SECTION 3. BACKGROUND

Section 7871(a)(4) provides that, subject to § 7871(c), an Indian tribal government is to be treated as a State for purposes of § 103 (relating to State and local bonds). Section 7871(c)(1) provides generally that, except for obligations for certain manufacturing facilities described in § 7871(c)(3), § 103(a) shall apply to any obligation issued by an Indian tribal government (or subdivision thereof) only if such obligation is part of an issue substantially all of the proceeds of which are to be used in the exercise of any essential governmental function. Section 7871(e) provides that for purposes of § 7871 the term “essential governmental function” shall not include any function which is not customarily performed by State and local governments with general taxing power.

New §7871(f)(1) added by the Act provides that the Treasury Department shall allocate the $2 billion national volume cap for Tribal Economic Development Bonds among the Indian tribal governments in such manner as the Treasury Department, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, determines appropriate. Section 7871(f)(2)(A) provides that, notwithstanding the provisions of § 7871(c), Tribal Eco

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Federal Register pursuant to the List Act, or (2) provide the letter from the Department of the Interior stating that the tribe has been acknowledged as a federally recognized Indian tribe.

b. Signatures . An Application must be signed and dated by, and must include the printed name and title of, an authorized official of the Indian tribal government. For purposes of this notice, the term “authorized official of the Indian tribal government” means an officer, board member, employee, or other official of the Indian tribal government who is duly authorized to execute legal documents on behalf of the Indian tribal government in connection with incurring debt of the Indian tribal government ( e.g., a tribal chairperson, chief executive officer, or chief financial officer), similar to the kind of duly authorized official of an Indian tribal government who would be authorized to execute documents in connection with an Indian tribal government’s declaration of official intent to reimburse expenditures from the proceeds of a borrowing under § 1.150–2(e).

c. Contact person . An Application must designate one or more persons with knowledge of the project that the qualified issuer duly authorizes to discuss with the IRS any information relating to the Application. The designation must include the designee’s name, title, telephone number, fax number, and mailing address. If a designee is not an official or officer of the issuer, the Application must include an executed Form 8821 (Taxpayer Information Authorization) or Form 2848 (Power of At- torney and Declaration of Representative) authorizing the disclosure of taxpayer information specifically relating to the Application.

d. Addresses . An Application must be submitted by hard copy in duplicate accompanied by a copy of the Application in electronic format on compact disc (“CD”) sent by mail to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), SE:T:GE:TEB:CPM, Attention: Mark Helfer, 1122 Town & Country Commons, St. Louis, Missouri 63017. e. Due date . To receive an allocation from the first $1 billion of volume cap being allocated (“First Allocation”), an Application must be filed with the IRS on or before the Application deadline of August 15, 2009 (“First Allocation Deadline”). To

nomic Development Bonds are treated for purposes of the Code as if they were issued by a State. Section 7871(f)(2)(B) provides that with respect to Tribal Economic Development Bonds, the Indian tribal government issuing such bonds and any instrumentality of such Indian tribal government are to be treated as a State for purposes of § 141. Section 7871(f)(2)(C) provides that the § 146 volume cap limitations on private activity bonds do not apply to Tribal Economic Development Bonds.

Section 7871(f)(3)(A) defines a Tribal Economic Development Bond generally to mean any bond issued by an Indian tribal government the interest on which would be exempt from tax under § 103 if issued by a State or local government and which is designated by the Indian tribal government as a Tribal Economic Development Bond for purposes of § 7871(f).

Section 7871(f)(3)(B) further provides that the term Tribal Economic Development Bond shall not include any bond issued as part of an issue if any portion of the proceeds of such issue are used to finance: (1) any portion of a building in which class II or class III gaming (as defined in section 4 of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act) is conducted or housed or any other property actually used in the conduct of such gaming or (2) any facility located outside the Indian reservation (as defined in § 168(j)(6)). Section 168(j)(6) provides that the term “Indian reservation” means a reservation as defined in § 3(d) of the Indian Financing Act of 1974, 25 U.S.C. § 1452(d) applied by treating the term “Indian reservations in Oklahoma” as including only lands which are within the jurisdictional area of an Oklahoma Indian tribe (as determined by the Secretary of the Interior) and which are recognized by the Secretary of the Interior as eligible for trust land status under 25 CFR Part 151 (as in effect on the date of the enactment of this sentence) or a reservation defined in § 4(10) of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978, 25 U.S.C. 1903(10) Section 7871(f)(3)(C) provides that the maximum aggregate face amount of bonds which may be designated by any Indian tribal government under § 7871(f)(3)(A) may not exceed the amount of national Tribal Economic Development Bond volume cap allocated to such Indian tribal government under § 7871(f)(1).