I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1425

To improve the management, productivity, and use of Indian agricultural

lands and resources.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 18, 1993

Mr. RICHARDSON (for himself, Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota, and Mr. WILLIAMS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Natural Resources

A BILL

To improve the management, productivity, and use of Indian

agricultural lands and resources.

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 ‘‘American Indian Agri5 cultural Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 (a) The Congress finds and declares that—

8 (1) the United States and Indian tribes have a

9 government to government relationship;
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1 (2) the United States has a trust responsibility

2 to protect, conserve, utilize, and enhance Indian

3 rangelands and farmlands consistent with its fidu4 ciary obligation and its unique relationship with In5 dian tribes;

6 (3) Indian agricultural lands are renewable and

7 manageable natural resources which are vital to the

8 economic, social and cultural welfare of many Indian

9 tribes and their members; and

10 (4) increased development and intensive man11 agement of Indian agricultural lands will produce in12 creased economic returns, enhance Indian self-deter13 mination, promote employment opportunities, and

14 improve the social and economic well-being of Indian

15 and surrounding communities.

16 SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

17 The purposes of this Act are to—

18 (1) meet the trust responsibility of the United

19 States and promote self-determination of Indian

20 tribes by managing Indian lands and related renew21 able resources in a manner consistent with identified

22 tribal goals and priorities and nationally adopted

23 multiple use and sustained yield principles;

24 (2) allow the Secretary to take part in the man25 agement of Indian agricultural lands, with the par-
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1 ticipation of the lands’ beneficial owners, in a man2 ner consistent with the Secretary’s trust responsibil3 ity and with the objectives of the beneficial owners;

4 (3) provide for the development and manage5 ment of Indian agricultural lands at a level commen6 surate with the level of development and manage7 ment afforded to federally owned or controlled lands;

8 and

9 (4) increase the educational and training oppor10 tunities available to Indian people and communities

11 in the practical, technical and professional aspects of

12 agriculture, natural resources, and land management

13 to improve the expertise and technical abilities of In14 dian tribes and their members.

15 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

16 For the purposes of this Act:

17 (1) The term ‘‘agricultural land’’ means land

18 that is used for the production of agricultural prod19 ucts, and lands occupied by industries that support

20 the agricultural community, regardless of whether a

21 formal inspection and land classification has been

22 taken. The term shall include farmlands and range23 lands.

24 (2) The term ‘‘agricultural product’’ means—
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1 (A) crops grown under cultivated condi2 tions whether used for personal consumption,

3 subsistence, or sold for commercial benefit;

4 (B) domestic livestock, including cattle,

5 sheep, goats, horses, buffalo, swine, reindeer,

6 fowl, cultivated fish, or other animals specifi7 cally raised and utilized for food, fiber, or as

8 beast of burden;

9 (C) forage, hay, fodder, feed grains, crop

10 residues and other items grown or harvested for

11 the feeding and care of livestock, sold for com12 mercial profit, or used for other purposes; and

13 (D) other marketable or traditionally used

14 materials authorized for removal from agricul15 tural lands.

16 (3) The term ‘‘agricultural resource’’ means—

17 (A) all the primary means of production,

18 including the land, soil, water, air, plants, wa19 tersheds, human resources, natural and physical

20 attributes and man-made developments, which

21 together comprise the agricultural community;

22 and

23 (B) all the benefits derived from agricul24 tural land and enterprises, including cultivated

25 and gathered food products, fibers, horticultural
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1 products, dyes, cultural or religious condiments,

2 medicines, water, and other traditional values of

3 agriculture.

4 (4) The term ‘‘Bureau’’ means the Bureau of

5 Indian Affairs of the Department of the Interior.

6 (5) The term ‘‘farmland’’ means land that is

7 used for production of food, feed, fiber, forage and

8 oil seed crops, or other agricultural products, and

9 may be either dryland or irrigated.

10 (6) The term ‘‘Indian’’ means an individual

11 who is a member of an Indian tribe.

