I

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1279

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 21, 1998

Referred to the Committee on Resources

AN ACT

To amend the Indian Employment, Training and Related

Services Demonstration Act of 1992 to provide for the

transfer of services and personnel from the Bureau of

Indian Affairs to the Office of Self-Governance, to emphasize the need for job creation on Indian reservations,

and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Indian Employment,

5 Training and Related Services Demonstration Act Amend6 ments of 1998’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 Congress finds that—

3 (1) Indian tribes and Alaska Native organiza4 tions that have participated in carrying out pro5 grams under the Indian Employment, Training and

6 Related Services Demonstration Act of 1992 (25

7 U.S.C. 3401 et seq.) have—

8 (A) improved the effectiveness of services

9 provided by those tribes and organizations;

10 (B) enabled more Indian people to secure

11 employment;

12 (C) assisted welfare recipients; and

13 (D) otherwise demonstrated the value of

14 integrating education, employment, and train15 ing services;

16 (2) the initiative under the Indian Employment,

17 Training and Related Services Demonstration Act of

18 1992 should be strengthened by ensuring that all

19 programs that emphasize the value of work may be

20 included within a demonstration program of an In21 dian tribe or Alaska Native organization;

22 (3) the initiative under the Indian Employment,

23 Training and Related Services Demonstration Act of

24 1992 shares goals and innovative approaches of the

25 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance

26 Act (25 U.S.C. 450 et seq.);
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1 (4) the programs referred to in paragraph (2)

2 should be implemented by the Office of Self-Govern3 ance of the Department of the Interior, the unit

4 within the Department of the Interior responsible

5 for carrying out self-governance programs under the

6 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance

7 Act; and

8 (5) the initiative under the Indian Employment,

9 Training and Related Services Demonstration Act of

10 1992 should have the benefit of the support and at11 tention of the officials of—

12 (A) the Department of the Interior; and

13 (B) other Federal agencies involved with

14 policymaking authority with respect to pro15 grams that emphasize the value of work for

16 American Indians and Alaska Natives.

17 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE INDIAN EMPLOYMENT,

18 TRAINING AND RELATED SERVICES DEM19 ONSTRATION ACT OF 1992.

20 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3 of the Indian Employ21 ment, Training and Related Services Demonstration Act

22 of 1992 (25 U.S.C. 3402) is amended—

23 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through

24 (3) as paragraphs (2) through (4), respectively; and
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1 (2) by inserting before paragraph (2) the fol2 lowing:

3 ‘‘(1) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘Federal

4 agency’ has the same meaning given the term ‘agen5 cy’ in section 551(1) of title 5, United States

6 Code.’’.

7 (b) PROGRAMS AFFECTED.—Section 5 of the Indian

8 Employment, Training and Related Services Demonstra9 tion Act of 1992 (25 U.S.C. 3404) is amended—

10 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before

11 ‘‘The programs’’;

12 (2) in subsection (a), as designated by para13 graph (1) of this subsection, by striking ‘‘employ14 ment opportunities, or skill development’’ and all

15 that follows through the end of the subsection, and

16 inserting ‘‘securing employment, retaining employ17 ment, or creating employment opportunities and

18 other programs relating to the world of work.’’; and

19 (3) by adding at the end the following:

20 ‘‘(b) PROGRAMS.—The programs referred to in sub21 section (a) may include, at the option of an Indian tribe—

22 ‘‘(1) the program commonly referred to as the

23 general assistance program established under the

24 Act of November 2, 1921 (commonly known as the
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1 ‘Snyder Act’) (42 Stat. 208, chapter 115; 25 U.S.C.

2 13); and

3 ‘‘(2) the program known as the Johnson4 O’Malley Program established under the Johnson5 O’Malley Act (25 U.S.C. 452 through 457), if the

6 applicable plan for the Indian tribe under section 4

7 includes educational services for elementary and sec8 ondary school students that familiarize those stu9 dents with the world of work.’’.

10 (c) PLAN REVIEW.—Section 7 of the Indian Employ11 ment, Training and Related Services Demonstration Act

12 of 1992 (25 U.S.C. 3406) is amended—

13 (1) by striking ‘‘Federal department’’ and in14 serting ‘‘Federal agency’’;

15 (2) by striking ‘‘Federal departmental’’ and in16 serting ‘‘Federal agency’’;

17 (3) by striking ‘‘department’’ each place it ap18 pears and inserting ‘‘agency’’; and

19 (4) in the third sentence, by inserting ‘‘statu20 tory requirement,’’ after ‘‘to waive any’’.

21 (d) PLAN APPROVAL.—Section 8 of the Indian Em22 ployment, Training and Related Services Demonstration

23 Act of 1992 (25 U.S.C. 3407) is amended—

24 (1) in the first sentence, by inserting before the

25 period at the end the following: ‘‘(including any re-
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1 quest for a waiver that is made as part of the plan

2 submitted by the tribal government)’’; and

3 (2) in the second sentence, by inserting before

4 the period at the end the following: ‘‘, including re5 considering the disapproval of any waiver requested

6 by the Indian tribe’’.

