Federal Acknowledgment of American Indian Tribes

<RULE> DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR <SUBAGY>Bureau of Indian Affairs</SUBAGY> <CFR>25 CFR Part 83</CFR> <DEPDOC>[BIA-2022-0001; 256A2100DD/AAKC001030/A0A501010.999900]</DEPDOC> <RIN>RIN 1076-AF67</RIN> <SUBJECT>Federal Acknowledgment of American Indian Tribes</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior. <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Final rule. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> The United States Department of the Interior (Department) revises the regulations governing the process through which the Secretary acknowledges an Indian Tribe, creating a conditional, time-limited opportunity for denied petitioners to re-petition for Federal acknowledgment. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> This rule is effective on February 14, 2025. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> On request to the program contact person listed under <E T="02">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT</E> , individuals can obtain this document in an alternate format, usable by people with disabilities, at the Office of Federal Acknowledgment, Room 4071, 1849 C Street NW, Washington, DC 20240. <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Oliver Whaley, Director, Office of Regulatory Affairs and Collaborative Action, Office of the Assistant Secretary—Indian Affairs, (202) 738-6065. Individuals in the United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services. </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> Since 1994, the regulations governing the Federal acknowledgment process, located at 25 CFR part 83 (part 83), have included an express prohibition on re-petitioning (ban). When the Department revised the part 83 regulations in 2015 (2015 regulations), the Department decided to retain the ban; however, two Federal district courts held that the Department's stated reasons for doing so, as articulated in the final rule updating the regulations, were arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act. The courts remanded the ban to the Department for further consideration. In a 2022 notice of proposed rulemaking (2022 proposed rule), the Department initially proposed to retain the ban. Subsequently, in a second notice of proposed rulemaking published at 89 FR 57097 on July 12, 2024 (2024 proposed rule), the Department proposed to create a limited exception to the ban, through implementation of a re-petition authorization process. In this final rule, the Department adopts a limited exception to the ban. <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">I. Background</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Federal Acknowledgment Process</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. 1994 and 2015 Revisions of Part 83</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Ban on Re-Petitioning</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. Remand of the Ban</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">E. 2022 Proposed Rule</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">F. 2024 Proposed Rule</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">II. Summary of the Final Rule</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Re-Petition Authorization Process</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Additional, Related Revisions</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Technical Revisions</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">III. Discussion of the Comments on the 2024 Proposed Rule</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Overview</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Comments Citing Fairness as a Justification for the Re-Petition Authorization Process</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Additional Discussion of Third-Party Opposition To Re-Petitioning</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. Comments Citing Departmental Workload as a Justification for Retaining the Ban on Re-Petitioning</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">E. Comments on the Standard Applied in the Re-Petition Authorization Process</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">F. Comments on the Conditions for Obtaining Authorization To Re-Petition</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">1. Comments on the “Change” Condition</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">2. Comments on the “New Evidence” Condition</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">3. Comments on Possible Other Conditions for Obtaining Authorization To Re-Petition</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">G. Comments on the Processing of a Re-Petition Request</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">1. Comments on the Time Limit for Submitting a Re-Petition Request</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">2. Comments on Third-Party Notice-and-Comment Provisions</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">3. Comments on the Finality of a Grant of Authorization To Re-Petition</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IV. Procedural Requirements</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Regulatory Planning and Review (E.O. 12866 and 13563)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Regulatory Flexibility Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Congressional Review Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">E. Takings (E.O. 12630)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">F. Federalism (E.O. 13132)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">G. Civil