2021-10645. Agency Information Collection Activities; Documented Petitions for Federal Acknowledgment as an Indian Tribe

AGENCY:

Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice of information collection; request for comment.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) are proposing to renew an information collection.

DATES:

Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before July 19, 2021.

ADDRESSES:

Send your comments on this information collection request (ICR) to R. Lee Fleming, Director, Office of Federal Acknowledgment, Assistant Secretary—Indian Affairs, 1849 C Street NW, MS-4071 MIB, Washington, DC 20240; facsimile: [phone]; email: [e-mail]. Please reference OMB Control Number 1076-0104 in the subject line of your comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

To request additional information about this ICR, contact R. Lee Fleming, [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we provide the general public and other Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on new, proposed, revised, and continuing collections of information. This helps us assess the impact of our information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. It also helps the public understand our information collection requirements and provide the requested data in the desired format.

We are soliciting comments on the proposed ICR that is described below. We are especially interested in public comment addressing the following issues: (1) Is the collection necessary to the proper functions of the BIA; (2) will this information be processed and used in a timely manner; (3) is the estimate of burden accurate; (4) how might the BIA enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (5) how might the BIA minimize the burden of this collection on the respondents, including through the use of information technology.

Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of public record. We will include or summarize each comment in our request to OMB to approve this ICR. Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment—including your personal identifying information—may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Abstract: Submission of this information allows Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs, Office of Federal Acknowledgment (OFA) to review applications for the Federal acknowledgment of a group as an Indian tribe. The acknowledgment regulations at 25 CFR part 83 contain seven criteria that unrecognized groups seeking Federal acknowledgment as Indian tribes must demonstrate that they meet. Information collect from petitioning groups under these regulations provide anthropological, genealogical and historical data used by the AS-IA to establish whether a petitioning group has the characteristics necessary to be acknowledged as having a government-to-government relationship with the United States. Respondents are not required to retain copies of the information submitted to OFA but will probably maintain copies for their own use; therefore, there is no recordkeeping requirement included in this information collection.

Title of Collection: Documented Petitions for Federal Acknowledgment as an Indian Tribe.

OMB Control Number: 1076-0104.

Form Number: BIA-8304, BIA-8305, and BIA-8306.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.

Respondents/Affected Public: Groups petitioning for Federal acknowledgment as Indian Tribes.

Total Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 10 per year, on average.

Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 10 per year, on average.

Estimated Completion Time per Response: 2,075 hours, on average.

Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 20,750 hours.

Respondent's Obligation: Required to Obtain a Benefit.

Frequency of Collection: Once.

Total Estimated Annual Nonhour Burden Cost: $0.

An agency may not conduct or sponsor and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

The authority for this action is the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq).

Elizabeth K. Appel,

Director, Office of Regulatory Affairs and Collaborative Action—Indian Affairs.