I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 205 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 6, 2011 

Mr. HEINRICH (for himself, Mrs. BONO MACK, and Mrs. LUMMIS) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

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. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

3 Advance Responsible Tribal Home ownership Act of 

4 2011’’ or the ‘‘HEARTH Act of 2011’’. 

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

6 TRIBAL LEASES. 

7 The first section of the Act titled ‘‘An Act to author8 ize the leasing of restricted Indian lands for public, reli9 gious, educational, recreational, residential, business, and 

10 other purposes requiring the grant of long-term leases’’, 

11 approved August 9, 1955 (25 U.S.C. 415), is amended 

12 as follows: 

13 (1) In subsection (d)— 

14 (A) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘the 

15 Navajo Nation’’ and inserting ‘‘an applicable 

16 Indian tribe’’; 

17 (B) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘the 

18 Navajo Nation’’ and inserting ‘‘an Indian 

19 tribe’’; 

20 (C) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

21 after the semicolon at the end; 

22 (D) in paragraph (8)— 

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

24 (ii) by striking ‘‘with Navajo Nation 

25 law’’ and inserting ‘‘with applicable tribal 

26 law’’; and 


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1 (iii) by striking the period at the end 

2 and inserting a semicolon; and 

3 (E) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(9) the term ‘Indian tribe’ has the meaning 

5 given such term in section 102 of the Federally Rec6 ognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 

7 479a); and 

8 ‘‘(10) the term ‘individually owned allotted 

9 land’ means a parcel of land that— 

10 ‘‘(A)(i) is located within the jurisdiction of 

11 an Indian tribe; or 

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

13 the United States for the benefit of an Indian 

14 tribe or a member of an Indian tribe; and 

15 ‘‘(B) is allotted to a member of an Indian 

16 tribe.’’. 

17 (2) By adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(h) TRIBAL APPROVAL OF LEASES.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—At the discretion of any In20 dian tribe, any lease by the Indian tribe for the pur21 poses authorized under subsection (a) (including any 

22 amendments to subsection (a)), except a lease for 

23 the exploration, development, or extraction of any 

24 mineral resources, shall not require the approval of 

25 the Secretary, if the lease is executed under the tribVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:56 Jan 12, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H205.IH H205

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1 al regulations approved by the Secretary under this 

2 subsection and the term of the lease does not ex3 ceed— 

4 ‘‘(A) in the case of a business or agricul5 tural lease, 25 years, except that any such lease 

6 may include an option to renew for up to 2 ad7 ditional terms, each of which may not exceed 25 

8 years; and 

9 ‘‘(B) in the case of a lease for public, reli10 gious, educational, recreational, or residential 

11 purposes, 75 years, if such a term is provided 

12 for by the regulations issued by the Indian 

13 tribe. 

14 ‘‘(2) ALLOTTED LAND.—Paragraph (1) shall 

15 not apply to any lease of individually owned Indian 

16 allotted land. 

17 ‘‘(3) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY OVER TRIBAL

18 REGULATIONS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

20 have the authority to approve or disapprove any 

21 tribal regulations issued in accordance with 

22 paragraph (1). 

23 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS FOR APPROVAL.— 

24 The Secretary shall approve any tribal regulaVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:56 Jan 12, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H205.IH H205

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1 tion issued in accordance with paragraph (1), if 

2 the tribal regulations— 

3 ‘‘(i) are consistent with any regula4 tions issued by the Secretary under sub5 section (a) (including any amendments to 

6 the subsection or regulations); and 

7 ‘‘(ii) provide for an environmental re8 view process that includes— 

9 ‘‘(I) the identification and eval10 uation of any significant effects of the 

11 proposed action on the environment; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(II) a process for ensuring 

14 that— 

15 ‘‘(aa) the public is informed 

16 of, and has a reasonable oppor17 tunity to comment on, any sig18 nificant environmental impacts of 

19 the proposed action identified by 

20 the Indian tribe; and 

21 ‘‘(bb) the Indian tribe pro22 vides responses to relevant and 

23 substantive public comments on 

24 any such impacts before the In25 dian tribe approves the lease. 