12 (7) The term ‘‘Indian land’’ means land that

13 is—

14 (A) held in trust by the United States for

15 an Indian or Indian tribe; or

16 (B) owned by an Indian or Indian tribe

17 and is subject to restrictions against alienation.

18 (8) The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ means any Indian

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

20 or community, including any Alaska Native village

21 or regional corporation as defined in or established

22 pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement

23 Act, which is recognized as eligible for the special

24 programs and services provided by the United States

25 to Indian tribes because of their status as Indians.
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1 (9) The term ‘‘land management activity’’

2 means all activities, accomplished in support of the

3 management of Indian agricultural land, including

4 but not limited to—

5 (A) preparation of inventories and manage6 ment plans;

7 (B) agricultural land and infrastructure

8 development, and the application of accepted

9 soil or range management techniques to im10 prove or restore the productive capacity of the

11 land;

12 (C) protection against agricultural pests,

13 including development, implementation, and

14 evaluation of integrated pest management pro15 grams to control noxious weeds, undesirable

16 vegetation, and vertebrate or invertebrate agri17 cultural pests;

18 (D) administration and supervision of agri19 cultural leasing and permitting activities, in20 cluding determination of proper land use and

21 proper stocking rates of livestock, appraisal, ad22 vertisement, negotiation, contract preparation,

23 collecting, recording, and distributing lease

24 rental receipts;
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1 (E) technical assistance to individuals and

2 tribes engaged in agricultural production or ag3 ribusiness; and

4 (F) educational assistance in agriculture,

5 natural resources, land management and relat6 ed fields of study, including direct assistance to

7 tribally controlled community colleges in devel8 oping and implementing curriculum for voca9 tional, technical and professional course work.

10 (10) The term ‘‘landowner’’ means the Indian

11 or Indian tribe that—

12 (A) owns such Indian land, or

13 (B) is the beneficiary of the trust under

14 which such Indian land is held by the United

15 States.

16 (11) The term ‘‘rangeland’’ means land on

17 which the native vegetation is predominantly

18 grasses, grass-like plants, forbs, or shrubs suitable

19 for grazing or browsing use, and includes lands

20 revegetated naturally or artificially to provide a for21 age cover that is managed like native vegetation.

22 Rangelands include natural grasslands, savannahs,

23 shrublands, most deserts, tundra, alpine commu24 nities, coastal marshes, and wet meadows.
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1 (12) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

2 of the Interior.

3 TITLE I—RANGELAND AND

4 FARMLAND ENHANCEMENT

5 SEC. 101. MANAGEMENT OF INDIAN RANGELANDS AND

6 FARMLANDS.

7 (a) MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary shall

8 undertake rangeland and farmland management activities

9 on Indian lands, either directly or through contracts, coop10 erative agreements, or grants as provided for under the

11 Indian Self-Determination Act.

12 (b) MANAGEMENT OBJECTIVES.—Indian rangeland

13 and farmland management activities undertaken by the

14 Secretary designed to achieve the following objectives:

15 (1) Protecting, conserving, utilizing, and en16 hancing rangelands and farmlands so that they are

17 in a perpetually productive state through the appli18 cation of sound agronomic and economic principles

19 to the planning, development, inventorying, classi20 fication, and management of agricultural resources.

21 (2) Increasing production and expanding the di22 versity and availability of agricultural products for

23 subsistence, income, and employment of Indians

24 through the development of renewable agricultural

25 resources.
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1 (3) Managing agricultural resources to protect

2 and enhance other associated values such as wildlife,

3 fisheries, cultural resources, recreation; to regulate

4 water runoff; and to minimize soil erosion.

5 (4) Enabling Indian farmers and ranchers to

6 maximize the potential benefits available to them

7 through their land by providing technical assistance,

8 training, and education in conservation practices,

9 management and economics of agribusiness, sources

10 and use of credit and marketing of agricultural

11 products, and other applicable subject areas.

