[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 102 (Friday, May 25, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31378-31379]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-12739]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Office of the Secretary
Secretarial Commission on Indian Trust Administration and Reform
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of meeting.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Office of the Secretary is announcing that the Secretarial
Commission on Indian Trust Administration and Reform (the Commission)
will hold a public meeting on June 11 and 12, 2012. The Commission has
gathered input and information from two public meetings and has
requested feedback on five questions regarding the development of a
comprehensive evaluation of how the Department of the Interior manages
and administers its trust responsibilities to American Indians and
Alaska Natives. The five questions can be found at http://www.doi.gov/cobell/commission/index.cfm under ``Tribal Outreach Letter.'' The
Secretarial Commission's charter requires the Commission to provide
well-reasoned and factually based recommendations for potential
improvements to the existing management and administration of the trust
administration system. The Commission is committed to early public
engagement and welcomes your participation in these important meetings.
DATES: The Commission's public meeting will begin at 8 a.m. and end at
5 p.m. on June 11, 2012, and will begin at 8:30 a.m. and end at 4 p.m.
on June 12, 2012. Attendance is open to the public, but limited space
is available. Members of the public who wish to attend should respond
by June 7, 2012, to: trustcommission@ios.doi.gov.
ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held at the Office of the Special
Trustee for American Indians, 4400 Masthead Street NE., Room 145,
Albuquerque, NM 87109. The meeting will be held in a federal facility.
We encourage you to respond to trustcommission@ios.doi.gov by June 7,
2012, and plan on arriving early with your photo ID to adhere to
building security requirements.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The Designated Federal Officer, Lizzie
Marsters, Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary, Department of the
Interior, 1849 C Street NW., Room 6118, Washington, DC 20240; or email
to Lizzie_Marsters@ios.doi.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As part of President Obama's commitment to
fulfilling this nation's trust responsibilities to American Indians and
Alaska Natives, the Secretary of the Interior appointed five members to
serve on the Secretarial Commission on Indian Trust Administration and
Reform, established under Secretarial Order No. 3292, dated December 8,
2009. The Commission plays a key role in the Department's ongoing
efforts to empower Indian nations and strengthen government-to-
government relationships.
The Commission will complete a comprehensive evaluation of the
Department's management and administration of the trust assets within a
two-year period and offer recommendations to the Secretary of the
Interior on how to improve in the future. The Commission will:
(1) Conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the Department's
management and administration of the trust administration system;
(2) Review the Department's provision of services to trust
beneficiaries;
(3) Review input from the public, interested parties, and trust
beneficiaries, which should involve conducting a number of regional
listening sessions;
(4) Consider the nature and scope of necessary audits of the
Department's trust administration system;
(5) Recommend options to the Secretary to improve the Department's
management and administration of the trust administration system based
on information obtained from the Commission's activities, including
whether legislative or regulatory changes are necessary to implement
the improvements; and
(6) Consider the provisions of the American Indian Trust Fund
Management Reform Act of 1994
[[Page 31379]]
providing for termination of the Office of the Special Trustee for
American Indians (OST), and make recommendations to the Secretary
regarding termination.
The following items will be on the agenda:
Monday, June 11, 2012
Welcome blessing
Status update on settlement
Review and report on Commission operations
Trust Relationship Subcommittee report and panel session
Trust Models Subcommittee report and panel session
Discussion of comments received to-date in response to
questions in Commission Outreach letter
Public round robin session to share perspectives regarding any
of the previous panel discussion questions
[cir] Do you have any recommendations or suggestions that would
improve the government-to-government relationship between the
Department of the Interior and tribes with respect to trust
administration?
[cir] Are there any other trust administration models the
Commission should examine as it looks towards improving the Department
of the Interior's trust administration and management?
Commissioner reflections from round robin
Review agreements and action items for the day
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Status update on BIA consultations, preliminary overview of
comments
Trust Management and Administration Subcommittee report
Trust Management and Administration Panel Session presentation
and discussion
Commission work plan--discuss updates, including updates to
subcommittee charge
Public round robin session to share perspectives regarding any
of the previous panel discussion questions
[cir] Do you have any recommendations to improve or streamline
delivery of services to trust beneficiaries? This includes matters
related to financial management and accounting functions, as well as
natural resource management functions.
[cir] Do you have any recommendations to improve or strengthen
trust management and/or administration based on information gathered in
the course of litigation and settlement of the recent tribal breach-of-
trust cases announced in early April of this year?
[cir] Given that the sunset provision in the American Indian Trust
Fund Management Reform Act of 1994 was predicated on OST's oversight
and reform responsibilities, and that OST now has additional
operational duties, should the Commission recommend sunsetting the OST?
Suggested topics for next meeting
Review action items and meeting accomplishments
Closing blessing, adjourn
Written comments may be sent to the Designated Federal Officer
listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section above. To review
all related material on the Commission's work, please refer to http://www.doi.gov/cobell/commission/index.cfm. All meetings are open to the
public.
Dated: May 19, 2012.
David J. Hayes,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2012-12739 Filed 5-24-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-W7-P