[Procedures for Collection of Administrative Fees From Sale of Indian Timber]

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO considered whether the Bureau of Indian Affairs has been acting in an unauthorized manner by depositing administrative fees collected from sales of timber from tribal and allotted lands into Bureau accounts and making such funds directly available for payment of expenses relating to tribal forest management activities. This request followed a recent legal opinion by the Solicitor of the Department of the Interior, who concluded that Bureau procedures for handling administrative fees are inconsistent with statutory law and amount to a "diversion" from the Treasury of funds collected to cover costs otherwise paid for by public funds. GAO examined Bureau procedures for the collection and disposition of administrative fees in light of the present law and its legislative history and concluded that the procedures do not violate the applicable statutory requirements. GAO stated that, contrary to the Solicitor's opinion, there is no requirement that administrative fees be deducted in every instance in which public funds are expended. Consequently, while statutory law authorized the collection of administrative costs from tribal revenues, it did not mandate that such costs be collected in every instance in which public funds had been expended. GAO believes that such an interpretation is inconsistent with the broad discretionary language of that provision and is unsupported by its legislative history. Therefore, GAO concluded that the Bureau procedures for using timber sales funds for tribal forest management costs are lawful and consistent with the Secretary of the Interior's discretionary power under present statutory law.