§ 122.3 Information collection.

(a) The information collection requirements contained in §§ 122.6 and 122.9 have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget under U.S.C. 3501 et seq. and assigned clearance numbers 1076-0098 and 1076-0106, respectively. The information collected in § 122.6 is used to determine the eligibility of Osage Indian student applicants for educational assistance grants. The information collected in § 122.9 provides summary review for program evaluation and program planning. Response to the information collections is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with 25 U.S.C. 883.

(b) Public reporting burden for this information collection is estimated to average 30 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing the burden, to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Information Collection Clearance Officer, Room 337 SIB, 18th & C Streets, NW., Washington, DC 20240; and the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (1076-0106), Washington DC 20503.

§ 122.4 Establishment of the Osage Tribal Education Committee.

(a) The Osage Tribe, to maintain its right of Tribal autonomy, shall, at the direction of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, establish the Osage Tribal Education Committee (OTEC) to fulfill the responsibilities and provisions of this part as set out in § 122.6.

(b) This committee shall be composed of seven (7) members. Five (5) of the members shall be of Osage blood or descendents of Osage, and two (2) from the education staff of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

(1) Of the five Osage members, at least three shall be legal residents and/or live within a 20-mile radius of one of the three Osage Indian villages. Of these, at least one member shall reside within the specified radius of

the Pawhuska Indian village; at least one member shall reside within the specified radius of the Hominy Indian village; and at least one member shall reside within the specified radius of the Greyhorse Indian village.

(2) The two remaining Osage committee members will be members at large.

§ 122.5 Selection/nomination process for committee members.

(a) Selection of the five (5) OTEC members shall be made by the Assistant Secretary in accordance with the following:

(1) Any adult person of Osage Indian blood who is an allottee or a descendant of an allottee is eligible to serve on the Osage Tribal Education Committee.

(2) Nominees for committee membership shall include a brief statement of interest and qualifications for serving on the committee.

(b) Nominations may be made by any Osage organization, including the Osage village communities of Greyhorse, Hominy and Pawhuska, by requesting its candidates to follow procedures outlined in paragraph (a)(2) of this section.

(c) Nominations shall be delivered by registered mail to the following address: Osage Tribal Education Committee, c/o Area Education Programs Administrator, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Muskogee Area Office-Room 152, 5th & W, Okmulgee, Muskogee, Oklahoma 74401.

(d) A Nominee Selection Committee composed of OTEC members so designated by the Assistant Secretary will review all nominations. Upon completion of this process, the Nominee Selection Committee will forward its recommendations for final consideration to the Assistant Secretary.

(e) Each member shall be sworn in for a four year term. At the discretion of the Assistant Secretary, members may succeed themselves with a recommendation for reappointment from the Nominee Selection Committee.

(f) The Assistant Secretary may, until a vacancy is filled, appoint an individual to serve for a temporary period not to exceed 120 days.

§ 122.6 Duties of the Osage Tribal Education Committee.

(a) For the purpose of providing financial assistance to eligible Osage applicants for educational assistance, the Osage Tribal Education Committee shall maintain an office and retain all official records at the Bureau of Indian Affairs offices located at the Federal Building, Muskogee, Oklahoma.

(b) The Osage Tribal Education Committee shall be responsible for implementing an overall plan of operation consistent with the policy of Indian self-determination which incorporates a systematic sequential process whereby all student applications for financial aid are rated and ranked simultaneously to enable a fair distribution of available funds.

(1) All applicants shall be rated by a point system appropriate to applications for education assistance. After all applications are rated, the Osage Tribal Education Committee will rank the applications in a descending order for award purposes. No awards shall be made until all applications are rated against the point system.

(2) Monetary awards shall be for fixed amounts as determined by the Osage Tribal Education Committee. The fixed amounts shall be itemized in the committee's annual budgetary request, and the monetary award amounts shall be consistent with the fixed amounts itemized in the approved budget.

(3) Payment of the monetary awards shall be made directly to the student, with half of the amount payable on or before September 15 and the second half payable on or before February 15, provided the student is successfully enrolled in an accredited institution of higher education and meeting the institution's requirement for passing work.

(4) No student will be funded beyond 10 semesters or five academic years, not to include summer sessions, nor shall any student with a baccalaureate degree be funded for an additional undergraduate degree.

§ 122.7 Budget.

(a) By August 1 of each year, the Osage Tribal Education Committee

will submit a proposed budget to the Assistant Secretary or to his/her designated representative for formal approval. Unless the Assistant Secretary or his/her designated representative informs the committee in writing of budget restrictions by September 1, the proposed budget is considered to be accepted.

