I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1548 

To facilitate the development of energy on Indian lands by reducing Federal 

regulations that impede tribal development of Indian lands, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 12, 2013 

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To facilitate the development of energy on Indian lands by 

reducing Federal regulations that impede tribal development of Indian lands, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Native American En5 ergy Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

7 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 

Sec. 3. Appraisals. 

Sec. 4. Standardization. 


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Sec. 5. Environmental reviews of major Federal actions on Indian lands. 

Sec. 6. BLM oil and gas fees. 

Sec. 7. Bonding requirements and nonpayment of attorneys’ fees to promote Indian energy projects. 

Sec. 8. Tribal biomass demonstration project. 

Sec. 9. Tribal resource management plans. 

Sec. 10. Leases of restricted lands for the Navajo Nation. 

Sec. 11. Nonapplicability of certain rules. 

1 SEC. 3. APPRAISALS. 

2 (a) AMENDMENT.—Title XXVI of the Energy Policy 

3 Act of 1992 (25 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) is amended by add4 ing at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 2607. APPRAISAL REFORMS. 

6 ‘‘(a) OPTIONS TO INDIAN TRIBES.—With respect to 

7 a transaction involving Indian land or the trust assets of 

8 an Indian tribe that requires the approval of the Sec9 retary, any appraisal relating to fair market value required 

10 to be conducted under applicable law, regulation, or policy 

11 may be completed by— 

12 ‘‘(1) the Secretary; 

13 ‘‘(2) the affected Indian tribe; or 

14 ‘‘(3) a certified, third-party appraiser pursuant 

15 to a contract with the Indian tribe. 

16 ‘‘(b) TIME LIMIT ON SECRETARIAL REVIEW AND AC17 TION.—Not later than 30 days after the date on which 

18 the Secretary receives an appraisal conducted by or for 

19 an Indian tribe pursuant to paragraphs (2) or (3) of sub20 section (a), the Secretary shall— 

21 ‘‘(1) review the appraisal; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) provide to the Indian tribe a written notice 

2 of approval or disapproval of the appraisal. 

3 ‘‘(c) FAILURE OF SECRETARY TO APPROVE OR DIS4 APPROVE.—If, after 60 days, the Secretary has failed to 

5 approve or disapprove any appraisal received, the ap6 praisal shall be deemed approved. 

7 ‘‘(d) OPTION TO INDIAN TRIBES TO WAIVE AP8 PRAISAL.— 

9 ‘‘(1) An Indian tribe wishing to waive the re10 quirements of subsection (a), may do so after it has 

11 satisfied the requirements of subsections (2) and (3) 

12 below. 

13 ‘‘(2) An Indian tribe wishing to forego the ne14 cessity of a waiver pursuant to this section must 

15 provide to the Secretary a written resolution, state16 ment, or other unambiguous indication of tribal in17 tent, duly approved by the governing body of the In18 dian tribe. 

19 ‘‘(3) The unambiguous indication of intent pro20 vided by the Indian tribe to the Secretary under 

21 paragraph (2) must include an express waiver by the 

22 Indian tribe of any claims for damages it might have 

23 against the United States as a result of the lack of 

24 an appraisal undertaken. 


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1 ‘‘(e) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this subsection, 

2 the term ‘appraisal’ includes appraisals and other esti3 mates of value. 

4 ‘‘(f) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall develop 

5 regulations for implementing this section, including stand6 ards the Secretary shall use for approving or disapproving 

7 an appraisal.’’. 

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con9 tents of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13201 

10 note) is amended by adding at the end of the items relat11 ing to title XXVI the following: 

‘‘Sec. 2607. Appraisal reforms.’’. 

12 SEC. 4. STANDARDIZATION. 

13 As soon as practicable after the date of the enactment 

14 of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall implement 

15 procedures to ensure that each agency within the Depart16 ment of the Interior that is involved in the review, ap17 proval, and oversight of oil and gas activities on Indian 

18 lands shall use a uniform system of reference numbers and 

19 tracking systems for oil and gas wells. 

20 SEC. 5. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS OF MAJOR FEDERAL 

21 ACTIONS ON INDIAN LANDS. 

22 Section 102 of the National Environmental Policy 

23 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332) is amended by inserting 

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before the first sentence, and by 

25 adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(b) REVIEW OF MAJOR FEDERAL ACTIONS ON IN2 DIAN LANDS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For any major Federal ac4 tion on Indian lands of an Indian tribe requiring the 

5 preparation of a statement under subsection 

6 (a)(2)(C), the statement shall only be available for 

7 review and comment by the members of the Indian 

8 tribe and by any other individual residing within the 

9 affected area. 

10 ‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—The Chairman of the 

11 Council on Environmental Quality shall develop reg12 ulations to implement this section, including descrip13 tions of affected areas for specific major Federal ac14 tions, in consultation with Indian tribes. 

15 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, each of 

16 the terms ‘Indian land’ and ‘Indian tribe’ has the 

17 meaning given that term in section 2601 of the En18 ergy Policy Act of 1992 (25 U.S.C. 3501). 

19 ‘‘(4) CLARIFICATION OF AUTHORITY.—Nothing 

20 in the Native American Energy Act, except section 

21 7 of that Act, shall give the Secretary any additional 

22 authority over energy projects on Alaska Native 

23 Claims Settlement Act lands.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. BLM OIL AND GAS FEES. 

2 The Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bu3 reau of Land Management, shall not collect any fee for 

4 any of the following: 

5 (1) For an application for a permit to drill on 

6 Indian land. 

7 (2) To conduct any oil or gas inspection activity 

8 on Indian land. 

9 (3) On any oil or gas lease for nonproducing 

10 acreage on Indian land. 

11 SEC. 7. BONDING REQUIREMENTS AND NONPAYMENT OF 

12 ATTORNEYS’ FEES TO PROMOTE INDIAN EN13 ERGY PROJECTS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—A plaintiff who obtains a prelimi15 nary injunction or administrative stay in an energy related 

16 action, but does not ultimately prevail on the merits of 

17 the energy related action, shall be liable for damages sus18 tained by a defendant who— 

19 (1) opposed the preliminary injunction or ad20 ministrative stay; and 

21 (2) was harmed by the preliminary injunction 

22 or administrative stay. 

23 (b) BOND.—Unless otherwise specifically exempted 

24 by Federal law, a court may not issue a preliminary in25 junction and an agency may not grant an administrative 

26 stay in an energy related action until the plaintiff posts 


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1 with the court or the agency a surety bond or cash equiva2 lent— 

3 (1) in an amount the court or agency decides 

4 is 30 percent of that amount that the court or agen5 cy considers is sufficient to compensate each defend6 ant opposing the preliminary injunction or adminis7 trative stay for damages, including but not limited 

8 to preliminary development costs, additional develop9 ment costs, and reasonable attorney fees, that each 

10 defendant may sustain as a result of the preliminary 

11 injunction or administrative stay; 

12 (2) written by a surety licensed to do business 

13 in the State in which the Indian Land or other land 

14 where the activities are undertaken is situated; and 

15 (3) payable to each defendant opposing the pre16 liminary injunction or administrative stay, in the 

17 event that the plaintiff does not prevail on the mer18 its of the energy related action, Provided, that, if 

19 there is more than one plaintiff, the court or agency 

20 shall establish the amount of the bond required by 

21 this subsection for each plaintiff in a fair and equi22 table manner. 

23 (c) LIMITATION ON CERTAIN PAYMENTS.—Notwith24 standing section 1304 of title 31, United States Code, no 

25 award may be made under section 504 of title 5, United 


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1 States Code, or under section 2412 of title 28, United 

2 States Code, and no amounts may be obligated or ex3 pended from the Claims and Judgment Fund of the 

4 United States Treasury to pay any fees or other expenses 

5 under such sections to any plaintiff related to an energy 

6 related action. 

