Summary
- IFAI is co-hosting the caucuses on Farming, Ranching, and Conservation Consultation, and Food, Safety, and Trade. Wondering what the Tribal Consultations will entail?
- Look for IFAI’s briefing materials on IFAI’s webpage, social media, and to our newsletter subscribers.This week the USDA will host a series of five Tribal Consultations on USDA Barriers.
- The Minority Business Development Agency will hold consultations on May 17 about their business development and entrepreneurial services in Indian Country.
- Last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee held a hearing with Secretary Vilsack about the President’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request for USDA, and the House Natural Resources Committee about improving Federal Forest Management Activities. There are no Congressional hearings relevant to Indian Country this week.
- Nominations for the Invasive Species Advisory Committee close on April 29.There are two Federal Register notices highlighted this week: one is the final rule notification about revisions in the WIC food packages, and the other is about the extension of the comment period for the Summer EBT Program and Rural Non-Congregate Option in the Summer Meal Programs.
- The U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona issued a court decision this week regarding the construction of a transmission line approved by the Bureau of Land Management.
About: USDA’s Office of Tribal Relations has scheduled its annual Barriers Consultation during the week of April 22, 2024, from 3-5:30 pm ET each day. Tribal caucuses precede each consultation session from 2-3 pm ET. Dear Tribal Leader letters have been issued, along with proxy letters and instructions on how to register.
Dates:
- Education and Research – April 22 (Register here)
- Forests and Public Lands Management – April 23 (Register here)
- Farming, Ranching, and Conservation – April 24 (Register here)
- Economic Development – April 25 (Register here)
- Food, Safety, and Trade – April 26 (Register here)
Title of Event: Greater Tribal Community Virtual Consultation Meeting
About: The purpose of these meetings is to provide an accountable and transparent process that ensures meaningful and timely input from Tribal officials regarding the Minority Business Development Agency’s (MBDA) business development and entrepreneurial services in Indian Country, Alaska, and Hawaii and the implications that these programs have in these . The MBDA is a subagency of the U.S. Department of Commerce that promotes minority-owned businesses, specifically Native American firms.
Date(s): May 17, 2024, (Register here)
- Meeting with American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian Community Tribal officials is from 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm ET.
- Meeting with governments of federally recognized Tribes is from 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm ET.
Individuals, who are unable to attend the virtual meetings but would like to provide comments, can send their written submissions by June 16, 2024, to regulations.gov.
Questions for public comment can be found here:
Congressional updates
Looking Back:
Hearing: Senate Appropriations Committee Tuesday, April 16th
Topic: Review of the President’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request for the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture
Witness: Secretary Tom Vilsack
Highlights:
- Secretary Vilsack stated that the USDA is in the process of defining what a Native American institution is and is engaged in consultations with Tribes to discuss self-determination as it relates to bison processing.
- The secretary referred to the April 22-26 USDA Tribal Consultations, specifically mentioning the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service proposal to be discussed in the April 26 consultation, proposing definitions on “Native American owned establishment” as “a USDA inspected food processing establishment that is owned by an Indian Tribe as defined by the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5130) or an enrolled member of an Indian Tribe.”
- An additional discussion definition will be an “establishment operating on Tribal lands” that means “a USDA inspected food processing establishment that operates within the exterior boundaries of an Indian reservation, on Tribal trust land, or other land owned by an Indian tribe.”
- He verbally committed to working closely with Senators to determine what is needed for USDA to expand Tribal self-determination opportunities, including through 638 contracting authorities.
- The committee inquired about many topics, ranging from Tribal self-determination, WIC usage, farm losses, the importance of passing a farm bill, broadband access, and Commodity Credit Corporations.
Hearing: House Natural Resources Committee Wednesday, April 17th
Topic: Improving Federal Forest Management Activities
Highlights:
- Westerman explained that this bill would incentivize collaboration with state and Tribal governments by removing inflexible requirements.
- Many representatives as well as witnesses voiced their support for the inclusion of Good Neighbor Authority in this bill, including:
- commending this bill for the inclusion of Tribal specific provisions, including the use of Good Neighbor Authority, cultural burning, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge;
- recommending to the committee that provisions be added that will allow states and Indian Tribes to identify and request additional areas for assessment and treatment.
