[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3911 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3911

To make technical amendments to the Act of December 22, 1974, relating 
         to lands of the Navajo Tribe, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 3, 2015

 Mrs. Kirkpatrick introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
                   the Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To make technical amendments to the Act of December 22, 1974, relating 
         to lands of the Navajo Tribe, 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. NAVAJO RESERVATION BOUNDARY CLARIFICATION.

    Subsection (b) of section 11 of the Act of December 22, 1974 (25 
U.S.C. 640d-10(b)), is amended--
            (1) by striking ``present boundary of the Navajo 
        Reservation'' and inserting ``trust lands of the Navajo Tribe, 
        including the bands of the Navajo Tribe, as of January 1, 
        2015''; and
            (2) by striking ``present boundary of the reservation'' and 
        inserting ``trust lands of the Navajo Tribe, including the 
        bands of the Navajo Tribe, as of January 1, 2015''.

SEC. 2. RESELECTION OF LANDS TO CORRECT SURVEYING ERROR.

    Section 11 of the Act of December 22, 1974 (25 U.S.C. 640d-10), is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(j)(1) The Navajo Tribe may--
            ``(A) deselect not more than 757 acres of the land selected 
        under this section as of January 1, 2014; and
            ``(B) reselect, accordance with this section, the same 
        amount of acres of the land that is deselected under 
        subparagraph (A).
    ``(2) Any lands deselected under paragraph (1)(A) that were held in 
trust shall be taken out of trust and administered by the Bureau of 
Land Management.''.

SEC. 3. FAIR RENTAL VALUE PAYMENTS REPORT.

    Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary of the Interior shall submit a report to the Committee on 
Natural Resources in the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Indian Affairs in the Senate a report that contains the following:
            (1) The dates that the Secretary rendered initial rental 
        decisions on annual rents owed by the Navajo Tribe to the Hopi 
        Tribe pursuant to section 16(a) of the Act of December 22, 1974 
        (25 U.S.C. 640d-15(a)), for each of years 2001 through 2014, 
        including an explanation for any delay longer than 12 months 
        after the end of any year during that period.
            (2) The current status of all rental determinations for 
        each of years 2001 through 2014, and, to the extent appeals are 
        pending, where these appeals are pending, and how long such 
        appeals have been pending at that locale.
            (3) To the extent that rental determinations have been 
        delayed, the role, if any, in the delay that has been the 
        result of contracts with the Bureau of Indian Affairs related 
        to a contract under the Indian Self-Determination and Education 
        Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450f).
            (4) Whether contracts to perform those functions which are 
        otherwise the obligations of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to 
        carry out the requirements of section 16(a) of the Act of 
        December 22, 1974 (25 U.S.C. 640-15(a)), have been funded at 
        the level necessary to ensure that these functions are properly 
        performed.
            (5) What contract provisions, if any, have been included in 
        any contract under the Indian Self-Determination and Education 
        Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450f) between the Bureau of Indian 
        Affairs and any contractor to ensure that the contractor's 
        performance of those functions which are otherwise the 
        obligations of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to carry out the 
        requirements of section 16(a) of the Act of December 22, 1974 
        (25 U.S.C. 640d-15(a)), is free from conflicts of interest as 
        required by part 900.231 through part .236 of title 25, Code of 
        Federal Regulations.
            (6) The total amount that the Navajo Tribe has paid as rent 
        and interest pursuant to section 16(a) of the Act of December 
        22, 1974 (25 U.S.C. 640d-15(a)), including the amount of 
        prejudgment interest paid by the Navajo Tribe and the amount of 
        post-judgment interest paid by the Navajo Tribe.
            (7) A plan to bring initial rental determinations current 
        through the 2015 year as of April 1, 2016.
            (8) A plan to ensure that, beginning on April 1, 2017, all 
        annual rental determinations are completed and delivered to the 
        Navajo Tribe and the Hopi Tribe on or before April 1 of each 
        year.

SEC. 4. NAVAJO TRIBE SOVEREIGNTY EMPOWERMENT DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.

