H. R. 205 

One Hundred Twelfth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and twelve 

An Act 

To amend the Act titled ‘‘An Act to authorize the leasing of restricted Indian 

lands for public, religious, educational, recreational, residential, business, and 

other purposes requiring the grant of long-term leases’’, approved August 9, 

1955, to provide for Indian tribes to enter into certain leases without prior 

express approval from the Secretary of the Interior, 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. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Helping Expedite and Advance 

Responsible Tribal Home Ownership Act of 2012’’ or the ‘‘HEARTH 

Act of 2012’’. 

SEC. 2. APPROVAL OF, AND REGULATIONS RELATED TO, TRIBAL 

LEASES. 

The first section of the Act titled ‘‘An Act to authorize the 

leasing of restricted Indian lands for public, religious, educational, 

recreational, residential, business, and other purposes requiring 

the grant of long-term leases’’, approved August 9, 1955 (25 U.S.C. 

415), is amended as follows: 

(1) In subsection (d)— 

(A) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘the Navajo Nation’’ 

and inserting ‘‘an applicable Indian tribe’’; 

(B) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘the Navajo Nation’’ 

and inserting ‘‘an Indian tribe’’; 

(C) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon at the end; 

(D) in paragraph (8)— 

(i) by striking ‘‘the Navajo Nation’’; 

(ii) by striking ‘‘with Navajo Nation law’’ and 

inserting ‘‘with applicable tribal law’’; and 

(iii) by striking the period at the end and inserting 

a semicolon; and 

(E) by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(9) the term ‘Indian tribe’ has the meaning given such 

term in section 102 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe 

List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 479a); and 

‘‘(10) the term ‘individually owned allotted land’ means 

a parcel of land that— 

‘‘(A)(i) is located within the jurisdiction of an Indian 

tribe; or 

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

States for the benefit of an Indian tribe or a member 

of an Indian tribe; and 
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‘‘(B) is allotted to a member of an Indian tribe.’’. 

(2) By adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(h) TRIBAL APPROVAL OF LEASES.— 

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—At the discretion of any Indian tribe, 

any lease by the Indian tribe for the purposes authorized under 

subsection (a) (including any amendments to subsection (a)), 

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 regulations issued 

by the Indian tribe. 

‘‘(2) ALLOTTED LAND.—Paragraph (1) shall not apply to 

any lease of individually owned Indian allotted land. 

‘‘(3) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY OVER TRIBAL REGULATIONS.— 

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall have the 

authority to approve or disapprove any tribal regulations 

issued in accordance with paragraph (1). 

‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS FOR APPROVAL.—The Secretary 

shall approve any tribal regulation issued in accordance 

with paragraph (1), if the tribal regulations— 

‘‘(i) are consistent with any regulations issued by 

the Secretary under subsection (a) (including any 

amendments to the subsection or regulations); and 

‘‘(ii) provide for an environmental review process 

that includes— 

‘‘(I) the identification and evaluation of any 

significant effects of the proposed action on the 

environment; and 

‘‘(II) a process for ensuring that— 

‘‘(aa) the public is informed of, and has 

a reasonable opportunity to comment on, any 

significant environmental impacts of the proposed action identified by the Indian tribe; 

and 

‘‘(bb) the Indian tribe provides responses 

to relevant and substantive public comments 

on any such impacts before the Indian tribe 

approves the lease. 

‘‘(C) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary may provide technical assistance, upon request of the Indian tribe, 

for development of a regulatory environmental review 

process under subparagraph (B)(ii). 

‘‘(D) INDIAN SELF-DETERMINATION ACT.—The technical 

assistance to be provided by the Secretary pursuant to 

subparagraph (C) may be made available through contracts, 

grants, or agreements entered into in accordance with, 

and made available to entities eligible for, such contracts, 

grants, or agreements under the Indian Self-Determination 

Act (25 U.S.C. 450 et seq.). 
H. R. 205—3 

‘‘(4) REVIEW PROCESS.— 

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days after the 

date on which the tribal regulations described in paragraph 

(1) are submitted to the Secretary, the Secretary shall 

review and approve or disapprove the regulations. 

‘‘(B) WRITTEN DOCUMENTATION.—If the Secretary disapproves the tribal regulations described in paragraph (1), 

the Secretary shall include written documentation with 

the disapproval notification that describes the basis for 

the disapproval. 

‘‘(C) EXTENSION.—The deadline described in subparagraph (A) may be extended by the Secretary, after consultation with the Indian tribe. 