12 (5) Developing Indian rangelands and farm13 lands and associated value-added industries of Indi14 ans and Indian tribes to promote self-sustaining

15 communities.

16 (c) INDIAN AGRICULTURAL RESOURCE MANAGE17 MENT PLANNING PROGRAM.—(1) The Secretary shall es18 tablish the Indian agricultural resource management plan19 ning program in order to achieve the objectives set forth

20 in subsection (b).

21 (2)(A) The Secretary shall provide for the develop22 ment of an agricultural resource management plan for any

23 interested Indian tribe. The plan shall be developed by the

24 tribe working cooperatively with the local personnel from

25 the Bureau. The tribe and the Bureau shall conduct a se-
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1 ries of public meetings to determine and document the

2 specific tribal agricultural resource goals and objectives.

3 (B) The Secretary and the Indian tribe shall develop

4 a 10-year agricultural resource management plan to attain

5 the goals and objectives as developed pursuant to subpara6 graph (A). In the development of the 10-year plan, the

7 tribe shall rely on the public meeting records, existing sur8 veys, documents, reports and other research from Federal

9 agencies, tribal community colleges, and land grant insti10 tutions.

11 (3) The Secretary shall ensure that each plan con12 tains specific agriculture and land management programs

13 and activities which have been approved by tribal resolu14 tion.

15 (4) Tribal agricultural plans developed under this sec16 tion shall provide the direction to the Bureau and the In17 dian tribes in the management and administration of trib18 al agricultural resources and lands.

19 (5) The contract and grant provisions of the Indian

20 Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act shall be

21 applicable to the development of these management plans.

22 SEC. 102. INDIAN PARTICIPATION IN LAND MANAGEMENT

23 ACTIVITIES.

24 (a) TRIBAL RECOGNITION.—The Secretary shall con25 duct all land management activities on the lands of an
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1 Indian tribe in accordance with goals and objectives set

2 forth by the Indian tribe and in accordance with all tribal

3 laws and ordinances except in specific instances where

4 such compliance would be a violation of trust responsibility

5 of the United States for Indian Trust Lands.

6 (b) TRIBAL LAWS.—Unless otherwise prohibited by

7 Federal law, the Secretary shall comply with adopted trib8 al laws and ordinances pertaining to Indian agriculture

9 lands, including laws regulating the environment, historic

10 or cultural preservation, and laws or ordinances adopted

11 by the tribal government to regulate land use or other ac12 tivities under tribal jurisdiction. The Secretary shall—

13 (1) provide assistance in the enforcement of

14 such tribal laws;

15 (2) provide notice of such laws to persons or en16 tities undertaking activities on Indian agricultural

17 lands; and

18 (3) upon request of an Indian tribe, require ap19 propriate Federal officials to appear in tribal fo20 rums.

21 (c) WAIVER OF REGULATIONS.—In any case in which

22 a regulation or administrative policy of the Department

23 of the Interior conflicts with the objectives of the manage24 ment plan provided for in section 101, or with a tribal

25 law, the Secretary shall waive the application of such regu-
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1 lation or administrative policy unless such waiver would

2 constitute a violation of a Federal statute or judicial deci3 sion or would conflict with his general trust responsibility

4 under Federal law.

5 SEC. 103. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF INDIAN RANGELAND

6 AND FARMLAND AND MANAGEMENT PRO7 GRAMS.

8 (a) COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS.—Within 90 days after

9 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall as10 semble a 12 member Task Force consisting of 1 represent11 ative from each of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bu12 reau of Land Management, the United States Park Serv13 ice, and a national Indian agriculture organization, and

14 8 representatives of Indian tribes to develop a comparative

15 analysis of Federal investment and management efforts

16 for Indian trust and restricted lands as compared to feder17 ally owned lands managed by other Federal agencies or

18 instrumentalities. The Secretary shall request the Sec19 retary of Agriculture to make available on a

20 nonreimbursable basis appropriate personnel from the De21 partment of Agriculture to assist in the development of

22 such analysis.

