03-13672. Federal Acknowledgment of Tribes Proposed Information Collection Renewal; Comment Request

AGENCY:

Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

This notice announces that the Information Collection Request for Documented Petitions for Federal Acknowledgment as an Indian Tribe will expire September 30, 2003. As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we are seeking comments on this information collection before we request extension from the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget.

DATES:

Submit comments on or before August 1, 2003.

ADDRESSES:

Send your written comments to R. Lee Fleming, Chief, Branch of Acknowledgment and Research, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1849 C Street, NW., MS-4660 MIB, Washington, DC 20240. If you wish to submit comments by facsimile, the number is [phone]. You may submit comments electronically by contacting R. Lee Fleming at [phone]. Please mention OMB Number 1076-0104.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Requests for additional information or copies of the information or copies of the information collection submission should be directed to R. Lee Fleming, Chief, Branch of Acknowledgment and Research, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1849 C Street, NW., MS-4660 MIB, Washington, DC 20240. You may also call [phone].

All written comments will be available for public inspection in Room 10 of the South Interior Building, 1951 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

The information collection is needed to establish whether a petitioning group has the characteristics necessary to be acknowledged as having a sovereign-to-sovereign relationship with the United States. Federal acknowledgment makes the group eligible for benefits from the Federal government.

II. Method of Collection

The Federal acknowledgment regulations at 25 CFR Part 83 contain seven criteria (§ 83.7) which groups seeking Federal acknowledgment as Indian tribes must demonstrate that they meet. Information collected from petitioning groups under these regulations provide anthropological, genealogical and historical data used by the Assistant Secretary—Indian Affairs to establish whether a petitioning group has the characteristics necessary to be acknowledged as having a sovereign-to-sovereign relationship with the United States. Respondents are not required to retain copies of information submitted to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, but will probably maintain copies for their own use. No periodic reports are required.

III. Data

Title: Collection of Information for Federal Acknowledgment Under 25 CFR Part 83.

OMB Control Number: 1076-0104.

Expiration Date: September 30, 2003.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.

Affected Entities: Groups petitioning for Federal acknowledgment as Indian tribes.

Estimated Number of Petitioners: 10.

Estimated Time per Petition: 2,237.7 hours.

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 22,377.

Estimated Annual Costs: $895,080 (2,237.7 hours × $40.00 per hour × 10).

IV. Request for Comments

You are invited to comment on:

(a) Whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility;

(b) The accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden (including hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used;

(c) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and

(d) Ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other collection techniques or the forms of information technology.

Burden means the total time, effort, or financial resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, or disclose or provide information to or for a federal agency. This includes the time needed to review instructions; to develop, acquire, install and utilize technology and systems for the purpose of collecting, validating, and verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; to train personnel and to be able to respond to a collection of information, to search data sources, to complete and review the collection of information; and to transmit or otherwise disclose the information.

Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized and/or included in the request for OMB approval of this information collection; they also will become a matter of public record. Individual respondents may request confidentiality. If you wish to request that we consider withholding your name, street address, and other contact information (such as Internet address, fax, or phone number) from public review or from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, you must state this prominently at the beginning of your comment. We will make available for public inspection in their entirety all submissions from organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or businesses.

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.

Dated: May 22, 2003.

Aurene M. Martin,

Assistant Secretary—Indian Affairs.