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1 ‘‘(4) REVIEW PROCESS.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 

3 days after the date on which the tribal regula4 tions described in paragraph (1) are submitted 

5 to the Secretary, the Secretary shall review and 

6 approve or disapprove the regulations. 

7 ‘‘(B) WRITTEN DOCUMENTATION.—If the 

8 Secretary disapproves the tribal regulations de9 scribed in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall in10 clude written documentation with the dis11 approval notification that describes the basis for 

12 the disapproval. 

13 ‘‘(C) EXTENSION.—The deadline described 

14 in subparagraph (A) may be extended by the 

15 Secretary, after consultation with the Indian 

16 tribe. 

17 ‘‘(5) FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.— 

18 Notwithstanding paragraphs (3) and (4), if an In19 dian tribe carries out a project or activity funded by 

20 a Federal agency, the Indian tribe shall have the au21 thority to rely on the environmental review process 

22 of the applicable Federal agency rather than any 

23 tribal environmental review process under this sub24 section. 


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1 ‘‘(6) DOCUMENTATION.—If an Indian tribe exe2 cutes a lease pursuant to tribal regulations under 

3 paragraph (1), the Indian tribe shall provide the 

4 Secretary with— 

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

6 amendments or renewals to the lease; and 

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

8 lease that allows for lease payments to be made 

9 directly to the Indian tribe, documentation of 

10 the lease payments that are sufficient to enable 

11 the Secretary to discharge the trust responsi12 bility of the United States under paragraph (7). 

13 ‘‘(7) TRUST RESPONSIBILITY.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The United States 

15 shall not be liable for losses sustained by any 

16 party to a lease executed pursuant to tribal reg17 ulations under paragraph (1). 

18 ‘‘(B) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.—Pursu19 ant to the authority of the Secretary to fulfill 

20 the trust obligation of the United States to the 

21 applicable Indian tribe under Federal law (in22 cluding regulations), the Secretary may, upon 

23 reasonable notice from the applicable Indian 

24 tribe and at the discretion of the Secretary, enVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:56 Jan 12, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H205.IH H205

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1 force the provisions of, or cancel, any lease exe2 cuted by the Indian tribe under paragraph (1). 

3 ‘‘(8) COMPLIANCE.— 

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

5 after exhausting of any applicable tribal rem6 edies, may submit a petition to the Secretary, 

7 at such time and in such form as the Secretary 

8 determines to be appropriate, to review the 

9 compliance of the applicable Indian tribe with 

10 any tribal regulations approved by the Sec11 retary under this subsection. 

12 ‘‘(B) VIOLATIONS.—If, after carrying out 

13 a review under subparagraph (A), the Secretary 

14 determines that the tribal regulations were vio15 lated, the Secretary may take any action the 

16 Secretary determines to be necessary to remedy 

17 the violation, including rescinding the approval 

18 of the tribal regulations and reassuming respon19 sibility for the approval of leases of tribal trust 

20 lands. 

21 ‘‘(C) DOCUMENTATION.—If the Secretary 

22 determines that a violation of the tribal regula23 tions has occurred and a remedy is necessary, 

24 the Secretary shall— 


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1 ‘‘(i) make a written determination 

2 with respect to the regulations that have 

3 been violated; 

4 ‘‘(ii) provide the applicable Indian 

5 tribe with a written notice of the alleged 

6 violation together with such written deter7 mination; and 

8 ‘‘(iii) prior to the exercise of any rem9 edy, the rescission of the approval of the 

10 regulation involved, or the reassumption of 

11 lease approval responsibilities, provide the 

12 applicable Indian tribe with— 

13 ‘‘(I) a hearing that is on the 

14 record; and 

15 ‘‘(II) a reasonable opportunity to 

16 cure the alleged violation. 

17 ‘‘(9) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this sub18 section shall affect subsection (e) or any tribal regu19 lations issued under that subsection.’’. 

Æ 


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