I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 210 

To facilitate the development of energy on Indian lands by reducing Federal 

regulations that impede tribal development of Indian lands, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 3, 2017 

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To facilitate the development of energy on Indian lands by 

reducing Federal regulations that impede tribal development of Indian lands, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Native American En5 ergy Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. APPRAISALS. 

7 (a) AMENDMENT.—Title XXVI of the Energy Policy 

8 Act of 1992 (25 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) is amended by add9 ing at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 2607. APPRAISAL REFORMS. 

2 ‘‘(a) OPTIONS TO INDIAN TRIBES.—With respect to 

3 a transaction involving Indian land or the trust assets of 

4 an Indian tribe that requires the approval of the Sec5 retary, any appraisal relating to fair market value required 

6 to be conducted under applicable law, regulation, or policy 

7 may be completed by— 

8 ‘‘(1) the Secretary; 

9 ‘‘(2) the affected Indian tribe; or 

10 ‘‘(3) a certified, third-party appraiser pursuant 

11 to a contract with the Indian tribe. 

12 ‘‘(b) TIME LIMIT ON SECRETARIAL REVIEW AND AC13 TION.—Not later than 30 days after the date on which 

14 the Secretary receives an appraisal conducted by or for 

15 an Indian tribe pursuant to paragraphs (2) or (3) of sub16 section (a), the Secretary shall— 

17 ‘‘(1) review the appraisal; and 

18 ‘‘(2) provide to the Indian tribe a written notice 

19 of approval or disapproval of the appraisal. 

20 ‘‘(c) FAILURE OF SECRETARY TO APPROVE OR DIS21 APPROVE.—If, after 60 days, the Secretary has failed to 

22 approve or disapprove any appraisal received, the ap23 praisal shall be deemed approved. 

24 ‘‘(d) OPTION TO INDIAN TRIBES TO WAIVE AP25 PRAISAL.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) An Indian tribe wishing to waive the re2 quirements of subsection (a), may do so after it has 

3 satisfied the requirements of paragraphs (2) and 

4 (3). 

5 ‘‘(2) An Indian tribe wishing to forego the ne6 cessity of a waiver pursuant to this section must 

7 provide to the Secretary a written resolution, state8 ment, or other unambiguous indication of tribal in9 tent, duly approved by the governing body of the In10 dian tribe. 

11 ‘‘(3) The unambiguous indication of intent pro12 vided by the Indian tribe to the Secretary under 

13 paragraph (2) must include an express waiver by the 

14 Indian tribe of any claims for damages it might have 

15 against the United States as a result of the lack of 

16 an appraisal undertaken. 

17 ‘‘(e) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this subsection, 

18 the term ‘appraisal’ includes appraisals and other esti19 mates of value. 

20 ‘‘(f) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall develop 

21 regulations for implementing this section, including stand22 ards the Secretary shall use for approving or disapproving 

23 an appraisal.’’. 

24 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con25 tents of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13201 


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1 note) is amended by adding at the end of the items relat2 ing to title XXVI the following: 

‘‘Sec. 2607. Appraisal reforms.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. STANDARDIZATION. 

4 As soon as practicable after the date of the enactment 

5 of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall implement 

6 procedures to ensure that each agency within the Depart7 ment of the Interior that is involved in the review, ap8 proval, and oversight of oil and gas activities on Indian 

9 lands shall use a uniform system of reference numbers and 

10 tracking systems for oil and gas wells. 

11 SEC. 4. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS OF MAJOR FEDERAL 

12 ACTIONS ON INDIAN LANDS. 

13 Section 102 of the National Environmental Policy 

14 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332) is amended by inserting 

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before the first sentence, and by 

16 adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(b) REVIEW OF MAJOR FEDERAL ACTIONS ON IN18 DIAN LANDS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) REVIEW AND COMMENT.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

21 subparagraph (B), the statement required 

22 under subsection (a)(2)(C) for a major Federal 

23 action regarding an activity on Indian lands of 

24 an Indian tribe shall only be available for re25 view and comment by the members of the InVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:54 Jan 11, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H210.IH H210

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1 dian tribe, other individuals residing within the 

2 affected area, and State, federally recognized 

3 tribal, and local governments within the af4 fected area. 