23 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the comparative

24 analysis shall be—
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1 (1) to establish a comprehensive assessment of

2 improvement, funding, and development needs for

3 each reservation and tribal jurisdiction with Indian

4 agricultural land;

5 (2) to establish a comparison of management

6 and funding provided to comparable lands owned or

7 managed by the Federal Government through Fed8 eral agencies other than the Bureau of Indian Af9 fairs; and

10 (3) to identify any obstacles to Indian access to

11 Federal or private programs relating to agriculture

12 or related rural development programs generally

13 available to the public.

14 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.—Within 6 months from the

15 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall provide

16 the Subcommittee on Native American Affairs of the Nat17 ural Resource Committee of the House of Representatives

18 and the Select Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate

19 with a status report on the development of the compara20 tive analysis required by this section and shall file a final

21 report with the Congress not more than 9 months from

22 the date of enactment of this Act.

23 SEC. 104. LEASING OF INDIAN RANGELANDS AND FARM24 LANDS.

25 The Secretary—
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1 (1) in accordance with a general policy estab2 lished by the tribal government having jurisdiction

3 over agricultural lands as set forth by a tribal reso4 lution on record with the Secretary—

5 (A) shall promote the use of such agricul6 tural lands by Indian people, and

7 (B) notwithstanding any other provision of

8 law, may approve any agricultural lease or per9 mit which contains a provision authorizing the

10 renewal or renewals of such lease or permit for

11 a period of years determined by the tribal gov12 ernment to be necessary to meet the purposes

13 of this Act, including any such lease or permit

14 with a tenure up to 10 years, or a tenure longer

15 than 10 years when, in the opinion of the Sec16 retary, such lease or permit requires substantial

17 investment in and development of the lands by

18 the lessee and such longer tenure is determined

19 by the Secretary to be in the best interest of

20 the landowners;

21 (2) may offer for lease or permit on the open

22 market only those lands which are surplus to the

23 needs of Indian communities; and

24 (3) may lease or permit agricultural lands for

25 rates which reflect local economy based rental rates
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1 of less than the Federal appraisal when such action

2 would be in the best interest of the landowner, and

3 in such instances, when such land has been satisfac4 torily advertised for lease, the highest reasonable bid

5 shall be accepted.

6 TITLE II—EDUCATION IN

7 AGRICULTURE MANAGEMENT

8 SEC. 201. INDIAN AND ALASKA NATIVE AGRICULTURE MAN9 AGEMENT EDUCATION ASSISTANCE PRO10 GRAMS.

11 (a) NATURAL RESOURCES INTERN PROGRAM.—(1)

12 Notwithstanding the provisions of title 5, United States

13 Code, governing appointments in the competitive service,

14 the Secretary shall establish and maintain in the Bureau

15 or other appropriate office or bureau within the Depart16 ment of the Interior at least 20 agricultural resources in17 tern positions for Indian students enrolled in an agri18 culture study program.

19 (2) For purposes of this subsection, the term—

20 (A) ‘‘agricultural resources intern’’ means an

21 Indian who—

22 (i) is attending an approved postsecondary

23 school in a full-time agriculture or related field,

24 and
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1 (ii) is appointed to one of the agricultural

2 resources intern positions established under

3 paragraph (1);

4 (B) ‘‘agricultural resources intern positions’’

5 means positions established pursuant to paragraph

6 (1) for agricultural resources interns; and

7 (C) ‘‘agriculture study program’’ includes, but

8 is not limited to, agricultural engineering, agricul9 tural economics, animal husbandry, animal science,

10 biological sciences, geographic information systems,

11 horticulture, range management, soil science, and

12 veterinary science.

13 (3) The Secretary shall pay, by reimbursement or

14 otherwise, all costs for tuition, books, fees, and living ex15 penses incurred by an agricultural resources intern while

16 attending an approved postsecondary or graduate school

17 in a full-time agricultural study program.

