I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 538 

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 

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) IN GENERAL.—For any major Federal ac20 tion on Indian lands of an Indian tribe requiring the 

21 preparation of a statement under subsection 

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

23 review and comment by the members of the Indian 

24 tribe and by any other individual residing within the 

25 affected area. 


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

2 Council on Environmental Quality shall develop reg3 ulations to implement this section, including descrip4 tions of affected areas for specific major Federal ac5 tions, in consultation with Indian tribes. 

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

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

8 meaning given that term in section 2601 of the En9 ergy Policy Act of 1992 (25 U.S.C. 3501). 

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

11 in the Native American Energy Act, except section 

12 6 of that Act, shall give the Secretary any additional 

13 authority over energy projects on Alaska Native 

14 Claims Settlement Act lands.’’. 

15 SEC. 5. JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

16 (a) TIME FOR FILING COMPLAINT.—Any energy re17 lated action must be filed not later than the end of the 

18 60-day period beginning on the date of the final agency 

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

20 period shall be barred. 

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

22 energy related actions— 

23 (1) shall be brought in the United States Dis24 trict Court for the District of Columbia; and 


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1 (2) shall be resolved as expeditiously as pos2 sible, and in any event not more than 180 days after 

3 such cause of action is filed. 

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

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

6 energy related action may be reviewed by the U.S. Court 

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

8 Circuit Court of Appeals shall resolve such appeal as expe9 ditiously as possible, and in any event not more than 180 

10 days after such interlocutory order or final judgment, de11 cree or order of the district court was issued. 

12 (d) LIMITATION ON CERTAIN PAYMENTS.—Notwith13 standing section 1304 of title 31, United States Code, no 

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

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

16 States Code, and no amounts may be obligated or ex17 pended from the Claims and Judgment Fund of the 

18 United States Treasury to pay any fees or other expenses 

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

20 related action. 

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

22 which the plaintiff does not ultimately prevail, the court 

23 shall award to the defendant (including any intervenor24 defendants), other than the United States, fees and other 

25 expenses incurred by that party in connection with the enVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 Jan 31, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H538.IH H538

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1 ergy related action, unless the court finds that the position 

2 of the plaintiff was substantially justified or that special 

3 circumstances make an award unjust. Whether or not the 

4 position of the plaintiff was substantially justified shall be 

5 determined on the basis of the administrative record, as 

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

7 which fees and other expenses are sought. 

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

9 the following definitions apply: 

10 (1) AGENCY ACTION.—The term ‘‘agency ac11 tion’’ has the same meaning given such term in sec12 tion 551 of title 5, United States Code. 

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

14 has the same meaning given such term in section 

15 203(c)(3) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public 

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

17 owned by Native Corporations under the Alaska Na18 tive Claims Settlement Act (Public Law 92–203; 43 

19 U.S.C. 1601). 

20 (3) ENERGY RELATED ACTION.—The term ‘‘en21 ergy related action’’ means a cause of action that— 

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

23 this Act; and 


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1 (B) seeks judicial review of a final agency 

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

3 of agency permission allowing: 

4 (i) any person or entity to conduct ac5 tivities on Indian Land, which activities in6 volve the exploration, development, produc7 tion or transportation of oil, gas, coal, 

8 shale gas, oil shale, geothermal resources, 

9 wind or solar resources, underground coal 

10 gasification, biomass, or the generation of 

11 electricity; or 

12 (ii) any Indian Tribe, or any organiza13 tion of two or more entities, at least one 

14 of which is an Indian tribe, to conduct ac15 tivities involving the exploration, develop16 ment, production or transportation of oil, 

17 gas, coal, shale gas, oil shale, geothermal 

18 resources, wind or solar resources, under19 ground coal gasification, biomass, or the 

20 generation of electricity, regardless of 

21 where such activities are undertaken. 

22 (4) ULTIMATELY PREVAIL.—The phrase ‘‘ulti23 mately prevail’’ means, in a final enforceable judg24 ment, the court rules in the party’s favor on at least 

25 one cause of action which is an underlying rationale 


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1 for the preliminary injunction, administrative stay, 

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

3 include circumstances where the final agency action 

4 is modified or amended by the issuing agency unless 

5 such modification or amendment is required pursu6 ant to a final enforceable judgment of the court or 

7 a court-ordered consent decree. 

