[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 14 (Wednesday, January 22, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3112-3113]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-1272]



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Part III





Department of Housing and Urban Development





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Indian Housing Block Grant Allocation Formula: Notice of Proposed 
Negotiated Rulemaking Committee Membership; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 68, No. 14 / Wednesday, January 22, 2003 / 
Notices  

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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-4676-N-05]


Indian Housing Block Grant Allocation Formula: Notice of Proposed 
Negotiated Rulemaking Committee Membership

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian 
Housing, HUD.

ACTION: Notice of proposed negotiated rulemaking committee membership.

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SUMMARY: HUD announces its list of proposed members for its Indian 
Housing Block Grant Allocation Formula Negotiated Rulemaking Committee, 
and requests public comments on the proposed membership. The committee 
will negotiate a proposed rule to revise the allocation formula used 
under the Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG) Program. This document 
follows publication of July 16, 2001, and July 5, 2002, notices 
advising the public of HUD's intent to establish the negotiated 
rulemaking committee and soliciting nominations for membership on the 
committee.

DATES: Comment Due Date: February 21, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding 
this notice to the Regulations Division, Room 10276, Office of General 
Counsel, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh 
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20410. Comments should refer to the above 
docket number and title. A copy of each comment submitted will be 
available for public inspection and copying between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., 
weekdays, at the above address. Facsimile (FAX) comments will not be 
accepted.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rodger Boyd, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Native American Programs, Room 4126, Office of Public and 
Indian Housing, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 
Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20410, telephone, (202) 401-7914 
(this is not a toll-free number). Hearing or speech-impaired 
individuals may access this number via TTY by calling the toll-free 
Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    With tribal participation, HUD developed the March 12, 1998 (63 FR 
12349), final rule that implemented the Native American Housing 
Assistance and Self-Determination Act (25 U.S.C. 4101 et seq.) 
(NAHASDA). Following the procedures of the Negotiated Rulemaking Act of 
1990 (5 U.S.C. 561-570), the committee negotiated the March 12, 1998, 
final rule, which created a new 24 CFR part 1000 containing the Indian 
Housing Block Grant (IHBG) regulations. NAHASDA established the IHBG 
Program by reorganizing housing assistance to Native Americans and 
eliminating and consolidating a number of HUD assistance programs. In 
addition to creating a single housing assistance program, NAHASDA 
provides federal assistance for Indian tribes in a manner that 
recognizes the right of Indian self-determination and tribal self-
government.
    On July 5, 2002 (67 FR 44787), HUD published a notice of intent to 
establish a committee to discuss and negotiate a proposed rule that 
would revise the allocation formula used under the IHBG Program. The 
amount of assistance made to Indian tribes is determined using this 
formula, developed as part of the NAHASDA negotiated rulemaking 
process. A regulatory description of this formula is located in subpart 
D of 24 CFR part 1000 (Sec. Sec.  1000.301-1000.340). In general, the 
amount of funding for a tribe is the sum of the formula's need 
component and the Formula Current Assisted Stock (FCAS) component, 
subject to a minimum funding amount authorized by Sec.  1000.328. Based 
on the amount of funding appropriated annually for the IHBG Program, 
HUD calculates the annual grant for each tribe and conveys this 
information to Indian tribes. An Indian Housing Plan (IHP) for the 
tribe is then submitted to HUD. If the IHP is found to be in compliance 
with the statutory and regulatory requirements, the grant is made. In 
federal fiscal year 2001, HUD allocated approximately $643.4 million to 
Indian tribes.
    Section 1000.306 of the IHBG Program regulations provides that the 
allocation formula shall be reviewed within five years after issuance. 
This 5-year period does not close until March 2003, however, the 
Omnibus Indian Advancement Act (Pub. L. 105-568, approved December 27, 
2000), makes several statutory changes to the IHBG allocation formula 
that HUD has decided to implement through rulemaking. Accordingly, HUD 
believes this would be an appropriate time to review the IHBG formula.
    HUD first published a notice of intent to establish a negotiated 
rulemaking committee on July 16, 2001 (66 FR 37098), but due to the 
events of September 11, 2001, HUD was not able to act on the notice 
within the timeframes originally intended. Accordingly, HUD published 
the July 5, 2002, notice, which (1) again advised the public of HUD's 
intent to establish the negotiated rulemaking committee; (2) solicited 
public comments on the proposed membership of the committee; (3) 
explained how persons could be nominated for membership to the 
committee; and (4) announced the names of those who successfully 
completed applications under the original July 16, 2001, notice. In 
particular, HUD solicited committee members from among elected officers 
of tribal governments (or authorized designees of those tribal 
governments) with a definable stake in the outcome of a proposed rule.

