[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2921 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2921

 To encourage Native contracting over the management of Federal land, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 10, 2002

  Mr. Campbell (for himself and Mr. Inouye) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To encourage Native contracting over the management of Federal land, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Native American Contracting and 
Federal Lands Management Demonstration Project Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purposes of this Act, the following definitions shall 
apply:
            (1) Federal lands.--The term ``Federal lands'' means any 
        land or interests in land owned by the United States, including 
        leasehold interests held by the United States, except Indian 
        trust lands.
            (2) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian tribe'' has the 
        meaning given such term by section 4(e) of the Indian Self-
        Determination and Education Assistance Act.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.

SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

    (a) In General.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to expand the provisions of the Indian Self 
        Determination and Education Assistance Act, as amended (25 
        U.S.C. 450 et seq.), in order to expand Native employment and 
        income through greater contracting opportunities with the 
        Federal Government;
            (2) to encourage Native contracting on Federal lands for 
        purposes of benefiting from the knowledge and expertise of 
        Native people in order to promote innovative management 
        strategies on Federal lands that will lead to greater 
        sensitivity toward, and respect for, Native American religious 
        beliefs and sacred sites;
            (3) to better accommodate access to and ceremonial use of 
        Indian sacred lands by Indian religious practitioners; and
            (4) to prevent significant damage to Indian sacred lands.

SEC. 4. NATIVE AMERICAN FEDERAL LANDS MANAGEMENT DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.

    (a) In General.--The Indian Self Determination and Education 
Assistance Act is amended by adding a new subsection as follows:

``SEC. --. NATIVE AMERICAN FEDERAL LANDS MANAGEMENT DEMONSTRATION 
              PROJECT.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary of the Interior shall establish 
the `Native American Federal Lands Management Demonstration Project' to 
enter contracts with Indian tribes or tribal organizations to perform 
functions including, but not limited to, archeological, anthropological 
and cultural surveys and analyses, and activities related to the 
identification, maintenance, or protection of lands considered to have 
religious, ceremonial or cultural significance to Indian tribes.
    ``(b) Participation.--During each of the 2 fiscal years immediately 
following the date of the enactment, the Secretary shall select not 
less than 12 eligible Indian tribes or tribal organizations to 
participate in the demonstration project.
    ``(c) Eligibility.--To be eligible to participate in the 
demonstration project, an Indian tribe or tribal organization, shall--
            ``(1) request participation by resolution or other official 
        action of the governing body of the Indian tribe or tribal 
        organization;
            ``(2) demonstrate financial and management stability and 
        capability, as evidenced by the Indian tribe or tribal 
        organization having no unresolved significant and material 
        audit exceptions for the previous 3 fiscal years; and
            (3) demonstrate significant use of or dependency upon the 
        relevant conservation system unit or other public land unit for 
        which programs, functions, services, and activities are 
        requested to be placed under contract.
    ``(d) Planning Phase.--Each Indian tribe and tribal organization 
selected by the Secretary to participate in the demonstration project 
shall complete a planning phase prior to negotiating and entering into 
a conservation system unit management contract. The planning phase 
shall be conducted to the satisfaction of the Indian tribe or tribal 
organization and shall include--
            ``(1) legal and budgetary research; and
            ``(2) internal tribal planning and organizational 
        preparation.
    ``(e) Contracts.--
            ``(1) In general.--Upon request of a participating Indian 
        tribe or tribal organization that has completed the planning 
        phase pursuant to subsection (e), the Secretary shall negotiate 
        and enter into a contract with the Indian tribe or tribal 
        organization for the Indian tribe or tribal organization to 
        plan, conduct, and administer programs, services, functions, 
        and activities, or portions thereof, requested by the Indian 
        tribe or tribal organization and related to archeological, 
        anthropological and cultural surveys and analyses, and 
        activities related to the identification, maintenance or 
        protection of lands considered to have religious, ceremonial or 
        cultural significance to Indian tribes.
            ``(2) Time limitation for negotiation of contracts.--Not 
        later than 90 days after a participating Indian tribe or tribal 
        organization has notified the Secretary that it has completed 
        the planning phase required by subsection (e), the Secretary 
        shall initiate and conclude negotiations, unless an alternative 
        negotiation and implementation schedule is otherwise agreed to 
        by the parties. The declination and appeals provisions of the 
        Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, 
        including section 110 of such Act, shall apply to contracts and 
        agreements requested and negotiated under this Act.
    ``(f) Contract Administration.--
            ``(1) Inclusion of certain terms.--At the request of the 
        contracting Indian tribe or tribal organization, the benefits, 
        privileges, terms, and conditions of agreements entered into 
        pursuant to titles I and IV of the Indian Self-Determination 
        and Education Assistance Act may be included in a contract 
        entered into under this Act. If any provisions of the Indian 
        Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act are 
        incorporated, they shall have the same force and effect as if 
        set out in full in this Act and shall apply notwithstanding any 
        other provision of law. The parties may include such other 
        terms and conditions as are mutually agreed to and not 
        otherwise contrary to law.
            ``(2) Audit.--Contracts entered into under this Act shall 
        provide for a single-agency audit report to be filed as 
        required by chapter 75 of title 31, United States Code.
            ``(3) Transfer of employees.--Any career Federal employee 
        employed at the time of the transfer of an operation or program 
        to an Indian tribe or tribal organization shall not be 
        separated from Federal service by reason of such transfer. 
        Intergovernmental personnel actions may be used to transfer 
        supervision of such employees to the contracting Indian tribe 
        or tribal organization. Such transferred employees shall be 
        given priority placement for any available position within 
        their respective agency, notwithstanding any priority 
        reemployment lists, directives, rules, regulations, or other 
        orders from the Department of the Interior, the Office of 
        Management and Budget, or other Federal agencies.
    ``(g) Available Funding; Payment.--Under the terms of a contract 
negotiated pursuant to subsection (f), the Secretary shall provide each 
Indian tribe or tribal organization funds in an amount not less than 
the Secretary would have otherwise provided for the operation of the 
requested programs, services, functions, and activities. Contracts 
entered into under this Act shall provide for advance payments to the 
tribal organizations in the form of annual or semiannual installments.
    ``(h) Timing; Contract Authorization Period.--An Indian tribe or 
tribal organization selected to participate in the demonstration 
project shall complete the planning phase required by subsection (c) 
not later than 1 calendar year after the date that it was selected for 
participation and may begin implementation of its requested contract no 
later than the first day of the next fiscal year. The Indian tribe or 
tribal organization and the Secretary may agree to an alternate 
implementation schedule. Contracts entered into pursuant to this Act 
are authorized to remain in effect for 5 consecutive fiscal years, 
starting from the fiscal year the participating Indian tribe or tribal 
organization first entered into its contract under this Act.
    ``(i) Report.--Not later than 90 days after the close of each of 
fiscal years 2003 and 2006, the Secretary shall present to the Congress 
detailed reports, including a narrative, findings, and conclusions on 
the costs and benefits of this demonstration project.
    ``(j) Planning Grants.--
            ``(1) In general.--Subject to the availability of 
        appropriated funds, upon application the Secretary shall award 
        a planning grant in the amount of $100,000 to any Indian tribe 
        or tribal organization selected for participation in the 
        demonstration project to enable it to plan for the contracting 
        of programs, functions, services, and activities as authorized 
        under this Act and meet the planning phase requirement of 
        subsection (e). An Indian tribe or tribal organization may 
        choose to meet the planning phase requirement without applying 
        for a grant under this subsection. No Indian tribe or tribal 
        organization may receive more than 1 grant under this 
        subsection.
            ``(2) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized 
        to be appropriated such sums as are necessary for each of the 2 
        fiscal years immediately following the date of the enactment of 
        this Act to fund planning grants under this section.''.

