I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8951 

To empower federally recognized Indian Tribes with the option to designate 

restricted fee Tribal lands, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 10, 2020 

Mr. YOUNG (for himself and Mr. COLE) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To empower federally recognized Indian Tribes with the option to designate restricted fee Tribal 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 ‘‘American Indian Land 

5 Empowerment Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

9 means a federally recognized Indian Tribe. 


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1 (2) RESTRICTED FEE STATUS.—The term ‘‘re2 stricted fee status’’ means— 

3 (A) owned in fee by the Indian Tribe by 

4 aboriginal title or conveyance; 

5 (B) part of the Indian Tribe’s reservation 

6 and subject to its jurisdiction, or if the Indian 

7 Tribe does not have a reservation, is located 

8 within the census-designated place in which the 

9 Indian Tribe is headquartered as of the date of 

10 enactment of this Act; 

11 (C) held by the Indian Tribe subject to a 

12 restriction against alienation and taxation and 

13 thus may not be sold by the Indian Tribe with14 out the consent of Congress (25 U.S.C. 177); 

15 (D) not subject to taxation by a State or 

16 local government other than the government of 

17 the Indian Tribe, including any activities occur18 ring on the land; 

19 (E) not subject to any provision of law 

20 providing for the review or approval by the Sec21 retary before the Indian Tribe may use the land 

22 for any purpose, directly or through agreement 

23 with another party; and 

24 (F) not considered as Federal public lands 

25 for any purpose, nor subject to any provision of 


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1 law providing for the review or approval by the 

2 Secretary before the Indian Tribe may use the 

3 land for any purpose, directly or through agree4 ment with another party. 

5 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

6 the Secretary of the Interior. 

7 SEC. 3. TRIBAL OPTION TO DESIGNATE RESTRICTED FEE 

8 TRIBAL LANDS. 

9 (a) CONVERSION OF TRIBAL TRUST OR FEE LANDS

10 TO RESTRICTED FEE LAND STATUS.—Notwithstanding 

11 any other provision of law, not later than 90 days after 

12 receipt by the Secretary of a written request adopted by 

13 the governing body of an Indian Tribe, the Secretary 

14 shall— 

15 (1) convey to the Indian Tribe, subject to a re16 striction imposed by the United States against alien17 ation and taxation, all right, title, and interest held 

18 by the United States in land specifically requested 

19 by the Indian Tribe which the United States holds 

20 in trust for that Indian Tribe; or 

21 (2) in the case of land owned in fee by an In22 dian Tribe and located within the Indian Tribe’s res23 ervation or, if the Indian Tribe does not have a res24 ervation, located within the census-designated place 

25 in which the Indian Tribe is headquartered as of the 


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1 date of enactment of this Act, designate such lands 

2 as subject to a restriction imposed by the United 

3 States against alienation and taxation. 

4 (b) FEE TO RESTRICTED FEE PROCESS.—If the Sec5 retary has not rendered a decision within 90 days of re6 ceipt of the Indian Tribe’s request to convert trust or eligi7 ble fee land, the request shall be deemed approved and 

8 the land shall automatically be considered as owned by the 

9 Indian Tribe in restricted fee status. 

10 (c) LAND MANAGEMENT.— 

11 (1) WRITTEN REQUEST.—An Indian Tribe that 

12 submits a written request for the Secretary to con13 vey trust land or eligible fee land under this section 

14 to restricted fee status shall specify in the request 

15 that either— 

16 (A) the Indian Tribe has elected for the 

17 Secretary to have responsibility for managing 

18 land use; or 

19 (B) the Indian Tribe has elected for the 

20 Secretary to recognize the Indian Tribe’s re21 sponsibility for managing land use. 

22 (2) TRANSFER.—If the Indian Tribe elects to 

23 manage land use, the Secretary shall transfer any 

24 Federal land management responsibilities to the InVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Dec 27, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8951.IH H8951

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1 dian Tribe upon conveyance of the restricted fee sta2 tus. 

3 (d) OPTION TO RESTORE TRUST STATUS.—An In4 dian Tribe that obtains restricted fee status to lands by 

5 converting trust lands in accordance with this section may 

6 restore the trust status of the land at its option on an 

7 expedited basis. Notwithstanding any other provision of 

8 law, not later than 90 days after receipt by the Secretary 

9 of a written status restoration request adopted by the gov10 erning body of an Indian Tribe that received a conveyance 

11 of land under this section, the Secretary shall take the 

12 land into trust for that Indian Tribe. The Secretary’s trust 

13 obligations with regard to the land— 

14 (1) shall reflect the Secretary’s trust obligations 

15 when the land was previously in trust; 

16 (2) shall not be expanded based on any modi17 fications, changes, or contamination on the land that 

18 occurred while the land was not in trust; and 

19 (3) may be reassumed by the Secretary based 

20 on circumstances that occur after the land is re21 turned to trust. 

22 (e) LIABILITY LIMITATION.—The Federal Govern23 ment shall not be subject to liability arising from modifica24 tions, changes, or contamination on land returned to trust 


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1 under subsection (d) that occurred while the land was not 

2 in trust. 

3 (f) ALLOTMENTS NOT AFFECTED.—This Act shall be 

4 inapplicable to trust allotments held by an Indian Tribe 

5 or an Indian, unless agreed to by the affected Indian Tribe 

6 or Indian owner of the allotment. 

7 SEC. 4. ADDITIONAL ATTRIBUTES OF RESTRICTED FEE 

8 TRIBAL LANDS. 

9 (a) LONG-TERM LEASING.—Notwithstanding the 

10 provisions of the Act of August 9, 1955 (25 U.S.C. 415; 

11 commonly known as the ‘‘Long-Term Leasing Act’’), an 

12 Indian Tribe may lease land subject to a restriction im13 posed by the United States against alienation and tax14 ation, or grant an easement or right-of-way thereon, for 

15 a period that does not exceed 99 years without review and 

16 approval by the Secretary. 

17 (b) TRIBAL LAND MANAGEMENT.—Real property law 

18 enacted or established by an Indian Tribe shall— 

19 (1) preempt any provision of Federal law or 

20 regulation governing the use of such land, except as 

21 set forth in this Act; 

22 (2) be given preemptive effect only upon having 

23 been first published in the Federal Register; and 

24 (3) be published in the Federal Register by the 

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1 retary receives a copy of the Tribal law from the In2 dian Tribe. 

3 (c) APPLICABILITY OF THE INDIAN GAMING REGU4 LATORY ACT.—Land subject to a restriction imposed by 

5 the United States against alienation and taxation acquired 

6 by an Indian Tribe under the provisions of this section 

7 shall be treated as trust lands for purposes of the Indian 

8 Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.). 

9 SEC. 5. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SECRETARY RELATING 

10 TO RESTRICTED FEE TRIBAL LANDS. 

11 (a) TRUST RESPONSIBILITY NOT DIMINISHED.— 

12 Nothing in this section shall be construed to diminish the 

13 Federal trust responsibility to any Indian Tribe. 

14 (b) SECRETARY’S TRUST RESPONSIBILITY TO PRO15 TECT RESTRICTED FEE TRIBAL LANDS.—With respect to 

16 restricted fee status lands, the Secretary shall enforce the 

17 provisions of the Act of June 30, 1834 (25 U.S.C. 177; 

18 4 Stat. 730), to protect the Indian Tribe’s title, ownership, 

19 tax immunity, and Indian country status of such lands. 

Æ 


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