[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 107 (Monday, June 3, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 27831-27833]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-13731]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
25 CFR Part 217

RIN 1076-AD37


Management by the Tribe and the Ute Distribution Corporation of 
the Ute Indian Tribe's Undivided Tribal Assets on the Uintah and Ouray 
Reservations, Utah

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) is proposing to amend the 
regulations governing the procedures, under the Secretary of the 
Interior's supervision, for jointly managing the undivided assets of 
the Ute Indian Tribe. This rule was identified for reinvention under 
the National Performance Review. It is written in plain English to make 
the rule easier to read and understand.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before August 2, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Mail or hand carry comments to Terrance Virden, Acting 
Director, Office of Trust Responsibilities, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 
Department of the Interior, 1849 C St. NW, Mail Stop 4513-MIB, 
Washington, DC 20240.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kim Synder, Division of Energy and 
Minerals, Bureau of Indian Affairs at telephone (202) 208-3607.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Publication of the proposed rule by the 
Department of the Interior (Department) provides the public an 
opportunity to participate in the rulemaking process. Interested 
persons may submit written comments regarding the proposed rule to the 
location identified in the ``addresses'' section of this document.
    We certify to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that these 
proposed regulations meet the applicable standards provided in sections 
2(a) and 2(b)(2) of Executive Order 12778.
    This is not a significant rule under Executive Order 12866 and does 
not require review by the Office of Management and Budget.
    This rule imposes no unfunded mandates on any government or private 
entity and is in compliance with the provisions of the Unfunded 
Mandates Act of 1995.
    The information collection requirements in this part do not require 
approval by OMB under 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.
    We determined this proposed rule:
    (a) Will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial 
number of small entities under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 
601 et seq.);
    (b) Does not constitute a major Federal action significantly 
affecting the quality of the human environment and no detailed 
statement is required under the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969;
    (c) Does not have significant takings implications in accordance 
with Executive Order 12630; and
    (d) Does not have significant federalism effects.
    This rule was written by the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Regulatory 
Review Action Team.

List of Subjects in 25 CFR Part 217

    Indians-claims, Indians-land, mineral resources.
    For the reasons set out in the preamble, we propose to revise Part 
217 of Title 25 of the Code of Federal Regulations as follows:

PART 217--MANAGEMENT BY THE TRIBE AND THE UTE DISTRIBUTION 
CORPORATION OF THE UTE INDIAN TRIBE'S UNDIVIDED TRIBAL ASSETS ON 
THE UINTAH AND OURAY RESERVATION, UTAH

Sec.
217.1  What do certain terms mean?
217.2  What is the authority for this part?
217.3  What is the purpose of this part?
217.4  How do proceeds divide between the two groups?
217.5  What is the Secretary's role under this part?
217.6  How is wildlife managed?
217.7  What is the Joint Advisory Board and what do they do?
217.8  Must joint managers document decisions and file reports?
217.9  Who collects payments from mineral interests?
217.10  How are errors in paying mineral interests corrected?

    Authority: 25 U.S.C. 677z.


Sec. 217.1  What do certain terms mean?

    Act means the Act of August 27, 1954, 68 Stat. 868, 25 U.S.C. 677-
677aa, commonly referred to as the ``Ute Partition Act'' or the ``Ute 
Termination Act,'' as amended by the Act of August 2, 1956, 70 Stat. 
936, and the Act of September 25, 1962, 76 Stat. 597.
    Affiliated Ute Citizens of Utah (AUC) means the organization that 
represented the mixed-blood members of the Ute Indian Tribe to help 
partition and distribute divisible tribal assets and carry out other 
purposes under the Act before August 27, 1961, 12 midnight.
    Asset means any real, personal, or mixed property of the tribe, 
whether held by the tribe or by the United States in trust for them, or 
restricted from division by the United States.
    Full-blood means a member of the tribe who is on the final roll of 
full-bloods published April 5, 1956, 21 FR 2208, and also anyone 
enrolled later as a tribal member under the tribe's constitution, by-
laws, and ordinances.
    Indian mineral interest means any interest in minerals United 
States holds in trust to benefit the full-bloods and mixed-bloods, 
individually or as a tribe.
    Mixed-blood means a person who is on the final roll of mixed-bloods 
published April 5, 1956, 21 FR 2208. The mixed-blood roll is closed.
    Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior or other person 
acting under the Secretary's authority.
    Tribal Business Committee means the governing body of the Ute 
Indian Tribe, created under the tribe's constitution and by-laws.
    Tribe means the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray 
Reservation, Utah. Starting April 5, 1956, when the

