[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 205 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 205


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 16, 2012

  Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
To amend the Act titled ``An Act to authorize the leasing of restricted 
    Indian lands for public, religious, educational, recreational, 
 residential, business, and other purposes requiring the grant of long-
term leases'', approved August 9, 1955, to provide for Indian tribes to 
   enter into certain leases without prior express approval from the 
           Secretary of the Interior, 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 ``Helping Expedite and Advance 
Responsible Tribal Home Ownership Act of 2012'' or the ``HEARTH Act of 
2012''.

SEC. 2. APPROVAL OF, AND REGULATIONS RELATED TO, TRIBAL LEASES.

    The first section of the Act titled ``An Act to authorize the 
leasing of restricted Indian lands for public, religious, educational, 
recreational, residential, business, and other purposes requiring the 
grant of long-term leases'', approved August 9, 1955 (25 U.S.C. 415), 
is amended as follows:
            (1) In subsection (d)--
                    (A) in paragraph (4), by striking ``the Navajo 
                Nation'' and inserting ``an applicable Indian tribe'';
                    (B) in paragraph (6), by striking ``the Navajo 
                Nation'' and inserting ``an Indian tribe'';
                    (C) in paragraph (7), by striking ``and'' after the 
                semicolon at the end;
                    (D) in paragraph (8)--
                            (i) by striking ``the Navajo Nation'';
                            (ii) by striking ``with Navajo Nation law'' 
                        and inserting ``with applicable tribal law''; 
                        and
                            (iii) by striking the period at the end and 
                        inserting a semicolon; and
                    (E) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(9) the term `Indian tribe' has the meaning given such 
        term in section 102 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe 
        List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 479a); and
            ``(10) the term `individually owned allotted land' means a 
        parcel of land that--
                    ``(A)(i) is located within the jurisdiction of an 
                Indian tribe; or
                    ``(ii) is held in trust or restricted status by the 
                United States for the benefit of an Indian tribe or a 
                member of an Indian tribe; and
                    ``(B) is allotted to a member of an Indian 
                tribe.''.
            (2) By adding at the end the following:
    ``(h) Tribal Approval of Leases.--
            ``(1) In general.--At the discretion of any Indian tribe, 
        any lease by the Indian tribe for the purposes authorized under 
        subsection (a) (including any amendments to subsection (a)), 
        except a lease for the exploration, development, or extraction 
        of any mineral resources, shall not require the approval of the 
        Secretary, if the lease is executed under the tribal 
        regulations approved by the Secretary under this subsection and 
        the term of the lease does not exceed--
                    ``(A) in the case of a business or agricultural 
                lease, 25 years, except that any such lease may include 
                an option to renew for up to 2 additional terms, each 
                of which may not exceed 25 years; and
                    ``(B) in the case of a lease for public, religious, 
                educational, recreational, or residential purposes, 75 
                years, if such a term is provided for by the 
                regulations issued by the Indian tribe.
            ``(2) Allotted land.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any 
        lease of individually owned Indian allotted land.
            ``(3) Authority of secretary over tribal regulations.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall have the 
                authority to approve or disapprove any tribal 
                regulations issued in accordance with paragraph (1).
                    ``(B) Considerations for approval.--The Secretary 
                shall approve any tribal regulation issued in 
                accordance with paragraph (1), if the tribal 
                regulations--
                            ``(i) are consistent with any regulations 
                        issued by the Secretary under subsection (a) 
                        (including any amendments to the subsection or 
                        regulations); and
                            ``(ii) provide for an environmental review 
                        process that includes--
                                    ``(I) the identification and 
                                evaluation of any significant effects 
                                of the proposed action on the 
                                environment; and
                                    ``(II) a process for ensuring 
                                that--
                                            ``(aa) the public is 
                                        informed of, and has a 
                                        reasonable opportunity to 
                                        comment on, any significant 
                                        environmental impacts of the 
                                        proposed action identified by 
                                        the Indian tribe; and
                                            ``(bb) the Indian tribe 
                                        provides responses to relevant 
                                        and substantive public comments 
                                        on any such impacts before the 
                                        Indian tribe approves the 
                                        lease.
                    ``(C) Technical assistance.--The Secretary may 
                provide technical assistance, upon request of the 
                Indian tribe, for development of a regulatory 
                environmental review process under subparagraph 
                (B)(ii).
                    ``(D) Indian self-determination act.--The technical 
                assistance to be provided by the Secretary pursuant to 
                subparagraph (C) may be made available through 
                contracts, grants, or agreements entered into in 
                accordance with, and made available to entities 
                eligible for, such contracts, grants, or agreements 
                under the Indian Self-Determination Act (25 U.S.C. 450 
                et seq.).
            ``(4) Review process.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Not later than 120 days after 
                the date on which the tribal regulations described in 
                paragraph (1) are submitted to the Secretary, the 
                Secretary shall review and approve or disapprove the 
                regulations.
                    ``(B) Written documentation.--If the Secretary 
                disapproves the tribal regulations described in 
                paragraph (1), the Secretary shall include written 
                documentation with the disapproval notification that 
                describes the basis for the disapproval.
                    ``(C) Extension.--The deadline described in 
                subparagraph (A) may be extended by the Secretary, 
                after consultation with the Indian tribe.
            ``(5) Federal environmental review.--Notwithstanding 
        paragraphs (3) and (4), if an Indian tribe carries out a 
        project or activity funded by a Federal agency, the Indian 
        tribe shall have the authority to rely on the environmental 
        review process of the applicable Federal agency rather than any 
        tribal environmental review process under this subsection.
            ``(6) Documentation.--If an Indian tribe executes a lease 
        pursuant to tribal regulations under paragraph (1), the Indian 
        tribe shall provide the Secretary with--
                    ``(A) a copy of the lease, including any amendments 
                or renewals to the lease; and
                    ``(B) in the case of tribal regulations or a lease 
                that allows for lease payments to be made directly to 
                the Indian tribe, documentation of the lease payments 
                that are sufficient to enable the Secretary to 
                discharge the trust responsibility of the United States 
                under paragraph (7).
            ``(7) Trust responsibility.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The United States shall not be 
                liable for losses sustained by any party to a lease 
                executed pursuant to tribal regulations under paragraph 
                (1).
                    ``(B) Authority of secretary.--Pursuant to the 
                authority of the Secretary to fulfill the trust 
                obligation of the United States to the applicable 
                Indian tribe under Federal law (including regulations), 
                the Secretary may, upon reasonable notice from the 
                applicable Indian tribe and at the discretion of the 
                Secretary, enforce the provisions of, or cancel, any 
                lease executed by the Indian tribe under paragraph (1).
            ``(8) Compliance.--
                    ``(A) In general.--An interested party, after 
                exhausting of any applicable tribal remedies, may 
                submit a petition to the Secretary, at such time and in 
                such form as the Secretary determines to be 
                appropriate, to review the compliance of the applicable 
                Indian tribe with any tribal regulations approved by 
                the Secretary under this subsection.
                    ``(B) Violations.--If, after carrying out a review 
                under subparagraph (A), the Secretary determines that 
                the tribal regulations were violated, the Secretary may 
                take any action the Secretary determines to be 
                necessary to remedy the violation, including rescinding 
                the approval of the tribal regulations and reassuming 
                responsibility for the approval of leases of tribal 
                trust lands.
                    ``(C) Documentation.--If the Secretary determines 
                that a violation of the tribal regulations has occurred 
                and a remedy is necessary, the Secretary shall--
                            ``(i) make a written determination with 
                        respect to the regulations that have been 
                        violated;
                            ``(ii) provide the applicable Indian tribe 
                        with a written notice of the alleged violation 
                        together with such written determination; and
                            ``(iii) prior to the exercise of any 
                        remedy, the rescission of the approval of the 
                        regulation involved, or the reassumption of 
                        lease approval responsibilities, provide the 
                        applicable Indian tribe with--
                                    ``(I) a hearing that is on the 
                                record; and
                                    ``(II) a reasonable opportunity to 
                                cure the alleged violation.
            ``(9) Savings clause.--Nothing in this subsection shall 
        affect subsection (e) or any tribal regulations issued under 
        that subsection.''.

