[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 2 (Tuesday, January 5, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 423-425]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-31302]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-5275-N-04]


Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination 
Reauthorization Act of 2008: Notice of Final List of Negotiated 
Rulemaking Committee Members

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: On September 23, 2009, HUD published a Federal Register notice 
establishing the negotiated rulemaking committee that will work with 
HUD to develop regulatory changes to programs authorized under the 
Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996. 
Changes to these programs were made by the Native American Housing 
Assistance and Self-Determination Reauthorization Act of 2008, which 
also directs that HUD undertake negotiated rulemaking to implement the 
statutory revisions. The September 23, 2009, notice also announced the 
names and affiliations of the committee's proposed members and 
requested public comment on the committee and its proposed membership. 
Today's notice announces the final list of committee members.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rodger Boyd, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Native American Programs, Office of Public and Indian 
Housing, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh 
Street, SW., Room 4126, Washington, DC 20410, telephone number 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

    The Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act 
of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4101 et seq.) (NAHASDA) changed the way that housing 
assistance is provided to Native Americans. NAHASDA eliminated several 
separate assistance programs and replaced them with a single block

[[Page 424]]

grant program, known as the Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG) program. 
In addition, Title VI of NAHASDA authorizes federal guarantees for the 
financing of certain tribal activities (Title VI Loan Guarantee 
Program). The regulations governing the IHBG and Title VI Loan 
Guarantee programs are located in part 1000 of HUD's regulations in 
title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations. In accordance with section 
106 of NAHASDA, HUD developed the regulations with active tribal 
participation and using the procedures of the Negotiated Rulemaking Act 
of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 561-570).
    The Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination 
Reauthorization Act of 2008 (Pub. L. 110-411, approved October 14, 
2008) (NAHASDA Reauthorization) reauthorizes NAHASDA through September 
30, 2013, and makes a number of amendments to the statutory 
requirements governing the IHBG and Title VI Loan Guarantee programs. 
The NAHASDA Reauthorization amends section 106 of NAHASDA to provide 
that HUD shall ``initiate a negotiated rulemaking in accordance with 
this section by not later than 90 days after enactment of the [2008 
Reauthorization Act].''
    On January 12, 2009 (74 FR 1227), HUD published a notice in the 
Federal Register announcing the initiation of the negotiated rulemaking 
required by the NAHASDA Reauthorization. On March 2, 2009 (74 FR 9100), 
HUD published a notice in the Federal Register that commenced the 
negotiated rulemaking process by soliciting nominations for membership 
on the negotiated rulemaking committee. The notice provided that the 
negotiated rulemaking committee must consist of representatives of 
interests that are potentially affected by the rulemaking, such as 
tribally designated housing entities, elected officials of tribal 
governments, and HUD representatives. The notice explained that there 
was no requirement that each potentially affected organization or 
entity necessarily have its own representation on the committee. 
However, HUD noted that the committee, as a whole, must reflect a 
geographically diverse cross-section of small, medium, and large Indian 
tribes. The March 2, 2009, notice was followed by a September 23, 2009, 
notice published in the Federal Register (74 FR 48584) that listed the 
proposed members of the NAHASDA Reauthorization negotiated rulemaking 
committee.

II. Discussion of Public Comments

    The public comment period for the September 23, 2009, notice ended 
on October 23, 2009. HUD received 10 public comments. A number of 
commenters objected that there was no representative of a particular 
tribe or too few representatives of a category of tribes on the 
proposed committee. Another commenter found HUD's description of the 
scope of the subject rule and the interests affected to be 
insufficiently detailed, and also questioned why HUD is proposing that 
the committee have a total of 26 members, including HUD. One commenter 
objected to the inclusion of a particular individual on the committee, 
while others objected that a particular individual was not included. 
Finally, HUD received requests from tribes requesting that their 
nominees, who were included in the proposed committee, be replaced with 
representatives of the same tribes.
    HUD appreciates the interest of the commenters in the composition 
of the NAHASDA Reauthorization negotiated rulemaking committee. HUD 
regrets it is unable to include a representative of every tribe or 
group of tribes on the committee. In order to ensure that the 
negotiated rulemaking process is workable, the Negotiated Rulemaking 
Act directs agencies to limit committee composition to no more than 25 
members, unless the agency determines that such number cannot achieve 
the desired balance of interests. (See 5 U.S.C. 565(b).) The Negotiated 
Rulemaking Act's preference for limiting committees to workable numbers 
of members means that not every tribe can have its own representative 
and not every interested and qualified individual can be a member. HUD 
has determined that allocating all 25 seats to tribal members, and 
increasing the committee size by two members to accommodate HUD's 
representatives, maximizes tribal representation. This committee size 
and allocation are sufficient to satisfactorily achieve the balance of 
interests, with respect to size and geographical location, that HUD 
strives to achieve through this committee, while also ensuring that the 
negotiated rulemaking process remains workable. Although committee 
membership is limited, committee meetings are open to the public, and 
HUD welcomes the participation of individuals beyond those who are 
members of the committee. HUD also notes that, as it has stated in 
prior notices, affected interests include those of tribally designated 
housing entities, tribal governments, and tribes of different sizes and 
geographic locations, and are similar to those involved in previous 
NAHASDA negotiated rulemaking, which also addressed the distribution of 
block grant funding for Indian housing and federal guarantees for 
financing certain tribal activities. Accordingly, HUD proposed a 
committee whose membership is diverse and that approximates membership 
from prior NAHASDA negotiated rulemaking committees. Finally, in cases 
where a tribe or group of tribes requested that its representative be 
replaced with a substitute, HUD has honored the request.

