(a) Within 30 days after the official filing date, the local Bureau official shall forward to the Area Director, or when the Area Director is the local Bureau official, directly to the Commissioner, the original of the petition and its accompanying signatures, together with recommendations concerning challenges and conclusions concerning:
(1) The validity of the signatures;
(2) The adequacy of the number of signatures; and
(3) The propriety of the petitioning procedure.
(b) The Area Director or the Commissioner, as the case may be, shall within 45 days after the official filing date decide upon each challenge and the sufficiency of the petition and announce whether the petition shall be acted upon. If a decision is reached that the petitioning action is for any reason insufficient, the spokesman for the petitioners and the governing body of the tribe will be so informed and given the reasons for the decision. If a petitioning action warrants action by the Secretary or Commissioner, the spokesman for the petitioners and the governing body of the tribe concerned will be so informed. The decision in such matters shall be final. The procedures for implementing any action initiated by the acceptance of a petition will be determined in accordance with pertinent directives and regulations.