110 HR 6087 IH: To sunset the Federal recognition and acknowledgment
U.S. House of Representatives
2008-05-20
text/xml
EN
Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
1.Sunset of administrative
recognition of Indian tribes
(a)Deadline for
submission of letter of intentIf, not later than 180 days after receiving
notice under subsection (b), a group seeking or eligible to seek Federal tribal
acknowledgment under part 83 of title 25, Code of Federal Regulations does not
submit a letter of intent to the Secretary, that group shall be barred from
petitioning for or receiving status as a federally recognized Indian tribe
through any administrative process.
(b)Notice of need
To submit letter of intent
(1)Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment
of this Act, the Secretary shall notify—
(A)by first class
mail, each group with a pending petition for Federal tribal acknowledgment,
active or inactive, of the need to submit a letter of intent to the Secretary;
and
(B)shall publish in the Federal Register the
need of any group to submit a letter of intent to the Secretary.
(2)Notice under paragraph (1) shall state that
if, not later than 180 days after the Secretary sends notice by first class
mail or by publication in the Federal Register, a group does not submit a
letter of intent to the Secretary, that group shall be barred from petitioning
for or receiving status as a federally recognized Indian tribe through any
administrative process.
(c)When multiple
petitions are submitted by groups claiming the same name, the Secretary shall
inform each group that all such petitions shall receive no consideration and
such petitions shall not be considered.
(d)The OFA may expedite a
finding declining to acknowledge a group if the OFA determines that the group
clearly did not demonstrate in the application that the group meets at least 3
of the 7 required criteria set forth under part 83 of title 25, Code of Federal
Regulations. A group that has an application denied under this subsection may
appeal the denial to the Board of Indian Appeals in accordance with part 83 of
title 25, Code of Federal Regulations.
(e)Submission of
applicationEach group that
is eligible for consideration under part 83 of title 25, Code of Federal
Regulations after the 180 day deadline set forth in subsection (a) and that has
not been removed under subsection (c) or (d) may submit a complete application
to the OFA not later than 12 months after the expiration of the 180 day
deadline set forth in subsection (a).
(f)Deadline for
consideration of petitionsNot later than 3 years after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the OFA shall complete all final decisions and
notifications regarding petitions for Federal recognition under part 83 of
title 25, Code of Federal Regulations.
(g)Not later than 3 years after the date of the enactment of
this Act, or upon the completion of all final decisions by the OFA, whichever
is earlier, the Federal Recognition and Acknowledgment Process shall be
terminated and no groups shall thereafter be acknowledged as federally
recognized Indian tribes through an administrative process.
(h)
(1)Where in conflict, the deadlines and processes in this
Act supercede those set forth in part 83 of title 25, Code of Federal
Regulations.
(2)Nothing in this Act shall be construed to change the
criteria set forth under part 83 of title 25, Code of Federal Regulations or
any other policies established by the Department of the Interior to determine
whether a group meets the requirements to be a federally recognized Indian
tribe.
(i)In
this section:
(1)The term group means an
American Indian Group, as that term is used in part 83 of title 25, Code of
Federal Regulations.
(2)The term letter
of intent has the meaning given that term in part 83 of title 25, Code
of Federal Regulations
(3)The term OFA means the Office
of Federal Acknowledgment.
(4)The
term Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior.