Bureau of Indian Affairs December 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice announces the availability of the Department's new Guidelines for Implementing the Indian Child Welfare Act. These guidelines are intended to assist those involved in child custody proceedings in understanding and uniformly applying the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and the Department's regulations. All such parties including the courts, State child welfare agencies, private adoption agencies, Tribes, and family membershave a stake in ensuring the proper implementation of this important Federal law designed to protect Indian children, their parents, and Indian tribes.

This notice advises the public that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), as lead agency, intends to gather information necessary for preparing an environmental impact statement (EIS) in connection with the Tule River Tribe's (Tribe) proposed Eagle Mountain Casino Relocation Project in Tulare County, California. This notice also opens public scoping to identify potential issues, concerns and alternatives to be considered in the EIS.

The Assistant SecretaryIndian Affairs made a final agency determination to acquire 9.39 acres, more or less, of land in trust for the Puyallup Tribe of the Puyallup Reservation for gaming and other purposes on November 29, 2016.

The Assistant SecretaryIndian Affairs made a final agency determination to acquire 165.81 acres, more or less, of land in trust for the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, Michigan and Indiana, for gaming and other purposes on November 17, 2016.

The Department of the Interior (Department) is considering whether to propose an administrative rule that would comprehensively update 25 CFR part 140 (Licensed Indian Traders) in an effort to modernize the implementation of the Indian Trader statutes consistent with the Federal policies of Tribal self-determination and self- governance. The current regulations were promulgated in 1957 and have not been comprehensively updated since 1965. The purpose of this advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) is to solicit public comments on whether and how the Department should update 25 CFR part 140, including how the Indian Trader regulations might be updated to govern who trades on Indian land and how the regulations can better promote Tribal self-determination regarding trade on Indian lands. In this ANPRM, the Department also announces dates and locations for Tribal consultations and public meetings to consider this issue.

On June 20, 2016, the Bureau of Indian Affairs announced Tribal consultation on potential updates to probate regulations and announced that it would accept written comments until August 1, 2016. We are reopening the comment period to allow additional time for Tribal and public comment and will accept all comments received before January 4, 2017.