I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1867 

To amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to provide for equitable 

allotment of land to Alaska Native veterans. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 3, 2017 

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

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to provide for equitable allotment of land to Alaska Native 

veterans. 

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 ‘‘Alaska Native Vet5 erans Land Allotment Equity Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. OPEN SEASON FOR CERTAIN ALASKA NATIVE VET7 ERANS FOR ALLOTMENTS. 

8 Section 41 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement 

9 Act (43 U.S.C. 1629g) is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (a)— 


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1 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 

2 ‘‘IN GENERAL’’ and inserting ‘‘ALASKA NATIVE

3 VETERAN ALLOTMENTS’’; 

4 (B) by striking paragraphs (1) through (4) 

5 and inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘(1) ALLOTMENTS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.—Any person 

8 described in paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection 

9 (b) shall be eligible to receive an allotment 

10 under the Act of May 17, 1906 (34 Stat. 197, 

11 chapter 2469) (as in effect before December 18, 

12 1971), of not more than 2 parcels of Federal 

13 land, the total area of which shall not exceed 

14 160 acres. Any person described in paragraphs 

15 (1) and (2) of subsection (b) who, prior to the 

16 date on which the Secretary promulgates regu17 lations pursuant to section 3 of the Alaska Na18 tive Veterans Land Allotment Equity Act, re19 ceived an allotment that has a total area of less 

20 than 160 acres shall be eligible to receive an al21 lotment under the Act of May 17, 1906 (34 

22 Stat. 197, chapter 2469) (as in effect before 

23 December 18, 1971), of not more than 1 parcel 

24 of Federal land, the total area of which shall 

25 not exceed the difference in acres between 160 


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1 acres and the total area of the allotment that 

2 the person previously received under the Act. 

3 ‘‘(B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The civil 

4 action styled ‘Shields v. United States’ (698 

5 F.2d 987 (9th Cir. 1983), cert. denied (104 S. 

6 Ct. 73 (1983))) shall not be construed to dimin7 ish or modify the eligibility of any person de8 scribed in paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection 

9 (b). 

10 ‘‘(C) FILING DEADLINE.—An allotment 

11 shall be filed for an eligible recipient not later 

12 than 3 years after the date on which the Sec13 retary promulgates regulations pursuant to sec14 tion 3 of the Alaska Native Veterans Land Al15 lotment Equity Act. 

16 ‘‘(2) LAND AVAILABLE FOR ALLOTMENTS.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara18 graph (C), an allotment under this section shall 

19 be selected from land that is— 

20 ‘‘(i)(I) vacant; and 

21 ‘‘(II) owned by the United States; 

22 ‘‘(ii) selected by, or conveyed to, the 

23 State of Alaska, if the State voluntarily re24 linquishes or conveys to the United States 

25 the land for the allotment; or 


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1 ‘‘(iii) selected by, or conveyed to, a 

2 Native Corporation, if the Native Corpora3 tion voluntarily relinquishes or conveys to 

4 the United States the land for the allot5 ment. 

6 ‘‘(B) RELINQUISHMENT BY NATIVE COR7 PORATION.—If a Native Corporation relin8 quishes land under subparagraph (A)(iii), the 

9 Native Corporation may select appropriate Fed10 eral land, as determined by the Secretary, the 

11 area of which is equal to the area of the land 

12 relinquished by the Native Corporation, to re13 place the relinquished land. 

14 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSIONS.—An allotment under 

15 this section shall not be selected from land that 

16 is located within— 

17 ‘‘(i) a right-of-way of the TransAlaska 

18 Pipeline; 

19 ‘‘(ii) an inner or outer corridor of 

20 such a right-of-way; or 

21 ‘‘(iii) a unit of the National Park Sys22 tem, a National Preserve, or a National 

23 Monument. 

24 ‘‘(D) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The civil 

25 action styled ‘Shields v. United States’ (698 


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1 F.2d 987 (9th Cir. 1983), cert. denied (104 S. 

2 Ct. 73 (1983))) shall not be construed to limit 

3 the land that is eligible for allotment under this 

4 paragraph. 

