National Tribal Consultation

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs

National Tribal Consultation

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of tribal consultation meeting--tribal trust account

holders and allottees.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Bureau of Indian Affairs, will

conduct four (4) consultation meetings with any Indian Tribe, band,

nation, allottee group, individual allottee, other organized group or

community, including any Alaska Native village or regional or village

corporation as defined in or established pursuant to the Alaska Native

Claims Settlement Act (85 Stat. 688), which is recognized as eligible

for the trust programs and services provided by the United States to

Indians because of their status as Indians.

The purpose of these consultation meetings is to obtain oral and

written comments regarding the options presented in the ``Proposed

Legislative Options in Response to Tribal Trust Fund Reconciliation

Project Results'' (Options Paper), delivered to the U.S. Congress and

mailed to 554 tribal governments, as well as tribal account holders on

December 11, 1996. The options were developed by the Department of the

Interior as a preliminary proposal for settling disputed balances in

the Tribal trust fund accounts based on the result of a five-year

reconciliation project.

The report contains the settlement proposals of the Advisory Board

as an attachment. The Options Paper was submitted to Congress in

accordance with Section 304 of the American Indian Trust Fund

Management Reform Act of 1994 (the Act).

DATES: Four consultation sessions will be conducted:

January 6, 1997, Portland, OR, Red Lion--Lloyd Center 1000 N.E.

Multnomah, Portland, OR, 97232, 800-733-5466, or 503-281-6111. The

session will begin at 9:30 am and adjourn at 5:00 pm.

January 8, 1997, Denver, CO, The Renaissance Hotel, 3801 Quebec

St., Denver, CO, 80207, 303-399-7500. The session will begin at 8:30 am

and adjourn at 5:00 pm.

January 10, 1997, Phoenix, AZ, Hyatt Regency, 122 North Second

Street, Phoenix, AZ, 85004, 602-257-1110, 800-228-9000. The session

will begin at 8:30 am and adjourn at 5:00 pm.

January 24, 1997, Washington, DC, Grand Hyatt Washington at

Washington Center, Washington, DC, 202-582-1234. The session will begin

at 1:00 pm and adjourn at 5:00 pm.

Public attendance may be limited to the space available.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Michael Chapman, Special Assistant, Deputy Commissioner, Bureau of

Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street, N.W.,

Washington, DC, 20240, 202-208-5116, FAX 202-208-5320.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purpose of these consultation meetings

is to provide Indian Tribal trust account holders and allottees an

opportunity for participation in the development of final options for

the U.S. Congress to resolve Tribal trust fund claims. The objectives

of the consultation meeting are:

Achieve a settlement that is fair.

Achieve the most resource-efficient settlement of claims

(in terms of conserving federal government and Tribal time, money, and

staff, including attorneys' and expert witness fees).

Encourage settlement by providing incentives to settle and

by providing disincentives to litigation.

Use the most informal settlement processes available

rather than litigation to encourage Tribal participation.

Obtain funding for the settlement without reducing

appropriations for the BIA budget and Tribal programs.

Achieve final agreement on account balances through

September 30, 1995, as required by the Act.

The Options Paper presented to Congress incorporates many of the

settlement recommendations of the Special Trustee's Advisory Board,

which was created by Section 306 of the Act. The Advisory Board's

settlement proposals were submitted to the Secretary on September 24,

1996, and were the result of a series of consultations between the

Special trustee, his Advisory Board and several Tribes. As requested by

the Special Trustee, the Advisory Board's recommendations were appended

to the Options Paper. The Options Paper describes where there was

agreement or disagreement with the Advisory Board's recommendations.

All oral and written comments presented by Tribes and individuals

at these consultation meetings will be recorded, transcribed and taken

into consideration by the agency.

Summaries of the meetings will be available for public inspection

and copying ten days following the meeting.

Written comments must be submitted on or before February 12, 1997

to: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Public

Information Office, Attn: Ralph Gonzales, Room 4546, M.S. MIB-4542,

1849 C Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20240.

Dated: December 23, 1996.

Ada E. Deer,

Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.

[FR Doc. 96-33132 Filed 12-27-96; 8:45 am]

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