5 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Subparagraph (A) 

6 shall not apply to a statement for a major Fed7 eral action regarding an activity on Indian 

8 lands of an Indian tribe related to gaming 

9 under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. 

10 ‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—The Chairman of the 

11 Council on Environmental Quality shall develop reg12 ulations to implement this section, including descrip13 tions of affected areas for specific major Federal ac14 tions, in consultation with Indian tribes. 

15 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, each of 

16 the terms ‘Indian land’ and ‘Indian tribe’ has the 

17 meaning given that term in section 2601 of the En18 ergy Policy Act of 1992 (25 U.S.C. 3501). 

19 ‘‘(4) CLARIFICATION OF AUTHORITY.—Nothing 

20 in the Native American Energy Act, except section 

21 6 of that Act, shall give the Secretary any additional 

22 authority over energy projects on Alaska Native 

23 Claims Settlement Act lands.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

2 (a) TIME FOR FILING COMPLAINT.—Any energy re3 lated action must be filed not later than the end of the 

4 60-day period beginning on the date of the final agency 

5 action. Any energy related action not filed within this time 

6 period shall be barred. 

7 (b) DISTRICT COURT VENUE AND DEADLINE.—All 

8 energy related actions— 

9 (1) shall be brought in the United States Dis10 trict Court for the District of Columbia; and 

11 (2) shall be resolved as expeditiously as pos12 sible, and in any event not more than 180 days after 

13 such cause of action is filed. 

14 (c) APPELLATE REVIEW.—An interlocutory order or 

15 final judgment, decree or order of the district court in an 

16 energy related action may be reviewed by the United 

17 States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Cir18 cuit. The District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals 

19 shall resolve such appeal as expeditiously as possible, and 

20 in any event not more than 180 days after such interlocu21 tory order or final judgment, decree or order of the district 

22 court was issued. 

23 (d) LIMITATION ON CERTAIN PAYMENTS.—Notwith24 standing section 1304 of title 31, United States Code, no 

25 award may be made under section 504 of title 5, United 

26 States Code, or under section 2412 of title 28, United 


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1 States Code, and no amounts may be obligated or ex2 pended from the Claims and Judgment Fund of the 

3 United States Treasury to pay any fees or other expenses 

4 under such sections, to any person or party in an energy 

5 related action. 

6 (e) LEGAL FEES.—In any energy related action in 

7 which the plaintiff does not ultimately prevail, the court 

8 shall award to the defendant (including any intervenor9 defendants), other than the United States, fees and other 

10 expenses incurred by that party in connection with the en11 ergy related action, unless the court finds that the position 

12 of the plaintiff was substantially justified or that special 

13 circumstances make an award unjust. Whether or not the 

14 position of the plaintiff was substantially justified shall be 

15 determined on the basis of the administrative record, as 

16 a whole, which is made in the energy related action for 

17 which fees and other expenses are sought. 

18 (f) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section, 

19 the following definitions apply: 

20 (1) AGENCY ACTION.—The term ‘‘agency ac21 tion’’ has the same meaning given such term in sec22 tion 551 of title 5, United States Code. 