II. Proposed Membership of Negotiated Rulemaking Committee

    This notice announces HUD's list of proposed members to the 
negotiated rulemaking committee, and requests public comment on the 
proposed committee membership. In making its proposed selections for 
membership on the negotiated rulemaking committee, HUD's goal was to 
establish a committee whose membership reflects a balanced 
representation of Indian tribes. Selections were based on those 
nominees who met the eligibility criteria for membership contained in 
the two Federal Register notices. No distinction was made between 
persons nominated pursuant to the original July 16, 2001, notice and 
those nominated pursuant to the July 5, 2002, notice. In addition to 
the tribal members of the committee, there will be two HUD 
representatives on the negotiated rulemaking committee. After 
consideration of all the public comments received on this proposed list 
of committee members, HUD will announce the final composition of the 
negotiated rulemaking committee in a subsequent Federal Register 
notice.
    HUD proposes to make the following selections for tribal membership 
on the negotiated rulemaking committee:

    Eddie L. Tullis, Tribal Chairman, Poarch Band of Creek Indians, 
Atmore, Alabama.
    Joel M. Frank, Housing Director, Seminole Tribe of Florida, 
Hollywood, Florida.
    Beasley Denson, Vice Chief, Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, 
Choctaw, Mississippi.
    Bruce K. LaPointe, Development Director, Sault St. Marie Housing 
Authority, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.
    Bill Anoatubby, Governor, The Chickasaw Nation, Ada, Oklahoma.
    Russell Sossamon, Executive Director, Housing Authority of the 
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Hugo, Oklahoma.

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    Robert B. Carlile III, Executive Director, Citizen Potawatomi 
Nation Housing Authority, Shawnee, Oklahoma.
    Marvin Jones, Executive Director, Community Services, Cherokee 
Nation, Tahlequah, Oklahoma.
    Jack Sawyers, Executive Director, Utah Paiute Tribal Housing 
Authority, Cedar City, Utah.
    Robert Gauthier, Executive Director, Salish and Kootenai Housing 
Authority, Pablo, Montana.
    Wayne Ducheneaux, Executive Director, Cheyenne River Housing 
Authority, Eagle Butte, South Dakota.
    Darlene Tooley, Executive Director, Northern Circle Indian 
Housing Authority, Ukiah, California.
    Michael L. Reed, Chief Executive Officer, Cocopah Indian Housing 
and Development, Somerton, Arizona.
    Terry Hudson, Executive Director, Northern Pueblos Housing 
Authority, Espanola, New Mexico.
    Judith Marasco, Executive Director, Yurok Indian Housing 
Authority, Klamath, California.
    Ervin Chavez, Vice Chairman, Board of Commissioners, Navajo 
Housing Authority, Window Rock, Navajo Nation, Arizona.
    Brian Wallace, Chairman, Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, 
South Gardnerville, Nevada.
    Larry Coyle, Tribal Council Member, Cowlitz Tribe, Oakville, 
Washington.
    Tim King, Tribal Council Member, Samish Indian Nation, Seattle, 
Washington.
    Virginia Brings Yellow, Tribal Council Member, Quinault Indian 
Nation, Taholah, Washington.
    Marty Shuravloff, Executive Director, Kodiak Island Housing 
Authority, Kodiak, Alaska.
    Blake Y. Kazama, Executive Director, Tlingit-Haida Regional 
Housing Authority, Juneau, Alaska.
    Ron Hoffman, Executive Director, Association of Village Council 
Presidents Regional Housing Authority, Bethel, Alaska.
    Carol Gore, Executive Director, Cook Inlet Housing Authority, 
Anchorage, Alaska.

III. Committee Meetings

    At this time, HUD has not yet finalized the schedule for the 
committee meetings. Advance notice of committee meetings will be 
published in the Federal Register. Meetings of the negotiated 
rulemaking committee will be open to the public without advance 
registration. Public attendance may be limited to the space available. 
Members of the public will be provided with an opportunity to make 
statements during the meeting to the extent that time permits, and file 
written statements with the committee for its consideration. In the 
event that the logistics of the committee meetings are changed, HUD 
will advise the public through Federal Register notice.

    Dated: January 10, 2003.
Michael Liu,
Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing.
[FR Doc. 03-1272 Filed 1-21-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-33-P