[[Page 27832]]

final rolls were published, the tribe has consisted exclusively of 
full-blood members, as determined by the tribe's constitution, by-laws, 
and ordinances.
    Undivided assets means those which are unadjudicated or 
unliquidated claims against the United States and rights in gas, oil, 
and minerals. They also consist of other assets existing on April 5, 
1956, which can't be distributed equitably and practically, including 
wildlife and the right to hunt and fish.
    Ute Distribution Corporation (UDC) means the corporation organized 
by the Affiliated Ute Citizens of Utah (AUC), under the Act and the 
laws of the State of Utah. The AUC irrevocably delegated authority to 
the UDC to represent the mixed-blood members of the tribe in joint 
management of undivided assets and to receive and distribute their net 
proceeds to stockholders of the UDC.


Sec. 217.2   What is the authority for this part?

    The basic authority for this part is the Act itself, 25 U.S.C. 
677z, but we have also tried to follow the decrees and directions of 
the federal courts in the following cases: Affiliated Ute Citizens v. 
United States, 406 U.S. 128 (1972); Reyos v. United States, 431 F.2d 
1337 (10th Cir. 1970); Affiliated Ute Citizens of Utah v. United 
States, 431 F.2d 1349 (10th Cir. 1970); United States v. Felter, 546 F. 
Supp. 1002 (D. Utah 1982); United States v. Felter, 752 F.2d 1505 (10th 
Cir. 1985); Murdock v. Ute Indian Tribe, et al., No. 91-4112, Slip. Op. 
(10th Cir. Sept. 9, 1992); and Affiliated Ute Citizens v. Ute Indian 
Tribe, Donald Hodel, et al., Federal District Court for Utah, 85-C-
0569J, Memorandum Opinion and Order, February 3, 1987, and Memorandum 
Opinion and Order, November 16, 1992.


Sec. 217.3   What is the purpose of this part?

    This part provides procedures for jointly managing undivided assets 
of the Ute Indian tribe, under the Secretary's supervision. In managing 
these assets, Tribal Business Committee represents the full-blood 
group, and the Ute Distribution Corporation (UDC) represents the mixed-
blood group.


Sec. 217.4   How do proceeds divide between the two groups?

    (a) The proceeds divide between the two groups in proportion to the 
number of persons on final membership rolls published April 5, 1956, in 
21 FR 2208. Based on these rolls, they received a certain percentage of 
all divisible assets; they have also received, and will continue to 
receive, the same percentages of net proceeds from undivided assets:
    (1) Full-bloods: 72.83814 percent;
    (2) Mixed-bloods: 27.16186 percent.
    (b) These percentages don't change, even though tribal membership 
has changed, and the type and number of UDC stockholders varies as they 
transfer stock. Originally, UDC's stockholders were all the people 
listed on the final roll of mixed-bloods.
    (c) The tribe and the UDC pay their own costs for managing 
undivided assets.


Sec. 217.5   What is the Secretary's role under this part?

