[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 107 (Monday, June 3, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 27831-27833]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-13731]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
25 CFR Part 217
RIN 1076-AD37
Management by the Tribe and the Ute Distribution Corporation of
the Ute Indian Tribe's Undivided Tribal Assets on the Uintah and Ouray
Reservations, Utah
AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) is proposing to amend the
regulations governing the procedures, under the Secretary of the
Interior's supervision, for jointly managing the undivided assets of
the Ute Indian Tribe. This rule was identified for reinvention under
the National Performance Review. It is written in plain English to make
the rule easier to read and understand.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before August 2, 1996.
ADDRESSES: Mail or hand carry comments to Terrance Virden, Acting
Director, Office of Trust Responsibilities, Bureau of Indian Affairs,
Department of the Interior, 1849 C St. NW, Mail Stop 4513-MIB,
Washington, DC 20240.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kim Synder, Division of Energy and
Minerals, Bureau of Indian Affairs at telephone (202) 208-3607.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Publication of the proposed rule by the
Department of the Interior (Department) provides the public an
opportunity to participate in the rulemaking process. Interested
persons may submit written comments regarding the proposed rule to the
location identified in the ``addresses'' section of this document.
We certify to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that these
proposed regulations meet the applicable standards provided in sections
2(a) and 2(b)(2) of Executive Order 12778.
This is not a significant rule under Executive Order 12866 and does
not require review by the Office of Management and Budget.
This rule imposes no unfunded mandates on any government or private
entity and is in compliance with the provisions of the Unfunded
Mandates Act of 1995.
The information collection requirements in this part do not require
approval by OMB under 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.
We determined this proposed rule:
(a) Will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C.
601 et seq.);
(b) Does not constitute a major Federal action significantly
affecting the quality of the human environment and no detailed
statement is required under the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969;
(c) Does not have significant takings implications in accordance
with Executive Order 12630; and
(d) Does not have significant federalism effects.
This rule was written by the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Regulatory
Review Action Team.
List of Subjects in 25 CFR Part 217
Indians-claims, Indians-land, mineral resources.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, we propose to revise Part
217 of Title 25 of the Code of Federal Regulations as follows:
PART 217--MANAGEMENT BY THE TRIBE AND THE UTE DISTRIBUTION
CORPORATION OF THE UTE INDIAN TRIBE'S UNDIVIDED TRIBAL ASSETS ON
THE UINTAH AND OURAY RESERVATION, UTAH
Sec.
217.1 What do certain terms mean?
217.2 What is the authority for this part?
217.3 What is the purpose of this part?
217.4 How do proceeds divide between the two groups?
217.5 What is the Secretary's role under this part?
217.6 How is wildlife managed?
217.7 What is the Joint Advisory Board and what do they do?
217.8 Must joint managers document decisions and file reports?
217.9 Who collects payments from mineral interests?
217.10 How are errors in paying mineral interests corrected?
Authority: 25 U.S.C. 677z.
Sec. 217.1 What do certain terms mean?
Act means the Act of August 27, 1954, 68 Stat. 868, 25 U.S.C. 677-
677aa, commonly referred to as the ``Ute Partition Act'' or the ``Ute
Termination Act,'' as amended by the Act of August 2, 1956, 70 Stat.
936, and the Act of September 25, 1962, 76 Stat. 597.
Affiliated Ute Citizens of Utah (AUC) means the organization that
represented the mixed-blood members of the Ute Indian Tribe to help
partition and distribute divisible tribal assets and carry out other
purposes under the Act before August 27, 1961, 12 midnight.
Asset means any real, personal, or mixed property of the tribe,
whether held by the tribe or by the United States in trust for them, or
restricted from division by the United States.
Full-blood means a member of the tribe who is on the final roll of
full-bloods published April 5, 1956, 21 FR 2208, and also anyone
enrolled later as a tribal member under the tribe's constitution, by-
laws, and ordinances.
Indian mineral interest means any interest in minerals United
States holds in trust to benefit the full-bloods and mixed-bloods,
individually or as a tribe.
Mixed-blood means a person who is on the final roll of mixed-bloods
published April 5, 1956, 21 FR 2208. The mixed-blood roll is closed.
Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior or other person
acting under the Secretary's authority.
Tribal Business Committee means the governing body of the Ute
Indian Tribe, created under the tribe's constitution and by-laws.
Tribe means the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray
Reservation, Utah. Starting April 5, 1956, when the
[[Page 27832]]
final rolls were published, the tribe has consisted exclusively of
full-blood members, as determined by the tribe's constitution, by-laws,
and ordinances.
Undivided assets means those which are unadjudicated or
unliquidated claims against the United States and rights in gas, oil,
and minerals. They also consist of other assets existing on April 5,
1956, which can't be distributed equitably and practically, including
wildlife and the right to hunt and fish.
Ute Distribution Corporation (UDC) means the corporation organized
by the Affiliated Ute Citizens of Utah (AUC), under the Act and the
laws of the State of Utah. The AUC irrevocably delegated authority to
the UDC to represent the mixed-blood members of the tribe in joint
management of undivided assets and to receive and distribute their net
proceeds to stockholders of the UDC.
Sec. 217.2 What is the authority for this part?
The basic authority for this part is the Act itself, 25 U.S.C.
677z, but we have also tried to follow the decrees and directions of
the federal courts in the following cases: Affiliated Ute Citizens v.
United States, 406 U.S. 128 (1972); Reyos v. United States, 431 F.2d
1337 (10th Cir. 1970); Affiliated Ute Citizens of Utah v. United
States, 431 F.2d 1349 (10th Cir. 1970); United States v. Felter, 546 F.
