The Secretary of the Interior established the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (âthe Programâ) 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 Programâs 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 Administrationâs 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.