(b) The investment principal, composed of the one million dollars appropriated by the Act and reverted funds, must be invested in a federally insured banking or savings institution or invested in obligations of the Federal Government. There are no provisions in this part which shall limit the right of the Osage Tribal Education Committee to withdraw interest earned from the investment principal; however, expenditures shall be made against only the interest generated from investment principal and reverted funds.

(c) All funds deposited will accumulate interest at a rate not less than that generally available for similar funds deposited at the same banking or savings institution or invested in the same obligations of the United States Government for the same period of time.

§ 122.8 Administrative costs for management of the fund.

Funds available for expenditures may be used by the Osage Tribal Education Committee in the performance of its duties and responsibilities. Recordkeeping is required and proposed expenditures are to be attached with the August 1 proposed annual budget to the Assistant Secretary or his/her designated representative.

§ 122.9 Annual report.

The Osage Tribal Education Committee shall submit an annual report on OMB approved Form 1076-0106, Higher Education Annual Report, to the Assistant Secretary or his/her designated representative on or before November 1, for the preceding 12 month period.

§ 122.10 Appeal.

The procedure for appealing any decision regarding the awarding of funds under this part shall be made in ac

§ 123.1 Scope and purpose.

(a) The regulations in this part shall apply to all future distributions of the Alaska Native Fund pursuant to section 6 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1605), except money reserved for the payment of attorney and other fees as provided in section 20 of the Act (43 U.S.C. 1619). (b) These regulations are not intended (1) to alter the distribution formula of section 6 of the Act (43 U.S.C. 1605), or the redistribution formulas of sections 7(j) or 7(m) of the Act (43 U.S.C. 1606(j), (m)); or (2) to require the distribution of money in the Fund when not authorized by the Act, or when the money has been set aside in an escrow or reserved account pursuant to an order of a court of competent jurisdiction.

(c) The regulations in this part are intended to implement section 31 of the Act (43 U.S.C. 1628) which authorizes the Secretary to recognize validly executed assignments of a Regional Corporation's rights to receive payments from the Fund.

§ 123.2 Definitions.

As used in the regulations in this part.

Act means the Alaska Native claims Settlement Act, as amended (Pub. L. 92-203, 85 Stat. 715, 43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.; Pub. L. 95-178, 91 Stat. 1370).

Assignee means the person or entity receiving from a Regional Corporation an assignment of certain of the corporation's future interests in the Fund.

Assignor means a Regional Corporation which has assigned to another certain of its future interests in the Fund.

Assistant Secretary means the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior, or his authorized representative.

Fund means the Alaska Native Fund created by section 6 of the Act (43 U.S.C. 1605).

Payee means the recipient of a distribution from the Fund. The payee must be a financial corporation such as a bank, credit union, or savings and loan association which is insured under the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, or the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation, respectively. The payee must be capable of receiving payment through the U.S. Treasury's Financial Communication System.

Regional Corporation means an Alaska Native Regional Corporation established under the laws of the State of Alaska in accordance with the provisions of the Act.

Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior.

§ 123.3 Payment of shares of the Fund in the absence of recognition of an assignment.

(a) All money in the Fund shall be distributed by the Assistant Secretary at the end of each three months of the fiscal year among the Regional Corporations on the basis of the relative numbers of Natives enrolled in each region.

(b) Except as otherwise authorized in the regulations in this part, a Regional Corporation's quarterly share of the Fund shall be made payable to the Regional Corporation through a

payee designated by the Regional Corporation.

(c) A Regional Corporation may designate a payee of its quarterly share at any time, and may change that designation at any time, Provided, That the Assistant Secretary receive written notification of any such designation or change in designation at least ten (10) days before the quarterly distribution date. Any such designation must inIclude the name and address of the payee and the identifying American Banking Association number.

§ 123.4 Recognition of assignments.

(a) Upon application of a Regional Corporation, as provided in paragraph (c) of this section, the Assistant Secretary shall recognize a validly executed assignment of that portion of a furture interest in the Fund not subject to the redistribution provisions of sections 7(j) and 7(m) of the Act. A future interest which is not subject to those redistribution provisions shall be referred to in this section as an "assignable future interest" or the "assignable portion of a quarterly distribution."

(b) Such assignments shall only be recognized to the extent that the Regional Corporation involved is not required to distribute funds pursuant to subsections (j) or (m) of section 7 of the Act.

(c) Upon recognition of such an assignment, the Assistant Secretary shall distribute the amount assigned to the payee designated by the parties to the assignment, and shall continue to pay the amount assigned to that payee, except as provided by §§ 123.6(b) and 123.9.