Supp. 1002 (D. Utah 1982); United States v. Felter, 752 F.2d 1505 (10th
Cir. 1985); Murdock v. Ute Indian Tribe, et al., No. 91-4112, Slip. Op.
(10th Cir. Sept. 9, 1992); and Affiliated Ute Citizens v. Ute Indian
Tribe, Donald Hodel, et al., Federal District Court for Utah, 85-C-
0569J, Memorandum Opinion and Order, February 3, 1987, and Memorandum
Opinion and Order, November 16, 1992.
Sec. 217.3 What is the purpose of this part?
This part provides procedures for jointly managing undivided assets
of the Ute Indian tribe, under the Secretary's supervision. In managing
these assets, Tribal Business Committee represents the full-blood
group, and the Ute Distribution Corporation (UDC) represents the mixed-
blood group.
Sec. 217.4 How do proceeds divide between the two groups?
(a) The proceeds divide between the two groups in proportion to the
number of persons on final membership rolls published April 5, 1956, in
21 FR 2208. Based on these rolls, they received a certain percentage of
all divisible assets; they have also received, and will continue to
receive, the same percentages of net proceeds from undivided assets:
(1) Full-bloods: 72.83814 percent;
(2) Mixed-bloods: 27.16186 percent.
(b) These percentages don't change, even though tribal membership
has changed, and the type and number of UDC stockholders varies as they
transfer stock. Originally, UDC's stockholders were all the people
listed on the final roll of mixed-bloods.
(c) The tribe and the UDC pay their own costs for managing
undivided assets.
Sec. 217.5 What is the Secretary's role under this part?
(a) Under this part, the Secretary's standard responsibilities
include--
(1) Supervising how the Tribal Business Committee and the UDC
manage the Ute tribe's undivided assets;
(2) Receiving the proceeds from undivided assets and, after
deducting internal costs, dividing the net proceeds between the UDC and
the tribe according to the established percentages;
(3) Signing patents, deeds, assignments, releases, certificates,
contracts, or other instruments needed to carry out the Act or to
establish a marketable and recordable title to property disposed of
under the Act (25 U.S.C. 677y).
(b) If the Tribal Business Committee or the UDC's Board of
Directors notifies the Secretary that they disagree on how to handle
undivided assets, he or she--
(1) Partitions the tribe's assets lawfully, equitably, and fairly
to both groups (25 U.S.C. 677i);
(2) Issues a written decision resolving the disagreement within 30
days of receiving the notice; and
(3) States this decision in letters to all interested parties.
(c) The Secretary also handles other responsibilities stated in the
Act or elsewhere in federal law.
Sec. 217.6 How is wildlife managed?
Based on decisions in federal courts, wildlife on the Uintah and
Ouray Reservation, Utah is an undivided asset because no one can
equitably divide the tribe's or individual Indian's right to hunt and
fish on it. Specifically, the rights of mixed-bloods to hunt and fish
on the reservation will end whenever the last mixed-blood listed on the
final roll dies. Thus, the Tribal Business Committee and the UDC must
jointly manage the regulation of wildlife and hunting and fishing by
tribal members and by mixed-bloods on the final roll.
Sec. 217.7 What is the Joint Advisory Board and what do they do?
(a) The Joint Advisory Board is a group the Secretary may establish
permanently or to consider a particular issue. It includes
representatives of--
(1) The Tribe;
(2) The UDC; and
(3) The Secretary.
(b) The Joint Advisory Board:
(1) Considers anything that concerns managing undivided assets;
(2) If organized to consider a specific task, investigates and
recommends actions on that task to the Secretary;
(3) Transmits its decisions in writing to the Tribal Business
Committee, the UDC's Board of Directors, and the Secretary.
Sec. 217.8 Must joint managers document decisions and file reports?
Yes. The Tribal Business Committee and UDC's Board of Directors
must:
(a) Write out and place an authorized member's signature on all
decisions or legal documents;
(b) Accompany each decision or document with a resolution
authorizing it to be signed;
(c) Send all decisions or documents to the Secretary for approval
or disapproval; and
(d) File annual reports to the Secretary:
(1) From the Tribal Business Committee on management of undivided
assets to the tribal membership;
(2) From UDC's Board of Directors on management of hunting and
fishing to the mixed-bloods and of all other undivided assets to UDC
stockholders.
Sec. 217.9 Who collects payments from mineral interests?
The Minerals Management Service collects payments from mineral
interests and sends them to the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Office of
Trust Fund Management. Trust Fund Management deposits the money in a
joint management account or Individual Indian Money account in the
United States Treasury.
Sec. 217.10 How are errors in paying mineral interests corrected?
(a) An error that results in underpaying or overpaying the tribe,
UDC, or an allottee usually gets corrected within six months. The
period may be longer if the amount is too large. The BIA's Office of
Trust Fund Management takes money from the joint management account or
diverts money that would otherwise go to an Individual Indian Money
account and places it in the account of the appropriate joint manager
or allottee. The amount includes principal and interest earned, as well
as penalties, if any.
(b) Reporting of an error depends on its source. If the error
results from--
[[Page 27833]]
(1) An action by BIA, the joint managers, or an allottee, the
Secretary must immediately notify the BIA's Office of Trust Fund
Management and the Minerals Management Service (MMS) of the error and
how to correct it;
(2) An action or inaction by MMS, a lessee, payee, or a person or
company legally associated with a lessee, MMS must immediately notify
the BIA's Office of Trust Fund Management of the error and how to
correct it.
Dated: May 22, 1996.
Ada E. Deer,
Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 96-13731 Filed 5-31-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-02-P