‘‘(5) FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.—Notwithstanding 

paragraphs (3) and (4), if an Indian tribe carries out a project 

or activity funded by a Federal agency, the Indian tribe shall 

have the authority to rely on the environmental review process 

of the applicable Federal agency rather than any tribal environmental review process under this subsection. 

‘‘(6) DOCUMENTATION.—If an Indian tribe executes a lease 

pursuant to tribal regulations under paragraph (1), the Indian 

tribe shall provide the Secretary with— 

‘‘(A) a copy of the lease, including any amendments 

or renewals to the lease; and 

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

allows for lease payments to be made directly to the Indian 

tribe, documentation of the lease payments that are sufficient to enable the Secretary to discharge the trust responsibility of the United States under paragraph (7). 

‘‘(7) TRUST RESPONSIBILITY.— 

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The United States shall not be liable 

for losses sustained by any party to a lease executed pursuant to tribal regulations under paragraph (1). 

‘‘(B) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.—Pursuant to the 

authority of the Secretary to fulfill the trust obligation 

of the United States to the applicable Indian tribe under 

Federal law (including regulations), the Secretary may, 

upon reasonable notice from the applicable Indian tribe 

and at the discretion of the Secretary, enforce the provisions of, or cancel, any lease executed by the Indian tribe 

under paragraph (1). 

‘‘(8) COMPLIANCE.— 

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An interested party, after 

exhausting of any applicable tribal remedies, may submit 

a petition to the Secretary, at such time and in such 

form as the Secretary determines to be appropriate, to 

review the compliance of the applicable Indian tribe with 

any tribal regulations approved by the Secretary under 

this subsection. 

‘‘(B) VIOLATIONS.—If, after carrying out a review under 

subparagraph (A), the Secretary determines that the tribal 

regulations were violated, the Secretary may take any 

action the Secretary determines to be necessary to remedy 

the violation, including rescinding the approval of the tribal 

regulations and reassuming responsibility for the approval 

of leases of tribal trust lands. 
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‘‘(C) DOCUMENTATION.—If the Secretary determines 

that a violation of the tribal regulations has occurred and 

a remedy is necessary, the Secretary shall— 

‘‘(i) make a written determination with respect 

to the regulations that have been violated; 

‘‘(ii) provide the applicable Indian tribe with a 

written notice of the alleged violation together with 

such written determination; and 

‘‘(iii) prior to the exercise of any remedy, the rescission of the approval of the regulation involved, or the 

reassumption of lease approval responsibilities, provide 

the applicable Indian tribe with— 

‘‘(I) a hearing that is on the record; and 

‘‘(II) a reasonable opportunity to cure the 

alleged violation. 

‘‘(9) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this subsection shall 

affect subsection (e) or any tribal regulations issued under 

that subsection.’’. 

SEC. 3. LAND TITLE REPORTS. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—The Bureau of Indian Affairs shall prepare 

and submit to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House 

of Representatives and the Committee on Indian Affairs of the 

Senate a report regarding the history and experience of Indian 

tribes that have chosen to assume responsibility for operating the 

Indian Land Title and Records Office (referred to in this section 

as the ‘‘LTRO’’) functions from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. 

(b) CONSULTATION.—In conducting the review under subsection 

(a), the Bureau of Indian Affairs shall consult with the Department 

of Housing and Urban Development Office of Native American 

Programs and the Indian tribes that are managing LTRO functions 

(referred to in this section as the ‘‘managing Indian tribes’’). 

(c) CONTENTS.—The review under subsection (a) shall include 

an analysis of the following factors: 

(1) Whether and how tribal management of the LTRO 

functions has expedited the processing and issuance of Indian 

land title certifications as compared to the period during which 

the Bureau of Indian Affairs managed the programs. 

(2) Whether and how tribal management of the LTRO 

functions has increased home ownership among the population 

of the managing Indian tribe. 

(3) What internal preparations and processes were required 

of the managing Indian tribes prior to assuming management 

of the LTRO functions. 

(4) Whether tribal management of the LTRO functions 

resulted in a transfer of financial resources and manpower 

from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to the managing Indian 

tribes and, if so, what transfers were undertaken. 

(5) Whether, in appropriate circumstances and with the 

approval of geographically proximate Indian tribes, the LTRO 
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functions may be performed by a single Indian tribe or a 

tribal consortium in a cost effective manner. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.