Bureau of Indian Affairs March 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice advises the public that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), in cooperation with the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians (Tribe), National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC), Contra Costa County, and California Department of Transportation, intends to file a final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the proposed approval of a 29.87 acre fee-to-trust transfer and gaming development project in Contra Costa County, California, and that the FEIS is now available to the public. In addition to the trust acquisition for gaming purposes, the proposed action includes approval by the NIGC of a gaming management contract. The FEIS is part of the administrative process that evaluates tribal applications that seek to have the United States take land into trust pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 465 and 25 CFR part 151.

This notice advises the public that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) as lead agency, with the Enterprise Rancheria of Estom Ymeka Maidu Tribe (Tribe), National Indian Gaming Commission, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Yuba County, California, as cooperating agencies, intends to file a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) with the EPA for the Tribe's proposed Gaming Facility and Hotel Fee-to-Trust Acquisition Project to be located within unincorporated Yuba County, and that the DEIS is now available for public review. This review is part of the administrative process that evaluates tribal applications that seek to have the United States take land into trust pursuant to 25 CFR part 151. We will consider public comments carefully prior to deciding whether to approve or disapprove this application. This notice also announces a public hearing to receive comments on the DEIS.

Pursuant to 25 CFR 83.10(l)(2), notice is hereby given that the Department of the Interior (Department) declines to acknowledge the group known as the Steilacoom Tribe of Indians (STI) of 1515 Lafayette Street, P.O. Box 88419, Steilacoom, Washington 98388, c/o Mr. Danny Marshall, as an Indian tribe within the meaning of Federal law. This notice is based on a determination that the petitioner does not satisfy four of the seven mandatory criteria for acknowledgment, specifically Sec. Sec. 83.7(a), 83.7(b), 83.7(c), and 83.7(e), as defined in 25 CFR part 83. Consequently, the STI does not meet the requirements for a government-to-government relationship with the United States.

The Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) is promulgating final regulations providing that Indian tribes, at their discretion, may enter into business agreements and leases for energy resource development and grant rights-of-way for pipelines or electric transmission or distribution lines on tribal land without the Secretary's review and approval. Indian tribes entering into such business agreements, leases, and grants of rights-of-way must execute them under an approved tribal energy resource agreement (TERA) between the Secretary and the tribe. These final regulations provide the process under which a tribe may apply for, and the Secretary may grant, authority for an Indian tribe to review and approve leases and business agreements and grant rights-of-way for specific energy development activities on tribal lands through an approved TERA. The regulations also cover processes for implementation of TERAs, including periodic review and evaluation of a tribe's activities under a TERA, enforcement of TERA provisions, and administrative appeals. The regulations also include a process for a tribe's voluntarily rescinding a TERA.

This notice advises the public that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), as lead agency, with the National Indian Gaming Commission, the City of Calexico and the Manzanita Band of Kumeyaay Indians (Tribe) as cooperating agencies, intends to gather information necessary for preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a proposed 60.8-acre fee-to-trust transfer and casino project in Calexico, Imperial County, California. This notice also announces a public scoping meeting to identify potential issues, concerns and alternatives to be considered in the EIS.

This notice publishes an approval of Amendment II of the Amended and Restated Class III Gaming Compact between the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and the State of Oregon.