18 (4) An agricultural resources intern shall be required

19 to enter into an obligated service agreement with the Sec20 retary to serve as an employee in a professional agri21 culture or natural resources position with the Department

22 of the Interior or other Federal agency or an Indian tribe

23 for 1 year for each year of education for which the Sec24 retary pays the intern’s educational costs under paragraph

25 (3) of this subsection.
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1 (5) An agricultural resources intern shall be required

2 to report for service with the Bureau of Indian Affairs

3 or other bureau or agency sponsoring his internship, or

4 to a designated work site, during any break in attendance

5 at school of more than 3 weeks duration. Time spent in

6 such service shall be counted toward satisfaction of the

7 intern’s obligated service agreement under paragraph (4).

8 (b) COOPERATIVE EDUCATION PROGRAM.—(1) The

9 Secretary shall maintain, through the Bureau, a coopera10 tive education program for the purpose, among other

11 things, of recruiting Indian students who are enrolled in

12 secondary schools, tribally controlled community colleges,

13 and other postsecondary or graduate schools, for employ14 ment in professional agricultural or natural resource relat15 ed positions with the Bureau or other Federal agency pro16 viding Indian agricultural or natural resource related serv17 ices.

18 (2) The cooperative educational program under para19 graph (1) shall be modeled after, and shall have essentially

20 the same features as, the program in effect on the date

21 of enactment of this Act pursuant to chapter 308 of the

22 Federal Personnel Manual of the Office of Personnel Man23 agement.

24 (3) The cooperative educational program shall in25 clude, among others, the following:
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1 (A) The Secretary shall continue the established

2 specific programs in agriculture and natural re3 sources education at Southwestern Indian Poly4 technic Institute (SIPI) and at Haskell Indian Jun5 ior College.

6 (B) The Secretary shall develop and maintain a

7 cooperative program with the tribally controlled com8 munity colleges to coordinate course requirements,

9 texts, and provide direct technical assistance so that

10 a significant portion of the college credits in both

11 the Haskell and Southwestern Indian Polytechnic

12 Institute programs can be met through local pro13 gram work at participating tribally controlled com14 munity colleges.

15 (C) Working through tribally controlled commu16 nity colleges and in cooperation with land grant in17 stitutions, the Secretary shall implement an informa18 tional and educational program to provide practical

19 training and assistance in creating or maintaining a

20 successful agricultural enterprise, assessing sources

21 of commercial credit, developing markets and other

22 subjects of interest to the rural community.

23 (D) Working through tribally controlled com24 munity colleges and in cooperation with land grant

25 institutions, the Secretary shall implement research
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1 activities to improve the basis for determining ap2 propriate management measures to apply to Indian

3 resource management.

4 (4) Under the cooperative agreement program under

5 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall pay, by reimbursement

6 or otherwise, all costs for tuition, books, and fees of an

7 Indian student who—

8 (A) is enrolled in a course of study at an edu9 cation institution with which the Secretary has en10 tered into a cooperative agreement; and

11 (B) is interested in a career with the Bureau,

12 an Indian tribe or a tribal enterprise in the manage13 ment of Indian rangelands, farmlands, or other nat14 ural resource assets.

15 (5) A recipient of assistance under the cooperative

16 education program under this subsection shall be required

17 to enter into an obligated service agreement with the Sec18 retary to serve as a professional in an agricultural natural

19 resource related activity with the Bureau, or other Federal

20 agency providing agricultural or natural resource related

21 services to Indians or Indian tribes, or an Indian tribe for

22 1 year for each year for which the Secretary pays the re23 cipients educational costs pursuant to paragraph (3).

24 (c) SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM.—(1) The Secretary is

25 authorized to grant scholarships to Indians enrolled in ac-
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1 credited agriculture related programs for postsecondary

2 and graduate programs of study as full-time students.

