[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 102 (Friday, May 25, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31378-31379]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-12739]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of the Secretary


Secretarial Commission on Indian Trust Administration and Reform

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Office of the Secretary is announcing that the Secretarial 
Commission on Indian Trust Administration and Reform (the Commission) 
will hold a public meeting on June 11 and 12, 2012. The Commission has 
gathered input and information from two public meetings and has 
requested feedback on five questions regarding the development of a 
comprehensive evaluation of how the Department of the Interior manages 
and administers its trust responsibilities to American Indians and 
Alaska Natives. The five questions can be found at http://www.doi.gov/cobell/commission/index.cfm under ``Tribal Outreach Letter.'' The 
Secretarial Commission's charter requires the Commission to provide 
well-reasoned and factually based recommendations for potential 
improvements to the existing management and administration of the trust 
administration system. The Commission is committed to early public 
engagement and welcomes your participation in these important meetings.

DATES: The Commission's public meeting will begin at 8 a.m. and end at 
5 p.m. on June 11, 2012, and will begin at 8:30 a.m. and end at 4 p.m. 
on June 12, 2012. Attendance is open to the public, but limited space 
is available. Members of the public who wish to attend should respond 
by June 7, 2012, to: [email protected].

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held at the Office of the Special 
Trustee for American Indians, 4400 Masthead Street NE., Room 145, 
Albuquerque, NM 87109. The meeting will be held in a federal facility. 
We encourage you to respond to [email protected] by June 7, 
2012, and plan on arriving early with your photo ID to adhere to 
building security requirements.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The Designated Federal Officer, Lizzie 
Marsters, Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary, Department of the 
Interior, 1849 C Street NW., Room 6118, Washington, DC 20240; or email 
to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As part of President Obama's commitment to 
fulfilling this nation's trust responsibilities to American Indians and 
Alaska Natives, the Secretary of the Interior appointed five members to 
serve on the Secretarial Commission on Indian Trust Administration and 
Reform, established under Secretarial Order No. 3292, dated December 8, 
2009. The Commission plays a key role in the Department's ongoing 
efforts to empower Indian nations and strengthen government-to-
government relationships.
    The Commission will complete a comprehensive evaluation of the 
Department's management and administration of the trust assets within a 
two-year period and offer recommendations to the Secretary of the 
Interior on how to improve in the future. The Commission will:
    (1) Conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the Department's 
management and administration of the trust administration system;
    (2) Review the Department's provision of services to trust 
beneficiaries;
    (3) Review input from the public, interested parties, and trust 
beneficiaries, which should involve conducting a number of regional 
listening sessions;
    (4) Consider the nature and scope of necessary audits of the 
Department's trust administration system;
    (5) Recommend options to the Secretary to improve the Department's 
management and administration of the trust administration system based 
on information obtained from the Commission's activities, including 
whether legislative or regulatory changes are necessary to implement 
the improvements; and
    (6) Consider the provisions of the American Indian Trust Fund 
Management Reform Act of 1994

[[Page 31379]]

providing for termination of the Office of the Special Trustee for 
American Indians (OST), and make recommendations to the Secretary 
regarding termination.
    The following items will be on the agenda:

Monday, June 11, 2012

 Welcome blessing
 Status update on settlement
 Review and report on Commission operations
 Trust Relationship Subcommittee report and panel session
 Trust Models Subcommittee report and panel session
 Discussion of comments received to-date in response to 
questions in Commission Outreach letter
 Public round robin session to share perspectives regarding any 
of the previous panel discussion questions
    [cir] Do you have any recommendations or suggestions that would 
improve the government-to-government relationship between the 
Department of the Interior and tribes with respect to trust 
administration?
    [cir] Are there any other trust administration models the 
Commission should examine as it looks towards improving the Department 
of the Interior's trust administration and management?
 Commissioner reflections from round robin
 Review agreements and action items for the day

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

 Status update on BIA consultations, preliminary overview of 
comments
 Trust Management and Administration Subcommittee report
 Trust Management and Administration Panel Session presentation 
and discussion
 Commission work plan--discuss updates, including updates to 
subcommittee charge
 Public round robin session to share perspectives regarding any 
of the previous panel discussion questions
    [cir] Do you have any recommendations to improve or streamline 
delivery of services to trust beneficiaries? This includes matters 
related to financial management and accounting functions, as well as 
natural resource management functions.
    [cir] Do you have any recommendations to improve or strengthen 
trust management and/or administration based on information gathered in 
the course of litigation and settlement of the recent tribal breach-of-
trust cases announced in early April of this year?
    [cir] Given that the sunset provision in the American Indian Trust 
Fund Management Reform Act of 1994 was predicated on OST's oversight 
and reform responsibilities, and that OST now has additional 
operational duties, should the Commission recommend sunsetting the OST?
     Suggested topics for next meeting
     Review action items and meeting accomplishments
     Closing blessing, adjourn
    Written comments may be sent to the Designated Federal Officer 
listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section above. To review 
all related material on the Commission's work, please refer to http://www.doi.gov/cobell/commission/index.cfm. All meetings are open to the 
public.

    Dated: May 19, 2012.
David J. Hayes,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2012-12739 Filed 5-24-12; 8:45 am]
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