does not expand that requirement. Further,
while the language does indicate that Tribes/Consortia are to preserve,
protect and manage all fiduciary trust records and that all fiduciary
trust records are to be kept permanently, once the Tribe/Consortium
chooses that it no longer wants to house their inactive fiduciary trust
records at their facility, the Secretary has offered to store those
records, at the Secretary's expense, at the American Indian Records
Repository. Finally, the Secretary is willing to provide to the Tribes/
Consortia equipment, training and technical assistance, subject to
availability of appropriated funds for that purpose.
Category 4: A potential problem exists for Tribes/Consortia in
storing records at AIRR in that outside interests might gain access to
Tribal/Consortium trust records through the Freedom of Information Act
because the Tribal/Consortium trust records are held on the Tribe's/
Consortium's behalf by the Department in a Federal facility. To
[[Page 51083]]
accommodate this concern, language was inserted stating that the Tribe/
Consortium retains legal custody and determines access to those
records. Further, language was inserted stating that such records shall
not be treated as Federal records for purposes of chapter 5 of Title 5
of the United States Code, unless expressly agreed to by the Tribe.
Dated: August 19, 2005.
Abraham E. Haspel,
Assistant Deputy Secretary--Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 05-17137 Filed 8-26-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-W8-P