3 (2) A recipient of a scholarship under paragraph (1)

4 shall be required to enter into an obligated service agree5 ment with the Secretary in which the recipient agrees to

6 accept employment for one year for each year the recipient

7 received a scholarship, following completion of the recipi8 ents course of study, with—

9 (A) the Bureau or other agency of the Federal

10 Government providing agriculture or natural re11 source related services to Indians or Indian tribes;

12 (B) an agriculture or natural resource program

13 conducted under a contract, grant, or cooperative

14 agreement entered into under the Indian Self-Deter15 mination and Education Assistance Act; or

16 (C) a tribal agriculture or natural resource re17 lated program.

18 (3) The Secretary shall not deny scholarship assist19 ance under this subsection solely on the basis of an appli20 cant’s scholastic achievement if the applicant has been ad21 mitted to and remains in good standing in an accredited

22 post secondary or graduate institution.

23 (d) EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH.—The Secretary shall

24 conduct, through the Bureau, and in consultation with

25 other appropriate local, State and Federal agencies, and
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1 in consultation and coordination with Indian tribes, an ag2 ricultural resource education outreach program for Indian

3 youth to explain and stimulate interest in all aspects of

4 management and careers in Indian agriculture and natu5 ral resources.

6 (e) ADEQUACY OF PROGRAMS.—The Secretary shall

7 administer the programs described in this section until a

8 sufficient number of Indians are trained to ensure that

9 there is an adequate number of qualified, professional In10 dian natural resource managers to manage the Bureau

11 natural resource programs and programs maintained by

12 or for Indian tribes.

13 SEC. 202. POSTGRADUATION RECRUITMENT, EDUCATION

14 AND TRAINING PROGRAMS.

15 (a) ASSUMPTION OF LOANS.—The Secretary shall es16 tablish and maintain a program to attract Indian profes17 sionals who are graduates of a course of postsecondary

18 or graduate education for employment in either the Bu19 reau agriculture or natural resource programs or, subject

20 to the approval of the tribe, in tribal agriculture or natural

21 resource programs. According to such regulations as the

22 Secretary may prescribe, such program shall provide for

23 the employment of Indian professionals in exchange for

24 the Secretary’s assumption of the employee’s outstanding
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1 student loans. The period of employment shall be deter2 mined by the amount of the loan that is assumed.

3 (b) POSTGRADUATE INTERGOVERNMENTAL INTERN4 SHIPS.—For the purposes of training, skill development

5 and orientation of Indian and Federal natural resource

6 management personnel, and the enhancement of tribal and

7 Bureau natural resource programs, the Secretary shall es8 tablish and actively conduct a program for the cooperative

9 internship of Federal and Indian natural resource person10 nel. Such program shall—

11 (1) for agencies within the Department of the

12 Interior—

13 (A) provide for the internship of Bureau

14 and Indian natural resource employees in the

15 natural resource related programs of other

16 agencies of the Department of the Interior, and

17 (B) provide for the internship of natural

18 resource personnel from the other Department

19 of the Interior agencies within the Bureau, and,

20 with the consent of the tribe, within tribal natu21 ral resource programs;

22 (2) for agencies not within the Department of

23 the Interior, provide, pursuant to an interagency

24 agreement, internships within the Bureau and, with

25 the consent of the tribe, within a tribal natural re-
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1 source program of other natural resource personnel

2 of such agencies who are above their sixth year of

3 Federal service;

4 (3) provide for the continuation of salary and

5 benefits for participating Federal employees by their

6 originating agency;

7 (4) provide for salaries and benefits of partici8 pating Indian natural resource employees by the

9 host agency; and

10 (5) provide for a bonus pay incentive at the

11 conclusion of the internship for any participant.