    (a) Navajo Sovereignty Empowerment Zones.--The Navajo Tribe shall 
have the authority to designate up to 150,000 acres within one or more 
of the following, which shall be designated as Navajo Sovereignty 
Empowerment Zones:
            (1) Lands selected by the Navajo Tribe pursuant to section 
        11 of the Act of December 22, 1974 (25 U.S.C. 640d-10).
            (2) Lands within that portion of the Navajo Reservation 
        lying west of the Executive Order Reservation of 1882 and 
        bounded on the north and south by westerly extensions, to the 
        reservation line, of the northern and southern boundaries of 
        said Executive Order Reservation (formerly known as the 
        ``Bennett Freeze'' area).
            (3) Lands partitioned to the Navajo Tribe pursuant to 
        sections 3 and 4 of the Act of December 22, 1974 (25 U.S.C. 
        640d-2 and 640d-3).
    (b) Applicability of Certain Laws.--
            (1) In general.--Subject to approval by the appropriate 
        regulatory bodies under Navajo law, such as the Navajo Nation 
        Environmental Protection Agency, the Navajo Nation Historic 
        Preservation Department, and the Navajo Nation Department of 
        Fish and Wildlife, within the Navajo Sovereignty Empowerment 
        Zones, the Navajo Tribe may choose to waive any or all of the 
        laws in paragraph (2) with regard to renewable energy 
        development, housing development, public and community 
        facilities, infrastructure development (including water and 
        wastewater development, roads, transmission lines, gas lines, 
        and rights-of-way), and related economic development.
            (2) Law eligible for waiver.--The laws referred to in 
        paragraph (1) are the following:
                    (A) The Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.).
                    (B) The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
                (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
                    (C) The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 
                1531 et seq.).
                    (D) The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 
                1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.).
                    (E) The National Wildlife Refuge System 
                Administration Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 668dd et seq.).
                    (F) The Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 (16 U.S.C. 
                742a et seq.).
                    (G) The Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act (16 
                U.S.C. 661 et seq.).
                    (H) Subchapter II of chapter 5, and chapter 7, of 
                title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the 
                ``Administrative Procedure Act'').
                    (I) The provisions of title 54, United States Code, 
                derived from the Act of August 25, 1916 (commonly known 
                as the ``National Park Service Organic Act''), Public 
                Law 86-523, and Public Law 91-383.
                    (J) Sections 401(7), 403, and 404 of the National 
                Parks and Recreation Act of 1978 (Public Law 95-625).
                    (K) The Arizona Desert Wilderness Act of 1990 
                (Public Law 101-628).
                    (L) Division A of subtitle III of title 54, United 
                States Code.
            (3) Grand canyon exception.--Subsection (a) shall not apply 
        to projects within the rim of the natural formation commonly 
        referred to as the Grand Canyon.
    (c) Transfer of Savings to the Navajo Tribe.--
            (1) In general.--Federal agencies responsible for 
        implementation of the laws listed in subsection (b)(2) shall--
                    (A) consult in good faith with the Navajo Tribe to 
                determine the cost that the Federal agency would have 
                otherwise expended on implementation of the laws or 
                regulations described in subsection (b) in the Navajo 
                Empowerment Zones, and this amount shall not be less 
                than the agency would have otherwise provided for the 
                operation of programs or portions thereof, without 
                regard to any organizational level within the agency at 
                which the program, function, service, or activity or 
                portion thereof, including supportive administrative 
                functions and including indirect costs that are 
                provided in support of the operation of the program, 
                function, service or activity or portion thereof, is 
                operated; and
                    (B) not later the 90 days after the beginning of 
                each applicable fiscal year, transfer to the Navajo 
                Tribe the amount of funds identified under subparagraph 
                (A).
            (2) Use of funds.--The Navajo Tribe shall use all monies 
        that it receives under this subsection to implement tribal law 
        in the Navajo Sovereignty Empowerment Zones.
            (3) Final agency action.--Federal agency decisions made 
        pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be final agency action for 
        the purposes of appeal to the appropriate Federal district 
        court pursuant to chapter 7 of title 5, United States Code.
    (d) Civil Jurisdiction.--
            (1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        law, all individuals and entities operating within a Navajo 
        Sovereignty Empowerment Zone shall be subject to the full civil 
        and regulatory jurisdiction of the Navajo Tribe.
            (2) Full faith and credit.--Any judgment issued by the 
        Navajo Tribe consistent with this section shall be accorded 
        full faith and credit by the court of another State, Indian 
        tribe, or territory and by Federal district courts.
    (e) Tribal Sovereignty.--Nothing in this section supersedes, 
replaces, negates, or diminishes--
            (1) the laws and regulations of the Navajo Nation, which 
        shall remain in full force and effect within the Navajo 
        Sovereignty Empowerment Zones; or
            (2) the treaties or other agreements between the United 
        States and the Navajo Tribe.
    (d) Navajo-Hopi Dispute Settlement Act.--Nothing in this section 
waives the provisions of the Navajo-Hopi Dispute Settlement Act of 1996 
(25 U.S.C. 640d note).
    (e) Funding and Grants.--Nothing in this section negates or 
diminishes the eligibility of the Navajo Tribe to receive or continue 
to receive funding and grants under the Navajo-Hopi Dispute Settlement 
Act of 1996 or any other laws of the United States.

SEC. 5. RELINQUISHMENT OF ACCOMMODATION AGREEMENT AND ELIGIBILITY FOR 
              RELOCATION BENEFITS.

    The Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute Settlement Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 640d 
note) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 13. RELINQUISHMENT OF ACCOMMODATION AGREEMENT AND ELIGIBILITY 
              FOR RELOCATION BENEFITS.

    ``(a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, 
the Settlement Agreement, or the Accommodation Agreement, any Navajo 
head of household, or the successor thereto if such person is no longer 
the head of household, who has entered into an Accommodation Agreement 
shall have the following rights:
            ``(1) To relinquish that Agreement for up to two years 
        after the effective date of this section.
            ``(2) After a relinquishment under paragraph (1), to 
        receive the full relocation benefits to which the Navajo head 
        of household would otherwise have been entitled had the head of 
        household not signed the Accommodation Agreement, including 
        relocation housing, counseling, and other services. In the 
        event that the Navajo head of household is no longer the head 
        of household, the successor thereto shall be entitled to 
        receive the full relocation benefits.
    ``(b) Timing.--A relinquishment under subsection (a) shall not go 
into effect until the Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation 
provides the full relocation benefits to the Navajo head of household, 
or successor thereto.''.

SEC. 6. NAVAJO REHABILITATION TRUST FUND.

    Section 32 of Public Law 93-531 (25 U.S.C. 640d-30) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (d)--
                    (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ``or'';
                    (B) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at the 
                end and inserting ``; or''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) at the discretion of the Navajo Tribe, to use for 
        development in the Navajo Sovereignty Empowerment Zones 
        established pursuant to section 104.'';
            (2) in the first sentence of subsection (f), by striking 
        ``and the United States has been reimbursed for funds 
        appropriated under subsection (f) of this section''; and
            (3) in subsection (g)--
                    (A) in the first sentence, by striking ``1990, 
                1991, 1992, 1993, and 1994'' and all that follows 
                through the final period and inserting ``2015, 2016, 
                2017, 2018, and 2019.''; and
                    (B) by striking the second sentence.
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