IB 

Union Calendar No. 294 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 205 

[Report No. 112–427] 

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 

APRIL 16, 2012 

Additional sponsors: Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. COLE, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. 

LUJA ́N, Mr. BOREN, Ms. RICHARDSON, Mr. DENHAM, Mr. HONDA, Mr. 

SHERMAN, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. BACA, 

Mr. INSLEE, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. KIND, Mr. PEARCE, and Ms. BALDWIN

APRIL 16, 2012 

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House 

on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 6, 2011] 


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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. 


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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 Advance Responsible Tribal Home Ownership Act of 2011’’ 

6 or the ‘‘HEARTH Act of 2011’’. 

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

8 TRIBAL LEASES. 

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

10 the leasing of restricted Indian lands for public, religious, 

11 educational, recreational, residential, business, and other 

12 purposes requiring the grant of long-term leases’’, approved 

13 August 9, 1955 (25 U.S.C. 415), is amended as follows: 

14 (1) In subsection (d)— 

15 (A) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘the Nav16 ajo Nation’’ and inserting ‘‘an applicable Indian 

17 tribe’’; 

18 (B) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘the Nav19 ajo Nation’’ and inserting ‘‘an Indian 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’’; 


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1 (ii) by striking ‘‘with Navajo Nation 

2 law’’ and inserting ‘‘with applicable tribal 

3 law’’; and 

4 (iii) by striking the period at the end 

5 and inserting a semicolon; and 

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

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

8 given such term in section 102 of the Federally Recog9 nized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 

10 479a); and 

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

12 means a parcel of land that— 

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

14 an Indian tribe; or 

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

16 the United States for the benefit of an Indian 

17 tribe or a member of an Indian tribe; and 

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

19 tribe.’’. 

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

21 ‘‘(h) TRIBAL APPROVAL OF LEASES.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—At the discretion of any In23 dian tribe, any lease by the Indian tribe for the pur24 poses authorized under subsection (a) (including any 

25 amendments to subsection (a)), except a lease for the 


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1 exploration, development, or extraction of any min2 eral resources, shall not require the approval of the 

3 Secretary, if the lease is executed under the tribal reg4 ulations approved by the Secretary under this sub5 section and the term of the lease does not exceed— 

6 ‘‘(A) in the case of a business or agricul7 tural lease, 25 years, except that any such lease 

8 may include an option to renew for up to 2 ad9 ditional terms, each of which may not exceed 25 

10 years; and 

11 ‘‘(B) in the case of a lease for public, reli12 gious, educational, recreational, or residential 

13 purposes, 75 years, if such a term is provided for 

14 by the regulations issued by the Indian tribe. 

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

16 apply to any lease of individually owned Indian al17 lotted land. 

18 ‘‘(3) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY OVER TRIBAL

19 REGULATIONS.— 

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

21 have the authority to approve or disapprove any 

22 tribal regulations issued in accordance with 

23 paragraph (1). 

24 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS FOR APPROVAL.— 

25 The Secretary shall approve any tribal regulaVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:10 Apr 16, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H205.RH 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 evalua10 tion 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 ‘‘(C) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Sec2 retary may provide technical assistance, upon 

3 request of the Indian tribe, for development of a 

4 regulatory environmental review process under 

5 subparagraph (B)(ii). 

6 ‘‘(D) INDIAN SELF-DETERMINATION ACT.— 

7 The technical assistance to be provided by the 

8 Secretary pursuant to subparagraph (C) may be 

9 made available through contracts, grants, or 

10 agreements entered into in accordance with, and 

11 made available to entities eligible for, such con12 tracts, grants, or agreements under the Indian 

13 Self-Determination Act (25 U.S.C. 450 et seq). 

14 ‘‘(4) REVIEW PROCESS.— 

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

16 days after the date on which the tribal regula17 tions described in paragraph (1) are submitted 

18 to the Secretary, the Secretary shall review and 

19 approve or disapprove the regulations. 

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

21 Secretary disapproves the tribal regulations de22 scribed in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall in23 clude written documentation with the dis24 approval notification that describes the basis for 

25 the disapproval. 


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

2 in subparagraph (A) may be extended by the 

3 Secretary, after consultation with the Indian 

4 tribe. 

5 ‘‘(5) FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.—Not6 withstanding paragraphs (3) and (4), if an Indian 

7 tribe carries out a project or activity funded by a 

8 Federal agency, the Indian tribe shall have the au9 thority to rely on the environmental review process of 

10 the applicable Federal agency rather than any tribal 

11 environmental review process under this subsection. 

