Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 76 / Wednesday, April 20, 2022 / Notices 23537 

activities with endangered species for 

scientific purposes that promote 

recovery or for enhancement of 

propagation or survival of the species. 

Our regulations implementing section 

10(a)(1)(A) for these permits are found 

at 50 CFR 17.22 for endangered wildlife 

species, 50 CFR 17.32 for threatened 

wildlife species, 50 CFR 17.62 for 

endangered plant species, and 50 CFR 

17.72 for threatened plant species. 

Permit Applications Available for 

Review and Comment 

We invite local, State, and Federal 

agencies; Tribes; and the public to 

comment on the following applications: 

Application No. Applicant Species Location Activity Type of take Permit 

action 

TE43541A .......... Francesca Cuthbert, 

Saint Paul, MN.

Piping plover (Charadrius 

melodus).

IL, MI, NY, PA, WI .......... Conduct presence/absence surveys, document habitat use, conduct population monitoring, and evaluate 

potential impacts.

Capture, handle, release, 

band, and DNA sample.

Renew. 

TE38835A .......... Kim Karn, Grand 

Rapids, MI.

Karner blue butterfly 

(Lycaeides melissa 

samuelis).

MI .................................... Conduct presence/absence surveys, document habitat use, and 

conduct habitat management.

Collect, handle, and loss 

of habitat.

Renew and 

Amend. 

TE06820A .......... Russel Benedict, 

Pella, IA.

Gray bat (Myotis 

grisescens), Indiana 

bat (M. sodalis), and 

northern long-eared 

bat (M. septentrionalis).

IL, IA, MO, NE ................ Conduct presence/absence surveys, document habitat use, conduct population monitoring, and evaluate 

potential impacts.

Capture, handle, harp 

trap, radio-tag, and release.

Renew. 

TE65859D ......... Benjamin Schuplin, 

North Royalton, 

OH.

Gray bat (Myotis 

grisescens), Indiana 

bat (M. sodalis), and 

northern long-eared 

bat (M. septentrionalis).

AL, AR, CN, DE, FL, GA, 

IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, 

ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, 

MS, MO, MT, NE, NH, 

NJ, NY, NC, ND, OK, 

OH, PA, RI, SC, SD, 

TN, VT, VA, WV, WI, 

WY.

Conduct presence/absence surveys, document habitat use, conduct population monitoring, and evaluate 

potential impacts.

Add new activity—radiotag—to existing authorized activities: Capture, 

handle, and release.

Amend. 

TE69835D ......... Michigan State University, Hickory 

Corners, MI.

Add: new species— 

Mitchell’s satyr butterfly 

(Neonympha mitchellii 

mitchellii) — to existing 

authorized species: 

Poweshiek skipperling 

(Oarisma poweshiek).

Add new States—AL, 

MS—to existing authorized State of MI.

Conduct presence/absence surveys, document habitat use, conduct population monitoring, captive propagate, conduct genomic 

studies, and evaluate 

potential impacts.

Add new activity — captive propagation — to 

existing authorized activities: Capture, handle, hold, and release.

Amend. 

Public Availability of Comments 

Written comments we receive become 

part of the administrative record 

associated with this action. Before 

including your address, phone number, 

email address, or other personal 

identifying information in your 

comment, you should be aware that 

your entire comment—including your 

personal identifying information—may 

be made publicly available at any time. 

While you can request in your comment 

that we withhold your personal 

identifying information from public 

review, we cannot guarantee that we 

will be able to do so. Moreover, all 

submissions from organizations or 

businesses, and from individuals 

identifying themselves as 

representatives or officials of 

organizations or businesses, will be 

made available for public disclosure in 

their entirety. 

Next Steps 

If we decide to issue permits to any 

of the applicants listed in this notice, 

we will publish a notice in the Federal 

Register. 

Authority 

We publish this notice under section 

10(c) of the Endangered Species Act of 

1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 

seq.). 

Lori Nordstrom, 

Assistant Regional Director, Ecological 

Services. 

[FR Doc. 2022–08474 Filed 4–19–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4333–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Indian Affairs 

[223A2100DD/AAKC001030/ 

A0A501010.999900] 

HEARTH Act Approval of Morongo 

Band of Mission Indians, California 

Leasing Ordinance 

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Indian Affairs 

(BIA) approved the Morongo Band of 

Mission Indians, California 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 business and 

residential leases without further BIA 

approval. 

DATES: BIA issued the approval on April 

14, 2022. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Carla Clark, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 

Division of Real Estate Services, 1001 

Indian School Road NW, Albuquerque, 

NM 87104, carla.clark@bia.gov, (702) 

484–3233. 

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, 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
23538 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 76 / Wednesday, April 20, 2022 / Notices 

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 Morongo 

Band of Mission Indians, California. 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 the 

development of an environmental 

review process. The Secretary also 

retains authority to take any necessary 

actions to remedy violations of a lease 

or of the Tribal regulations, including 

terminating the lease or rescinding 

approval of the Tribal regulations and 

reassuming lease approval 

responsibilities. Moreover, the Secretary 

continues to review, approve, and 

monitor individual Indian land leases 

and other types of leases not covered 

under the Tribal regulations according 

to the Part 162 regulations. 

Accordingly, the Federal and Tribal 

interests weigh heavily in favor of 

preemption of State and local taxes on 

lease-related activities and interests, 

regardless of whether the lease is 

governed by Tribal leasing regulations 

or Part 162. Improvements, activities, 

and leasehold or possessory interests 

may be subject to taxation by the 

Morongo Band of Mission Indians, 

California. 

Bryan Newland, 

Assistant Secretary—Indian Affairs. 

[FR Doc. 2022–08410 Filed 4–19–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4337–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

National Park Service 

[NPS–WASO–NAGPRA–NPS0033713; 

PPWOCRADN0–PCU00RP14.R50000] 

Notice of Inventory Completion: Beloit 

College, Logan Museum of 

Anthropology, Beloit, WI 

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Beloit College, Logan 

Museum of Anthropology has 

completed an inventory of human 

remains in consultation with the 

appropriate Indian Tribes or Native 

Hawaiian organizations and has 

determined that there is no cultural 

affiliation between the human remains 

and any present-day Indian Tribes or 

Native Hawaiian organizations. 

Representatives of any Indian Tribe or 

Native Hawaiian organization not 

identified in this notice that wish to 

request transfer of control of these 

human remains should submit a written 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES