97-17281. Plan for the Use and Distribution of the White Mountain Apache Tribe Indian Judgment Funds in Docket No. 22-H Before the United States Court of Federal Claims  

  • [Federal Register Volume 62, Number 127 (Wednesday, July 2, 1997)]
    [Notices]
    [Pages 35830-35831]
    From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
    [FR Doc No: 97-17281]
    
    
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    DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
    
    Bureau of Indian Affairs
    
    
    Plan for the Use and Distribution of the White Mountain Apache 
    Tribe Indian Judgment Funds in Docket No. 22-H Before the United States 
    Court of Federal Claims
    
    AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.
    
    ACTION: Notice.
    
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    SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the plan for the use and 
    distribution of judgment funds awarded to the White Mountain Apache 
    Tribe in Docket No. 22-H is effective as of April 29, 1997. 
    Distribution of the funds in accordance with the plan shall be 
    administered by the Special Trustee for American Indians through the 
    Office of Trust Funds Management.
    
    
    [[Page 35831]]
    
    
    FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Joe Weller, Office of Trust Funds Management, 
    505 Marquette, NW, Suite 1000, Albuquerque, NM 87102, (505) 248-5723.
    
    SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Act of October 19, 1973, as amended (25 
    U.S.C. 1402 et seq.), requires that a plan be prepared and submitted to 
    Congress for the use and distribution of funds appropriated to pay a 
    judgment of the Indian Claims Commission or Court of Claims to any 
    Indian tribe. Funds were appropriated on December 11, 1995, in 
    satisfaction of the award granted to the White Mountain Apache Tribe 
    before the United States Court of Federal Claims in Docket No. 22-H. 
    The plan for the use and distribution of the funds, including 
    supporting documents referenced by and incorporated therein, was 
    submitted to Congress on December 10, 1996, with letters bearing the 
    same date. The receipt of the letters by the Senate the House of 
    Representatives was recorded in the Congressional Record published on 
    January 10, 1997. The plan became effective on April 29, 1997, since a 
    joint resolution disapproving it was not enacted. The General 
    Provisions section shall be interpreted in conjunction with currently 
    governing regulations with reference to limitations on distribution of 
    funds for the use/benefit of minors and legal incompetents. Such 
    restrictions may be found at 25 CFR Secs. 87.10, 115.4, and 115.5. The 
    plan reads as follows:
    
    Plan for the Use and Distribution of the White Mountain Apache Tribe 
    Judgment Funds in Docket 22-H Before the United States Court of Federal 
    Claims
    
        The funds appropriated on December 11, 1995, in satisfaction of the 
    judgment granted to the White Mountain Apache Tribe in Docket 22-H by 
    the United States Court of Federal Claims, less attorney fees and 
    litigation expenses, and including all interest and investment income 
    accrued, shall be used and distributed as herein provided:
    
    Per Capita Aspect
    
        Eighty percent (80%) of the funds shall be distributed in the form 
    of per capita payments by the Secretary of the Interior (hereinafter 
    the ``Secretary'') in sums as equal as possible to all tribal members 
    born on or prior to and living on the effective date of this plan, 
    except that individuals who have received judgment fund per capita 
    payments while enrolled with any other tribe shall be ineligible to 
    participate in the distribution of Docket 22-H funds. The tribal 
    governing body shall establish, with the approval of the Secretary, 
    procedures and a deadline for the filing of applications for tribal 
    enrollment. Such deadline shall not be established on a Saturday, 
    Sunday or legal holiday.
    
    Programming Aspect
    
        Twenty percent (20%) of the funds, and any amounts remaining from 
    the per capita payments provided above, shall be used to establish a 
    perpetual and permanent White Mountain Apache Land Restoration Fund 
    (hereinafter referred to as the ``Fund''). The principal of the Fund 
    shall never be expended. The Fund's investment income shall be used for 
    the following types of land and water restoration projects:
        1. A portion of the fund may be used for fund administration in the 
    form of an endowment governed by a Board of Directors who would 
    recommend projects for funding, set policy direction for the fund, and 
    made decisions regarding scholarships and internships with preferences 
    given to projects which use funds to match outside grants and which 
    promote the long term recovery of Apache lands and values.
        2. A permanent matching fund annually for federal, state, and 
    private grants.
        3. Restoration projects may be conducted in a variety of locations 
    across the Reservation, including the following:
        a. Riparian and cienega restoration, including fencing, development 
    of alternative water resources for cattle and wildlife, erosion 
    control, revegetation;
        b. Rangeland restoration, including irrigation, reseeding, and 
    fencing;
        c. Ecological educational projects, including interpretive nature 
    trails, community nature parks, curricula development for schools, and 
    television programming;
        d. Ecosystems monitoring and research projects in the area of water 
    quality and habitat;
        e. Plant and wildlife restoration, such as reintroduction of native 
    species and elimination of exotics; and
        f. Cultural and language restoration, including recording and 
    transmitting tribal elders' knowledge of ecosystems, such as place 
    names, herbs, plans, and animals.
        4. Scholarships may be made available to tribal members who are 
    college or university level juniors, seniors, or graduate students 
    majoring in natural resources fields, and special intern programs to 
    provide tribal members with unique opportunities to learn about and 
    work in a range of natural resource fields on the Reservation.
        5. The investment income may also be used to develop and implement 
    potential initiatives to protect and restore tribal lands and waters 
    which emphasize the involvement of tribal elders and youth. Those 
    initiatives may include stream and lake restoration projects; tribal 
    youth training camp; ethnoecology project; tribal ecological research 
    institute; adopt-a-stream program for local schools; oral history 
    project; and ecotourism development program.
    
    General Provisions
    
        The per capita shares of living, competent adults shall be paid 
    directly to them. The per capita shares of deceased individual 
    beneficiaries shall be determined and distributed in accordance with 43 
    CFR, part 4, subpart D. Per capita shares of legal incompetents and 
    minors shall be handled as provided in 25 U.S.C. 1403(b)(3).
        The Secretary, in arranging for the per capita payments to be made, 
    shall withhold sufficient shares for individuals, whose eligibility may 
    be in question. Those shares shall be held at interest in a separate 
    Individual Indian Money (IIM) account, pending determination of an 
    individual's enrollment appeal. The amount of any shares not used to 
    pay successful appellants shall be available for use in the programming 
    aspect of this plan.
        None of the funds distributed per capita or made available under 
    this plan for programming shall be subject to Federal or State income 
    taxes, nor shall such funds nor their availability be considered as 
    income or resources nor otherwise utilized as the basis for denying or 
    reducing the financial assistance or other benefits to which such 
    household or member would otherwise be entitled under the Social 
    Security Act or, except for per capita shares in excess of $2,000, any 
    Federal or federally assisted programs.
    
        Dated: June 25, 1997.
    Ada E. Deer,
    Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
    [FR Doc. 97-17281 Filed 7-1-97; 8:45 am]
    BILLING CODE 4310-02-P
    
    
    

Document Information

Published:
07/02/1997
Department:
Indian Affairs Bureau
Entry Type:
Notice
Action:
Notice.
Document Number:
97-17281
Pages:
35830-35831 (2 pages)
PDF File:
97-17281.pdf