33482 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 112 / Wednesday, June 11, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 

§ 102–192.140 What types of support does 

GSA offer to Federal agency mail 

management programs? 

(a) GSA supports Federal agency mail 

management programs by— 

(1) Assisting in the development of 

agency policy and guidance in mail 

management and mail operations; 

(2) Identifying best business practices 

and sharing them with Federal agencies; 

(3) Developing and providing access 

to a Government-wide management 

information system for mail; 

(4) Helping agencies develop 

performance measures and management 

information systems for mail; 

(5) Maintaining a current list of 

agency mail managers; 

(6) Establishing, developing, and 

maintaining interagency mail 

committees; 

(7) Maintaining liaison with the USPS 

and other service providers at the 

national level; 

(8) Maintaining a publically 

accessible Web site for mail 

communications policy; and 

(9) Serving as a point of contact for all 

Federal agencies on mail issues. 

(b) For further information contact: 

U.S. General Services Administration, 

Office of Government-wide Policy (MA), 

1800 F Street NW., Washington, DC 

20504; telephone 202–501–1777, or 

email: Federal.mail@gsa.gov. 

[FR Doc. 2014–13592 Filed 6–10–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6820–14–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Office of the Secretary 

43 CFR Part 10 

[NPS–WASO–NAGPRA–15507; 

PPWOCRADN0, PCU00RP14.R50000] 

RIN 1024–AD98 

Native American Graves Protection 

and Repatriation Act Regulations, 

Definition of Indian Tribe 

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Interior. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Department is confirming 

the interim final rule published and 

effective on July 5, 2011, removing the 

definition of Indian tribe because it is 

inconsistent with the statutory 

definition of that term. The July 5, 2011, 

publication stated that we would review 

comments on the interim final rule and 

either confirm the rule or initiate a 

proposed rulemaking. We are 

confirming the rule without change. 

DATES: Effective Date: June 11, 2014. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mail: Dr. Sherry Hutt, Manager, National 

NAGPRA Program, National Park 

Service, 1849 C Street NW., 

Washington, DC 20240, or by telephone: 

(202) 354–1479; facsimile: (202) 371– 

5197; or email: sherry_hutt@nps.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Authority 

The Secretary of the Interior is 

responsible for implementing the Native 

American Graves Protection and 

Repatriation Act (NAGPRA or Act) (25 

U.S.C. 3001 et seq.), including the 

issuing of appropriate regulations that 

interpret the provisions of the Act. 

Background 

The Act addresses the rights of lineal 

descendants, Indian tribes, and Native 

Hawaiian organizations to certain 

Native American human remains, 

funerary objects, sacred objects, and 

objects of cultural patrimony. The Act 

defines Indian tribe as any tribe, band, 

nation, or other organized group or 

community of Indians, including any 

Alaska Native village (as defined in, or 

established pursuant to, the Alaska 

Native Claims Settlement Act) (43 

U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), which is recognized 

as eligible for the special programs and 

services provided by the United States 

to Indians because of their status as 

Indians (25 U.S.C. 3001(7)). 

The Department of the Interior 

(Department) published the initial rule 

to implement the Act on December 4, 

1995 (60 FR 62158). That rule defined 

Indian tribe to include, in addition to 

any Alaska Native village, any Alaska 

Native corporation. 

From July 2009 to July 2010, at the 

request of Congress, the Government 

Accountability Office (GAO) conducted 

a performance audit to address the 

status of NAGPRA implementation 

among Federal agencies. In its report, 

‘‘Native American Graves Protection 

and Repatriation Act: After Almost 20 

Years, Key Federal Agencies Still Have 

Not Fully Complied with the Act’’ 

(Report no. GAO–10–768 (July 2010)) 

the GAO recommended, among other 

things, that the National NAGPRA 

Program, in conjunction with the 

Department’s Office of the Solicitor, 

reassess whether any Alaska Native 

corporations should be considered as 

‘‘eligible entities for purposes of 

carrying out NAGPRA . . .’’ (GAO 

Report, at 55). 

The recommendation and analysis in 

the report created significant 

uncertainty on the part of museums and 

Federal agencies concerning the status 

of Alaska Native corporations under 

NAGPRA. The Department received a 

number of questions including whether 

Alaska Native corporations may assert 

claims for human remains and other 

cultural items; whether the NAGPRA 

requirements for consultation with 

Indian tribes apply to Alaska Native 

corporations; whether Alaska Native 

corporations are authorized under the 

law to bring matters to the NAGPRA 

Review Committee; and whether Alaska 

Native Corporations can be recipients of 

grants authorized by NAGPRA. 

To address these questions, and as 

recommended by GAO, the 

Department’s Office of the Solicitor 

examined the legal basis for the existing 

regulatory provision that included 

Alaska Native corporations as Indian 

tribes under the Act. The opinion of the 

Solicitor’s Office is posted on the 

National NAGPRA Program’s Web site 

at http://www.nps.gov/history/nagpra. 

The Solicitor’s Office found that in 

the Act, Congress did not adopt the 

definition of Indian tribe as it is defined 

in the Indian Self-Determination and 

Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA) (25 

U.S.C. 450b). Although the ISDEAA 

definition includes Alaska Native 

corporations, the NAGPRA definition 

does not. According to the legislative 

history of NAGPRA, the definition of 

Indian tribe in the Act was deliberately 

changed from that in the ISDEAA in 

order to ‘‘delete [ ] land owned by any 

Alaska Native Corporation from being 

considered as ‘tribal land’ (136 Cong. 

Rec. 36,815 (1990)). Accordingly, the 

Solicitor’s Office recommended that the 

regulatory definition of Indian tribe be 

changed to conform to the statutory 

definition. 

In response to the Solicitor’s Office 

recommendation, the Department 

published an interim final rule that 

removed and reserved paragraph (b)(2) 

of 43 CFR 10.2 that had contained the 

regulatory definition of Indian tribe (76 

FR 39007, July 5, 2011). The interim 

final rule also contained a request for 

comments, and for good cause made the 

interim final rule effective upon 

publication in the Federal Register. 

This good-cause finding was based on 

the uncertainty caused by the July 2010 

GAO NAGPRA report and the need to 

ensure compliance with the 

requirements of the Act. Since then, the 

Department has been using only the 

statutory definition of Indian tribe to 

implement the Act. 

We received one written comment 

during the 60-day comment period from 

one member of the public. The 

commenter supported the removal of 

the definition of Indian tribe. 


wreier-aviles on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 112 / Wednesday, June 11, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 33483 

PART 10—NATIVE AMERICAN 

GRAVES PROTECTION AND 

REPATRIATION REGULATIONS 

■ Therefore, the interim rule published 

July 5, 2011, at 76 FR 39007, is 

confirmed as final without change. 

Dated: May 27, 2014. 

Rachel Jacobson, 

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish 

and Wildlife and Parks. 

[FR Doc. 2014–13622 Filed 6–10–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4312–EJ–P 


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