Looking ahead:
There are no Congressional hearings relevant to Indian Country this week.
Nominations
What is the nomination for? Invasive Species Advisory Committee
Description: The Committee will serve to advise the National Invasive Species Council (NISC) on interdepartmental coordination, planning, and leadership for the Federal Government on the prevention, eradication, and control of invasive species.
Deadline for submission? April 29, 2024
Where can I submit a nomination? Nomination information can be found here.
Regulatory/Rulemaking Actions:
Title: Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC): Revisions in the WIC Food Packages
- This is a notification of a final rule that will take effect on June 17, 2024.
- The changes to the WIC food packages are intended to provide participants with a wider variety of foods that align with the latest nutritional guidance in the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
- Changes also provide WIC State agencies with greater flexibility to prescribe and tailor food packages that accommodate participants’ special dietary needs and personal and cultural food preferences as well as address key nutritional needs to support healthy dietary patterns.
Posted: Week of April 22
Title: Establishing the Summer EBT Program and Rural Non-Congregate Option in the Summer Meal Programs
- The deadline for comment submissions about this interim final rule is extended from April 27, 2024, to August 27, 2024.
- This interim final rule establishes a permanent Summer EBT Program, starting in the summer of 2024, and allows for meal service for eligible families, who have school-aged children and live in rural areas where no congregate meal service is offered.
Posted: Week of April 22
Title: Submission for OMB Review on Risk Assessment in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Payment Accuracy
- USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) seeks comments from the public, including from Tribal Governments, about its study on Understanding Risk Assessment (RA) in SNAP Payment Accuracy.
- One of the key research objectives is to determine if the RA tools create (or relieve) racial disparities.
- The subject of the RA focuses on FNS’ and the SNAP State agencies’ ability to monitor the program for improper over or underpayments.
- Comments must be received by May 9, 2024.
Posted: Week of April 15
Title: Agency Information Collection Activities re SNAP Demonstration Projects and State Options Report
- USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) invites members of the public, including Tribal Governments, to submit comments on collection activities about SNAP Demonstration Projects and SNAP State Options Report.
- Demonstration projects allow State agencies to do approved pilots or experimental projects meant to improve the program.
- FNS also wants to improve the SNAP State Options Report which is published annually.
- Comments are invited on whether FNS’ process of collecting information on SNAP Demonstration Projects and State Options Report is practical, effective, and accurately depicts the amount of work needed to carry out activities.
- Comments must be received on or before June 7, 2024.
Posted: Week of April 8
- USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is seeking public comments about its process of collecting qualitative feedback from customers and stakeholders.
- Qualitative feedback focuses on the Agency’s primary function of protecting the public by ensuring that meat, poultry, and egg products are safe, wholesome, not adulterated, and correctly labeled and packaged.
- Tribal Governments are among the expected respondents.
- Comments submitted by May 3, 2024, will be considered.
Posted: Week of April 8
- USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is proposing to modify an existing system of records; specifically, the APHIS Animal Health Surveillance and Monitoring System, USDA/APHIS-15.
- APHIS uses this system to monitor animal health data for disease and pest control and surveillance programs.
- The notice outlines several changes to the system of records, including updates to policies and practices for storage as well as retention and disposal of records in the system.
- Comments must be submitted by May 3, 2024.
Posted: Week of April 8
Court Decisions:
U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona:
Tohono O’odham Nation, et.al., v US Department of Interior, et.al., No. CV-24-00034-TUC-JGZ, (Apr. 16, 2024).
An Arizona federal court declined to grant the Tohono O’odham Nation and other Plaintiff Tribes an injunction to stop the construction of a transmission line approved by the Bureau of Land Management. The Plaintiff Tribes claimed the BLM had not properly assessed the project’s impacts on Traditional Cultural Properties (TCPs) or consulted with the Plaintiff Tribes as required by the National Environmental Policy Act. The Court rejected the injunction in part because the Plaintiff Tribes did not challenge BLM’s 2015 selection of the final project route within the Administrative Procedure Act’s six-year statute of limitations.