Justice Reform (E.O. 12988)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">H. Consultation With Indian Tribes (E.O. 13175)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2"> I. Paperwork Reduction Act </FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">J. National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">K. Effects on the Energy Supply (E.O. 13211)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">L. Privacy Act of 1974, Existing System of Records</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">M. Clarity of This Regulation</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Background</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD2">A. Federal Acknowledgment Process</HD> Congress granted the Secretary of the Interior, as delegated to the Assistant Secretary—Indian Affairs (AS-IA), authority for “the management of all Indian affairs and of all matters arising out of Indian relations.”  <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> This authority includes the authority to implement an administrative process to acknowledge Indian Tribes. <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> As the congressional findings that support the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 indicate, Indian Tribes may be recognized “by the administrative procedures set forth in part 83 of the Code of Federal Regulations.”  <SU>3</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>  25 U.S.C. 2; <E T="03">see also</E> 25 U.S.C. 9; 43 U.S.C. 1457. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>2</SU>   <E T="03">See, e.g., Muwekma Ohlone Tribe</E> v. <E T="03">Salazar,</E> 708 F.3d 209, 211 (D.C. Cir. 2013); <E T="03">James</E> v. <E T="03">United States Dep't of Health & Human Servs.,</E> 824 F.2d 1132, 1137 (D.C. Cir. 1987). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>3</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> Public Law 103-454, section 103(3) (1994). </FTNT> Part 83 codifies the process through which a group may petition the Department for acknowledgment as a federally recognized Indian Tribe. Part 83 requires groups petitioning for Federal acknowledgment to meet seven mandatory criteria, the satisfaction of which has been central to the Federal acknowledgment process since its inception. <SU>4</SU> <FTREF/> The Department refers to the seven criteria as the (a) “Indian Entity Identification” criterion, (b) “Community” criterion, (c) “Political Authority” criterion, (d) “Governing Document” criterion, (e) “Descent” criterion, (f) “Unique Membership” criterion, and (g) “Congressional Termination” criterion. <SU>5</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>4</SU>  25 CFR 83.11(a) through (g) (2015 version of the criteria); 25 CFR 83.7(a) through (g) (1994) (1994 version); 25 CFR 54.7(a) through (g) (1978) (1978 version). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>5</SU>  25 CFR 83.5. </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD2">B. 1994 and 2015 Revisions of Part 83</HD> First promulgated in 1978 at 25 CFR part 54 (1978 regulations), <SU>6</SU> <FTREF/> the Federal acknowledgment regulations were subsequently moved to part 83  <SU>7</SU> <FTREF/> and revised in 1994 (1994 regulations), <SU>8</SU> <FTREF/> in part, “to clarify requirements for acknowledgment and define more clearly standards of evidence.”  <SU>9</SU> <FTREF/> The 1994 regulations also implemented procedural changes to the acknowledgment process, including “an independent review” of a final determination on a part 83 petition by the Interior Board of Indian Appeals and an “opportunity for a formal hearing on proposed findings.”  <SU>10</SU> <FTREF/> In the final rule promulgating the 1994 regulations, the Department explained that, notwithstanding the revisions, “the standards of continuity of tribal existence that a petitioner must meet remain unchanged” and that “none of the changes . . . will result in the acknowledgment of petitioners which would not have been acknowledged under the [1978] regulations.”  <SU>11</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>6</SU>  43 FR 39361 (Sept. 5, 1978). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>7</SU>  47 FR 13326 (Mar. 30, 1982). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>8</SU>  59 FR 9280 (Feb. 25, 1994). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>9</SU>   <E T="03">Id.</E> </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>10</SU>   <E T="03">Id.; see also</E> 25 CFR 83.11 (1994) (describing the process for IBIA review). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>11</SU>  59 FR 9280. </FTNT> The Department revised part 83 again in 2015 (2015 regulations). In the final rule promulgating the 2015 regulations (2015 final rule), the Department explained that the purpose of the revision was to “increase timeliness and efficiency, while maintaining the integrity and substantive rigor of the [Federal acknowledgment] process.”  <SU>12</SU> <FTREF/> To that end, the Department introduced several process-related reforms, including a two-phased review of the seven mandatory criteria. In Phase I, the Office of Federal Acknowledgment (OFA) reviews criteria (d) (Governing Document) through (g) (Congressional Termination), and in Phase II, OFA evaluates criteria (a) (Indian Entity Identification) through (c) (Political Authority). <SU>13</SU> <FTREF/> If a petitioner does not satisfy any of the Phase I criteria, then, instead of moving to Phase II, OFA publishes a negative proposed finding, which can then serve as the basis ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 151k characters. 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