The Bureau of Indian Affairs has renewed a memorandum of understanding for the California Fee to Trust Consortium, Capitol Weekly reports.

The agreement allows the BIA to accept money from tribes in order to facilitate review of land-into-trust applications. But changes were made, apparently in response to a 2006 report from the Office of Inspector General at the Interior Department.

The new MOU says the tribes will only serve in an "advisory" capacity. The old agreement said tribes were responsible for "oversight."

The new MOU also says tribes will no longer have a direct role in determining who gets hired to review land-into-trust applications. The BIA will make all personnel decisions.

According to Capitol Weekly, 66 tribes are part of the consortium. Each tribe is required to pay at least $3,000 a year although some have contributed much more.

According to the paper, 15 tribes paid about 80 percent of the $5.5 million between 2000 and 2008. These same tribes received just over half of the land approved by the consortium.

Get the Story:
Changes made to California Fee to Trust Consortium (Capitol Weekly 4/1)

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