§ 640d–26 TITLE 25—INDIANS Page 260

eral Government, State or local government, tribal

government or chapter, or private organization for

the benefit of the Navajo or Hopi Tribe, if such grant,

contract, or expenditure would significantly assist

the Commission in carrying out its responsibilities or

assist either tribe in meeting the burdens imposed by

this subchapter;

‘‘(2) engage or participate, either directly or by contract, in demonstration efforts to employ innovative

energy or other technologies in providing housing

and related facilities and services in the relocation

and resettlement of individuals under this subchapter.

Not to exceed 5 per centum of such funds may be used

for the administrative expenses of the Commission in

carrying out this section.’’

§ 640d–26. Implementation requirements

(a) Environmental impact provisions

No action taken pursuant to, in furtherance

of, or as authorized by this subchapter, shall be

deemed a major Federal action for purposes of

the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969,

as amended [42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.].

(b) Transfer of public lands

Any transfer of public lands pursuant to this

subchapter shall be made notwithstanding the

provisions of sections 1782 and 1752(g) of title 43.

(Pub. L. 93–531, §28, as added Pub. L. 96–305, §11,

July 8, 1980, 94 Stat. 933.)

REFERENCES IN TEXT

National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, referred to in subsec. (a), is Pub. L. 91–190, Jan. 1,

1970, 83 Stat. 852, as amended, which is classified generally to chapter 55 (§4321 et seq.) of Title 42, The Public

Health and Welfare. For complete classification of this

Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 4321 of Title 42 and Tables.

§ 640d–27. Attorney fees, costs and expenses for

litigation or court action

(a) Payment by Secretary; authorization of appropriations

In any litigation or court action between or

among the Hopi Tribe, the Navajo Tribe and the

United States or any of its officials, departments, agencies, or instrumentalities, arising

out of the interpretation or implementation of

this subchapter, as amended, the Secretary shall

pay, subject to the availability of appropriations, attorney’s fees, costs and expenses as determined by the Secretary to be reasonable. For

each tribe, there is hereby authorized to be appropriated not to exceed $120,000 in fiscal year

1981, $130,000 in fiscal year 1982, $140,000 in fiscal

year 1983, $150,000 in fiscal year 1984, and $160,000

in fiscal year 1985, and each succeeding year

thereafter until such litigation or court action

is finally completed.

(b) Award by court; reimbursement to Secretary

Upon the entry of a final judgment in any such

litigation or court action, the court shall award

reasonable attorney’s fees, costs and expenses to

the party, other than the United States or its officials, departments, agencies, or instrumentalities, which prevails or substantially prevails,

where it finds that any opposing party has unreasonably initiated or contested such litigation. Any party to whom such an award has been

made shall reimburse the United States out of

such award to the extent that it has received

payments pursuant to subsection (a) of this section.

(c) Excess difference between award of court and

award of Secretary treated as final judgment

of Court of Claims

To the extent that any award made to a party

against the United States pursuant to subsection (b) of this section exceeds the amount

paid to such party by the United States pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, such difference shall be treated as if it were a final judgment of the Court of Claims under section 2517

of title 28.

(d) Litigation or court actions applicable

This section shall apply to any litigation or

court action pending upon July 8, 1980, in which

a final order, decree, judgment has not been entered, but shall not apply to any action authorized by section 640d–7 or 640d–17(a) of this title.

(Pub. L. 93–531, §29, as added Pub. L. 96–305, §11,

July 8, 1980, 94 Stat. 934.)

REFERENCES IN TEXT

The Court of Claims, referred to in subsec. (c), and

the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals were merged

effective Oct. 1, 1982, into a new United States Court of

Appeals for the Federal Circuit by Pub. L. 97–164, Apr.

2, 1982, 96 Stat. 25, which also created a United States

Claims Court [now United States Court of Federal

Claims] that inherited the trial jurisdiction of the

Court of Claims. See sections 48, 171 et seq., 791 et seq.,

and 1491 et seq. of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.

§ 640d–28. Life estates

(a) Omitted

(b) Application for lease; contents; filing date; extension

Any Navajo head of household who desires to

do so may submit an application for a life estate

lease to the Commissioner. Such application

shall contain such information as the Commissioner may prescribe by regulation, such regulation to be promulgated by the Commissioner

within ninety days of July 8, 1980. To be considered, such application must be filed with the

Commissioner on or before April 1, 1981: Provided, That the Commissioner may, for good

cause, grant an extension of one hundred and

eighty days.

(c) Application groupings

Upon receipt of applications filed pursuant to

this section, the Commissioner shall group them

in the following order:

(A) Applicants who are determined to be at

least 50 per centum disabled as certified by a

physician approved by the Commissioner.

Such applicants shall be ranked in the order of

the severity of their disability.

(B) Applicants who are not at least 50 per

centum disabled shall be ranked in order of

their age with oldest listed first and the

youngest listed last: Provided, That, if any applicant physically resides in quarter quad Nos.

78 NW, 77 NE, 77 NW, 55 SW, or 54 SE as designated on the Mediator’s partition map, such