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Federal Infrastructure Deployment on Tribal Lands: Consultation Request from the We The People Platform

v1.0 · Created May 7, 2026 for v3.2.3 (standalone briefing document for tribal-government recipients, written for governmental audience without requiring engagement with full platform materials; supports stage two of the consultation framework documented in 05 Tribal Consultation Framework) · Jason Robertson · Ohio · 2026

# About This Document

This briefing document is sent to tribal governments and to national tribal organizations as the second stage of a consultation process described in detail in a companion document (05 Tribal Consultation Framework). The briefing's purpose is to provide tribal-government recipients with sufficient context to evaluate whether to engage in consultation regarding the federal infrastructure deployment commitments documented in the We The People Platform, without requiring engagement with the platform's full material (which runs to roughly ninety documents). The briefing is intentionally focused: it covers the federal-infrastructure-on-tribal-lands subject matter and not the platform's broader policy architecture.

The lead author commits to: documenting all consultation interactions per tribal-government documentation preferences; sharing documentation back with consulting parties for accuracy review before incorporation into the platform's record; acknowledging contributing tribal governments by name in subsequent platform iterations unless they request otherwise; making no specific timeline demands; respecting any tribal-government decision to decline engagement entirely without further follow-up.

# About The We The People Platform

The We The People Platform is private analytical work by a single author (Jason Robertson, an Ohio-based data integration engineer) proposing an integrated federal policy architecture across eight pillars: retirement, wage architecture, education, healthcare, childcare, mental health, civic infrastructure, and paid family time. The platform is not a campaign document, not yet in legislative form, and not affiliated with any political party, advocacy organization, or government agency. It is a comprehensive analytical proposal intended to inform federal policy discourse.

The platform's seventh pillar, civic infrastructure, includes a federal commitment to nationwide broadband deployment funded through a federal regulatory fee on telecommunications carriers (the Federal Infrastructure Fee, or FIF). The deployment commitment includes currently-unserved tribal lands. This is the platform commitment that requires tribal-government consultation. Other platform commitments may also affect tribal nations (universal healthcare interaction with Indian Health Service, education interaction with tribal education systems, etc.) but those are not the subject of this briefing. The platform's lead author is aware that those interactions also warrant consultation; this briefing focuses on the federal-infrastructure-deployment context.

# Federal Infrastructure Deployment Architecture (Brief)

The Federal Infrastructure Fee is structurally parallel to the existing Universal Service Fund. It is a federal regulatory fee imposed on interstate telecommunications carriers, with revenue used to fund nationwide broadband deployment. The platform's specification includes (one) deployment commitment: federal funding for broadband deployment to currently-unserved areas including tribal lands; (two) pass-through-prevention enforcement: regulatory mechanisms to prevent carriers from passing the federal fee directly to consumers; (three) phased transition: existing universal service mechanisms transition to FIF over a multi-year window; (four) competitive carrier protection: mechanisms to support smaller carriers during transition.

The platform's existing FIF Architecture document includes a Tribal Sovereignty and Government-to-Government Consultation section (added in platform iteration v3.1.1 as part of an earlier persona-driven review process) committing to consultation principles drawn from EO 13175 (Consultation and Coordination With Indian Tribal Governments, 2000), the National Historic Preservation Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, and ICWA framework precedent. The current consultation request seeks tribal-government feedback on whether that existing consultation section reflects adequate respect for sovereignty principles and on specific architectural elements that the platform has not yet specified at adequate depth.

# Tribal-Lands Handling: Current Platform Position

The platform's current position on federal infrastructure deployment affecting tribal lands draws on multiple legal authorities: government-to-government consultation per EO 13175; historic preservation review under existing federal preservation statutes for federal undertakings affecting historic properties including tribal cultural sites; environmental review under existing federal environmental statutes; tribal self-determination principles from existing federal Indian-affairs statutes.

The platform commits to (one) consultation before any federal-program deployment decision affecting specific tribal lands; (two) right-of-way and easement mechanisms following federal eminent-domain procedures with just compensation determined using fair-market-value standards and utility-asset-specific methodologies; (three) cultural-site protection mechanisms drawing on existing federal preservation review frameworks; (four) participation by tribally-owned or tribally-controlled telecommunications utilities in federal-program deployment where existing tribal infrastructure operates.

The platform's lead author has flagged this treatment as architecturally specified but lacking adequate depth on several specific dimensions. The platform's Open Issues Registry documents this as ITEM79-Q3 with explicit acknowledgment that resolution requires actual consultation rather than additional desk research. The current consultation request is the operational follow-through on that acknowledgment.

# Specific Consultation Questions

The platform's lead author seeks tribal-government feedback on six specific questions. Tribal-government responses can engage with any subset of the questions; complete response is not expected. Responses can be substantive analytical critique, suggested specification changes, references to relevant tribal experience or precedent, or acknowledgment that the platform's existing treatment is approximately right.

## Question 1: Adequacy of existing tribal sovereignty section

Does the FIF Architecture document's existing Tribal Sovereignty and Government-to-Government Consultation section reflect adequate respect for sovereignty principles? Are there substantive gaps in how the section treats tribal sovereignty? The full text of that section is available on request as a focused excerpt (under five pages).

## Question 2: Consultation process specifications

What consultation process specifications would be considered adequate for federal-program deployment decisions affecting specific tribal lands? Specifically: who within tribal government must be consulted (chairperson, council, designated consultation officer, others), on what timeline (how much notice, how much time for response), through what mechanism (written briefing, in-person meeting, virtual meeting, other), and with what consent threshold (consent required, consultation required, notice required)?