23 (2) INDIAN LAND.—The term ‘‘Indian Land’’ 

24 has the same meaning given such term in section 

25 203(c)(3) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public 


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1 Law 109–58; 25 U.S.C. 3501), including lands 

2 owned by Native Corporations under the Alaska Na3 tive Claims Settlement Act (Public Law 92–203; 43 

4 U.S.C. 1601). 

5 (3) ENERGY RELATED ACTION.—The term ‘‘en6 ergy related action’’ means a cause of action that— 

7 (A) is filed on or after the effective date of 

8 this Act; and 

9 (B) seeks judicial review of a final agency 

10 action to issue a permit, license, or other form 

11 of agency permission allowing: 

12 (i) any person or entity to conduct ac13 tivities on Indian Land, which activities in14 volve the exploration, development, produc15 tion or transportation of oil, gas, coal, 

16 shale gas, oil shale, geothermal resources, 

17 wind or solar resources, underground coal 

18 gasification, biomass, or the generation of 

19 electricity; or 

20 (ii) any Indian Tribe, or any organiza21 tion of two or more entities, at least one 

22 of which is an Indian tribe, to conduct ac23 tivities involving the exploration, develop24 ment, production or transportation of oil, 

25 gas, coal, shale gas, oil shale, geothermal 


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1 resources, wind or solar resources, under2 ground coal gasification, biomass, or the 

3 generation of electricity, regardless of 

4 where such activities are undertaken. 

5 (4) ULTIMATELY PREVAIL.—The phrase ‘‘ulti6 mately prevail’’ means, in a final enforceable judg7 ment, the court rules in the party’s favor on at least 

8 one cause of action which is an underlying rationale 

9 for the preliminary injunction, administrative stay, 

10 or other relief requested by the party, and does not 

11 include circumstances where the final agency action 

12 is modified or amended by the issuing agency unless 

13 such modification or amendment is required pursu14 ant to a final enforceable judgment of the court or 

15 a court-ordered consent decree. 

16 SEC. 6. TRIBAL BIOMASS DEMONSTRATION PROJECT. 

17 The Tribal Forest Protection Act of 2004 is amended 

18 by inserting after section 2 (25 U.S.C. 3115a) the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 3. TRIBAL BIOMASS DEMONSTRATION PROJECT. 

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For each of fiscal years 2016 

22 through 2020, the Secretary shall enter into stewardship 

23 contracts or other agreements, other than agreements that 

24 are exclusively direct service contracts, with Indian tribes 

25 to carry out demonstration projects to promote biomass 


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1 energy production (including biofuel, heat, and electricity 

2 generation) on Indian forest land and in nearby commu3 nities by providing reliable supplies of woody biomass from 

4 Federal land. 

5 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—The definitions in section 2 

6 shall apply to this section. 

7 ‘‘(c) DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.—In each fiscal 

8 year for which projects are authorized, the Secretary shall 

9 enter into contracts or other agreements described in sub10 section (a) to carry out at least 4 new demonstration 

11 projects that meet the eligibility criteria described in sub12 section (d). 

13 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA.—To be eligible to enter 

14 into a contract or other agreement under this subsection, 

15 an Indian tribe shall submit to the Secretary an applica16 tion— 

17 ‘‘(1) containing such information as the Sec18 retary may require; and 

19 ‘‘(2) that includes a description of— 

20 ‘‘(A) the Indian forest land or rangeland 

21 under the jurisdiction of the Indian tribe; and 

22 ‘‘(B) the demonstration project proposed 

23 to be carried out by the Indian tribe. 

24 ‘‘(e) SELECTION.—In evaluating the applications 

25 submitted under subsection (c), the Secretary— 


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1 ‘‘(1) shall take into consideration the factors set 

2 forth in paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 2(e) of 

3 Public Law 108–278; and whether a proposed dem4 onstration project would— 

5 ‘‘(A) increase the availability or reliability 

6 of local or regional energy; 

7 ‘‘(B) enhance the economic development of 

8 the Indian tribe; 

9 ‘‘(C) improve the connection of electric 

10 power transmission facilities serving the Indian 

11 tribe with other electric transmission facilities; 

12 ‘‘(D) improve the forest health or water13 sheds of Federal land or Indian forest land or 

14 rangeland; or 

15 ‘‘(E) otherwise promote the use of woody 

16 biomass; and 

17 ‘‘(2) shall exclude from consideration any mer18 chantable logs that have been identified by the Sec19 retary for commercial sale. 