SEC. 3. LAND TITLE REPORTS.

    (a) In General.--The Bureau of Indian Affairs shall prepare and 
submit to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate a 
report regarding the history and experience of Indian tribes that have 
chosen to assume responsibility for operating the Indian Land Title and 
Records Office (referred to in this section as the ``LTRO'') functions 
from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
    (b) Consultation.--In conducting the review under subsection (a), 
the Bureau of Indian Affairs shall consult with the Department of 
Housing and Urban Development Office of Native American Programs and 
the Indian tribes that are managing LTRO functions (referred to in this 
section as the ``managing Indian tribes'').
    (c) Contents.--The review under subsection (a) shall include an 
analysis of the following factors:
            (1) Whether and how tribal management of the LTRO functions 
        has expedited the processing and issuance of Indian land title 
        certifications as compared to the period during which the 
        Bureau of Indian Affairs managed the programs.
            (2) Whether and how tribal management of the LTRO functions 
        has increased home ownership among the population of the 
        managing Indian tribe.
            (3) What internal preparations and processes were required 
        of the managing Indian tribes prior to assuming management of 
        the LTRO functions.
            (4) Whether tribal management of the LTRO functions 
        resulted in a transfer of financial resources and manpower from 
        the Bureau of Indian Affairs to the managing Indian tribes and, 
        if so, what transfers were undertaken.
            (5) Whether, in appropriate circumstances and with the 
        approval of geographically proximate Indian tribes, the LTRO 
        functions may be performed by a


              

         single Indian tribe or a tribal consortium in a cost effective 
        manner.

            Passed the House of Representatives May 15, 2012.

            Attest:

                                                 KAREN L. HAAS,

                                                                 Clerk.