5 ‘‘(3) ALTERNATIVE ALLOTMENTS.—A person 

6 described in paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (b) 

7 who qualifies for an allotment under this section on 

8 land described in paragraph (2)(C) may select an al9 ternative allotment from land that is— 

10 ‘‘(A) located within the boundaries of land 

11 described in paragraph (2)(C); 

12 ‘‘(B)(i)(I) withdrawn under section 

13 11(a)(1)(C); and 

14 ‘‘(II) not selected, or relinquished after se15 lection, under section 11(a)(3); 

16 ‘‘(ii) contiguous to an outer boundary of 

17 land withdrawn under section 11(a)(1)(C); or 

18 ‘‘(iii) vacant, unappropriated, and unre19 served; and 

20 ‘‘(C) not a unit of the National Park Sys21 tem, a National Preserve, or a National Monu22 ment.’’; and 

23 (C) by redesignating paragraphs (5) and 

24 (6) as paragraphs (4) and (5), respectively; 

25 (2) in subsection (b)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking subpara2 graph (B) and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(B) is a veteran who served during the 

4 period beginning on August 5, 1964, and end5 ing on May 7, 1975.’’; 

6 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and insert7 ing the following: 

8 ‘‘(2) DECEASED PERSONS.—If an individual 

9 who would otherwise have been eligible for an allot10 ment under this section dies before applying for an 

11 allotment, an heir of the person may apply for, and 

12 receive, an allotment under this section, on behalf of 

13 the estate of the person.’’; and 

14 (C) by striking paragraph (3) and insert15 ing the following: 

16 ‘‘(3) LIMITATIONS.—No person who received an 

17 allotment or has a pending allotment under the Act 

18 of May 17, 1906, may receive an allotment under 

19 this section, other than— 

20 ‘‘(A) an heir who applies for, and receives, 

21 an allotment on behalf of the estate of a de22 ceased person under paragraph (2); and 

23 ‘‘(B) a person who, prior to the date on 

24 which the Secretary promulgates regulations 

25 pursuant to section 3 of the Alaska Native VetVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:52 Apr 08, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1867.IH H1867

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1 erans Land Allotment Equity Act, received an 

2 allotment under the Act of May 17, 1906 (34 

3 Stat. 197, chapter 2469), that has a total area 

4 of less than 160 acres.’’; 

5 (3) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as 

6 subsections (f) and (g), respectively; 

7 (4) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(d) APPROVAL OF ALLOTMENTS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to any valid right 

11 in existence on the date of enactment of the Alaska 

12 Native Veterans Land Allotment Equity Act, and ex13 cept as provided in paragraph (3), not later than 5 

14 years after the date of the enactment of the Alaska 

15 Native Veterans Land Allotment Equity Act, the 

16 Secretary shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) approve any application for an allot18 ment filed in accordance with subsection (a); 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(B) issue a certificate of allotment under 

21 such terms, conditions, and restrictions as the 

22 Secretary determines to be appropriate. 

23 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 2 years 

24 after the date of the enactment of the Alaska Native 

25 Veterans Land Allotment Equity Act, on receipt of 


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1 an application for an allotment under this section, 

2 the Secretary shall provide to any person or entity 

3 that has an interest in land described in subsection 

4 (a)(2) that is potentially adverse to the interest of 

5 the applicant a notice of the right of the person or 

6 entity, by not later than 90 days after the date of 

7 receipt of the notice— 

8 ‘‘(A) to initiate a private contest of the al9 lotment; or 

10 ‘‘(B) to file a protest against the allotment 

11 in accordance with procedures established by 

12 the Secretary. 

13 ‘‘(3) ACTION BY SECRETARY.—If a private con14 test or protest relating to an application for an allot15 ment is initiated or filed under paragraph (2), the 

16 Secretary shall not issue a certificate for the allot17 ment under paragraph (1)(B) until a final deter18 mination has been made with respect to the private 

19 contest or protest. 

20 ‘‘(e) RESELECTION.—A person that selected an allot21 ment under this section may withdraw that selection and 

22 reselect land in accordance with this section after the date 

23 of enactment of the Alaska Native Veterans Land Allot24 ment Equity Act, if the land originally selected— 


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1 ‘‘(1) was selected before the date of enactment 

2 of the Alaska Native Veterans Land Allotment Eq3 uity Act; and 

4 ‘‘(2) as of the date of enactment of that Act, 

5 was not conveyed to the person.’’; and 

6 (5) by striking subsection (f), as designated by 

7 paragraph (3) and inserting: 

8 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section: 

9 ‘‘(1) The term ‘veteran’ means a person who 

10 served in the active military, naval, or air service, 

11 and who was discharged or released therefrom. 

12 ‘‘(2) The term ‘Vietnam era’ has the meaning 

13 given the term by paragraph (29) of section 101 of 

14 title 38.’’. 

15 SEC. 3. REGULATIONS. 

16 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

17 of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall promulgate, 

18 after consultation with Alaska Native organizations, final 

19 regulations to carry out the amendments made by section 

20 2. During the consultation process, the Secretary shall, 

21 in coordination with Alaska Native organizations and to 

22 the greatest extent possible, identify persons who are eligi23 ble to receive an allotment under the amendments made 

24 by section 2. Upon promulgation of the final regulations, 

25 the Secretary shall contact each of these persons directly 


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1 to provide an explanation of the process by which the per2 son may apply for an allotment under the amendments 

3 made by section 2. 

Æ 


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