20 ‘‘(f) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary shall— 

21 ‘‘(1) ensure that the criteria described in sub22 section (c) are publicly available by not later than 

23 120 days after the date of enactment of this section; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(2) to the maximum extent practicable, consult 

2 with Indian tribes and appropriate intertribal orga3 nizations likely to be affected in developing the ap4 plication and otherwise carrying out this section. 

5 ‘‘(g) REPORT.—Not later than one year subsequent 

6 to the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary 

7 shall submit to Congress a report that describes, with re8 spect to the reporting period— 

9 ‘‘(1) each individual tribal application received 

10 under this section; and 

11 ‘‘(2) each contract and agreement entered into 

12 pursuant to this section. 

13 ‘‘(h) INCORPORATION OF MANAGEMENT PLANS.—In 

14 carrying out a contract or agreement under this section, 

15 on receipt of a request from an Indian tribe, the Secretary 

16 shall incorporate into the contract or agreement, to the 

17 extent practicable, management plans (including forest 

18 management and integrated resource management plans) 

19 in effect on the Indian forest land or rangeland of the re20 spective Indian tribe. 

21 ‘‘(i) TERM.—A stewardship contract or other agree22 ment entered into under this section— 

23 ‘‘(1) shall be for a term of not more than 20 

24 years; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) may be renewed in accordance with this 

2 section for not more than an additional 10 years. 

3 ‘‘SEC. 4. TRIBAL FOREST MANAGEMENT DEMONSTRATION 

4 PROJECT. 

5 ‘‘The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of 

6 Agriculture may carry out demonstration projects by 

7 which federally recognized Indian tribes or tribal organiza8 tions may contract to perform administrative, manage9 ment, and other functions of programs of the Tribal For10 est Protection Act of 2004 (25 U.S.C. 3115a et seq.) 

11 through contracts entered into under the Indian Self-De12 termination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450 

13 et seq.).’’. 

14 SEC. 7. TRIBAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLANS. 

15 Unless otherwise explicitly exempted by Federal law 

16 enacted after the date of the enactment of this Act, any 

17 activity conducted or resources harvested or produced pur18 suant to a tribal resource management plan or an inte19 grated resource management plan approved by the Sec20 retary of the Interior under the National Indian Forest 

21 Resources Management Act (25 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.) or 

22 the American Indian Agricultural Resource Management 

23 Act (25 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.) shall be considered a sustain24 able management practice for purposes of any Federal 


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1 standard, benefit, or requirement that requires a dem2 onstration of such sustainability. 

3 SEC. 8. LEASES OF RESTRICTED LANDS FOR THE NAVAJO 

4 NATION. 

5 Subsection (e)(1) of the first section of the Act of 

6 August 9, 1955 (25 U.S.C. 415(e)(1); commonly referred 

7 to as the ‘‘Long-Term Leasing Act’’), is amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘, except a lease for’’ and insert9 ing ‘‘, including leases for’’; 

10 (2) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘25’’ the 

11 first place it appears and all that follows and insert12 ing ‘‘99 years;’’; 

13 (3) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period 

14 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

15 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(C) in the case of a lease for the exploration, 

17 development, or extraction of mineral resources, in18 cluding geothermal resources, 25 years, except that 

19 any such lease may include an option to renew for 

20 one additional term not to exceed 25 years.’’. 

21 SEC. 9. NONAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN RULES. 

22 No rule promulgated by the Department of the Inte23 rior regarding hydraulic fracturing used in the develop24 ment or production of oil or gas resources shall have any 

25 effect on any land held in trust or restricted status for 


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1 the benefit of Indians except with the express consent of 

2 the beneficiary on whose behalf such land is held in trust 

3 or restricted status. 

Æ 


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