IB 

Union Calendar No. 208 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 538 

[Report No. 114–276] 

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 26, 2015 

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

Committee on Natural Resources 

OCTOBER 1, 2015 

Additional sponsor: Mr. GOSAR

OCTOBER 1, 2015 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 

and ordered to be printed 


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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. 


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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 ‘‘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: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 2607. APPRAISAL REFORMS. 

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

12 a transaction involving Indian land or the trust assets of 

13 an Indian tribe that requires the approval of the Sec14 retary, any appraisal relating to fair market value required 

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

16 may be completed by— 

17 ‘‘(1) the Secretary; 

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

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

20 to a contract with the Indian tribe. 

21 ‘‘(b) TIME LIMIT ON SECRETARIAL REVIEW AND AC22 TION.—Not later than 30 days after the date on which 

23 the Secretary receives an appraisal conducted by or for 

24 an Indian tribe pursuant to paragraphs (2) or (3) of sub25 section (a), the Secretary shall— 


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1 ‘‘(1) review the appraisal; and 

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

3 of approval or disapproval of the appraisal. 

4 ‘‘(c) FAILURE OF SECRETARY TO APPROVE OR DIS5 APPROVE.—If, after 60 days, the Secretary has failed to 

6 approve or disapprove any appraisal received, the ap7 praisal shall be deemed approved. 

8 ‘‘(d) OPTION TO INDIAN TRIBES TO WAIVE AP9 PRAISAL.— 

10 ‘‘(1) An Indian tribe wishing to waive the re11 quirements of subsection (a), may do so after it has 

12 satisfied the requirements of paragraphs (2) and 

13 (3). 

14 ‘‘(2) An Indian tribe wishing to forego the ne15 cessity of a waiver pursuant to this section must 

16 provide to the Secretary a written resolution, state17 ment, or other unambiguous indication of tribal in18 tent, duly approved by the governing body of the In19 dian tribe. 

20 ‘‘(3) The unambiguous indication of intent pro21 vided by the Indian tribe to the Secretary under 

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

23 Indian tribe of any claims for damages it might have 

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

25 an appraisal undertaken. 


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

2 the term ‘appraisal’ includes appraisals and other esti3 mates of value. 

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

5 regulations for implementing this section, including stand6 ards the Secretary shall use for approving or disapproving 

7 an appraisal.’’. 

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con9 tents of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13201 

10 note) is amended by adding at the end of the items relat11 ing to title XXVI the following: 

‘‘Sec. 2607. Appraisal reforms.’’. 

12 SEC. 3. STANDARDIZATION. 

13 As soon as practicable after the date of the enactment 

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

15 procedures to ensure that each agency within the Depart16 ment of the Interior that is involved in the review, ap17 proval, and oversight of oil and gas activities on Indian 

18 lands shall use a uniform system of reference numbers and 

19 tracking systems for oil and gas wells. 

20 SEC. 4. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS OF MAJOR FEDERAL 

21 ACTIONS ON INDIAN LANDS. 

22 Section 102 of the National Environmental Policy 

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

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

25 adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(b) REVIEW OF MAJOR FEDERAL ACTIONS ON IN2 DIAN LANDS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For any major Federal ac4 tion on Indian lands of an Indian tribe requiring the 

5 preparation of a statement under subsection 

6 (a)(2)(C), the statement shall only be available for 

7 review and comment by the members of the Indian 

8 tribe and by any other individual residing within the 

9 affected area. 

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 U.S. Court 

17 of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The D.C. 

18 Circuit Court of Appeals shall resolve such appeal as expe19 ditiously as possible, and in any event not more than 180 

20 days after such interlocutory order or final judgment, de21 cree or order of the district court was issued. 

22 (d) LIMITATION ON CERTAIN PAYMENTS.—Notwith23 standing section 1304 of title 31, United States Code, no 

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

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

26 States Code, and no amounts may be obligated or exVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Oct 01, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H538.RH H538

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1 pended from the Claims and Judgment Fund of the 

2 United States Treasury to pay any fees or other expenses 

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

4 related action. 

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

6 which the plaintiff does not ultimately prevail, the court 

7 shall award to the defendant (including any intervenor8 defendants), other than the United States, fees and other 

9 expenses incurred by that party in connection with the en10 ergy related action, unless the court finds that the position 

11 of the plaintiff was substantially justified or that special 

12 circumstances make an award unjust. Whether or not the 

13 position of the plaintiff was substantially justified shall be 

14 determined on the basis of the administrative record, as 

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

16 which fees and other expenses are sought. 

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

18 the following definitions apply: 

19 (1) AGENCY ACTION.—The term ‘‘agency ac20 tion’’ has the same meaning given such term in sec21 tion 551 of title 5, United States Code. 

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

23 has the same meaning given such term in section 

24 203(c)(3) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public 

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


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1 owned by Native Corporations under the Alaska Na2 tive Claims Settlement Act (Public Law 92–203; 43 

3 U.S.C. 1601). 

4 (3) ENERGY RELATED ACTION.—The term ‘‘en5 ergy related action’’ means a cause of action that— 

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

7 this Act; and 

8 (B) seeks judicial review of a final agency 

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

10 of agency permission allowing: 

11 (i) any person or entity to conduct ac12 tivities on Indian Land, which activities in13 volve the exploration, development, produc14 tion or transportation of oil, gas, coal, 

15 shale gas, oil shale, geothermal resources, 

16 wind or solar resources, underground coal 

17 gasification, biomass, or the generation of 

18 electricity; or 

19 (ii) any Indian Tribe, or any organiza20 tion of two or more entities, at least one 

21 of which is an Indian tribe, to conduct ac22 tivities involving the exploration, develop23 ment, production or transportation of oil, 

24 gas, coal, shale gas, oil shale, geothermal 

25 resources, wind or solar resources, underVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Oct 01, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H538.RH H538

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1 ground coal gasification, biomass, or the 

2 generation of electricity, regardless of 

3 where such activities are undertaken. 

4 (4) ULTIMATELY PREVAIL.—The phrase ‘‘ulti5 mately prevail’’ means, in a final enforceable judg6 ment, the court rules in the party’s favor on at least 

7 one cause of action which is an underlying rationale 

8 for the preliminary injunction, administrative stay, 

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

10 include circumstances where the final agency action 

11 is modified or amended by the issuing agency unless 

12 such modification or amendment is required pursu13 ant to a final enforceable judgment of the court or 

14 a court-ordered consent decree. 

15 SEC. 6. TRIBAL BIOMASS DEMONSTRATION PROJECT. 

16 The Tribal Forest Protection Act of 2004 is amended 

17 by inserting after section 2 (25 U.S.C. 3115a) the fol18 lowing: 

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

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

21 through 2020, the Secretary shall enter into stewardship 

22 contracts or other agreements, other than agreements that 

23 are exclusively direct service contracts, with Indian tribes 

24 to carry out demonstration projects to promote biomass 

25 energy production (including biofuel, heat, and electricity 


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1 generation) on Indian forest land and in nearby commu2 nities by providing reliable supplies of woody biomass from 

3 Federal land. 

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

5 shall apply to this section. 

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

7 year for which projects are authorized, the Secretary shall 

8 enter into contracts or other agreements described in sub9 section (a) to carry out at least 4 new demonstration 

10 projects that meet the eligibility criteria described in sub11 section (d). 

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

13 into a contract or other agreement under this subsection, 

14 an Indian tribe shall submit to the Secretary an applica15 tion— 

16 ‘‘(1) containing such information as the Sec17 retary may require; and 

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

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

20 under the jurisdiction of the Indian tribe; and 

21 ‘‘(B) the demonstration project proposed 

22 to be carried out by the Indian tribe. 

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

24 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. 7. TRIBAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLANS. 

4 Unless otherwise explicitly exempted by Federal law 

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

6 activity conducted or resources harvested or produced pur7 suant to a tribal resource management plan or an inte8 grated resource management plan approved by the Sec9 retary of the Interior under the National Indian Forest 

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

11 the American Indian Agricultural Resource Management 

12 Act (25 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.), shall be considered a sus13 tainable management practice for purposes of any Federal 

14 standard, benefit, or requirement that requires a dem15 onstration of such sustainability. 

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

17 NATION. 

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

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

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

21 (1) by striking ‘‘, except a lease for’’ and insert22 ing ‘‘, including leases for’’; 

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

24 first place it appears and all that follows and insert25 ing ‘‘99 years;’’; 


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

2 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

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

5 development, or extraction of mineral resources, in6 cluding geothermal resources, 25 years, except that 

7 any such lease may include an option to renew for 

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

9 SEC. 9. NONAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN RULES. 

10 No rule promulgated by the Department of the Inte11 rior regarding hydraulic fracturing used in the develop12 ment or production of oil or gas resources shall have any 

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

14 the benefit of Indians except with the express consent of 

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

16 or restricted status. 


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Union Calendar No. 208 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 538 

[Report No. 114–276] 

A BILL 

To facilitate the development of energy on Indian 

other purposes. pede tribal development of Indian lands, and for lands by reducing Federal regulations that imOCTOBER 1, 2015 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 


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