25 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter N - ECONOMIC ENTERPRISES

The Bureau of Indian Affairs is proposing to amend its regulations governing its Housing Improvement Program, which is a safety-net program that provides grants for repairing, renovating, or replacing existing housing and for providing new housing. This proposed rule is an important part of the Tiwahe initiative, which is designed to promote the stability and security of Indian families. The proposed rule would align the program with other Federal requirements, allow leveraging of housing funds to increase the number of families served and projects funded, and expedite processing of waiting lists for housing assistance.

This rule deletes a provision in the Department of the Interior's land-into-trust regulations that excludes from the scope of the regulations, with one exception, land acquisitions in trust in the State of Alaska.

This proposed rule would update the Tribal Transportation Program regulations (formerly the Indian Reservation Roads Program) to comply with the current surface transportation authorization, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century, as extended, reflect changes in the delivery options for the program that have occurred since the regulation was published in 2004, remove certain sections that were provided for informational purposes only, and make technical corrections.

This document announces that the Department will accept comments on the proposed rule governing rights-of-way on Indian land until November 28, 2014. The proposed rule would comprehensively update and streamline the process for obtaining BIA grants of rights-of-way on Indian land, while supporting tribal self-determination and self-governance.

This notice announces that the Department will accept comments on the proposed rule governing rights-of-way on Indian land until November 3, 2014.

The Bureau of Indian Education provides financial and technical assistance to tribally controlled colleges and universities and Diné College. In collaboration with the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, we have prepared a discussion draft that updates the policies and procedures for administration and oversight of these assistance programs and revises regulatory language to conform to statutory amendments. This notice announces tribal consultation sessions and a comment period on the preliminary discussion draft.

On June 17, 2014, we published a proposed rule to revise regulations governing rights-of-way on Indian land. We have since received several requests for extension of the comment period. This notice extends the comment deadline by 45 days and announces the addition of a public hearing on the proposed rule.

On May 22, 2014, the Department of the Interior announced the availability of a proposed rule to revise regulations governing the process and criteria by which the Secretary acknowledges an Indian tribe. We have since received several requests for extension of the comment period and additional public hearings. This notice extends the comment deadline by 60 days and announces the addition of two more public hearings and two more tribal consultation sessions on the proposed rule.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) is extending the comment period on the proposed rule for land acquisitions in Alaska, which was published in the Federal Register on May 1, 2014. The original comment period would end June 30, 2014; however, the BIA has received several requests for extension. BIA has reviewed these requests and determined that a 30-day extension is appropriate.

This proposed rule would comprehensively update and streamline the process for obtaining BIA grants of rights-of-way on Indian land, while supporting tribal self-determination and self-governance. This proposed rule would also further implement the policy decisions and approaches established in the leasing regulations, which BIA finalized in December 2012, by applying them to the rights-of-way context where applicable. This publication also announces the dates and locations for tribal consultation sessions to discuss this proposed rights-of-way rule.

This proposed rule would revise regulations governing the process and criteria by which the Secretary acknowledges an Indian tribe. The revisions seek to make the process and criteria more transparent, promote consistent implementation, and increase timeliness and efficiency, while maintaining the integrity of the process. The current process has been criticized as “broken” or in need of reform. Specifically, the process has been criticized as too slow (a petition can take decades to be decided), expensive, burdensome, inefficient, intrusive, less than transparent and unpredictable. The proposed rule would reform the process by, among other things, institutionalizing a phased review that allows for faster decisions; reducing the documentary burden; allowing for a hearing on the proposed finding to promote transparency and process integrity; establishing the Assistant Secretary's final determination as final for the Department to promote efficiency; and establishing objective standards, where appropriate, to ensure transparency and predictability. This publication also announces the dates and locations for tribal consultation sessions and public meetings on this proposed rule.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) is amending its regulations to reflect a change of address for filing copies of Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) notices to the Eastern Regional Director and to update the titles of “Area Directors” to “Regional Directors.” This technical amendment is a nomenclature change that updates and corrects BIA officials' titles and the address for filing ICWA notices to the Eastern Regional Director.