7 (d) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section, 

8 the following definitions apply: 

9 (1) ADMINISTRATIVE STAY.—The term ‘‘Ad10 ministrative Stay’’ means a stay or other temporary 

11 remedy issued by a Federal agency, including the 

12 Department of the Interior, the Department of Agri13 culture, the Department of Energy, the Department 

14 of Commerce, and the Environmental Protection 

15 Agency. 

16 (2) INDIAN LAND.—The term ‘‘Indian Land’’ 

17 has the same meaning given such term in section 

18 203(c)(3) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public 

19 Law 109–58; 25 U.S.C. 3501), including lands 

20 owned by Native Corporations under the Alaska Na21 tive Claims Settlement Act (Public Law 92–203; 43 

22 U.S.C. 1601). 

23 (3) ENERGY RELATED ACTION.—The term ‘‘en24 ergy related action’’ means a cause of action that— 


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1 (A) is filed on or after the effective date of 

2 this Act; and 

3 (B) seeks judicial review of a final agency 

4 action (as defined in section 702 of title 5, 

5 United States Code), to issue a permit, license, 

6 or other form of agency permission allowing: 

7 (i) any person or entity to conduct ac8 tivities on Indian Land, which activities in9 volve the exploration, development, produc10 tion or transportation of oil, gas, coal, 

11 shale gas, oil shale, geothermal resources, 

12 wind or solar resources, underground coal 

13 gasification, biomass, or the generation of 

14 electricity, or 

15 (ii) any Indian Tribe, or any organiza16 tion of two or more entities, at least one 

17 of which is an Indian tribe, to conduct ac18 tivities involving the exploration, develop19 ment, production or transportation of oil, 

20 gas, coal, shale gas, oil shale, geothermal 

21 resources, wind or solar resources, under22 ground coal gasification, biomass, or the 

23 generation of electricity, regardless of 

24 where such activities are undertaken. 


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1 (4) ULTIMATELY PREVAIL ON THE MERITS.— 

2 The phrase ‘‘Ultimately prevail on the merits’’ 

3 means, in a final enforceable judgment on the mer4 its, the court rules in the plaintiff’s favor on at least 

5 one cause of action which is an underlying rationale 

6 for the preliminary injunction, and does not include 

7 circumstances where the final agency action is modi8 fied or amended by the issuing agency unless such 

9 modification or amendment is required pursuant to 

10 a final enforceable judgment of the court or a court11 ordered consent decree. 

12 SEC. 8. TRIBAL BIOMASS DEMONSTRATION PROJECT. 

13 The Tribal Forest Protection Act of 2004 (25 U.S.C. 

14 3115a) is amended by inserting after section 2 the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 3. TRIBAL BIOMASS DEMONSTRATION PROJECT. 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For each of fiscal years 2014 

18 through 2018, the Secretary shall enter into stewardship 

19 contracts or other agreements, other than agreements that 

20 are exclusively direct service contracts, with Indian tribes 

21 to carry out demonstration projects to promote biomass 

22 energy production (including biofuel, heat, and electricity 

23 generation) on Indian forest land and in nearby commu24 nities by providing reliable supplies of woody biomass from 

25 Federal land. 


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1 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—The definitions in section 2 

2 shall apply to this section. 

3 ‘‘(c) DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.—In each fiscal 

4 year for which projects are authorized, the Secretary shall 

5 enter into contracts or other agreements described in sub6 section (a) to carry out at least 4 new demonstration 

7 projects that meet the eligibility criteria described in sub8 section (d). 

9 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA.—To be eligible to enter 

10 into a contract or other agreement under this subsection, 

11 an Indian tribe shall submit to the Secretary an applica12 tion— 

13 ‘‘(1) containing such information as the Sec14 retary may require; and 

15 ‘‘(2) that includes a description of— 

16 ‘‘(A) the Indian forest land or rangeland 

17 under the jurisdiction of the Indian tribe; and 

18 ‘‘(B) the demonstration project proposed 

19 to be carried out by the Indian tribe. 

