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YOUR VOICE SHOULD BE HEARD BY APRIL 26, 2010:  Proposed NYS Regulations to Limit the Sale of Untaxed Cigarettes.  You have the opportunity to be heard during the public comment period on new regulations proposed to limit the supply of "unstamped and untaxed" cigarettes sold by Native American retailers to non-Native Americans. Click here to learn more and to comment for the public record. Your comments must be registered by April 26, 2010.

On March 25, 2010, Seneca and Cayuga Counties presented arguments in the cigarette litigation case before the New York State Court of Appeals at a special session the court held in Syracuse.  These arguments can be viewed on the court's website at  http://www.nycourts.gov/ctapps/.  A video of the proceeding is available by clicking the link indicated on the court's home page in the section titled "Court of Appeals Oral Argument Archive."  On the next page, click on "March" and then the case,
"No. 74 - Cayuga Indian Nation of New York v Gould."

On March 5, 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled in favor of the Oklahoma Tax Commission by rejecting the Osage Indian Nation's claim that its reservation still exists.  The decision contains language that should  prove helpful in defending against the Cayuga Nation's land to trust application, as well as the pending cigarette tax litigation cases. Read More

 

Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS)

Seneca and Cayuga Counties forwarded several submissions to the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) prepared for the BIA prior to the close of the public comment period on July 6, 2009, including a letter-report, a compendium of issues and questions identified by the Counties that were inadequately addressed in the DEIS, as well as resolutions from the Counties and other comments and correspondence from individuals. In addition, the firm of O’Brien & Gere provided a separate comment report that was submitted on behalf of the Counties and the report of economic expert Ian Ayres was submitted to BIA on the Counties’ behalf. These comments resulted from a comprehensive review of the DEIS and an extensive public outreach effort by the Counties to solicit citizen and organizational comments to be included in the public comment record as well as the Counties’ work with its expert technical consultant O’Brien and Gere and with Dr. Ayres. These comments must be considered by BIA as it prepares the Final Environmental Impact Statement, which we expect will be completed in the near future. These comments were in addition to those heard and placed into the public record by individuals and organizations at the formal public hearing held by the BIA on the DEIS in Seneca Falls on June 17. This hearing, which was attended by more than 1,100 individuals, provided the opportunity to place scores of comments into the public record. We want to thank everyone who attended and participated in the public hearing and who provided comments directly to the BIA or to the Counties for submission to the BIA as part of their formal comments package.

We are now awaiting the release of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) by the BIA, which when released will be made available on this website. In the meantime, we are providing on the website, copies of pertinent excerpts of the substantial documentation submitted to the Bureau of Indian Affairs by Seneca and Cayuga Counties. They can be viewed by linking below:


Also, hard copies of the Counties’ complete comments package submitted to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, including all citizen comments that the Counties were asked to include, are available at:
  • Clerk, Seneca County Board of Supervisors, 1 DiPronio Drive, Waterloo NY (315) 539-1700
  • Clerk, Cayuga County Legislature, 6th floor, County Office Building, 160 Genesee Street, Auburn NY (315) 253-1308
  • Springport Free Library, 171 Cayuga St., Union Springs NY (315) 889-7766
You may also be interested in viewing a chart illustrating the effects that the Cayuga Indian Nation operations have had on one local business.

Feel free to sign up to be notified by email about the status of and new developments related to the Cayuga Indian Nation’s land into trust application.