Government-to-Government Consultation with Indian Tribes Regarding Proposed Planning Rule
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20240-0036
http://www.blm.gov
March 10, 2016
In Reply To:
1610 (210) P
EMS TRANSMISSION 03/16/2016
Instruction Memorandum No. 2016-056
Expires: 09/30/2019
To: All Washington Office Officials and State Directors
From: Deputy Director, Policy and Programs
Subject: Government-to-Government Consultation with Indian Tribes Regarding Proposed Planning Rule
Purpose: This Instruction Memorandum (IM) guides state directors in conducting government-to-government consultation with Indian tribes regarding the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM's) proposed planning rule (FR Vol. 81, No. 37, pp. 9674-9734).
Program Areas: BLM Tribal Consultation, Land Use Planning
Policy/Action: Tribal consultation for the BLM’s proposed planning rule will be conducted at state and local levels. Each state office will coordinate government-to-government consultation of the proposed planning rule with all Indian tribes that BLM normally consults with regarding land use planning and authorizations, or programs of mutual interest and importance within their state office boundaries. State directors are responsible for ensuring the following tasks are completed:
- Contact tribes residing within their state office boundaries to offer formal consultation.
- Invite each tribe to engage in government-to-government consultation on the proposed rule.
- Facilitate and document any in-person meetings or other forms of communication, with the tribes on this proposed rule.
- Document all relevant issues, concerns, or request for additional information communicated by the tribes during consultation.
- Provide a summary report to WO-210.
- Provide follow-up communication with tribes explaining how substantive issues were addressed in the final planning rule.
The state director will identify a point-of-contact (“state coordinator”) within the state office to coordinate with WO-210, facilitate government-to-government consultation between appropriate managers and tribes, ensure subject matter experts are available for consultation, and maintain careful documentation of all tribal contacts. Generally the state planner will be the state coordinator and will draw upon the expertise of the state tribal liaison for this effort. State coordinators must familiarize themselves with the proposed planning rule and the Planning 2.0 initiative. The WO-210 will host a webinar briefing on March 21, 2016 to provide information on these topics and respond to questions.
The tribal template letter (Attachment 1) is a template for state directors to customize and send to tribes. The letter notifies the tribes of the BLM's intent to revise the land use planning regulations and invites government-to-government consultation regarding the proposed planning rule. All states should work through their normal tribal consultation processes to ensure that all tribes received the information and confirm whether or not they have an interest in consultation. All responses from each tribe must be documented.
Agency officials who engage in consultation are responsible for: familiarizing themselves with the proposed planning rule and the Planning 2.0 initiative in advance of meeting with tribes; consulting with tribes in a timely manner; and documenting discussion topics, relevant comments, issues, concerns, or queries using the meeting and call template (Attachment 2). The agency official is responsible for providing this information to the state coordinator by the requested due date. If a tribe is not available to meet before the requested due date, the agency official should conduct the meeting on the earliest date the tribe is available and notify the state coordinator of the proposed date.
State directors, through their state coordinators, are responsible for maintaining a complete administrative record of all contacts with tribes for their state. The tracking sheet (Attachment 3) should be used for this purpose. If a tribe does not respond after an initial contact has been made, the state coordinator must facilitate follow-up communication with the tribes. A follow-up phone call should be made to each tribe to confirm they have received the information and to inquire if they are interested in government-to-government consultation. If your state has unique circumstances, contact WO-210 for approval to engage with tribes in an alternative method of communication. If a tribe accepts the BLM’s invitation to consult, the state coordinator will work with the appropriate local BLM manager to initiate consultation and information sharing in a timely manner. All relevant and substantive comments from meetings and calls must be documented using the attached meeting/call template.
The state coordinator will review all tribal comments, including verbal and written comments, to identify substantive comments that are relevant to the proposed planning rule. Any non-substantive, local, or other concerns will be addressed at state and local levels as appropriate. The state coordinator will send a summary report to Shasta Ferranto, Planning 2.0 Project Manager (WO-210).
Timeframe: State directors must identify a point-of-contact (“state coordinator”) for coordination with WO-210 and notify WO-210 of that designation within two weeks of the date of this IM. Letters from the state directors to Indian tribes should be sent within three weeks of the date of this IM. Follow-up phone calls should be made within two to three weeks of sending letters.
States must provide WO-210 a summary report by May 13, 2016 which includes:
- A copy of the signed letters sent to tribes.
- Documentation of all written, verbal, and in-person contacts with tribes using the attached tracking sheet. The tracking sheet tracks all contacts, including outreach phone calls; information requests and issues; and the BLM responses.
- Documentation of in-person meetings and consultation calls using the meeting/call template. This form provides more detailed information on substantive contacts.
- A detailed summary of all substantive tribal comments, issues, concerns, or queries.
- A list of any scheduled future meetings and the anticipated date that a revised summary report will be sent to WO-210.
Budget Impact: Significant budget impacts are not anticipated.
Background: The proposed planning rule is part of the BLM’s Planning 2.0 initiative. Through this initiative, we hope to improve our land use planning process so that we can more effectively apply landscape approaches to public lands management and be more responsive to environmental and social change. The proposed rule would revise the BLM’s land use planning regulations at 43 CFR 1601 and 1610. The proposed rule is available at www.blm.gov/plan2.
Contact: If you have any questions, please contact Shasta Ferranto at (202) 912-7352 (sferranto@blm.gov).
Signed by: Authenticated by:
Linda Lance Robert M. Williams
Deputy Director Division of IT Policy and Planning,WO-870
3 Attachments: