On Tuesday, January 29, 2013, President Obama signed the Sandy Recovery Improvement Act of 2013, which includes a provision amending the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to provide federally recognized Indian tribal governments the option to make a request directly to the President for a Federal emergency or major disaster declaration, or to seek assistance, as they do presently, under a declaration for a State. In support of preliminary implementation of this provision, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is engaging in a comprehensive consultation effort with federally recognized Indian tribal governments. To initiate that consultation, FEMA is soliciting comments regarding FEMA procedures for declaration requests from Indian tribal governments.