20 ‘‘(e) SELECTION.—In evaluating the applications 

21 submitted under subsection (c), the Secretary— 

22 ‘‘(1) shall take into consideration the factors set 

23 forth in paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 2(e) of 

24 Public Law 108–278; and whether a proposed dem25 onstration project would— 


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1 ‘‘(A) increase the availability or reliability 

2 of local or regional energy; 

3 ‘‘(B) enhance the economic development of 

4 the Indian tribe; 

5 ‘‘(C) improve the connection of electric 

6 power transmission facilities serving the Indian 

7 tribe with other electric transmission facilities; 

8 ‘‘(D) improve the forest health or water9 sheds of Federal land or Indian forest land or 

10 rangeland; or 

11 ‘‘(E) otherwise promote the use of woody 

12 biomass; and 

13 ‘‘(2) shall exclude from consideration any mer14 chantable logs that have been identified by the Sec15 retary for commercial sale. 

16 ‘‘(f) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary shall— 

17 ‘‘(1) ensure that the criteria described in sub18 section (c) are publicly available by not later than 

19 120 days after the date of enactment of this section; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(2) to the maximum extent practicable, consult 

22 with Indian tribes and appropriate intertribal orga23 nizations likely to be affected in developing the ap24 plication and otherwise carrying out this section. 


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1 ‘‘(g) REPORT.—Not later than September 20, 2015, 

2 the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report that de3 scribes, with respect to the reporting period— 

4 ‘‘(1) each individual tribal application received 

5 under this section; and 

6 ‘‘(2) each contract and agreement entered into 

7 pursuant to this section. 

8 ‘‘(h) INCORPORATION OF MANAGEMENT PLANS.—In 

9 carrying out a contract or agreement under this section, 

10 on receipt of a request from an Indian tribe, the Secretary 

11 shall incorporate into the contract or agreement, to the 

12 extent practicable, management plans (including forest 

13 management and integrated resource management plans) 

14 in effect on the Indian forest land or rangeland of the re15 spective Indian tribe. 

16 ‘‘(i) TERM.—A stewardship contract or other agree17 ment entered into under this section— 

18 ‘‘(1) shall be for a term of not more than 20 

19 years; and 

20 ‘‘(2) may be renewed in accordance with this 

21 section for not more than an additional 10 years.’’. 

22 SEC. 9. TRIBAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLANS. 

23 Unless otherwise explicitly exempted by Federal law 

24 enacted after the date of the enactment of this Act, any 

25 activity conducted or resources harvested or produced purVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:21 Apr 19, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1548.IH H1548

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1 suant to a tribal resource management plan or an inte2 grated resource management plan approved by the Sec3 retary of the Interior under the National Indian Forest 

4 Resources Management Act (25 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.) or 

5 the American Indian Agricultural Resource Management 

6 Act (25 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.), shall be considered a sus7 tainable management practice for purposes of any Federal 

8 standard, benefit, or requirement that requires a dem9 onstration of such sustainability. 

10 SEC. 10. LEASES OF RESTRICTED LANDS FOR THE NAVAJO 

11 NATION. 

12 Subsection (e)(1) of the first section of the Act of 

13 August 9, 1955 (25 U.S.C. 415(e)(1); commonly referred 

14 to as the ‘‘Long-Term Leasing Act’’), is amended— 

15 (1) by striking ‘‘, except a lease for’’ and insert16 ing ‘‘, including leases for’’; 

17 (2) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘25’’ the 

18 first place it appears and all that follows and insert19 ing ‘‘99 years;’’; 

20 (3) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period 

21 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

22 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(C) in the case of a lease for the explo24 ration, development, or extraction of mineral re25 sources, including geothermal resources, 25 


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1 years, except that any such lease may include 

2 an option to renew for one additional term not 

3 to exceed 25 years.’’. 

4 SEC. 11. NONAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN RULES. 

5 No rule promulgated by the Department of the Inte6 rior regarding hydraulic fracturing used in the develop7 ment or production of oil or gas resources shall have any 

8 effect on any land held in trust or restricted status for 

9 the benefit of Indians except with the express consent of 

10 the beneficiary on whose behalf such land is held in trust 

11 or restricted status. 

Æ 


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