The Secretary of the Interior
established the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (“the
Program”) to implement the land consolidation provisions of the
Cobell Settlement Agreement. The Settlement provided for a $1.9
billion Trust Land Consolidation Fund to consolidate fractional
land interests across Indian Country. The Program allows interested
individual owners to receive payments for voluntarily selling their
land. All lands sold will immediately be held in trust for the
tribe with jurisdiction. There are approximately 150 unique
reservations that have fractional interests. Tribal leadership,
participation, and facilitation are crucial to the success of the
Program. The Department of the Interior looks forward to working
cooperatively with tribal leaders and individual landowners to
reduce the number of fractional interests through voluntary land
sales. In light of the Program’s duty to consult with tribes, we
are planning this information collection request to obtain
information from the remaining eligible tribal governments
regarding their interest in implementing the Program at their
locations and their readiness to do so. The Program will evaluate
the expressions of interest provided by tribal governments, among
other factors, as it develops its next implementation
schedule.
The Secretary of the
Interior established the Program to implement the land
consolidation provisions of the Settlement Agreement in Cobell v.
Salazar, No. 96-CV-1285-JR. The Settlement provided for a $1.9
billion Trust Land Consolidation Fund to consolidate fractional
land interests across Indian Country. The Settlement Agreement
provides ten years for Program implementation. Consequently, the
Program, its federal partners, and the Program beneficiaries (i.e.,
tribal nations and landowners with purchasable fractional
interests), have limited time to plan and execute our work. The
Program must stay on schedule to avoid inefficient use of the Trust
Land Consolidation Fund Administrative Costs, which are capped at
15 percent of the total Fund. The Program embodies the priorities
set forth by the Obama Administration’s goal to build effective
partnerships with American Indian communities, promote sustainable
economic development and tribal culture and protect tribal lands.
The Program generates new opportunities to work more efficiently,
stimulate community dialogue and facilitate land use planning,
while ensuring that lands stay in trust for the benefit of tribal
nations. A full justification for this emergency information
collection in support of this Program is provided as a
supplementary document in this ICR.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.