59946 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 193 / Wednesday, October 6, 2004 / Notices 

320 of the South Interior Building, 1951 

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, 

DC from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m., Monday 

through Friday, excluding legal 

holidays. If you wish to have your name 

and address withheld from public view, 

you must state this prominently at the 

beginning of your comments. We will 

honor your request to the extent 

allowable by law. There may be 

instances when we will withhold 

comments from the public for other 

reasons. Comments submitted by 

businesses or business representatives 

will be made available for public 

review. 

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 

Office of Management and Budget 

control number.

Dated: September 28, 2004. 

David W. Anderson, 

Assistant Secretary—Indian Affairs.

[FR Doc. 04–22455 Filed 10–5–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–4J–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs 

Tribal Court Budget Data Collection 

Instrument

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, 

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Proposed Information 

Collection. 

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Indian Affairs 

is seeking comments on a collection of 

information about tribal courts and 

Courts of Indian Offenses, the caseloads 

and kinds of cases, the number of 

personnel necessary to meet legal 

requirements, and the costs of operating 

tribal courts for budget and other 

purposes. Data of this nature was 

collected under the auspices of tribal 

representatives of the Judicial 

Subgroup—BIA/Tribal Budget Advisory 

Council. They now desire to associate 

with the Bureau of Indian Affairs 

(Bureau) for the collection of this data. 

Accordingly, OMB approval and a 

control number are being requested.

DATES: Submit comments on or before 

December 6, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Ralph 

Gonzales, Office of Tribal Services, 

Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1951 

Constitution Avenue, NW., MS–320–

SIB, Washington, DC 20240; Telephone 

(202) 513–7629; Fax (202) 208–5113.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: You 

may request further information or 

obtain copies of the proposed 

information collection request from 

Ralph Gonzales, Office of Tribal 

Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1951 

Constitution Avenue, NW., MS–320–

SIB, Washington, DC 20240; Telephone 

(202) 513–7629; Fax (202) 208–5113.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The data 

collection instrument will gather 

information about a tribal court’s 

operation relative to its costs, number of 

court personnel employed, adequacy of 

facilities, tribal codes enforced, 

geographical area of operation, and 

traditional mediation procedures used. 

The data is gathered under the authority 

of the Indian Tribal Justice Act, Public 

Law 103–176 (25 U.S.C. 3601) (the Act) 

which provides at Section 101(f):

‘‘INFORMATION CLEARINGHOUSE OF 

TRIBAL JUSTICE SYSTEMS. The Office shall 

maintain an information clearinghouse 

(which shall include an electronic data base) 

on tribal justice systems and Courts of Indian 

Offenses, including (but not limited to) 

information on staffing, funding, model tribal 

codes, tribal justice activities, and tribal 

judicial decisions.’’

The data gathered will primarily be 

used for budgetary purposes. The Act 

further provides at Section 1(2) ‘‘the 

United States has a trust responsibility 

to each tribal government that includes 

the protection of the sovereignty of each 

tribal government.’’ Section 1(4) 

provides ‘‘Indian tribes possess the 

inherent authority to establish their own 

form of government, including tribal 

justice systems.’’ The Bureau must 

perform its fiduciary responsibility and 

assist tribal governments in supporting 

tribal judicial systems by bringing tribal 

courts to par with non-Indian court 

systems. The data collected under this 

initiative will be a start toward 

achieving this objective. 

Tribal governments will be given the 

opportunity to document their tribal 

court’s unmet need. The data will be 

collected electronically to reduce the 

burden upon the tribal government in 

providing tribal court data. Data will be 

gathered as a part of the Bureau’s budget 

cycle and will be collected only once 

annually.

The Assistant Secretary—Indian 

Affairs established a BIA/Tribal Budget 

Advisory Council to provide advice on 

the development of a budget for the 

Bureau. The Council determined that 

the tribal courts were a priority because 

of the continued lack of adequate 

funding. A Judicial Subgroup was 

formed to determine what information 

was needed from the courts to meet all 

their funding needs. This group derives 

its authority to request the information 

from Section 101(f) of the Indian Tribal 

Justice Act, Public Law 103–176 (25 

U.S.C. 3601). The lack of adequate 

funding has created a critical backlog in 

caseload for tribal courts, causing some 

cases to be dismissed because the courts 

cannot hear the cases in a timely 

manner. The consequences of this 

backlog is that justice is not provided in 

a timely manner, many legitimate cases 

are dismissed, and all sectors of Indian 

Country, including law abiding citizens 

as well as the law-breakers, get the 

impression that crime can be committed 

on an Indian reservation with impunity. 