7 (e) JOB CREATION ACTIVITIES.—Section 9 of the In8 dian Employment, Training and Related Services Dem9 onstration Act of 1992 (25 U.S.C. 3408) is amended—

10 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before

11 ‘‘The plan submitted’’; and

12 (2) by adding at the end the following:

13 ‘‘(b) EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES.—

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other

15 provision of law, including any requirement of a pro16 gram that is integrated under a plan under this Act,

17 a tribal government may use a percentage of the

18 funds made available under this Act (as determined

19 under paragraph (2)) for the creation of employment

20 opportunities, including providing private sector

21 training placement under section 10.

22 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF PERCENTAGE.—The

23 percentage of funds that a tribal government may

24 use under this subsection is the greater of—
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1 ‘‘(A) the rate of unemployment in the area

2 subject to the jurisdiction of the tribal govern3 ment; or

4 ‘‘(B) 10 percent.

5 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION.—The funds used for an expendi6 ture described in subsection (a) may only include funds

7 made available to the Indian tribe by a Federal agency

8 under a statutory or administrative formula.’’.

9 (f) FEDERAL RESPONSIBILITIES.—Section 11(a) of

10 the Indian Employment, Training and Related Services

11 Demonstration Act of 1992 (25 U.S.C. 3410(a)) is

12 amended—

13 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by

14 striking ‘‘Bureau of Indian Affairs’’ and inserting

15 ‘‘Office of Self-Governance’’;

16 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the

17 end;

18 (3) in paragraph (4)—

19 (A) by inserting ‘‘delivered under an ar20 rangement subject to the approval of the Indian

21 tribe participating in the project,’’ after ‘‘appro22 priate to the project,’’; and

23 (B) by striking the period and inserting ‘‘;

24 and’’; and

25 (4) by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(5) the convening by an appropriate official of

2 the lead agency (whose appointment is subject to the

3 confirmation of the Senate) and a representative of

4 the Indian tribes that carry out demonstration

5 projects under this Act, in consultation with each

6 such Indian tribe, of a meeting not less than 2 times

7 during each fiscal year for the purpose of providing

8 an opportunity for all Indian tribes that carry out

9 demonstration projects under this Act to discuss

10 issues relating to the implementation of this Act

11 with officials of each department specified in sub12 section (a).’’.

13 (g) ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES.—In assuming

14 the responsibilities for carrying out the duties of a lead

15 agency under section 11(a) of the Indian Employment,

16 Training and Related Services Demonstration Act of 1992

17 (25 U.S.C. 3410(a)) pursuant to the amendments made

18 to that section by subsection (f) of this section, the Direc19 tor of the Office of Self-Governance of the Department

20 of the Interior shall ensure that an orderly transfer of

21 those lead agency functions to the Office occurs in such

22 manner as to eliminate any potential adverse effects on

23 any Indian tribe that participates in a demonstration

24 project under the Indian Employment, Training and Re-
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1 lated Services Demonstration Act of 1992 (25 U.S.C.

2 3401 et seq.).

3 (h) PERSONNEL.—In carrying out the amendment

4 made by subsection (f)(1), the Secretary of the Interior

5 shall transfer from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to the

6 Office of Self-Governance of the Department of the Inte7 rior such personnel and resources as the Secretary deter8 mines to be appropriate.

9 SEC. 4. CONSOLIDATED ADVISORY COMMITTEES.

10 The Indian Employment, Training and Related Serv11 ices Demonstration Act of 1992 (25 U.S.C. 3401 et seq.)

12 is amended by adding at the end the following:

13 ‘‘SEC. 19. CONSOLIDATED ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The head of each Federal agency

15 specified in section 4 that otherwise has jurisdiction over

16 a program that is integrated under this Act (in accordance

17 with a plan under section 6) shall permit a tribal govern18 ment that carries out that plan to establish a consolidated

19 advisory committee to carry out the duties of each advi20 sory committee that would otherwise be required under ap21 plicable law (including any council or commission relating

22 to private industry) to carry out the programs integrated

23 under the plan.

24 ‘‘(b) WAIVERS.—As necessary to carry out subsection

25 (a), each agency head referred to in that paragraph shall
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1 waive any statutory requirement, regulation, or policy re2 quiring the establishment of an advisory committee (in3 cluding any advisory commission or council).’’.

4 SEC. 5. ALASKA REGIONAL CONSORTIA.

5 The Indian Employment, Training and Related Serv6 ices Demonstration Act of 1992 (25 U.S.C. 3401 et seq.),

7 as amended by section 4 of this Act, is amended by adding

8 at the end the following:

9 ‘‘SEC. 20. ALASKA REGIONAL CONSORTIA.

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro11 vision of law, subject to subsection (b), the Secretary shall

12 permit a regional consortium of Alaska Native villages or

13 regional or village corporations (as defined in or estab14 lished under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43

15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.)) to carry out a project under a plan

16 that meets the requirements of this Act through a resolu17 tion adopted by the governing body of that consortium or

18 corporation.

19 ‘‘(b) WITHDRAWAL.—Nothing in subsection (a) is in20 tended to prohibit an Alaska Native village or regional or

21 village corporation from withdrawing from participation in

22 any portion of a program conducted pursuant to that sub23 section.’’.
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1 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATES.

2 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall

3 take effect on the date of enactment of this Act, except

4 that the transfer of functions to the Office of Self-Govern5 ance of the Department of the Interior under the amend6 ment made by section 3(f)(1) shall be carried out not later

7 than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act.

Passed the Senate June 18, 1998.

Attest: GARY SISCO,

Secretary.