II

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1393

To provide grants to ensure full and fair participation in certain

decisionmaking processes at the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

AUGUST 3, 2001

Mr. DODD (for himself and Mr. LIEBERMAN) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs

A BILL

To provide grants to ensure full and fair participation in

certain decisionmaking processes at the Bureau of Indian

Affairs.

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

3 SECTION 1. GRANT PROGRAM.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—To the extent that amounts are

5 appropriated and acceptable requests are submitted, the

6 Secretary shall award grants to eligible local governments

7 and eligible Indian groups to promote the participation of

8 such governments and groups in the decisionmaking proc9 ess related to the actions described in subsection (b), if

10 the Secretary determines that the assistance provided
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1 under such a grant is necessary to protect the interests

2 of the government or group and would otherwise promote

3 the interests of just administration within the Bureau of

4 Indian Affairs.

5 (b) ACTIONS FOR WHICH GRANTS MAY BE AVAIL6 ABLE.—The Secretary may award grants under this sec7 tion for participation assistance related to the following

8 actions:

9 (1) ACKNOWLEDGMENT.—An Indian group is

10 seeking Federal acknowledgment or recognition, or a

11 terminated Indian tribe is seeking to be restored to

12 federally-recognized status.

13 (2) TRUST STATUS.—A federally-recognized In14 dian tribe has asserted trust status with respect to

15 land within the boundaries of an area over which a

16 local government currently exercises jurisdiction.

17 (3) TRUST LAND.—A federally-recognized In18 dian tribe has filed a petition with the Secretary of

19 the Interior requesting that land within the bound20 aries of an area over which a local government is

21 currently exercising jurisdiction be taken into trust.

22 (4) LAND CLAIMS.—An Indian group or a fed23 erally-recognized Indian tribe is asserting a claim to

24 land based upon a treaty or a law specifically appli25 cable to transfers of land or natural resources from,
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1 by, or on behalf of any Indian, Indian tribe, or

2 group, or band of Indians (including the Acts com3 monly known as the Trade and Intercourse Acts (1

4 Stat. 137; 2 Stat. 139; and 4 Stat. 729)).

5 (5) OTHER ACTIONS.—Any other action or pro6 posed action relating to an Indian group or feder7 ally-recognized Indian tribe if the Secretary deter8 mines that the action or proposed action is likely to

9 significantly affect the citizens represented by a local

10 government.

11 (c) AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—Grants awarded under

12 this section to a local government or eligible Indian group

13 for any one action may not exceed $500,000 in any fiscal

14 year.

15 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

16 (1) ACKNOWLEDGED INDIAN TRIBE.—The term

17 ‘‘acknowledged Indian tribe’’ means any Indian

18 tribe, band, nation, pueblo, or other organized group

19 or community which is recognized as eligible for the

20 special programs and services provided by the

21 United States to Indians because of their status as

22 Indians.

23 (2) ELIGIBLE INDIAN GROUP.—The term ‘‘eligi24 ble Indian group’’ means a group that—
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1 (A) is determined by the Secretary to be in

2 need of financial assistance to facilitate fair

3 participation in a pending action described in

4 subsection (b);

5 (B) is an acknowledged Indian Tribe or

6 has petitioned the Secretary to be acknowledged

7 as a Indian Tribe; and

8 (C) petitions the Secretary for a grant

9 under subsection (a).

10 (3) ELIGIBLE LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term

11 ‘‘eligible local government’’ means a municipality or

12 county that—

13 (A) is determined by the Secretary to be in

14 need of financial assistance to facilitate fair

15 participation in a pending action described in

16 subsection (b); and

17 (B) petitions the Secretary for a grant

18 under subsection (a).

19 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

20 the Secretary of the Interior.

21 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Grants awarded under this

22 section may only be applied to expenses incurred after the

23 date of enactment of this Act.

24 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

25 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section
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1 $8,000,000 for each fiscal year that begins after the date

2 of the enactment of this Act.

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