Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 20 / Monday, January 31, 2022 / Notices 4901 

employee organization, or other nonmerit factor. In order for the 

Administrator to fully leverage broadranging experience and education, the 

NAC must be diverse with regard to 

professional and technical expertise. 

The Administrator will also pursue 

opportunities, consistent with 

applicable law, to compose a committee 

that reflects the diversity of the nation’s 

people, and will strive to achieve a 

widely diverse candidate pool for all 

NAC recruitment actions. Current DHS 

and FEMA employees, including FEMA 

Reservists, are not eligible for 

membership. Federally registered 

lobbyists may apply for positions 

designated as Representative 

appointments but are not eligible for 

positions that are designated as SGE 

appointments. 

Deanne Criswell, 

Administrator, Federal Emergency 

Management Agency. 

[FR Doc. 2022–01901 Filed 1–28–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9111–48–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

[Docket No. DHS–2022–0009] 

Homeland Security Academic Advisory 

Council 

AGENCY: Office of Partnership and 

Engagement (OPE), Department of 

Homeland Security (DHS). 

ACTION: Request for applicants for 

appointment to the Homeland Security 

Academic Advisory Council (HSAAC). 

SUMMARY: The Secretary of Homeland 

Security (Secretary) is requesting seniorlevel individuals who are interested in 

serving on the Homeland Security 

Academic Advisory Council (HSAAC), a 

discretionary federal advisory 

committee, to apply for appointment as 

identified in this notice. Pursuant to the 

Secretary’s authority within the 

Homeland Security Act, this agency-led 

committee will be established and will 

operate under the provisions of the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act 

(FACA). The primary purpose of the 

HSAAC will be to provide advice and 

recommendations to the Secretary and 

DHS senior leadership on matters 

related to homeland security and the 

academic community. 

DATES: Resume and category of interest 

will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. 

Eastern Standard Time on February 15, 

2022. 

ADDRESSES: Due to COVID–19 safety 

precautions, mailed applications will 

not be accepted. The sole method of 

submission is via email to 

DHSAcademic@hq.dhs.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Acting Executive Director Traci Silas via 

email at DHSAcademic@hq.dhs.gov or 

via phone at 202–603–1142. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

addition to this notice, DHS may solicit 

members through correspondence with 

its existing contact list of faith-based 

organizations, Congressional partners, 

and White House staff. 

Members of the HSAAC are appointed 

by the Secretary for specified terms of 

appointment. The HSAAC membership 

selection and appointment process is 

designed to ensure continuity of 

HSAAC membership, and to afford the 

Secretary the advisory input of the most 

capable, diverse, and novel perspectives 

that the country has to offer. Individuals 

who are interested in serving on the 

committee are invited to apply for 

consideration for appointment. There is 

no application form; however, a current 

resume and category of interest is 

required. The appointment will be for a 

term of up to 3 years. Individuals 

selected for the appointment will serve 

as Representatives or regular 

government employees (where 

applicable). All non-federal members 

must also complete a background 

investigation, a gratuitous service 

agreement and a non-disclosure 

agreement. 

HSAAC will meet as often as needed 

to fulfill its mission, but typically four 

times each fiscal year to address its 

objectives and duties. The committee 

will aim to meet in person at least once 

each fiscal year with additional 

meetings held via teleconference. 

HSAAC members may be reimbursed for 

travel and per diem incurred in the 

performance of their duties as members 

of the committee. All travel for HSAAC 

business must be approved in advance 

by the Designated Federal Officer. To 

the extent practical, members can serve 

on any subcommittee that is established. 

DHS does not discriminate in 

employment on the basis of race, color, 

religion, sex, national origin, political 

affiliation, sexual orientation, gender 

identity, marital status, disability and 

genetic information, age, membership in 

an employee organization, or other nonmerit factor. DHS strives to achieve a 

diverse candidate pool for all its 

recruitment actions. 

