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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 155 / Monday, August 16, 2021 / Rules and Regulations is beyond the scope of this regulation.
The commenter should raise this comment with their local BIA agency staff.
An individual commenter asked whether it would be LTROs or the BIA
agencys responsibility to notify previously recognized owners that a correction to a probate inventory report is being proposed.
Response: If LTRO discovers an error in a probate inventory report that impacts Indian land ownership, then the LTRO notifies the BIA agency realty staff in writing, and the BIA agency works with the Office of Hearings and Appeals, to notify landowners and make a correction as appropriate.
3. Maintaining the Record of Title Two title insurance company commenters requested that the Department address any efforts to digitize physical copies and confirm that physical documents are historical documents only. These commenters and a homeownership organization requested clarification that the LTRO is currently digitizing all documents it now receives.
Response: The LTRO has digitized nearly all Indian land title records;
however, there remain some non-imaged i.e., non-digitized records.
The LTRO digitizes all documents it currently receives so that they can be stored electronically in the record of title and will work with BIA Realty to ensure all known remaining nondigitized records are digitized.
One Tribe described the history of its agencys recordkeeping on well locations and lease information.
Response: The Tribes comment has been shared with the relevant agency.

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4. LTRO Responsibility for Certain Geographic Areas Section 150.105 of the proposed rule provided that staff at each LTRO office has primary responsibility to maintain the record of title for Indian land under that LTRO offices assigned geographic area, and that LTRO offices may assist other LTRO offices in maintaining the record of title for Indian land not under that offices assigned geographic area as needed. A homeownership organization stated its support for a fully accessible electronic system across all LTRO
offices to allow workloads to be shifted and prevent backlogs. Two title insurance company commenters asked what the process is for ensuring documents are timely and correctly transmitted among LTRO offices, how sharing workloads would impact recordation times, and whether there is
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a tracking option to determine where submitted documents are.
Response: All title documents are digitized scanned into electronic versions and uploaded to a database that is accessible to all LTRO offices, regardless of geographic area. Having one LTRO office assist another in performing functions would have no impact on recording timeframes, as all LTRO offices are subject to the same standards. LTRO uses a system for tracking workloads to determine where submitted documents are pending at any given point.
A Tribe expressed concern that LTRO
offices outside the Tribes assigned geographic area may lack the knowledge and expertise to process title documents unique to the geographic region. This Tribe requested granting Tribes the option to have their title document requests completed by their local LTRO
or tasking local LTROs with reviewing any reports produced by a secondary LTRO or outside BIA office. Another Tribe requested clarity on what it means for a non-assigned LTRO office to assist others, the process by which they would provide assistance, and the types of functions or services that the assistance would include. This Tribe suggested establishing a standardized process for providing as-needed assistance and clarifying whether a Tribe that has contracted or compacted to perform LTRO functions on its reservation may also carry out the function for lands located in other geographic areas.
Response: While there may be variations in types of title documents among regions, title documents are encoded by the knowledgeable BIA
realty staff familiar with potential unique variations. The LTRO functions do not vary across geographic areas.
LTRO has determined that it is more appropriate to set out in policy the details of the process by which LTRO
offices would provide assistance and types of functions or services the assistance would include, as a matter of internal management that does not have any effect on landowners or others, except as a method of ensuring that LTRO continues to perform its functions expeditiously. The final rule also clarifies that this provision does not apply to Tribes that are contracting or compacting the LTRO function, because under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, those contacting or compacting Tribes would first need to obtain authorization from each Tribe to be benefitted by the proposed contract or compact before assuming operation of any program, function, service, or activity PFSA. 25
CFR 900.8d1.

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C. Comments on Subpart CRecording Documents 1. Documents LTRO Records 150.201
An individual commenter suggested adding a provision to require LTRO to record when title changes from trust to fee and title recordation responsibilities are transferred to State or local jurisdictions.
Response: When a tract is transferred to fee status, it is no longer Indian land and is inactivated in the record of title.
A Tribe stated that the requirement to record subleasehold mortgages under 25
CFR 150.201a ensures the record of title is accurate, complete, and up to date, but could constrain current staffing and resources for LTRO offices that handle a significant number of leases, noting that this requirement triples the number of instruments the LTRO records and maintains for its reservation.
Response: Including subleasehold mortgages as recordable documents reflects a regulatory requirement that already exists in 25 CFR part 169.
Another Tribe noted that the list in 150.201 of documents for which Secretarial approval is not required, but must be recorded, does not include Tribal utility lines crossing Tribal lands.
Response: The list included in 150.201 is not exhaustive; however, the final rule adds this item to the list for clarity.
A title insurance company commenter asked what the phrase certain Tribes is referencing in 150.201c1.
Response: The final rule replaces the phrase certain Tribes with a Tribe.
This same title insurance company commenter requested a global statement be added to the regulations confirming that nothing prohibits recording title in county records with the consent of the landowner.
Response: While it is true that nothing prohibits recording title to Indian land in county records with the consent of the landowner, the final rule does not include this statement because that statement could cause confusion regarding the official record of title for Indian land.
2. Checking With Other Governmental Land Records 150.202
A Tribe expressed concern that the regulatory provision saying that due diligence may require examination of other Federal, State, and local records is unclear and distorts the role LTRO
offices play in maintaining the official record of title for Indian land. The Tribe asserts that the regulation should be clear on this point, to eliminate any
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