12 ‘‘(6) DOCUMENTATION.—If an Indian tribe exe13 cutes a lease pursuant to tribal regulations under 

14 paragraph (1), the Indian tribe shall provide the Sec15 retary with— 

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

17 amendments or renewals to the lease; and 

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

19 lease that allows for lease payments to be made 

20 directly to the Indian tribe, documentation of the 

21 lease payments that are sufficient to enable the 

22 Secretary to discharge the trust responsibility of 

23 the United States under paragraph (7). 

24 ‘‘(7) TRUST RESPONSIBILITY.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The United States shall 

2 not be liable for losses sustained by any party to 

3 a lease executed pursuant to tribal regulations 

4 under paragraph (1). 

5 ‘‘(B) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.—Pursu6 ant to the authority of the Secretary to fulfill the 

7 trust obligation of the United States to the appli8 cable Indian tribe under Federal law (including 

9 regulations), the Secretary may, upon reasonable 

10 notice from the applicable Indian tribe and at 

11 the discretion of the Secretary, enforce the provi12 sions of, or cancel, any lease executed by the In13 dian tribe under paragraph (1). 

14 ‘‘(8) COMPLIANCE.— 

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

16 after exhausting of any applicable tribal rem17 edies, may submit a petition to the Secretary, at 

18 such time and in such form as the Secretary de19 termines to be appropriate, to review the compli20 ance of the applicable Indian tribe with any 

21 tribal regulations approved by the Secretary 

22 under this subsection. 

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

24 review under subparagraph (A), the Secretary 

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1 lated, the Secretary may take any action the 

2 Secretary determines to be necessary to remedy 

3 the violation, including rescinding the approval 

4 of the tribal regulations and reassuming respon5 sibility for the approval of leases of tribal trust 

6 lands. 

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

8 determines that a violation of the tribal regula9 tions has occurred and a remedy is necessary, 

10 the Secretary shall— 

11 ‘‘(i) make a written determination 

12 with respect to the regulations that have 

13 been violated; 

14 ‘‘(ii) provide the applicable Indian 

15 tribe with a written notice of the alleged 

16 violation together with such written deter17 mination; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) prior to the exercise of any rem19 edy, the rescission of the approval of the 

20 regulation involved, or the reassumption of 

21 lease approval responsibilities, provide the 

22 applicable Indian tribe with— 

23 ‘‘(I) a hearing that is on the 

24 record; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) a reasonable opportunity to 

2 cure the alleged violation. 

3 ‘‘(9) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this sub4 section shall affect subsection (e) or any tribal regula5 tions issued under that subsection.’’. 

6 SEC. 3. LAND TITLE REPORTS. 

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

8 prepare and submit to the Committee on Natural Resources 

9 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on In10 dian Affairs of the Senate a report regarding the history 

11 and experience of Indian tribes that have chosen to assume 

12 responsibility for operating the Indian Land Title and 

13 Records Office (referred to in this section as the ‘‘LTRO’’) 

14 functions from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. 

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

16 subsection (a), the Bureau of Indian Affairs shall consult 

17 with the Department of Housing and Urban Development 

18 Office of Native American Programs and the Indian tribes 

19 that are managing LTRO functions (referred to in this sec20 tion as the ‘‘managing Indian tribes’’). 

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

22 include an analysis of the following factors: 

23 (1) Whether and how tribal management of the 

24 LTRO functions has expedited the processing and 

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1 pared to the period during which the Bureau of In2 dian Affairs managed the programs. 

3 (2) Whether and how tribal management of the 

4 LTRO functions has increased home ownership 

5 among the population of the managing Indian tribe. 

6 (3) What internal preparations and processes 

7 were required of the managing Indian tribes prior to 

8 assuming management of the LTRO functions. 

9 (4) Whether tribal management of the LTRO 

10 functions resulted in a transfer of financial resources 

11 and manpower from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to 

12 the managing Indian tribes and, if so, what transfers 

13 were undertaken. 

14 (5) Whether, in appropriate circumstances and 

15 with the approval of geographically proximate Indian 

16 tribes, the LTRO functions may be performed by a 

17 single Indian tribe or a tribal consortium in a cost 

18 effective manner. 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘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, and for other purposes.’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 294 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 205 

[Report No. 112–427] 

A BILL 

To amend the Act titled ‘‘An Act to authorize the 

Secretary of the Interior. leases without prior express approval from the provide for Indian tribes to enter into certain long-term leases’’, approved August 9, 1955, to ness, and other purposes requiring the grant of gious, educational, recreational, residential, busileasing of restricted Indian lands for public, reliAPRIL 16, 2012 

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee 

dered to be printed of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and orVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:10 Apr 16, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H205.RH H205

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