Published 30-Day Notice

68640

Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 166 / Tuesday, August 27, 2024 / Notices

Total Estimated Number of Annual
Respondents: 29 per year, on average.
Total Estimated Number of Annual
Responses: 174 per year, on average.
Estimated Completion Time per
Response: Varies from 2 hour to 11
hours.
Total Estimated Number of Annual
Burden Hours: 870 hours.
Respondent’s Obligation: Required to
Obtain a Benefit.
Frequency of Collection: Annually.
Total Estimated Annual Nonhour
Burden Cost: $0.
Authority
An agency may not conduct or
sponsor and a person is not required to
respond to a collection of information
unless it displays a currently valid OMB
control number. The authority for this
action is the Paperwork Reduction Act
of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
Steven Mullen,
Information Collection Clearance Officer,
Office of Regulatory Affairs and Collaborative
Action—Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2024–19244 Filed 8–26–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4337–15–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Indian Affairs
[245A2100DD/AAKC001030/
A0A501010.999900; OMB Control Number
1076–0199]

Agency Information Collection
Activities; Submission to the Office of
Management and Budget for Review
and Approval; Indian Business
Incubator Program
Bureau of Indian Affairs,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of information collection;
request for comment.
AGENCY:

In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we,
Assistant Secretary—Indian Affairs
(AS–IA) are proposing to renew an
information collection.
DATES: Interested persons are invited to
submit comments on or before
September 26, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and
recommendations for the proposed
information collection request (ICR)
should be sent within 30 days of
publication of this notice to the Office
of Information and Regulatory Affairs
(OIRA) through https://
www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRA/
icrPublicCommentRequest?ref_
nbr=202405-1076-015 or by visiting
https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/

ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1

SUMMARY:

VerDate Sep<11>2014

17:14 Aug 26, 2024

Jkt 262001

PRAMain and selecting ‘‘Currently
under Review—Open for Public
Comments’’ and then scrolling down to
the ‘‘Department of the Interior.’’
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To
request additional information about
this ICR, contact Steven Mullen,
Information Collection Clearance
Officer, Office of Regulatory Affairs and
Collaborative Action—Indian Affairs,
U.S. Department of the Interior, 1001
Indian School Road NW, Suite 229,
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87104;
comments@bia.gov; (202) 924–2650.
Individuals in the United States who are
deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have
a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY,
TDD, or TeleBraille) to access
telecommunications relay services. You
may also view the ICR at https://
www.reginfo.gov/public/
Forward?SearchTarget=
PRA&textfield=1076-0199.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In
accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA, 44 U.S.C.
3501 et seq.) and 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1), we
provide the general public and other
Federal agencies with an opportunity to
comment on new, proposed, revised,
and continuing collections of
information. This helps us assess the
impact of our information collection
requirements and minimize the public’s
reporting burden. It also helps the
public understand our information
collection requirements and provide the
requested data in the desired format.
A Federal Register notice with a 60day public comment period soliciting
comments on this collection of
information was published on June 21,
2024 (89 FR 52076). No comments were
received.
As part of our continuing effort to
reduce paperwork and respondent
burdens, we are again soliciting
comments from the public and other
Federal agencies on the proposed ICR
that is described below. We are
especially interested in public comment
addressing the following:
(1) Whether or not the collection of
information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the
agency, including whether or not the
information will have practical utility;
(2) The accuracy of our estimate of the
burden for this collection of
information, including the validity of
the methodology and assumptions used;
(3) Ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and
(4) How might the agency minimize
the burden of the collection of
information on those who are to
respond, including through the use of

PO 00000

Frm 00065

Fmt 4703

Sfmt 4703

appropriate automated, electronic,
mechanical, or other technological
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology, e.g., permitting
electronic submission of response.
Comments that you submit in
response to this notice are a matter of
public record. 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 ask us in your comment to
withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we
cannot guarantee that we will be able to
do so.
Abstract: Under 25 CFR 1187, this
information collection includes items
that an applicant must include in an
application for an Indian Business
Incubator Program (IBIP) grant and that
IBIP awardees must include in the
annual report. Applicant contents
include such items as a description of
the reservation communities the
incubator will serve, a three-year plan
regarding the services to be offered to
participating entrepreneurs, among
other items, information regarding
applicant’s experience in conducting
assistance programs, and a site
description of the location at which the
applicant will provide workspace to
participants, among other items. The
annual report includes a detailed
breakdown of the entrepreneurs the
incubator has served for the year
covered by the report. The authority for
this information collection is the Native
American Business Incubators Program
Act (25 U.S.C. 5801 et seq.).
We are updating the ‘‘Total Estimated
Number of Annual Respondents’’ from
50 to 30 to reflect actual responses
received in recent years. We are also
updating ‘‘Total Estimated Number of
Annual Responses’’ 100 from 30 by
streamlining the program’s business
practices. Finally, we are updating
‘‘Total Estimated Number of Annual
Burden Hours’’ from 2,000 to 750 hours.
Title of Collection: Indian Business
Incubator Program, 25 CFR 1187.
OMB Control Number: 1076–0199.
Form Number: None.
Type of Review: Extension of a
currently approved collection.
Respondents/Affected Public:
Individuals, Private Sector,
Government.
Total Estimated Number of Annual
Respondents: 30.
Total Estimated Number of Annual
Responses: 30.

E:\FR\FM\27AUN1.SGM

27AUN1

Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 166 / Tuesday, August 27, 2024 / Notices
Estimated Completion Time per
Response: Ranges from 5 to 35 hours.
Total Estimated Number of Annual
Burden Hours: 750 hours.
Respondent’s Obligation: Required to
obtain a benefit.
Frequency of Collection: Occasionally.
Total Estimated Annual Nonhour
Burden Cost: $0.
Authority: An agency may not
conduct or sponsor and a person is not
required to respond to a collection of
information unless it displays a
currently valid OMB control number.
The authority for this action is the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
Steven Mullen,
Information Collection Clearance Officer,
Office of Regulatory Affairs and Collaborative
Action—Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2024–19238 Filed 8–26–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4337–15–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Indian Affairs
[245A2100DD/AAKC001030/
A0A501010.999900]

HEARTH Act Approval of Yocha Dehe
Wintun Nation, California Leasing
Ordinance
Bureau of Indian Affairs,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:

The Bureau of Indian Affairs
(BIA) approved the Yocha Dehe Wintun
Nation, 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 leases
without further BIA approval.
DATES: BIA issued the approval on
August 20, 2024.
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:
SUMMARY:

ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1

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,

VerDate Sep<11>2014

17:14 Aug 26, 2024

Jkt 262001

without the approval of the Secretary of
the Interior (Secretary). The HEARTH
Act also authorizes Tribes to enter into
leases for residential, recreational,
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 Yocha
Dehe Wintun Nation, 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.

PO 00000

Frm 00066

Fmt 4703

Sfmt 4703

68641

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

E:\FR\FM\27AUN1.SGM

27AUN1