12 (c) CONTINUING EDUCATION AND TRAINING.—The

13 Secretary shall maintain a program within the Trust Serv14 ices Division of the Bureau and Indian natural resource

15 personnel which shall provide for—

16 (1) orientation training for Bureau natural re17 source personnel in tribal-Federal relations and re18 sponsibilities;

19 (2) continuing technical natural resource edu20 cation for Bureau and Indian natural resource per21 sonnel; and

22 (3) development training of Indian natural re23 source personnel in natural resource based enter24 prises and marketing.
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1 SEC. 203. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE DE2 PARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR AND INDIAN

3 TRIBES.

4 (a) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—

5 (1)(A) To facilitate the administration of the

6 programs and activities of the Department of the In7 terior, the Secretary is authorized to negotiate and

8 enter into cooperative agreements with Indian tribes

9 to—

10 (i) engage in cooperative manpower and

11 job training,

12 (ii) develop and publish cooperative envi13 ronmental education and natural resource plan14 ning materials, and

15 (iii) perform land and facility improve16 ments, and other activities related to land and

17 natural resource management and development.

18 (B) The Secretary may enter into agreements

19 when the Secretary determines the interest of Indi20 ans and Indian tribes will be benefited.

21 (2) In cooperative agreements entered into

22 under subparagraph (A), the Secretary is authorized

23 to advance or reimburse funds to contractors from

24 any appropriated funds available for similar kinds of

25 work or by furnishing or sharing materials, supplies,

26 facilities or equipment without regard to the provi-
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1 sions of section 3324 of title 31, United States

2 Code, relating to the advance of public moneys.

3 (b) SUPERVISION.—In any agreement authorized by

4 this section, Indian tribes and their employees may per5 form cooperative work under the supervision of the De6 partment of the Interior in emergencies or otherwise as

7 mutually agreed to, but shall not be deemed to be Federal

8 employees other than for the purposes of sections 2671

9 through 2680 of title 28, United States Code, and sections

10 8101 through 8193 of title 5, United States Code.

11 (c) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this Act shall be

12 construed to limit the authority of the Secretary to enter

13 into cooperative agreements otherwise authorized by law.

14 SEC. 204. OBLIGATED SERVICE; BREACH OF CONTRACT.

15 (a) OBLIGATED SERVICE.—Where an individual en16 ters into an agreement for obligated service in return for

17 financial assistance under any provision of this title, the

18 Secretary shall adopt such regulations as are necessary to

19 provide for the offer of employment to the recipient of

20 such assistance as required by such provision. Where an

21 offer of employment is not reasonably made, the regula22 tions shall provide that such service shall no longer be re23 quired.

24 (b) BREACH OF CONTRACT; REPAYMENT.—Where an

25 individual fails to accept a reasonable offer of employment
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1 in fulfillment of such obligated service or unreasonably

2 terminates or fails to perform the duties of such employ3 ment, the Secretary shall require a repayment of the fi4 nancial assistance provided, prorated for the amount of

5 time of obligated service that was performed, together with

6 interest on such amount which would be payable if at the

7 time the amounts were paid they were loans bearing inter8 est at the maximum legal prevailing rate, as determined

9 by the Treasurer of the United States.

10 TITLE III—GENERAL

11 PROVISIONS

12 SEC. 301. REGULATIONS.

13 Except as otherwise provided by this Act, the Sec14 retary is directed to promulgate final regulations for the

15 implementation within 18 months from the date of enact16 ment of this Act. All regulations promulgated pursuant

17 to this Act shall be developed by the Secretary with the

18 participation of the affected Indian tribes.

19 SEC. 302. TRUST RESPONSIBILITY.

20 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to diminish

21 or expand the trust responsibility of the United States to22 ward Indian trust lands or natural resources, or any legal

23 obligation or remedy resulting therefrom.
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1 SEC. 303. SEVERABILITY.

2 If any provision of this Act, or the application of any

3 provision of this Act to any person or circumstance, is held

4 invalid, the application of such provision or circumstance

5 and the remainder of this Act shall not be affected there6 by.

7 SEC. 304. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

8 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

9 as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.

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