III. First Committee Meeting

    HUD intends to announce the date and location of the first meeting 
of the NAHASDA Reauthorization negotiated rulemaking committee in a 
future Federal Register notice.

IV. Final Membership of the Negotiated Rulemaking Committee

    Following is the final list of tribal negotiated rulemaking 
committee members. In making the 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. In addition to the tribal members of the committee, there will 
be two HUD representatives: Sandra B. Henriquez, Assistant Secretary 
for Public and Indian Housing, and Rodger J. Boyd, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Native American Programs.
    The final list of NAHASDA negotiated rulemaking committee members 
is as follows:

Steven Angasan, King Salmon Tribe, Naknek, Alaska.
Carol Gore, President/CEO, Cook Inlet Housing Authority, Anchorage, 
Alaska.
Blake Kazama, President, Tlingit-Haida Regional Housing Authority, 
Juneau, Alaska.
Marty Shuravloff, Executive Director, Kodiak Island Housing Authority, 
Kodiak, Alaska.
Retha Herne, Executive Director, Akwesasne Housing Authority, 
Hogansburg, New York.
Ray DePerry, Housing Director, Red Cliff Chippewa Housing Authority, 
Bayfield, Wisconsin.
Robert Durant, Executive Director, White Earth Reservation Housing 
Authority, Waubun, Minnesota.
Leon Jacobs, Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, Mystic, Connecticut.

[[Page 425]]

Susan Wicker, Executive Housing Director, Poarch Band of Creek Indians, 
Atmore, Alabama.
Jason Adams, Executive Director, Salish Kootenai Housing Authority, 
Pablo, Montana.
Lafe Haugen, Executive Director, Northern Cheyenne Tribal Housing 
Authority, Lame Deer, Montana.
Rebecca Phelps, Development Specialist, Turtle Mountain Housing 
Authority, Belcourt, North Dakota.
S. Jack Sawyers, Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, Cedar City, Utah.
Marguarite Becenti, Member, Board of Commissioners, Umatilla 
Reservation Housing Authority, Pendleton, Oregon.
Henry Cagey, The Honorable Chairman, Lummi Nation, Bellingham, 
Washington.
Larry Coyle, Executive Director, Cowlitz Indian Tribal Housing, 
Chehalis, Washington.
Karin Foster, Legal Counsel, Yakama Nation Housing Authority, 
Toppenish, Washington.
Marvin Jones, Manager, Housing Oversight, Cherokee Nation, Tahlequah, 
Oklahoma.
Thomas McGeisey, Executive Director, Seminole Nation Housing Authority, 
Wewoka, Oklahoma.
Shawna Pickup, Housing Director/Secretary, Eastern Shawnee Tribe of 
Oklahoma, Wyandotte, Oklahoma.
Russell Sossamon, Executive Director, Choctaw Nation Housing Authority, 
Hugo, Oklahoma.
Ervin Keeswood, Member, Navajo Housing Authority Board of 
Commissioners, Window Rock, Arizona.
Judith Marasco, Executive Director, Yurok Indian Housing Authority, 
Klamath, California.
Alvin Moyle, The Honorable Chairman, Fallon Business Council, Fallon 
Paiute-Shoshone Tribe, Fallon, Nevada.
Darlene Tooley, Executive Director, Northern Circle Indian Housing 
Authority, Ukiah, California.

    Dated: December 24, 2009.
Sandra B. Henriquez,
Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing.
[FR Doc. E9-31302 Filed 1-4-10; 8:45 am]
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