The Subgroup has identified the need 

for the following information: Tribe(s) 

operating a tribal court system; 

population covered/serviced; 

geographical area covered by the court; 

number and kinds of court personnel 

presently and that which is needed to 

provide adequate judicial services; 

facilities available/needed; kinds and 

number of caseloads; jury and judicial 

hearings required; evaluation of services 

provided, including personnel; span of 

civil and criminal control. The 

information will be provided annually 

to allow time for inclusion in the 

Bureau’s budget cycle. 

Request for Comments 

The Bureau of Indian Affairs requests 

your comments on this collection 

concerning: 

(a) The necessity of this information 

collection 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 (hours and cost) 

of the collection of information, 

including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions used; 

(c) Ways we could enhance the 

quality, utility and clarity of the 

information to be collected; and 

(d) Ways we could minimize the 

burden of the collection of the 

information on the respondents, such as 

through the use of automated collection 

techniques or other forms of information 

technology. 

Please note that an agency may not 

sponsor or request, and an individual 

need not respond to, a collection of 

information unless it has a valid OMB 

Control Number. 

It is our policy to make all comments 

available to the public for review at the 

location listed in the ADDRESSES section, 

room 320, during the hours of 8 a.m. to 

5 p.m. (EST), Monday through Friday, 

except for legal holidays. If you wish to 

have your name and/or address 

withheld, you must state this 

prominently at the beginning of your 

comments. We will honor your request 

according to the requirements of the 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 193 / Wednesday, October 6, 2004 / Notices 59947

law. All comments from organizations 

or representatives will be available for 

review. We may withhold comments 

from review for other reasons. 

Information Collection Abstract 

Type of review: New. 

Title: Information Clearinghouse on 

Tribal Justice Systems. 

OMB Control Number: 1076–NEW. 

Need and use of the information: The 

information will be gathered using a 

simple questionnaire requiring single 

entries or by checking options provided. 

The responses will be used to support 

the respondents’ request to receive or 

maintain a benefit, funding for the court 

systems, and specifically, an increase in 

funding for tribal courts as a result of 

this data collection initiative. 

Description of respondents: An 

employee of the tribal court, usually the 

court clerk or the court administrator, 

will enter the data required into the 

form available electronically. 

Number of Annual Responses: 180. 

Estimated Time per Response: 20 

minutes. 

Frequency of Response: Annually. 

Total Annual Hourly Burden to 

Respondents: 60 hours.

Dated: September 28, 2004. 

David W. Anderson, 

Assistant Secretary—Indian Affairs.

[FR Doc. 04–22456 Filed 10–5–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–4J–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management 

[WY–100–05–1310–DB] 

Notice of Meetings of the Pinedale 

Anticline Working Group’s Water 

Resources Task Group

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of public meetings.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Federal Land Policy and Management 

Act (1976) and the Federal Advisory 

Committee Act (1972), the U.S. 

Department of the Interior, Bureau of 

Land Management (BLM) Pinedale 

Anticline Working Group (PAWG) 

Water Resources Task Group 

(subcommittee) will meet in Pinedale, 

Wyoming, for business meetings. The 

meetings are open to the public.

DATES: The PAWG Water Resources 

Task Group will meet October 21, 2004, 

November 10, 2004, and January 13, 

2005, beginning at 9 a.m. and 

continuing until finished, as late as 5 

p.m.

ADDRESSES: The October 21, 2004, 

meeting of the PAWG Water Task Group 

will be held in the large conference 

room of the Bureau of Land 

Management Office, 432 E. Mill St., 

Pinedale, WY. The November 10, 2004, 

and January 13, 2005, meetings will be 

held in the Lovatt Meeting Room of the 

Sublette County Public Library at 155 S. 