SEC. 5. TRIBAL PROCUREMENT CONTRACTING AND RESERVATION DEVELOPMENT.

    (a) In General.--Section 7 of the Indian Self-Determination and 
Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450e) is amended by adding at the 
end thereof the following new subsection (d):
    ``(d) Fostering Tribal Procurement Contracting and Reservation 
Development.--
            ``(1) Upon the request and application of an Indian tribe 
        to provide certain services or deliverables which the Secretary 
        of the Interior would otherwise procure from a private sector 
        entity, and absent a request to contract those services or 
        deliverables pursuant to section 102 of this Act (25 U.S.C. 
        450f) made by the tribe or tribes to be directly benefited by 
        said services or deliverables, the Secretary of the Interior 
        shall contract for such services or deliverables through the 
        applicant Indian tribe pursuant to section 102 of this Act (25 
        U.S.C. 450f).
            ``(2) Subsection (1) shall not apply unless the applicant 
        tribe provides assurances to the Secretary that the principal 
        beneficiary of the contracted services remains the tribe or 
        tribes originally intended to benefit from the services or 
        deliverables. For purposes of this subsection, the contracting 
        tribe shall enjoy no less than the same rights and privileges 
        under this Act as would the beneficiary tribe if the 
        beneficiary tribe exercised its rights to contract under 
        section 102 of this Act. If at any time the beneficiary tribe 
        (or tribes) seeks to contract services being provided by the 
        contracting tribe, the beneficiary tribe (or tribes) shall give 
        the contracting tribe and the Secretary of the Interior no less 
        than 180 days' notice.''.
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