SECTION X. GRIEVANCE AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCEDURES. It is agreed that the Tribal management standards include a requirement for resolving conflicts, disagreements and disputes between the Tribe and PRO. Such a process must be based on principles of the government-to-government relationship between the United States and Indian Tribes as well as the partnership relationship between the Tribe and Secretary under Self-Governance agreements and 638 contracts. The burden falls on the Secretary to demonstrate how the Tribe's proposal is inconsistent with Federal trust responsibility standards in order to deny accepting the Tribe's proposal. SECTION XI. AMENDMENTS. This Agreement may be amended at any time by the Consortium and PRO. PARTICIPATING TRIBES BIG LAGOON RANCHERIA CABAZON BAND OF MISSION INDIANS GUIDIVILLE INDIAN RANCHERIA HOOPA VALLEY TRIBE KARUK TRIBE OF CALIFORNIA REDDING RANCHERIA YUROK TRIBE Section ATTACHMENT 3 PROPOSED TRIBAL TRUST REFORM PILOT PROJECT Tribal Trust Reform Pilot Project A. PURPOSE. The purpose of the Tribal Trust Reform Pilot Project is intended to, but is not limited to: 1. Enhancing the working relationship between the participating tribes and Department of the Interior for trust management activities by establishing mutually acceptable methods for addressing trust issues in manners that are consistent with tribal priorities and applicable federal laws; 2. Maintaining a standard of good faith and in the spirit and intent of the general principles of federal trust responsibilities to Indian tribes, the right of tribal self-determination and self-governance, government-to-government relationship between the Indian tribes and the United States, and providing a meaningful working relationship with participating tribes. 3. Establishing a meaningful process whereby any interpretations regarding the implementation of this Project be decided in favor of the implementation of the Project and furthering the continuation of meaningful partnerships between the participating tribes and the Federal designated officials in cases where Reorganization is not needed to accomplish Trust Resource Improvements, to the extent not inconsistent with federal law. 4. Recognizing and utilizing tribal expertise and systems to accomplish appropriate management of trust resources, using those opportunities to explore the development of effective working models relating to the management of trust resources, and developing meaningful and measurable means of quantifying the respective values, standards and priorities of the participating tribes and the Department. 5. Identifying ways of resolving conflicting management prescriptions between tribal and federal standards, priorities and values in non-litigation and cooperative government-togovernment forums, and memorializing those conflict resolution methodologies in a participating tribe's funding agreement. B. TRIBAL PARTICIPATION. 1. A tribe that has an existing working relationship with BIA that includes specific management or improvement of trust resource management set forth in the funding agreement shall be included as a participating tribe in this trust pilot project. Such tribe must first submit a formal notice to the Secretary to be included as a pilot project. C. 2. 3. Any tribe that is not included in part B (1) of this subsection may be included in A participating tribe may withdraw from the Project at any time. Where tribes have developed and adopted management standards for trust resources, those standards will be utilized under the Project. The designated Federal official shall interpret statutes and regulations in a manner that facilitates approval of a Tribe's management standards. The Federal designated official may only refuse to accept Tribal standards that deviate from federal statutory requirements. The Federal designated official may propose to the tribe additional standards for its consideration if the official believes that additional standards will assist in managing the trust resources in a prudent manner. Unless the Federal designated official demonstrates that the Tribe's management standards will fail to adequately meet statutory obligations, the Federal designated official shall approve the Tribe's management standards for the Tribe's trust resources. Tribal management standards may be in any format, including law, plans, procedures, policies, etc. providing that the following principles are clearly described. a. Formal Tribal Approval. The standards must be formally approved by the tribe in a manner typical of other Tribal enactments, and recorded as a formal Tribal action. b. Values. The standards must be established in a manner to readily compute the amount of revenues that are expected to be received from each trust transaction(s). c. Measurable/quantifiable standards. The standards must describe in measurable and/or quantifiable terms the expected goals and/or intended results for applying the standards. d. Methods for resolving disagreements/disputes. The standards must describe in measurable and/or quantifiable terms the expected goals and/or intended results for applying the standards. e. Trust evaluations. The standards must include a process whereby the Tribe and Federal designated official can conduct mutually acceptable trust evaluations concerning management of trust resources. D. JOINT EVALUATION CRITERIA AND PROCEDURES/REPORTING Each participating tribe and the Federal designated official will develop joint reporting requirements, which are consistent with the annual trust evaluation requirements. Based on a mutually acceptable non-burdensome reporting format, the report will include methods for determining that trust transactions are carried out consistent with the requirements contained in trust resource management prescriptions and can be easily reconciled with trust fund accounts. Consistent with the self-governance regulations, the Federal designated official may conduct additional trust reviews if sufficient information exists from credible sources that the Tribe is not operating consistently with the Tribal/Federal management standards. During the annual negotiations, the designated Federal official and the Tribe will negotiate and agree on the Federal designated official in fulfilling the federal oversight trust responsibilities. GRIEVANCE AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCEDURES Each tribe participating in the Trust Pilot Project will develop and maintain with the Federal designated official non-litigation grievance and dispute resolution procedures that shall be incorporated in the tribes' funding agreement. A:5-21-04senate-trust-testimony.doc INTERTRIBAL MONITORING ASSOCIATION on Indian Trust Funds 2401 12th Street NW - Suite 207N Albuquerque, NM 87104 Phone: 505/247-1447 Fax: 505/247-1449 e-mail: itma@flash.net ORAL STATEMENT PRESENTED BY ITMA CHAIRMAN RICHARD SANGREY before the SENATE COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS on the "DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR TRUST REORGANIZATION” May 21, 2003 The Intertribal Monitoring Association on Indian Trust Funds (ITMA) is a representative organization of the following 58 federally recognized tribes: Central Council of Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes, Kenaitze Indian Tribe, Metlakatla Indian Tribe, Hopi Nation, Tohono O'odham Nation, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, Fort Bidwell Indian Community, Ewiiaapaayp Band of Kumeyaay Indians, Hoopa Valley Tribe, Yurok Tribe, Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians, Southern Ute Tribe, Coeur D'Alene Tribe, Nez Perce Tribe, PassamaquoddyPleasant Point Tribe, Penobscot Nation, Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Grand Portage Tribe, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, Blackfeet Tribe, Chippewa Cree Tribe of Rocky Boy, Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribe, Crow Tribe, Fort Belknap Tribes, Fort Peck Tribes, Northern Cheyenne Tribe, Winnebago Tribe, Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribes, Walker River Paiute Tribal Council, Jicarilla Apache Nation, Mescalero Apache Tribe, Pueblo of Cochiti, Pueblo of Laguna, Pueblo of Sandia, Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, Absentee Shawnee Tribe, Alabama Quassarte Tribe, Cherokee Nation, Kaw Nation, Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma, Muscogee Creek Nation, Osage Tribe, Quapaw Tribe, Thlopthlocco Tribal Town, Confederated Tribes of Umatilla, ITMATestimony on BIA Reorganization 1 May 21, 2003 |