WASHINGTON — In addition to articles already covered by Native News Online, here is a roundup of other news released from Washington, D.C. that impacts Indian Country recently.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on Friday proposed sweeping changes to regulations implementing the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), a 1977 law intended to ensure banks meet the credit needs of low- and moderate-income communities.
Among the proposed changes are significantly higher asset thresholds that would reduce the number of banks subject to the CRA’s more rigorous lending, investment, and community development requirements. The proposal would also limit CRA credit for community development grants by requiring that no more than 15% of grant funds be spent on overhead.
The Native CDFI Network criticized the proposal, saying it could reduce access to capital in Indian Country.
“The Native CDFI Network is greatly concerned about the general intent and specific provisions of today’s proposed rule, which appear to be designed to significantly lessen the accountability of banks to lend and invest in low- and moderate-income communities, which include much of Indian Country,” said Native CDFI Network CEO Pete Upton. “The fact that far fewer banks will be required to satisfy the CRA’s small business and community development lending tests will mean reduced dollars from mainstream lending institutions for Native small business owners and Indian Country community development infrastructure projects. While the since-abandoned 2023 CRA regulations represented a monumental step forward in increasing access to capital in Indian Country, today’s proposed rule unfortunately represents just the opposite.”
The proposed rule will be open for public comment for 60 days after it is published in the Federal Register. The Native CDFI Network said it plans to analyze the proposal with partners and host a webinar later this month to discuss its potential impacts on Tribal communities.
Diné Leaders Urge Interior Department to Preserve Chaco Buffer Zone
A delegation of Diné allotment shareholders and community leaders traveled to Washington, D.C., on Friday to urge the U.S. Department of the Interior to uphold its trust responsibilities by maintaining Public Land Order 7923, which protects more than 338,000 acres of federal land surrounding Chaco Culture National Historical Park from new oil and gas leasing. During a press conference outside Interior headquarters, the delegation called on the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to abandon its proposal to revoke the 2023 protections, arguing that the Greater Chaco Region remains a culturally and spiritually significant landscape for Diné, Pueblo, and other Tribal Nations.
“As a Diné allotment shareholder, my siblings and I have allotments within the Greater Chaco mineral withdrawal area and outside the withdrawal area. So that gives me a before-and-after perspective of the impacts that have happened to the withdrawal area. What I see is that the energy companies are running amok, without proper monitoring or oversight. And if allowed, the energy companies will do the same type of destruction to the land, the air, the water, and the sacred places. What sacred sites are within the withdrawal area? And that is the reason that we are working hard to make sure the public land order 7923 stays in place,” said Daniel Tso, a Diné allotment shareholder and former Navajo Nation Council delegate.
The delegation also criticized the BLM’s environmental review process, arguing it failed to meaningfully consult Tribal communities or adequately consider the health, environmental, and cultural impacts of expanded oil and gas development. At the same time the Washington delegation met with federal officials, Diné and Pueblo advocates gathered outside the BLM’s regional office in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to protest the proposed rollback and collect public comments supporting continued protections for the Greater Chaco Region.
DOJ to Host Webinar on Cartel Activity and Multi-State Drug Conspiracies in Indian Country
The U.S. Department of Justice’s National Indian Country Training Initiative and several federal law enforcement partners will host a virtual training webinar on Sept. 29 from 2 to 4 p.m. EDT focused on investigating multi-state narcotics conspiracies and cartel activity affecting Indian Country.
The training, titled “Joint Ops to Grand Jury: Building a Multi-State Narcotics Conspiracy,” will examine how drug cartels influence reservation communities, including their ties to the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, and will review the recently concluded Operations Spear Siding and Sour Orchard, which were investigated in Montana and Washington. The webinar is limited to federal, state, and Tribal prosecutors, law enforcement officers, and intelligence analysts employed by law enforcement agencies. There is no cost to attend, though continuing legal education credit will not be offered.
The training is sponsored by the National Indian Country Training Initiative, the United States Indian Police Academy, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Department of the Interior’s Office of Law Enforcement and Security Victim Assistance Program.