The HSAAC will consist of up to 30 

members who are appointed by and 

serve at the pleasure of the Secretary. In 

order for the Secretary to fully leverage 

broad-ranging experience and 

education, the HSAAC must be diverse 

with regard to professional and 

technical expertise. DHS is committed 

to pursuing opportunities, consistent 

with applicable law, to compose a 

committee that reflects the diversity of 

the nation’s people. Members are 

appointed as representative members, 

except that members from federal 

agencies are appointed as non-voting exofficio members. To ensure a diverse, 

inclusive and balanced membership, 

membership includes the following: 

(a) Up to four members representing 

higher education associations 

(b) Up to two members representing 

higher education law enforcement, 

public safety, and emergency 

management associations 

(c) Up to two members representing 

four-year colleges and universities 

(d) Up to two members representing 

two-year community colleges 

(e) Up to two members representing 

Historically Black Colleges and 

Universities (HBCUs) 

(f) Up to two members representing 

Hispanic serving institutions 

(g) Up to two members representing 

Tribal colleges 

(h) Up to two members representing 

the Asian American, Native American 

and Pacific Islander serving institutions 

(i) Up to four members representing 

K–12 school systems, to include 

schools, school systems, and state 

educational agencies 

(j) Up to two members representing 

Education Employee Associations/Labor 

Organizations 

(k) Up to one member from the DHS 

Science and Technology Center of 

Excellence 

(l) Up to one member from 

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure 

Security Agency (CISA) School Safety 

Task Force 

(m) Up to one member from the DHS 

Center for Prevention Programs and 

Partnership 

(n) Up to one member from US Secret 

Service National Threat Assessment 

Center 

(o) Up to one member from Federal 

Emergency Management Agency 

(FEMA) higher education initiatives 

(p) Up to one member from the DHS 

Office for Civil Right and Civil Liberties 

(CRCL) 

(q) Up to one member from the 

Department of Education 

(r) Up to one member from the 

Department of State 

(s) Up to one member from the 

Department of Justice 

(t) Up to one member from the 

Department of Health and Human 

Services 

HSAAC is the sole advisory 

committee and public forum within 

DHS providing advice on matters 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
4902 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 20 / Monday, January 31, 2022 / Notices 

relating to DHS’s engagement with the 

academic community. 

Zarinah T. Silas, 

Acting Executive Director and Acting 

Designated Federal Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2022–01839 Filed 1–28–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9112–FN–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Indian Affairs 

[222A2100DD/AAKC001030/ 

A0A501010.999900] 

HEARTH Act Approval of Pascua Yaqui 

Tribe of Arizona Solar and Renewable 

Energy Leasing Ordinance 

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Indian Affairs 

(BIA) approved the Pascua Yaqui Tribe 

of Arizona Solar and Renewable Energy 

Leasing Ordinance under the Helping 

Expedite and Advance Responsible 

Tribal Homeownership Act of 2012 

(HEARTH Act). With this approval, the 

Tribe is authorized to enter into wind 

and solar leases without further BIA 

approval. 

DATES: BIA issued the approval on 

December 22, 2021. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Sharlene Round Face, Bureau of Indian 

Affairs, Division of Real Estate Services, 

1001 Indian School Road NW, 

Albuquerque, NM 87104, 

sharlene.roundface@bia.gov, (505) 563– 

3132. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Summary of the HEARTH Act 

The HEARTH Act makes a voluntary, 

alternative land leasing process 

available to Tribes, by amending the 

Indian Long-Term Leasing Act of 1955, 

25 U.S.C. 415. The HEARTH Act 

authorizes Tribes to negotiate and enter 

into business leases of Tribal trust lands 

with a primary term of 25 years, and up 

to two renewal terms of 25 years each, 

without the approval of the Secretary of 

the Interior (Secretary). The HEARTH 

Act also authorizes Tribes to enter into 

leases for residential, recreational, 

religious or educational purposes for a 

primary term of up to 75 years without 

the approval of the Secretary. 

Participating Tribes develop Tribal 

leasing regulations, including an 

environmental review process, and then 

must obtain the Secretary’s approval of 

those regulations prior to entering into 

leases. The HEARTH Act requires the 

Secretary to approve Tribal regulations 

if the Tribal regulations are consistent 

with the Department of the Interior’s 

(Department) leasing regulations at 25 

CFR part 162 and provide for an 

environmental review process that 

meets requirements set forth in the 

HEARTH Act. This notice announces 

that the Secretary, through the Assistant 

Secretary—Indian Affairs, has approved 

the Tribal regulations for the Pascua 

Yaqui Tribe of Arizona. 

