Amongst other actions necessary to
carry out the National Indian Gaming Commission's (NIGC) statutory
duties, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act requires Indian tribes
that conduct class II and/or class III gaming to issue "a separate
license … for each place, facility, or location on Indian lands at
which class II [and class III] gaming is conducted," and to ensure
that "the construction and maintenance of the gaming facilities,
and the operation of that gaming is conducted in a manner which
adequately protects the environment and public health and safety."
The Commission has promulgated part 559 of title 25, Code of
Federal Regulations, to implement these requirements.
US Code:
25
USC 2701 Name of Law: Indian Gaming Regulatory Act
The Commission has made one
program change. In 2012 (when the previous burden estimates were
approved), the Commission had just completed making wholesale
amendments to 25 CFR part 559. Because certain of these information
collection activities are intertwined, the Commission counted all
of the following submission and recordkeeping requirements as one
total response: (i) a submission of a copy of each newly issued or
renewed facility license (§ 559.3); (ii) a submission of an EPHS
attestation (§ 559.4); and (iii) recordkeeping of applicable Indian
lands or EPHS documentation (§ 559.6). Since 2012, the Commission
has determined that these submission and recordkeeping activities
are separate requirements and should each count as a separate
annual response. The Commission has made the following adjustments
to its estimated burdens: (a) the Commission has increased the
number of estimated annual responses from 143 to 269. This current
estimate is based on the annual average number of submissions to
the Commission for the past three years, after a review of the
Commission's own records. The Commission believes that the large
increase in estimated annual responses is due to the above program
change. For example, the number of annual responses that resulted
from the program change for just these three requirements rose from
111 to 243; (b) the Commission has increased the number of
estimated burden hours from 452 to 2,232. Although the NIGC has not
changed its submission requirements since 2012 (when the previous
burden estimates were approved), based on tribal survey responses,
the average review hours per response rose as follows: (i) for
submitting new facility opening notices, the burden rose from 10.0
hours to 13.0 hours; and (ii) for submitting a copy of each newly
issued or renewed facility license, an EPHS attestation, and the
recordkeeping of applicable Indian lands or EPHS documentation, the
burden rose from 2.0 hours for all three requirements to 24.0 total
hours. The Commission believes that the large increase in burden
hours is due to estimation errors in the previous request for
renewal, as well as the result of recent tribal feedback; and (c)
the Commission has increased the estimated annual cost burden from
$0 to $6,663. The biggest factor for this increase was the result
of tribal feedback, with many tribes specifying that their charges
were commercial shipping charges.
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.
80 FR 54586.pdf
Facility License Recordkeeping 559.6