8 SEC. 6. TRIBAL BIOMASS DEMONSTRATION PROJECT. 

9 The Tribal Forest Protection Act of 2004 is amended 

10 by inserting after section 2 (25 U.S.C. 3115a) the fol11 lowing: 

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

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

14 through 2020, the Secretary shall enter into stewardship 

15 contracts or other agreements, other than agreements that 

16 are exclusively direct service contracts, with Indian tribes 

17 to carry out demonstration projects to promote biomass 

18 energy production (including biofuel, heat, and electricity 

19 generation) on Indian forest land and in nearby commu20 nities by providing reliable supplies of woody biomass from 

21 Federal land. 

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

23 shall apply to this section. 

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

25 year for which projects are authorized, the Secretary shall 


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1 enter into contracts or other agreements described in sub2 section (a) to carry out at least 4 new demonstration 

3 projects that meet the eligibility criteria described in sub4 section (d). 

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

6 into a contract or other agreement under this subsection, 

7 an Indian tribe shall submit to the Secretary an applica8 tion— 

9 ‘‘(1) containing such information as the Sec10 retary may require; and 

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

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

13 under the jurisdiction of the Indian tribe; and 

14 ‘‘(B) the demonstration project proposed 

15 to be carried out by the Indian tribe. 

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

17 submitted under subsection (c), the Secretary— 

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

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

20 Public Law 108–278; and whether a proposed dem21 onstration project would— 

22 ‘‘(A) increase the availability or reliability 

23 of local or regional energy; 

24 ‘‘(B) enhance the economic development of 

25 the Indian tribe; 


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1 ‘‘(C) improve the connection of electric 

2 power transmission facilities serving the Indian 

3 tribe with other electric transmission facilities; 

4 ‘‘(D) improve the forest health or water5 sheds of Federal land or Indian forest land or 

6 rangeland; or 

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

8 biomass; and 

9 ‘‘(2) shall exclude from consideration any mer10 chantable logs that have been identified by the Sec11 retary for commercial sale. 

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

13 ‘‘(1) ensure that the criteria described in sub14 section (c) are publicly available by not later than 

15 120 days after the date of enactment of this section; 

16 and 

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

18 with Indian tribes and appropriate intertribal orga19 nizations likely to be affected in developing the ap20 plication and otherwise carrying out this section. 

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

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

23 shall submit to Congress a report that describes, with re24 spect to the reporting period— 


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1 ‘‘(1) each individual tribal application received 

2 under this section; and 

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

4 pursuant to this section. 

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

6 carrying out a contract or agreement under this section, 

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

8 shall incorporate into the contract or agreement, to the 

9 extent practicable, management plans (including forest 

10 management and integrated resource management plans) 

11 in effect on the Indian forest land or rangeland of the re12 spective Indian tribe. 

13 ‘‘(i) TERM.—A stewardship contract or other agree14 ment entered into under this section— 

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

16 years; and 

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

18 section for not more than an additional 10 years.’’. 

19 SEC. 7. TRIBAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLANS. 

20 Unless otherwise explicitly exempted by Federal law 

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

22 activity conducted or resources harvested or produced pur23 suant to a tribal resource management plan or an inte24 grated resource management plan approved by the Sec25 retary of the Interior under the National Indian Forest 


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

2 the American Indian Agricultural Resource Management 

3 Act (25 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.), shall be considered a sus4 tainable management practice for purposes of any Federal 

5 standard, benefit, or requirement that requires a dem6 onstration of such sustainability. 

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

8 NATION. 

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

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

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

12 (1) by striking ‘‘, except a lease for’’ and insert13 ing ‘‘, including leases for’’; 

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

15 first place it appears and all that follows and insert16 ing ‘‘99 years;’’; 

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

18 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

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

21 development, or extraction of mineral resources, in22 cluding geothermal resources, 25 years, except that 

23 any such lease may include an option to renew for 

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


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1 SEC. 9. NONAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN RULES. 

2 No rule promulgated by the Department of the Inte3 rior regarding hydraulic fracturing used in the develop4 ment or production of oil or gas resources shall have any 

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

6 the benefit of Indians except with the express consent of 

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

8 or restricted status. 

Æ 


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