NIGC

ICT interview with confirmed NIGC Chairman Jonodev Chaudhuri

Friday, April 24, 2015

Jonodev Chaudhuri, the new chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission. Photo from Twitter

The National Indian Gaming Commission finally has a new leader. The Senate voted unanimously on April 16 to confirm Jonodev Chaudhuri to serve as chairman of the agency that regulates the $28 billion tribal casino industry. Indian County Today has an interview with the Muscogee Nation citizen:

The last time we spoke you said the most challenging work was ahead was to continue developing consultation and relationship building with tribes and tribal regulators: How have you progressed on consultation and relationship building?
Our consultation policy and the way we’ve implemented it is something we’re very proud of as an agency. Being consistent with longstanding federal policy and executive orders is just a practical efficient way to go about fulfilling our mission. We not only respect our regulatory partners in the field – and those partners include over 5,400 tribal gaming regulators who under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) are the primary regulators of Indian gaming – we recognize the benefit of working with them in a cooperative fashion so that as much information as possible is shared between regulatory partners. So we’re proud of our policy and the way we’ve implemented it and we believe our policy has led to increase clarity and stability in Indian gaming. One of my personal beliefs is in addition to active and meaningful consultation with tribes and tribal regulators, as an agency we should do whatever we can to actively review and process the information received. We want to address past consultations before moving on because the last thing I want to do is cause consultation fatigue among tribes and tribal regulators.
What consultations have you conducted?
Last year we consulted on technology and the gaming industry as well as the applicability of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to our approval process. So in keeping with that philosophy of acting on the information we previously received to the best of our ability, we looked at the comments we received both on technology and on the NEPA and we’ve taken active steps to implement some of the comments we received. On the technology side we recognize the need for a unified vision throughout the agency – technology that applies to all aspects and operations the agency performs, As a result we recently formed a Division of Technology led by a director, who will lend his or her voice to our senior leadership discussions to help formulate how technology will inform all of our functions. We recognize that technology is important when it comes to regulatory reviews, to our obligation to provide up to date regulations, our oversight authority in terms of assurance of ongoing compliance with IGRA, our understanding of the technology of the gaming machines and the new offerings that become available. On NEPA we’ve looked at the option of considering a categorical exception or exclusion that says for management agreements that come to the agency we will conduct an initial review to ensure there aren’t any unusual circumstances that would require an environmental assessment.

Get the Story:
It’s Official: Jonodev Chaudhuri Confirmed As Chair of NIGC (Indian Country Today 4/24)

Relevant Documents:
Press Release: Secretary Jewell Commends Senate’s Confirmation of Jonodev Chaudhuri as Chair of the National Indian Gaming Commission (April 16, 2015)
Press Release: Sen. Barrasso on Senate confirmation of Jonodev Chaudhuri as NIGC Chairman (April 16, 2015)
Press Release: Sen. Tester on Senate confirmation of Jonodev Chaudhuri as NIGC Chairman (April 16, 2015)