S. Con. Res. 161 Agreed to December 14, 2000

One Hundred Sixth Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE SECOND SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday,

the twenty-fourth day of January, two thousand

Concurrent Resolution

Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), That the Clerk of the House of Representatives, in the enrollment of the bill (H.R. 5528) to authorize the construction of a

Wakpa Sica Reconciliation Place in Fort Pierre, South Dakota,

and for other purposes, shall make the following correction:

(1) Strike title XII and insert the following:

TITLE XII—NAVAJO NATION TRUST

LAND LEASING

SEC. 1201. SHORT TITLE.

This title may be cited as the ‘‘Navajo Nation Trust Land

Leasing Act of 2000’’.

SEC. 1202. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF PURPOSES.

(a) FINDINGS.—Recognizing the special relationship between

the United States and the Navajo Nation and its members, and

the Federal responsibility to the Navajo people, Congress finds

that—

(1) the third clause of section 8, Article I of the United

States Constitution provides that ‘‘The Congress shall have

Power . . . to regulate Commerce . . . with Indian tribes’’,

and, through this and other constitutional authority, Congress

has plenary power over Indian affairs;

(2) Congress, through statutes, treaties, and the general

course of dealing with Indian tribes, has assumed the responsibility for the protection and preservation of Indian tribes and

their resources;

(3) the United States has a trust obligation to guard and

preserve the sovereignty of Indian tribes in order to foster

strong tribal governments, Indian self-determination, and economic self-sufficiency;

(4) pursuant to the first section of the Act of August 9,

1955 (25 U.S.C. 415), Congress conferred upon the Secretary

of the Interior the power to promulgate regulations governing

tribal leases and to approve tribal leases for tribes according

to regulations promulgated by the Secretary;

(5) the Secretary of the Interior has promulgated the regulations described in paragraph (4) at part 162 of title 25,

Code of Federal Regulations;

(6) the requirement that the Secretary approve leases for

the development of Navajo trust lands has added a level of
S. Con. Res. 161—2

review and regulation that does not apply to the development

of non-Indian land; and

(7) in the global economy of the 21st Century, it is crucial

that individual leases of Navajo trust lands not be subject

to Secretarial approval and that the Navajo Nation be able

to make immediate decisions over the use of Navajo trust

lands.

(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this title are as follows:

(1) To establish a streamlined process for the Navajo Nation

to lease trust lands without having to obtain the approval

of the Secretary of the Interior for individual leases, except

leases for exploration, development, or extraction of any mineral

resources.

(2) To authorize the Navajo Nation, pursuant to tribal

regulations, which must be approved by the Secretary, to lease

Navajo trust lands without the approval of the Secretary of

the Interior for the individual leases, except leases for exploration, development, or extraction of any mineral resources.

(3) To revitalize the distressed Navajo Reservation by promoting political self-determination, and encouraging economic

self-sufficiency, including economic development that increases

productivity and the standard of living for members of the

Navajo Nation.

(4) To maintain, strengthen, and protect the Navajo

Nation’s leasing power over Navajo trust lands.

(5) To ensure that the United States is faithfully executing

its trust obligation to the Navajo Nation by maintaining Federal

supervision through oversight of and record keeping related

to leases of Navajo Nation tribal trust lands.

SEC. 1203. LEASE OF RESTRICTED LANDS FOR THE NAVAJO NATION.

The first section of the Act of August 9, 1955 (25 U.S.C. 415)

is amended—

(1) in subsection (d)—

(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end;

(B) in paragraph (2), by striking the period and

inserting a semicolon; and

(C) by adding at the end the following:

‘‘(3) the term ‘individually owned Navajo Indian allotted

land’ means a single parcel of land that—

‘‘(A) is located within the jurisdiction of the Navajo

Nation;

‘‘(B) is held in trust or restricted status by the United

States for the benefit of Navajo Indians or members of

another Indian tribe; and

‘‘(C) was—

‘‘(i) allotted to a Navajo Indian; or

‘‘(ii) taken into trust or restricted status by the

United States for an individual Indian;

‘‘(4) the term ‘interested party’ means an Indian or nonIndian individual or corporation, or tribal or non-tribal government whose interests could be adversely affected by a tribal

trust land leasing decision made by the Navajo Nation;

‘‘(5) the term ‘Navajo Nation’ means the Navajo Nation

government that is in existence on the date of enactment of

this Act or its successor;
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‘‘(6) the term ‘petition’ means a written request submitted

to the Secretary for the review of an action (or inaction) of

the Navajo Nation that is claimed to be in violation of the

approved tribal leasing regulations;

‘‘(7) the term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary of the

Interior; and

‘‘(8) the term ‘tribal regulations’ means the Navajo Nation

regulations enacted in accordance with Navajo Nation law and

approved by the Secretary.’’; and

(2) by adding at the end the following:

‘‘(e)(1) Any leases by the Navajo Nation for purposes authorized

under subsection (a), and any amendments thereto, 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 Navajo Nation through the promulgation

of regulations.

‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to individually owned Navajo

Indian allotted land.

‘‘(3) The Secretary shall have the authority to approve or disapprove tribal regulations referred to under paragraph (1). The

Secretary shall approve such tribal regulations if such regulations

are consistent with the regulations of the Secretary under subsection (a), and any amendments thereto, and provide for an

environmental review process. The Secretary shall review and

approve or disapprove the regulations of the Navajo Nation within

120 days of the submission of such regulations to the Secretary.

Any disapproval of such regulations by the Secretary shall be accompanied by written documentation that sets forth the basis for the

disapproval. Such 120-day period may be extended by the Secretary

after consultation with the Navajo Nation.

‘‘(4) If the Navajo Nation has executed a lease pursuant to

tribal regulations under paragraph (1), the Navajo Nation shall

provide the Secretary with—

‘‘(A) a copy of the lease and all amendments and renewals

thereto; and

‘‘(B) in the case of regulations or a lease that permits

payment to be made directly to the Navajo Nation, documentation of the lease payments sufficient to enable the Secretary

to discharge the trust responsibility of the United States under

paragraph (5).

‘‘(5) The United States shall not be liable for losses sustained

by any party to a lease executed pursuant to tribal regulations

under paragraph (1), including the Navajo Nation. Nothing in this

paragraph shall be construed to diminish the authority of the

Secretary to take appropriate actions, including the cancellation

of a lease, in furtherance of the trust obligation of the United

States to the Navajo Nation.
S. Con. Res. 161—4

‘‘(6)(A) An interested party may, after exhaustion of tribal remedies, submit, in a timely manner, a petition to the Secretary

to review the compliance of the Navajo Nation with any regulations

approved under this subsection. If upon such review the Secretary

determines that the regulations were violated, the Secretary may

take such action as may be necessary to remedy the violation,

including rescinding the approval of the tribal regulations and

reassuming responsibility for the approval of leases for Navajo

Nation tribal trust lands.

‘‘(B) If the Secretary seeks to remedy a violation described

in subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall—

‘‘(i) make a written determination with respect to the regulations that have been violated;

‘‘(ii) provide the Navajo Nation with a written notice of

the alleged violation together with such written determination;

and

‘‘(iii) prior to the exercise of any remedy or the rescission

of the approval of the regulation involved and the reassumption

of the lease approval responsibility, provide the Navajo Nation

with a hearing on the record and a reasonable opportunity

to cure the alleged violation.’’.

Attest:

Secretary of the Senate.

Attest:

Clerk of the House of Representatives.