[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 19 (Wednesday, January 29, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4505-4507]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-2043]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs


Vacancies for Committee Members on the Transportation Equity Act 
for the 21st Century (TEA-21) Negotiated Rulemaking Committee

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: There are several vacancies on the committee that the 
Department has convened to negotiate regulations to implement the 
Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century. We propose filling 
these vacancies by naming current committee alternates and other 
qualified individuals. Tribes, tribal organizations, and individual 
tribal members who believe that their interests will not be adequately 
represented by the persons identified in this notice may submit 
comments on the proposed selection, apply for membership on the 
committee, or submit other nominations.

DATES: Comments on this notice and nominations for committee members 
must be received no later than February 13, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Send nominations and comments to Mr. LeRoy Gishi, Chief, 
Division of Transportation, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department 
of the Interior, MS-4058-MIB, 1849 C Street NW., Washington, DC 20240; 
or fax to (202) 208-4696. Nominations and comments received by BIA will 
be available for inspection at the address listed above from 9 a.m. to 
4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. LeRoy Gishi, (202) 208-4359.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On February 11, 1999, in a Federal Register 
notice (64 FR 6825), the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) 
announced selection of members of the TEA-21 Negotiated Rulemaking 
Committee to develop proposed regulations for the Indian Reservation 
Roads program under the Negotiated Rulemaking Act and Section 1115 of 
TEA-21. The Secretary selected two primary tribal Committee 
representatives and two tribal alternates from nominees from tribes in 
each of the twelve Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Regions. In addition, 
the Secretary selected five additional primary tribal Committee members 
from various regions to balance interests on the Committee and selected 
eleven Federal representatives. The Committee began negotiations on the 
proposed regulations in March 1999 and the Secretary published proposed 
regulations in August 2002.
    The Committee must reconvene in early 2003 to consider public 
comments and make recommendations for final regulations. During the 
tenure of the Committee, some primary tribal Committee members have 
become unable to continue to serve on the Committee. In order to 
continue to fulfill the requirements of TEA-21 for tribal Committee 
membership, the Secretary must appoint representatives to fill tribal 
member vacancies on the Committee. Tribes, tribal organizations, and 
individual tribal members who believe that their interests will not be 
adequately represented by the persons identified in this notice may 
submit comments on the proposed selection, apply for membership on the 
committee, or submit other nominations by the date in the ``DATES'' 
section.
    The Secretary is required to use a negotiated rulemaking process to 
issue regulations governing the Indian Reservation Roads program and 
establish a formula for allocating all contractible funds among Indian 
tribes for fiscal year 2000 and subsequent years (23 U.S.C. Section 
202, as amended by TEA-21 (Pub. L. 105-178, 112 Stat. 154.)) The 
Secretary is also required to:

[[Page 4506]]

    (1) Apply the procedures of negotiated rulemaking under subchapter 
III of chapter 5 of Title 5 (the Negotiated Rulemaking Act) in a manner 
that reflects the unique government-to-government relationship between 
the Indian tribes and the United States; and
    (2) Ensure that the membership of the committee includes only 
representatives of the Federal Government and of geographically diverse 
small, medium, and large Indian tribes. For more information on the 
TEA-21 Negotiated Rulemaking Committee see 67 FR 51328, dated August 7, 
2002.
    Based upon recommendations for proposed regulations and a funding 
formula the TEA-21 Negotiated Rulemaking Committee provided to the 
Secretary, the Secretary published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 
(NPRM) on August 7, 2002 (67 FR 51328). The public comment period for 
the NPRM ended on November 7, 2002. The Committee must now reconvene to 
consider the public comments and make recommendations to the Secretary 
for final regulations and a funding formula. The Secretary must fill 
the primary tribal member vacancies on the Committee to ensure that 
tribal interests on the Committee, required by TEA-21, are balanced to 
include:
    (1) Members of geographically diverse small, medium, and large 
Indian tribes;
    (2) Members of tribes identified as Direct Services, Self-
Determination, and Self-Governance tribes; and
    (3) Members of tribes with various levels and types of experience 
in the diverse concerns of transportation development and management 
(e.g., jurisdictional issues, complexity of transportation systems, 
climatic concerns, environmental issues, geographic isolation, etc.).
    The Secretary proposes to fill primary tribal Committee membership 
vacancies by naming current tribal Committee alternates where 
alternates have participated in the Committee negotiations and, where 
those alternates are not available, naming other qualified individuals 
to fill vacancies of primary tribal Committee members. Current primary 
tribal Committee members who were originally selected to serve on the 
Committee are designated with an asterisk (*). The Secretary proposes 
that the TEA-21 Negotiated Rulemaking Committee be comprised of the 
following primary and alternate tribal Committee members when it 
reconvenes:
    Representatives of Tribes, Tribal Organizations, and Individual 
Indians

Great Plains Region

*Pete Red Tomahawk, Transportation Planner, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, 
Fort Yates, ND
Sherman Wright, Transportation Planner, Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Rosebud, 
SD
Alternate: Gilbert Red Dog, Northern Plains Transportation Advisory 
Council Member, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Eagle Butte, South Dakota

Southwest Region

Edmond Gonzalez, Civil Engineer, Pueblo of San Ildefonso, Albuquerque, 
NM
Shannon McKenna, Lieutenant Governor, Pueblo of Nambe, Albuquerque, NM
*Edward Little, Mescalero Apache Tribe, Mescalero, NM