(d) A Regional Corporation's application for recognition of an assignment of a future interest in the Fund

(1) Shall be addressed to the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, Attn.: Assistant Director, Financial Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C. 20240;

(2) Shall specifically request that the Assistant Secretary recognize an assignment of a fixed sum to which the Regional Corporation may be entitled from the Fund;

(3) Shall designate a payee of the amount assigned; (4) shall be accompanied by a duly-adopted resolution of the Board of Directors of the Regional Corporation, which resolution authorizes the making of the assignment and the application for recognition of that assignment by the Secretary of the Interior, or evidence of stockholder approval when required by Alaska state law; and

(5) Shall be accompanied by one executed copy and three facsimile copies of a validly executed assignment of all or a portion of the Regional Corporation's assignable future interest in the Fund, which assignment shall contain the following language:

(i) The parties to this assignment agree to seek recognition of this assignment by the Secretary of the Interior, as authorized by section 4 of the Act of November 15, 1977, Pub. L. 95-178 (91 Stat. 1369, 1370).

(ii) It is understood by the parties to this assignment that in the event the Secretary of the Interior recognizes this assignment, the United States reserves the right to assert against the assignee and successors of the assignee, any setoff or counterclaim which the United States has, or may have, against the Assignor Corporation.

(e)(1) An assignment may provide that: (i) All of the assignable portion of each quarterly distribution be paid to the payee designated in the application for recognition of assignment;

(ii) A fraction of the assignable portion of each quarterly distribution be paid to the designated payee; or that

(iii) The assignable portion of each quarterly distribution, up to a stated maximum amount, be paid to the designated payee.

(2) Other formulas for assignment of assignable future interests may be recognized if (i) such a formula clearly identifies what portion of each affected quarterly distribution is to be paid to the designated payee, and (ii) the formula will permit the Assistant Secretary to set priorities in accordance with § 123.7 when subsequent application is made for recognition of additional assignments.

§ 123.5 Register of recognized assignments.

The Assistant Secretary shall maintain and make available for inspection

by the public a register of requests for recognition of assignments and assignments recognized by him pursuant to the regulations in this part. Such register shall list the name of the Regional Corporation; the name and address of the assignee; the name, address, American Banking Association number, and account number for deposit of the payee of the amount assigned; the amount assigned; the amount paid at each quarterly distribution under the terms of the assignment; and the date of the Assistant Secretary's recognition.

§ 123.6 Sub-assignment.

(a) Nothing in the regulations in this part shall prohibit an assignee from making a valid sub-assignment of a Regional Corporation's rights to receive payments from the Fund. However, the Assistant Secretary has no authority and shall not recognize any sub-assignment by the assignee of any future interest of a Regional Corporation in the Fund.

(b) The Assistant Secretary may accept a re-designation of a new payee of an assignment recognized by the Assistant Secretary, upon application of an authorized official of the assignee in accordance with § 123.3(c).

§ 123.7 Multiple assignments.

(a) The Assistant Secretary may recognize more than one assignment of a Regional Corporation's future interests in the Fund. A second or later assignment of a Regional Corporation's future interest in the Fund, when recognized in accordance with § 123.4, shall be recognized subject to assignments already recognized.

(b) The Assistant Secretary shall not recognize an assignment of a Regional Corporation's future interest in the Fund if he has more than one outstanding application from that Corporation seeking recognition of such future interests. If more than one application from a Regional Corporation is pending before the Assistant Secretary, he shall notify both the Regional Corporation and the assignees of the assignments sought to be recognized, and seek a written consensus on the priorities to be established. In the Absence of such a consensus, the Assist

ant Secretary shall not recognize any such assignment.

§ 123.8 Disclaimer.

The Assistant Secretary does not guarantee by any action taken pursuant to the regulations in this part that the entitlement of a Regional Corporation to any quarterly distribution of the Fund shall be of any given amount, or that the cumulative entitlement of that Corporation will reach any given sum.

§ 123.9 Cancellation of assignments.

(a) The Assistant Secretary shall cancel his recognition of an assignment upon joint application of the assignee and Regional Corporation involved. Such application must include a resolution of the Board of Directors of the Regional Corporation, and a validly executed agreement between the Regional Corporation and assignee cancelling the assignment and authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to cancel his recognition of the assignment.

(b) Such cancellation of recognition of an assignment shall be reflected in the register compiled by the Assistant Secretary as provided in § 123.5.

§ 123.10 Decision; finality.

(a) A decision of the Assistant Secretary not to recognize an assignment of a future interest in the Fund shall inform the Regional Corporation what defects, if any, remain in its application for recognition, and shall provide the corporation with an opportunity to cure those defects.

(b) A decision of the Assistant Secretary to recognize an assignment of a Regional Corporation's future interest in the Fund shall not be subject to reconsideration or administrative appeal, and shall therefore be final for the Department.