II. Federal Preemption of State and 

Local Taxes 

The Department’s regulations 

governing the surface leasing of trust 

and restricted Indian lands specify that, 

subject to applicable Federal law, 

permanent improvements on leased 

land, leasehold or possessory interests, 

and activities under the lease are not 

subject to State and local taxation and 

may be subject to taxation by the Indian 

Tribe with jurisdiction. See 25 CFR 

162.017. As explained further in the 

preamble to the final regulations, the 

Federal government has a strong interest 

in promoting economic development, 

self-determination, and Tribal 

sovereignty. 77 FR 72440, 72447–48 

(December 5, 2012). The principles 

supporting the Federal preemption of 

State law in the field of Indian leasing 

and the taxation of lease-related 

interests and activities applies with 

equal force to leases entered into under 

Tribal leasing regulations approved by 

the Federal government pursuant to the 

HEARTH Act. 

Section 5 of the Indian Reorganization 

Act, 25 U.S.C. 5108, preempts State and 

local taxation of permanent 

improvements on trust land. 

Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis 

Reservation v. Thurston County, 724 

F.3d 1153, 1157 (9th Cir. 2013) (citing 

Mescalero Apache Tribe v. Jones, 411 

U.S. 145 (1973)). Similarly, section 5108 

preempts State taxation of rent 

payments by a lessee for leased trust 

lands, because ‘‘tax on the payment of 

rent is indistinguishable from an 

impermissible tax on the land.’’ See 

Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Stranburg, 

799 F.3d 1324, 1331, n.8 (11th Cir. 

2015). In addition, as explained in the 

preamble to the revised leasing 

regulations at 25 CFR part 162, Federal 

courts have applied a balancing test to 

determine whether State and local 

taxation of non-Indians on the 

reservation is preempted. White 

Mountain Apache Tribe v. Bracker, 448 

U.S. 136, 143 (1980). The Bracker 

balancing test, which is conducted 

against a backdrop of ‘‘traditional 

notions of Indian self-government,’’ 

requires a particularized examination of 

the relevant State, Federal, and Tribal 

interests. We hereby adopt the Bracker 

analysis from the preamble to the 

surface leasing regulations, 77 FR at 

72447–48, as supplemented by the 

analysis below. 

The strong Federal and Tribal 

interests against State and local taxation 

of improvements, leaseholds, and 

activities on land leased under the 

Department’s leasing regulations apply 

equally to improvements, leaseholds, 

and activities on land leased pursuant to 

Tribal leasing regulations approved 

under the HEARTH Act. Congress’s 

overarching intent was to ‘‘allow Tribes 

to exercise greater control over their 

own land, support self-determination, 

and eliminate bureaucratic delays that 

stand in the way of homeownership and 

economic development in Tribal 

communities.’’ 158 Cong. Rec. H. 2682 

(May 15, 2012). The HEARTH Act was 

intended to afford Tribes ‘‘flexibility to 

adapt lease terms to suit [their] business 

and cultural needs’’ and to ‘‘enable 

[Tribes] to approve leases quickly and 

efficiently.’’ H. Rep. 112–427 at 6 

(2012). 

Assessment of State and local taxes 

would obstruct these express Federal 

policies supporting Tribal economic 

development and self-determination, 

and also threaten substantial Tribal 

interests in effective Tribal government, 

economic self-sufficiency, and territorial 

autonomy. See Michigan v. Bay Mills 

Indian Community, 572 U.S. 782, 810 

(2014) (Sotomayor, J., concurring) 

(determining that ‘‘[a] key goal of the 

Federal Government is to render Tribes 

more self-sufficient, and better 

positioned to fund their own sovereign 

functions, rather than relying on Federal 

funding’’). The additional costs of State 

and local taxation have a chilling effect 

on potential lessees, as well as on a 

Tribe that, as a result, might refrain from 

exercising its own sovereign right to 

impose a Tribal tax to support its 

infrastructure needs. See id. at 810–11 

(finding that State and local taxes 

greatly discourage Tribes from raising 

tax revenue from the same sources 

because the imposition of double 

taxation would impede Tribal economic 

growth). 

Similar to BIA’s surface leasing 

regulations, Tribal regulations under the 

HEARTH Act pervasively cover all 

aspects of leasing. See 25 U.S.C. 415 

(h)(3)(B)(i) (requiring Tribal regulations 

be consistent with BIA surface leasing 

regulations). Furthermore, the Federal 

government remains involved in the 

Tribal land leasing process by approving 

the Tribal leasing regulations in the first 

instance and providing technical 

assistance, upon request by a Tribe, for 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES