[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 226 (Monday, November 29, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67797-67798]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-25945]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY


Postponement of Periodic Meeting of the Department of the 
Treasury Tribal Advisory Committee

AGENCY: Department of the Treasury.

ACTION: Notice of cancellation of public meeting.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the postponement of the ninth public 
meeting of the Department of the Treasury Tribal Advisory Committee 
(TTAC) originally scheduled to take place on Wednesday, December 1, 
2021, from 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. Eastern Time. A new notice will be 
published in the Federal Register to announce the rescheduled date and 
time of the ninth public meeting of the TTAC.

DATES: The public meeting of the TTAC originally scheduled for 
Wednesday, December 1, 2021, from 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. Eastern Time is 
cancelled.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Krishna P. Vallabhaneni, Designated 
Federal Officer, Department of the Treasury, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue 
NW, Room 3040, Washington, DC 20220 or by emailing [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Section 3 of the Tribal General Welfare Exclusion Act of 2014, 
Public Law 113-68, 128 Stat. 1883, enacted on September 26, 2014 
(TGWEA), directs the Secretary of the Treasury (Secretary) to establish 
a seven-member Tribal Advisory Committee to advise the Secretary on 
matters related to the taxation of Indians, the training of Internal 
Revenue Service (IRS) field agents, and the provision of training and 
technical assistance to Native American financial officers. Section 
3(c) of the TGWEA provides that the seven members of the TTAC are to be 
appointed as follows:
    (A) Three members appointed by the Secretary.
    (B) One member appointed by the Chairman, and one member appointed 
by the Ranking Member, of the Committee on Ways and Means of the House 
of Representatives.
    (C) One member appointed by the Chairman, and one member appointed 
by the Ranking Member, of the Committee on Finance of the Senate.
    Both the TTAC's charter (most recently renewed on March 16, 2021) 
and the TTAC's bylaws (adopted by the TTAC on September 18, 2019) 
provide that the TTAC shall operate under the provisions of the Federal 
Advisory Committee Act (FACA), 5 U.S.C. App. 1 et seq. The FACA 
requires that meetings of the TTAC shall be open to the public (public 
meetings) and that timely notice of each public meeting shall be 
published in the Federal Register. The FACA also requires that an 
officer or employee of the Federal Government serve as the Designated 
Federal Officer (DFO) of the TTAC and prohibits the TTAC from holding 
any public meeting except at the call of, or with the advance approval 
of, the DFO. The FACA further authorizes the DFO, whenever the DFO 
determines it to be in the public interest, to adjourn any public 
meeting of the TTAC.
    Section 3(c) of the TGWEA provides that the membership terms of the 
TTAC members last for four (4) years, except for the initial 
appointments made by the Secretary which last two (2) years for the 
purpose of staggering terms going forward. The TTAC's bylaws provide 
that all initial appointment terms commence from the date of the first 
public meeting of the TTAC, and the term of any subsequently appointed 
member begins on the date of the member's appointment. The TTAC's 
bylaws also require a quorum of the TTAC members to be established 
before the TTAC may take action, which the bylaws provide is 
established by a simple majority of the TTAC members being present, 
including the Chairperson and/or Vice-Chairperson.
    The DFO of the TTAC convened the first public meeting of the TTAC 
on

[[Page 67798]]

June 20, 2019. Accordingly, the terms of the members initially 
appointed by the Secretary expired on June 19, 2021. The terms of the 
members initially appointed by the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the 
Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Finance of the Senate expire on June 19, 2023, although 
the TTAC member appointed by the Chairman of the Committee on Ways and 
Means of the House of Representatives resigned effective March 15, 
2021.
    In accordance with the FACA (5 U.S.C. App. 10(a)(2)) and 
implementing regulations at 41 CFR 102-3.150, the DFO of the TTAC, 
ordered publication of a notice in the Federal Register (86 FR 60742) 
to inform the public that the TTAC would convene its ninth public 
meeting on Wednesday, December 1, 2021, from 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. 
Eastern Time via video conference. However, in addition to the unfilled 
vacancies on the TTAC created on March 15, 2021, and June 19, 2021, the 
TTAC member appointed by the Ranking Member of the Committee on Ways 
and Means of the House of Representatives resigned effective November 
10, 2021. As noted in the Call for Nominations for Secretary 
Appointments to the TTAC published in the Federal Register (86 FR 
17264) on April 1, 2021, all TTAC members must submit to a pre-
appointment tax and criminal background investigation in accordance 
with Treasury Directive 21-03. Since the IRS tax compliance checks and 
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) background investigations 
required for at least two additional TTAC members will not be completed 
by the originally scheduled date for the ninth public meeting, the DFO 
of the TTAC has concluded there would be an absence of a quorum if a 
public meeting were held on December 1, 2021, prohibiting the TTAC from 
taking any action.
    In accordance with the FACA (5 U.S.C. App. 10(e) and (f)), Krishna 
P. Vallabhaneni, the DFO of the TTAC, has determined it to be in the 
public interest to postpone the ninth public meeting of the TTAC to a 
future date and has ordered publication of this notice to inform the 
public that the TTAC meeting originally scheduled for Wednesday, 
December 1, 2021, from 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. Eastern Time is cancelled. A 
new notice will be published in the Federal Register to announce the 
rescheduled date and time of the ninth public meeting of the TTAC.

Krishna P. Vallabhaneni,
Tax Legislative Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2021-25945 Filed 11-26-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-AK-P