[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5134 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5134

 To require the prompt review by the Secretary of the Interior of the 
   long-standing petitions for Federal recognition of certain Indian 
                    tribes, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 23, 2004

  Mr. Pombo introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require the prompt review by the Secretary of the Interior of the 
   long-standing petitions for Federal recognition of certain Indian 
                    tribes, 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. PROMPT CONSIDERATION OF CERTAIN PETITIONS REQUESTING FEDERAL 
              RECOGNITION AS AN INDIAN TRIBE.

    (a) Time Period for Proposed Finding.--Not later than 6 months 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the 
Interior, or a designee of the Secretary, shall publish a proposed 
finding with respect to the petition for Federal recognition of each 
eligible tribe consistent with part 83 of title 25, Code of Federal 
Regulations.
    (b) Time Period for Final Determination.--Not later than one year 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the 
Interior, or a designee of the Secretary, shall publish a final 
determination with respect to the petition for Federal recognition of 
each eligible tribe.
    (c) Notification; Opt Out.--Not later than 30 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior, or a 
designee of the Secretary, shall notify, in writing, all eligible 
tribes of their inclusion in the expedited procedure for proposed 
findings and final determinations under this Act. If, not later than 60 
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, a petitioner notifies 
the Secretary of the Interior, or a designee of the Secretary, in 
writing, that the tribe elects to opt out of the expedited procedure, 
the tribe shall not be considered an eligible tribe for the purposes of 
this Act.
    (d) Number of Members not a Factor.--The number of persons listed 
on the membership roll contained in a petition for Federal recognition 
of an eligible tribe shall not be taken into account in considering the 
petition, except that the Secretary of the Interior, or a designee of 
the Secretary, may review the eligibility of individual members or 
groups listed in a petition in accordance with the provisions of part 
83 of title 25, Code of Federal Regulations.
    (e) Effect of Failure to Comply.--If the Secretary of the Interior, 
or a designee of the Secretary, fails to publish a proposed finding 
required by subsection (a) or a final determination required by 
subsection (b) by the end of the time period required for the proposed 
finding or final determination by such subsections, the relevant 
eligible tribe may--
            (1) treat such failure as final agency action refusing to 
        recognize the tribe as an Indian tribe; and
            (2) seek in United States district court a determination of 
        whether the petitioner should be recognized as an Indian tribe 
        in accordance with the criteria specified in section 83.7 of 
        title 25, Code of Federal Regulations.
    (f) Review of Adverse Decision.--If the final determination 
required by subsection (b) refuses to recognize the tribe as an Indian 
tribe, the tribe may seek, during the one-year period beginning on the 
date on which the final determination is published, a review of the 
determination in a United States district court notwithstanding the 
availability of other administrative remedies.
    (g) Consideration of Other Petitions.--Until the Secretary of the 
Interior, or a designee of the Secretary, has published a proposed 
finding with respect to the petition of each eligible tribe as required 
under subsection (a), no other petition for recognition as an Indian 
tribe may be processed except those listed as having a status of 
``Active'' or ``In Post-Final Decision Appeal Process'' by the 
Department of the Interior on July 1, 2004.
    (h) No Change in Criteria.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed 
to change the criteria established by the Department of the Interior to 
determine whether or not a petitioner meets the requirements to be a 
federally recognized tribe.
    (i) Eligible Tribe.--For the purposes of this section, the term 
``eligible tribe'' means a tribe that--
            (1) has made an initial application for recognition as an 
        Indian tribe to the Department of the Interior before October 
        17, 1988; and
            (2) is listed as having a status of ``Ready, Waiting for 
        Active Consideration'' by the Department of the Interior on 
        July 1, 2004.
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