Tyler Avenue, Pinedale, WY.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Catharine Woodfield, BLM/Water 

ResourcesTG Liaison, Bureau of Land 

Management, Pinedale Field Office, 432 

E. Mill St., P.O. Box 768, Pinedale, WY 

82941; (307) 367–5360.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Pinedale Anticline Working Group 

(PAWG) was authorized and established 

with release of the Record of Decision 

(ROD) for the Pinedale Anticline Oil 

and Gas Exploration and Development 

Project on July 27, 2000. The PAWG 

advises the BLM on the development 

and implementation of monitoring plans 

and adaptive management decisions as 

development of the Pinedale Anticline 

Natural Gas Field (PAPA) proceeds for 

the life of the field. After the ROD was 

issued, Interior determined that a 

Federal Advisory Committees Act 

(FACA) charter was required for this 

group. The charter was signed by 

Secretary of the Interior, Gale Norton, 

on August 15, 2002, and renewed on 

August 13, 2004. An announcement of 

committee initiation and call for 

nominations was published in the 

Federal Register on February 21, 2003, 

(68 FR 8522). PAWG members were 

appointed by Secretary Norton on May 

4, 2004. 

At their second business meeting, the 

PAWG established seven resource- or 

activity-specific Task Groups: Air 

Quality; Water Resources; Reclamation; 

Wildlife; Socio-Economic; Cultural/

Historic/Visual Resources; and 

Transportation. Public participation on 

those Task Groups was solicited through 

the media, letters, and word-of-mouth. 

The initial Task Group meeting agenda 

will include: review of Task Group 

charges from the Pinedale Anticline Oil 

and Gas Exploration and Development 

Project ROD and the PAWG (developing 

monitoring plan(s) for the surface and 

ground water resources in the Anticline 

gas field, identifying who will do the 

monitoring, and identifying who will 

pay for the monitoring); developing a 

strategy to accomplish those tasks for 

recommendation to the PAWG by 

February, 2005; and selecting Task 

Group leadership and a proceedings 

recorder. Subsequent meeting agendas 

will include developing the monitoring 

plan(s) and identifying who will do the 

monitoring and how those costs will be 

paid. Public comments will be heard 

just prior to adjournment at each 

meeting.

Dated: September 30, 2004. 

Donald A. Simpson, 

Acting State Director.

[FR Doc. 04–22461 Filed 10–5–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management 

[WY–100–05–1310–DB] 

Notice of Meetings of the Pinedale 

Anticline Working Group’s 

Transportation Task Group

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of public meetings.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Federal Land Policy and Management 

Act (1976) and the Federal Advisory 

Committee Act (1972), the U.S. 

Department of the Interior, Bureau of 

Land Management (BLM), Pinedale 

Anticline Working Group (PAWG) 

Transportation Task Group 

(subcommittee) will meet in Pinedale, 

Wyoming, for business meetings. The 

meetings are open to the public.

DATES: The PAWG Transportation Task 

Group will meet October 26, 2004, at 4 

p.m.; and on November 16 and 

December 7, 2004, at 1 p.m. All 

meetings will continue until finished, as 

long as 4 hours each.

ADDRESSES: All meetings of the PAWG 

Transportation Task Group will be held 

in the Lovatt Meeting Room of the 

Sublette County Public Library at 155 S. 

Tyler Avenue, Pinedale, WY.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bill 

Wadsworth, BLM/Transportation TG 

Liaison, Bureau of Land Management, 

Pinedale Field Office, 432 E. Mill St., 

PO Box 768, Pinedale, WY 82941; (307) 

367–5341.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Pinedale Anticline Working Group 

(PAWG) was authorized and established 

with release of the Record of Decision 

(ROD) for the Pinedale Anticline Oil 

and Gas Exploration and Development 

Project on July 27, 2000. The PAWG 

advises the BLM on the development 

and implementation of monitoring plans 

and adaptive management decisions as 

development of the Pinedale Anticline 

Natural Gas Field (PAPA) proceeds for 

the life of the field. After the ROD was 

issued, Interior determined that a 

Federal Advisory Committees Act 

(FACA) charter was required for this