    (a) Under this part, the Secretary's standard responsibilities 
include--
    (1) Supervising how the Tribal Business Committee and the UDC 
manage the Ute tribe's undivided assets;
    (2) Receiving the proceeds from undivided assets and, after 
deducting internal costs, dividing the net proceeds between the UDC and 
the tribe according to the established percentages;
    (3) Signing patents, deeds, assignments, releases, certificates, 
contracts, or other instruments needed to carry out the Act or to 
establish a marketable and recordable title to property disposed of 
under the Act (25 U.S.C. 677y).
    (b) If the Tribal Business Committee or the UDC's Board of 
Directors notifies the Secretary that they disagree on how to handle 
undivided assets, he or she--
    (1) Partitions the tribe's assets lawfully, equitably, and fairly 
to both groups (25 U.S.C. 677i);
    (2) Issues a written decision resolving the disagreement within 30 
days of receiving the notice; and
    (3) States this decision in letters to all interested parties.
    (c) The Secretary also handles other responsibilities stated in the 
Act or elsewhere in federal law.


Sec. 217.6   How is wildlife managed?

    Based on decisions in federal courts, wildlife on the Uintah and 
Ouray Reservation, Utah is an undivided asset because no one can 
equitably divide the tribe's or individual Indian's right to hunt and 
fish on it. Specifically, the rights of mixed-bloods to hunt and fish 
on the reservation will end whenever the last mixed-blood listed on the 
final roll dies. Thus, the Tribal Business Committee and the UDC must 
jointly manage the regulation of wildlife and hunting and fishing by 
tribal members and by mixed-bloods on the final roll.


Sec. 217.7   What is the Joint Advisory Board and what do they do?

    (a) The Joint Advisory Board is a group the Secretary may establish 
permanently or to consider a particular issue. It includes 
representatives of--
    (1) The Tribe;
    (2) The UDC; and
    (3) The Secretary.
    (b) The Joint Advisory Board:
    (1) Considers anything that concerns managing undivided assets;
    (2) If organized to consider a specific task, investigates and 
recommends actions on that task to the Secretary;
    (3) Transmits its decisions in writing to the Tribal Business 
Committee, the UDC's Board of Directors, and the Secretary.


Sec. 217.8   Must joint managers document decisions and file reports?

    Yes. The Tribal Business Committee and UDC's Board of Directors 
must:
    (a) Write out and place an authorized member's signature on all 
decisions or legal documents;
    (b) Accompany each decision or document with a resolution 
authorizing it to be signed;
    (c) Send all decisions or documents to the Secretary for approval 
or disapproval; and
    (d) File annual reports to the Secretary:
    (1) From the Tribal Business Committee on management of undivided 
assets to the tribal membership;
    (2) From UDC's Board of Directors on management of hunting and 
fishing to the mixed-bloods and of all other undivided assets to UDC 
stockholders.


Sec. 217.9   Who collects payments from mineral interests?

    The Minerals Management Service collects payments from mineral 
interests and sends them to the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Office of 
Trust Fund Management. Trust Fund Management deposits the money in a 
joint management account or Individual Indian Money account in the 
United States Treasury.


Sec. 217.10   How are errors in paying mineral interests corrected?

    (a) An error that results in underpaying or overpaying the tribe, 
UDC, or an allottee usually gets corrected within six months. The 
period may be longer if the amount is too large. The BIA's Office of 
Trust Fund Management takes money from the joint management account or 
diverts money that would otherwise go to an Individual Indian Money 
account and places it in the account of the appropriate joint manager 
or allottee. The amount includes principal and interest earned, as well 
as penalties, if any.
    (b) Reporting of an error depends on its source. If the error 
results from--

[[Page 27833]]

    (1) An action by BIA, the joint managers, or an allottee, the 
Secretary must immediately notify the BIA's Office of Trust Fund 
Management and the Minerals Management Service (MMS) of the error and 
how to correct it;
    (2) An action or inaction by MMS, a lessee, payee, or a person or 
company legally associated with a lessee, MMS must immediately notify 
the BIA's Office of Trust Fund Management of the error and how to 
correct it.

    Dated: May 22, 1996.
Ada E. Deer,
Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 96-13731 Filed 5-31-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-02-P