[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 221 (Wednesday, November 15, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69044-69045]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-29150]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs


Plan for the Use and Distribution of the Menominee Tribe of 
Wisconsin Settlement Funds--Termination Act Claims

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the plan for the use and 
distribution of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin settlement fund 
is effective as of September 20, 2000. The settlement fund was created 
under section 3 the Act of August 17, 1999, Public Law 106-54, 113 
Stat. 398.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Daisy West, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 
Division of Tribal Government Services, MS-4631-MIB, 1849 C Street, NW, 
Washington, DC 20240. Telephone number: (202) 208-2475.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Subsection 3(c)(1) of the Act of August 17, 
1999, supra, and section 3(b) of the Indian Tribal Judgment Funds Act, 
25 U.S.C. 1403(b), requires that a plan be prepared and submitted to 
Congress for the use and distribution of the Menominee settlement 
funds. The plan for the use and distribution of the funds was submitted 
to Congress on May 22, 2000, by letters dated May 19, 2000. The receipt 
of the letters was recorded in the Congressional Record published on 
May 24, 2000. The plan became effective on September 20, 2000, since a 
joint resolution disapproving it was not enacted. The plan reads as 
follows:

Plan

For the Use and Distribution of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin 
Judgment Funds

    The funds appropriated on September 27, 1999, in satisfaction of an 
award granted to the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin (Tribe) 
pursuant to the Act of August 17, 1999, Pub. L. 106-54, 113 Stat. 398, 
including all interest and investment income accrued, less attorney 
fees and litigation expenses, shall be distributed as herein provided.
A. Per Capita Distribution
    Approximately $16,026,000 (58.8 percent of the judgment funds 
remaining after payment of litigation expenses) shall be made available 
for a $2,000 per capita payment to all duly enrolled tribal members 
that filed enrollment applications with the Tribe on or before October 
15, 1999. Judgment fund per capita shares shall also be set aside for 
the estates of tribal members that were living on August 17, 1999, but 
deceased prior to the per capita distribution, provided, that 
enrollment applications were filed with the Tribe prior to the 
application deadline date.
    If the estimated amount is not sufficient to cover the per capita 
portion of the distribution, funding adjustments can be made from the 
Alternative and Additional Projects account.
    The per capita shares of living competent adults shall be paid 
directly to them. The per capita shares of incarcerated members who are 
eligible for the per capita payment shall be placed in Individual 
Indian Money (IIM) accounts, provided that the Tribe provides a 
certified list of those individuals to the Bureau of Indian Affairs 
along with the written requests from those individuals requesting that 
their per capita funds be placed in a non-supervised IIM account. The 
per capita shares of deceased individual beneficiaries shall be 
determined in accordance with 43 CFR, Subpart D. Per capita shares of 
legal incompetents and minors shall be placed in IIM accounts and shall 
not be available for disbursement until a payment plan is developed by 
the Tribe for the disbursement of funds from the supervised IIM 
accounts as required under 25 U.S.C. 1403(b)(3). The payment plan for 
the shares belonging to legal incompetents and minors must be approved 
by the Secretary. The Tribe may make the per capita distribution as 
authorized under 25 U.S.C. 117(b).
B. Programming
    The programming funds shall be allocated by the Tribe for the 
following projects. The programming funds are authorized for 
expenditure in accordance with the revised tribal plan approved by the 
Menominee Tribal Legislature under Resolution No. 00-14, on March 23, 
2000.

Renovation and Expansion of the Tribal Courthouse--           $1,500,000
 Principal and investment income earned after the
 account is established by the Tribe will be available
 for the renovation and expansion project...............

[[Page 69045]]

 
Education Endowment--Perpetual investment of principal         4,000,000
 funds, expenditures from interest income earned after
 the endowment fund is established......................
Burial Fund Endowment--Perpetual investment of principal       2,000,000
 funds, expenditures from interest income earned after
 the endowment fund is established......................
Health Care Endowment--Perpetual investment of principal       2,000,000
 funds, expenditures from interest income earned after
 the endowment fund is established......................
Utilities Capital Improvement Fund--Principal and              1,500,000
 investment income earned after the account is
 established by the Tribe will be available for water
 and sewer projects and for use as matching grant funds
 for such projects......................................
 
Alternative and Additional Projects--Principal and               218,665
 investment income earned after the accounts are
 established by the Tribe will be available for
 alternative and additional projects. Any funds
 remaining after completing the per capita distribution
 and the renovation and expansion of the tribal
 courthouse shall also be available for the following
 alternative and additional projects:...................
    a. Telecommunications/Emergency Government
     Improvements (est. $125,000).......................
    b. Animal Shelter (est. $50,000)....................
    c. Recreation Supplement (est. $50,000).............
    d. Eagles' Nest Operations Funding Supplement (est.
     $50,000)...........................................
Use of Interest Funds--All interest earned on the
 judgment funds from the date of appropriation
 (September 27, 1999) until the date the funds are
 transferred to the Tribe in accordance with this plan,
 shall be added to the Tribe's FY 2000 Tribal budget
 (revenue side) to reduce the reliance on transfers from
 reserve by the like amount (Estimated to be
 $1,500,000)............................................
 

C. Feasibility of Participation by Tribal Members Not on or Near the 
Reservation
    The vast majority of the proposed uses of the judgment funds will 
be available to all tribal members. A share in the per capita 
distribution, eligibility for burial assistance, and access to both the 
health and education benefits provided through the establishment of 
these endowments means that 85 percent of the available settlement 
funds will be available to all tribal members regardless of residence.
D. General Provisions
    The programming portion of the judgment fund shall be disbursed to 
the Tribe as soon as practical. If the tribal payment roll is certified 
by the Bureau of Indian Affairs Director, Midwest Region prior to the 
effective date of the plan, the program portion of the funds shall be 
disbursed to the Tribe within 30 days of the effective date of the 
plan. Otherwise, the program funds shall be disbursed to the Tribe 
within 30 days of the certification of the Tribal payment roll. Once 
the program funds are disbursed to the Tribe, the United States 
Government shall no longer have any trust responsibility for the 
investment, supervision, administration, or expenditure of the program 
portion of the judgment funds.
    None of the funds distributed per capita, including the investment 
income earned thereon while held in trust, or made available under this 
plan for programming shall be subject to Federal or State income taxes. 
Nor can any of these funds nor their availability be considered as 
income or resources nor otherwise utilized as the basis for denying or 
reducing the financial assistance or other benefits to which such 
household or member would otherwise be entitled under the Social 
Security Act, or except for per capita shares in excess of $2,000, any 
federal or federally assisted program.
    This notice is published in exercise of authority delegated to the 
Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs under 25 U.S.C. 2 and 9 and 209 DM 
8.

    Dated: November 2, 2000.
Kevin Gover,
Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 00-29150 Filed 11-14-00; 8:45 am]
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