## Question 3: Right-of-way and easement framework

What right-of-way and easement framework would be appropriate for federal-program telecommunications infrastructure on trust lands? Specifically: compensation framework (one-time payment, ongoing royalty, in-kind compensation, other), easement durations (perpetual, term-limited, renewable), removal obligations (carrier removes equipment at end of term, federal program assumes responsibility, tribal government acquires equipment), and dispute resolution mechanisms (federal courts, tribal courts, arbitration, intergovernmental panel)?

## Question 4: Cultural-site protection mechanisms

What cultural-site protection mechanisms would be appropriate for federal-program deployment activities? Specifically: who has authority to identify cultural sites (tribal Historic Preservation Officer, tribal cultural authority, federal agency in consultation, others), what protection mechanisms apply once a site is identified (avoidance, mitigation, monitoring, others), and what enforcement authority backs the protection (tribal sovereign authority, federal regulatory authority, both)?

## Question 5: Tribal-specific deployment priorities

Are there tribal-specific deployment priorities or concerns the platform's existing FIF treatment fails to address? Specifically: priority routing of broadband deployment within tribal lands (which areas first, which areas last, what criteria), interaction with existing tribally-owned or tribally-controlled telecommunications utilities (federal-program deployment supplements tribal infrastructure, replaces tribal infrastructure, or coordinates with tribal infrastructure), and tribal-government control over deployment decisions within tribal lands (federal program defers to tribal government, federal program coordinates with tribal government, federal program operates with tribal-government notice)?

## Question 6: Ongoing communication channel

What is the tribal government's preferred communication channel for ongoing consultation if engagement continues beyond this initial briefing? Specifically: governmental contact (chairperson office, council secretary, designated consultation officer, other), preferred communication mode (written formal correspondence, email, in-person meetings, virtual meetings, other), and frequency expectations (specific cadence, ad hoc as platform iterations occur, other)?

# Process Commitments

The lead author commits to the following process upon receipt of any tribal-government response. Documentation: all interactions documented in a consultation log; documentation reflects tribal-government documentation preferences regarding recording, transcription, and summary content. Accuracy review: documentation shared back with the tribal government for accuracy review before incorporation into the platform's public record. Attribution: contributing tribal governments acknowledged by name in subsequent platform iterations unless they request otherwise. Incorporation: substantive feedback incorporated into platform iterations with explicit acknowledgment of the tribal government's contribution; where tribal-suggested changes are not incorporated, documented reason provided. Timeline: no specific deadline; tribal-government engagement at whatever pace the tribal government prefers, including deferral to a future date or decline to engage entirely without further follow-up.

# About The Lead Author

Jason Robertson is the platform's sole author. Professional background: senior data integration engineer at a private-sector firm, with prior experience in cloud architecture and enterprise data systems. Not a credentialed economist, policy professional, or constitutional law scholar; not a member of any tribal nation; not affiliated with any tribal organization, government agency, advocacy organization, or political party. The platform is private analytical work conducted outside of professional employment. The author's transparency about non-credentialed status is documented across the platform's analytical framing. The platform welcomes substantive critique and is iterated based on feedback.

The author's geographic location is Ohio. Ohio is the historical homeland of multiple tribal nations (Shawnee, Wyandot, Delaware, Miami, others) whose treaty-based removal in the nineteenth century is part of the historical context the author is aware of as relevant to this consultation request. The author's relationship to that history is as a non-tribal resident of land previously held by tribal nations under treaty; not a descendant relationship. The platform's lead author offers this disclosure transparently as part of the consultation context.

# How To Respond

Tribal-government responses can be transmitted through any preferred channel. Email (preferred for initial communication): [contact email]. Postal mail: [contact address]. The platform's lead author will acknowledge receipt of all responses within one week and will provide a written substantive reply within thirty days; if the response indicates a preference for in-person or virtual meeting, scheduling proceeds at the tribal government's convenience with the lead author traveling to the tribal government's preferred location at the lead author's expense.

Responses can range in scope from a single sentence ("the existing treatment is approximately right; we have no further input") to substantial analytical engagement; both are welcomed and useful. The platform's lead author specifically welcomes adverse responses ("the existing treatment is inadequate in the following ways") and commits to documenting and either incorporating, rebutting on the record, or marking-as-known-unresolved any substantive critique.

# Available Materials

The following platform materials are available on request as focused excerpts. The lead author will provide any combination of these excerpts based on tribal-government interest. (One) FIF Architecture Tribal Sovereignty and Government-to-Government Consultation section (under five pages). (Two) FIF deployment commitment summary including tribal-lands deployment provisions (under three pages). (Three) ITEM79 Response Framework Tribal Nation Lands and Federal Infrastructure section (under five pages). (Four) the platform's Combined Reform Model federal-fiscal projections including FIF revenue and expenditure profile (under ten pages). (Five) the master We The People Platform document (approximately thirty pages, providing platform-wide context). (Six) any other platform document by name on request.

The full platform package (approximately ninety documents totaling several hundred thousand words of analytical content) is available on request but not assumed reading. Recipients are encouraged to engage at whatever depth is comfortable; one-page response after reading two pages of materials is more useful than no response after considering whether to read the full package.

# Closing

Thank you for considering this consultation request. The lead author appreciates the time tribal governments and tribal organizations take to engage with external proposals affecting tribal sovereignty. The platform exists in private analytical form and will be iterated regardless of whether any specific tribal government engages; tribal-government engagement is sought because tribal governmental input has greater leverage on platform architecture during development than during enactment or implementation, and because the platform's lead author transparently lacks the tribal-sovereignty expertise required to specify the tribal-lands handling at adequate depth without consultation.

Respectfully submitted, Jason Robertson · May 2026