1.This Act may be cited as the
Crow Tribe Land Restoration
Act
.
2.The purpose of this Act is to authorize the
Secretary of the Interior to—
(1)develop a program to acquire land and
interests in land from eligible individuals within the Crow Reservation in the
State of Montana;
(2)hold in trust the land, and interests in
land, described in paragraph (1) for the benefit of the Crow Tribe of the State
of Montana;
(3)allow the Tribe to assume management of the
land and interests in land; and
(4)end the continuing fractionation of land on
the Reservation.
3.In this Act:
(1)The term
eligible individual means an individual that owns land, or an
interest in land, within the Reservation.
(2)The term Reservation means the
Crow Reservation in the State of Montana.
(3)The term Secretary means the
Secretary of the Interior.
(4)The term Tribe means the Crow
Tribe of the State of Montana.
4.Acquisition of land
within Reservation
(a)
(1)As soon as practicable after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish a program under which the
Secretary shall provide funds to the Tribe to purchase from eligible
individuals land, and interests in land, within the Reservation.
(2)
(A)A sale of land to the
Tribe under the purchasing program shall be voluntary.
(B)Reasonable
purchase priceTo receive
funds under the purchasing program, the Tribe shall offer to an eligible
individual in consideration for land, or an interest in land, within the
Reservation an amount equal to the reasonable purchase price of the land, or
interest in land, of the eligible individual, as determined in accordance with
subsection (b).
(3)Notification to
eligible individuals
(A)As soon as
practicable after the date on which the purchasing program is established, the
Tribe shall provide to each eligible individual a notification with respect to
the program, including any guidelines issued by the Secretary relating to the
program.
(B)Contact with
eligible individualsNotwithstanding any other provision of law,
an eligible individual may be contacted directly with respect to the purchasing
program by—
(i)the Tribe, or a representative of the
Tribe; or
(ii)the Secretary, or a representative of the
Secretary.
(b)Reasonable
purchase price
(1)As soon as practicable after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish guidelines under which the
reasonable purchase price of land, or an interest in land, of an eligible
individual shall be determined.
(2)In establishing guidelines under paragraph
(1), the Secretary may take into consideration—
(A)average annual earnings of land, and
interests in land, of eligible individuals; and
(B)any other factor the Secretary considers to
be appropriate.
(c)
(1)On acceptance by an
eligible individual of an offer of the Tribe under this section—
(A)subject to paragraph (2), the Tribe shall
pay to the eligible individual the reasonable purchase price of the land, or
interest in land, of the eligible individual, as determined in accordance with
subsection (b); and
(B)title to the land, or interest in land,
acquired from the eligible individual shall be conveyed to the United States,
to be held in trust by the Secretary for the benefit of the Tribe.
(2)Eligible
individual accounts
(A)On the request of an
eligible individual that accepts an offer of the Tribe under this section, the
Tribe shall—
(i)(I)establish in a local financial institution
an account in the name of the eligible individual; and
(II)deposit the amount of the offer of the
Tribe under this section into that account; or
(ii)deposit the amount of the offer of the
Tribe under this section into any account in a financial institution designated
by the eligible individual.
(B)An eligible
individual may, without obtaining approval from, or providing a notification
to, the Secretary—
(i)withdraw any amount from an account
described in subparagraph (A); or
(ii)transfer any amount from an account
described in subparagraph (A) into an account in a different financial
institution.
(C)Any fee assessed by a financial institution
on an account under this paragraph shall be the responsibility of the eligible
individual in the name of which the account is held.
(D)Amounts held in an account under this
paragraph, including any interest earned on such amounts, shall not be subject
to taxation by the Federal Government, or any State or local government, if the
account contains only—
(i)amounts deposited into the account by the
Tribe under subparagraph (A); and
(ii)interest earned on those amounts.
(d)The terms and amount
of any offer of the Tribe to purchase land, or an interest in land, of an
eligible individual under this section shall not be subject to judicial
review.
5.Purchasing program
funding
(a)
(1)
(A)To the extent
approved in annual appropriations Acts and subject to approval by the Secretary
of the Treasury, the Secretary may issue to the Secretary of the Treasury such
obligations as the Secretary determines to be necessary to fund the purchasing
program established under section 4(a)(1).
(B)The obligations issued under subparagraph
(A) shall be in such form and such denomination, and subject to any other such
terms and conditions, as the Secretary of the Treasury determines to be
appropriate.
(2)The Secretary of the Treasury shall
purchase any obligation issued under paragraph (1).
(3)The obligations issued under paragraph (1)
shall bear interest at a rate to be determined by the Secretary of the
Treasury, taking into consideration current market yields on outstanding
marketable obligations of the United States of comparable maturities.
(4)On any date, the total amount of
obligations issued under paragraph (1) shall not exceed $_,000,000.
(b)
(1)The Secretary shall
use the revenues from any land purchased by the Tribe under this Act to repay
the Secretary of the Treasury the amount of any obligation, including interest
on such an obligation, issued under subsection (a).
(2)Reasonable
assurance of repaymentThe
Secretary shall ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that projected
revenues described in paragraph (1) provide reasonable assurance of repayment
of the amount of obligations issued under subsection (a).
(c)Authorization
of appropriationsFor each
fiscal year beginning after the date of enactment of this Act, there are
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such sums as the Secretary
determines to be necessary to repay to the Secretary of the Treasury the
difference between—
(1)the amount of obligations issued under
subsection (a), including interest on such obligations, that was required to be
repaid during the preceding fiscal year; and
(2)the amount of obligations issued under
subsection (a), including interest on such obligations, that was repaid during
the preceding fiscal year.
6.
(a)Subject to subsection
(b), the Secretary may accept from any eligible individual a donation of land
or an interest in land within the Reservation.
(b)
(1)The Secretary shall
hold in trust for the benefit of the Tribe the title to any land or interest in
land acquired by the Secretary under subsection (a).
(2)Designation of
place of honorThe Tribe
shall designate on the Reservation a place of honor, as the Tribe determines to
be appropriate, at which the name of any eligible individual that donates land
to the Secretary under subsection (a) shall be displayed in perpetuity, in
recognition of the donation.
7.
(a)Land, and interests
in land, held in trust by the Secretary for the benefit of the Tribe under this
Act shall be managed by the Tribe.
(b)Limitation of
trust responsibilityThe
trust responsibility of the Secretary with respect to land and interests in
land described in subsection (a) shall be limited to—
(1)ensuring that the land and interests in
land are not subject to alienation; and
(2)enabling the Tribe to exercise jurisdiction
over the land and interests in land.
(c)Authorization
of appropriationsThere is
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $5,000,000.