Southern Plains Region

*Chuck Tsoodle, Tribal Roads & Transit Director, Kiowa Tribe of 
Oklahoma, Carnegie, OK
*Tim Ramirez, Tribal Roads Director, Prairie Band of Potawatami Nation, 
Mayetta, KS
Alternates: Bill Tall Bear, Program Coordinator-Transportation Planner, 
Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, Concho, OK
Ray Ball, Transportation Planner, Kaw Nation, Kaw City, Oklahoma

Rocky Mountain Region

*John Smith, Transportation Planner, Shoshone & Arapaho Tribes, Fort 
Washakie, WY
Caleb Shields, Chief of Staff, Ft. Peck Tribe, Poplar, MT
Alternates: John Healy, Transportation Planner, Fort Belknap Tribes, 
Harlem, MT
Cordell Ringel, Engineer, Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council, 
Billings, MT

Eastern Region

*Eddie Tullis, Chairman, Poarch Band of Creek Indians, Atmore, AL
*Jody Clark, Transportation Manager, Seneca Nation of Indians, 
Salamanca, NY

Alaska Region

*Loretta Bullard, President, Kawarek, Inc., Nome, AK
*Al Ketzler Sr., Fairbanks, AK
*Gideon James, Tribal Operations Director, Native Village of Venetie 
Tribal Government, Venetie, AK
Alternates: Dugan Nielsen, Director, Land & Resources, Bristol Bay 
Native Association, Dillingham, AK
Dan Moreno, Transportation Planner, Sitka Tribe, Juneau, AK

Midwest Region

*Jim Garrigan, Director of Tribal Roads, Red Lake Band of Chippewa 
Indians, Red Lake, MN
*Mike Christensen, Tribal Roads Committee, Lac Du Flambeau Chippewa, 
Lac du Flambeau, WI
Alternate: Bruce Danforth, Public Works Area Manager, Oneida Nation, 
Oneida, WI

Eastern Oklahoma Region

*Robert Endicott, Transportation Planner, Cherokee Nation, Tahlequah, 
OK
William McKee Eastern Shawnee of Oklahoma, Miami, OK
Alternate: Braven Dyer, Transportation Director, Chickasaw Nation, Ada, 
Oklahoma

Navajo Region

*Sampson Begay, Tribal Council, Navajo Nation, Window Rock, AZ
Lawrence Morgan, Tribal Council, Navajo Nation, Window Rock, AZ

Western Region

*Robyn Burdette, Chairperson, Summit Lake Paiute Tribe, Winnemucca, NV
Rita Martinez, Councilwoman, Tohono O'odham Nation, Sells, AZ
*Alex Cabillo Hualapai Tribe, Peach Springs, AZ

Northwest Region

*Michael Marchand, Colville Business Council, Confederated Tribes of 
Colville Indians, Nespelem, WA
*Dave Whitener, Squaxin Island Tribe, Shelton, WA
*Della Cree, Community Development Planner, Nez Perce Tribe, Lapwai, ID
Alternates: Andy Kampkoff, Construction Manager, Lummi Indian Business 
Council, Bellingham, WA
Mike Clement, Economic Development Manager, Confederated Tribes of Warm 
Springs, Warm Springs, OR

Pacific Region

*Vlayn McCovey, Yurok Tribe, Eureka, CA
*Mervin Hess, Vice Chairman, Bishop Indian Tribe, Bishop, CA
Alternate: Randolph Feliz, Tribal Vice Chair Hopland Band of Pomo 
Indians, Hopland, CA
    In addition, the Secretary announces the following Federal 
Committee representatives:
    Robert Baracker, Designated Federal Official, BIA Southwest 
Regional Office
    LeRoy Gishi, Chief, BIA Division of Transportation
    Justin P. Patterson, Consultant, Department of the Interior 
(Retired)

[[Page 4507]]

    Mike Black, Regional Road Engineer, Rocky Mountain Region
    Robert Martin, Regional Road Engineer, BIA Alaska Region
    Harold Riley, Road Engineer, BIA Navajo Region
    Todd Kennedy, Regional Road Engineer, BIA Midwest Region
    Mike Smith, Director, BIA Office of Tribal Services
    Paul Los, Program Coordinator, Federal Highway Administration, 
Department of Transportation
    Vivian Philbin, Attorney, Federal Highway Administration, 
Department of Transportation
    Robert Sparrow, Federal Lands Highway Program Engineer, Federal 
Highway Administration, Department of Transportation
    If you believe that tribal interests will not be adequately 
represented by any tribal person identified in the updated tribal 
committee membership, you may apply or nominate another person for 
membership on the committee. Each application or nomination must be 
received by the date above and must include:
    (1) The name of the nominee, business address, and telephone and 
fax numbers.
    (2) The tribal interest(s) to be represented by the nominee (based 
on the requirements of TEA-21 listed above);
    (3) Evidence that the applicant or nominee is authorized to 
represent parties related to the interest(s) the person proposed to 
represent;
    (4) The reasons that the proposed members of the committee 
identified in this notice do not represent the interests of the person 
submitting the application or nomination; and
    (5) Your name, address, telephone number, and the name of the tribe 
or tribal organization with which you are affiliated.

    Dated: January 17, 2003.
Aurene M. Martin,
Acting Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 03-2043 Filed 1-28-03; 8:45 am]
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