II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 703 

To amend the Long-Term Leasing Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 31, 2011 

Mr. BARRASSO (for himself, Mr. AKAKA, Mr. THUNE, Mr. JOHNSON of South 

Dakota, Mr. TESTER, and Mr. UDALL of New Mexico) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Long-Term Leasing Act, 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 ‘‘Helping Expedite and 

5 Advance Responsible Tribal Homeownership Act of 2011’’ 

6 or the ‘‘HEARTH Act of 2011’’. 

7 SEC. 2. APPROVAL OF, AND PROVISIONS RELATING TO, 

8 TRIBAL LEASES. 

9 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Subsection (d) of the first section 

10 of the Act of August 9, 1955 (25 U.S.C. 415(d)) (comVerDate Mar 15 2010 06:16 Apr 01, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S703.IS S703

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1 monly known as the ‘‘Long-Term Leasing Act’’), is 

2 amended— 

3 (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘the Navajo 

4 Nation’’ and inserting ‘‘an applicable Indian tribe’’; 

5 (2) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘the Navajo 

6 Nation’’ and inserting ‘‘an Indian tribe’’; 

7 (3) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

8 the semicolon at the end; 

9 (4) in paragraph (8)— 

10 (A) by striking ‘‘the Navajo Nation’’; 

11 (B) by striking ‘‘with Navajo Nation law’’ 

12 and inserting ‘‘with applicable tribal law’’; and 

13 (C) by striking the period at the end and 

14 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

16 ‘‘(9) the term ‘Indian tribe’ has the meaning 

17 given the term in section 102 of the Federally Rec18 ognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 

19 479a).’’. 

20 (b) TRIBAL APPROVAL OF LEASES.—The first sec21 tion of the Act of August 9, 1955 (25 U.S.C. 415) (com22 monly known as the ‘‘Long-Term Leasing Act’’), is 

23 amended by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(h) TRIBAL APPROVAL OF LEASES.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2) 

2 and at the discretion of any Indian tribe, any lease 

3 by the Indian tribe for the purposes authorized 

4 under subsection (a), except a lease for the explo5 ration, development, or extraction of any mineral re6 sources, shall not require the approval of the Sec7 retary if the lease is executed under the tribal regu8 lations approved by the Secretary under this sub9 section and the term of the lease does not exceed— 

10 ‘‘(A) in the case of a business or agricul11 tural lease, 25 years, except that any such lease 

12 may include an option to renew for up to 2 ad13 ditional terms, each of which may not exceed 25 

14 years; and 

15 ‘‘(B) in the case of a lease for public, reli16 gious, educational, recreational, or residential 

17 purposes, 75 years, if such a term is provided 

18 for by the regulations issued by the Indian 

19 tribe. 

20 ‘‘(2) ALLOTTED LAND.—Paragraph (1) shall 

21 not apply to any lease of land (including an interest 

22 in land) held in trust for an individual Indian. 

23 ‘‘(3) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY OVER TRIBAL

24 REGULATIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

2 have the authority to approve or disapprove any 

3 tribal regulations issued in accordance with 

4 paragraph (1). 

5 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS FOR APPROVAL.— 

6 The Secretary shall approve any tribal regula7 tion issued in accordance with paragraph (1), if 

8 the tribal regulations— 

9 ‘‘(i) are consistent with any regula10 tions issued by the Secretary under sub11 section (a); and 

12 ‘‘(ii) provide for an environmental re13 view process that includes— 

14 ‘‘(I) the identification and eval15 uation of any significant effects of the 

16 proposed action on the environment; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(II) a process for ensuring 

19 that— 

20 ‘‘(aa) the public is informed 

21 of, and has a reasonable oppor22 tunity to comment on, any sig23 nificant environmental impacts of 

24 the proposed action identified by 

25 the Indian tribe; and 


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1 ‘‘(bb) the Indian tribe pro2 vides responses to relevant and 

3 substantive public comments on 

4 those impacts before the Indian 

5 tribe approves the lease. 

6 ‘‘(4) REVIEW PROCESS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 

8 days after the date on which the tribal regula9 tions described in paragraph (1) are submitted 

10 to the Secretary, the Secretary shall review and 

11 approve or disapprove the regulations. 

12 ‘‘(B) WRITTEN DOCUMENTATION.—If the 

13 Secretary disapproves the tribal regulations de14 scribed in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall in15 clude written documentation with the dis16 approval notification that describes the basis for 

17 the disapproval. 

18 ‘‘(C) EXTENSION.—The deadline described 

19 in subparagraph (A) may be extended by the 

20 Secretary, after consultation with the Indian 

21 tribe. 

22 ‘‘(5) FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.— 

23 Notwithstanding paragraphs (3) and (4), if an In24 dian tribe carries out a project or activity funded by 

25 a Federal agency, the Indian tribe shall have the auVerDate Mar 15 2010 06:16 Apr 01, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S703.IS S703

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1 thority to rely on the environmental review process 

2 of the applicable Federal agency rather than any 

3 tribal environmental review process under this sub4 section. 

5 ‘‘(6) DOCUMENTATION.—If an Indian tribe exe6 cutes a lease pursuant to tribal regulations under 

7 paragraph (1), the Indian tribe shall provide the 

8 Secretary with— 

9 ‘‘(A) a copy of the lease, including any 

10 amendments or renewals to the lease; and 

11 ‘‘(B) in the case of tribal regulations or a 

12 lease that allows for lease payments to be made 

13 directly to the Indian tribe, documentation of 

14 the lease payments that are sufficient to enable 

15 the Secretary to discharge the trust responsi16 bility of the United States under paragraph (7). 

17 ‘‘(7) TRUST RESPONSIBILITY.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The United States 

19 shall not be liable for losses sustained by any 

20 party to a lease executed pursuant to tribal reg21 ulations under paragraph (1). 

22 ‘‘(B) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.—Pursu23 ant to the authority of the Secretary to fulfill 

24 the trust obligation of the United States to the 

25 applicable Indian tribe under Federal law (inVerDate Mar 15 2010 06:16 Apr 01, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S703.IS S703

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1 cluding regulations), the Secretary may, upon 

2 reasonable notice from the applicable Indian 

3 tribe and at the discretion of the Secretary, en4 force the provisions of, or cancel, any lease exe5 cuted by the Indian tribe under paragraph (1). 

6 ‘‘(8) COMPLIANCE.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An interested party, 

8 after exhausting of any applicable tribal rem9 edies, may submit a petition to the Secretary, 

10 at such time and in such form as the Secretary 

11 determines to be appropriate, to review the 

12 compliance of the applicable Indian tribe with 

13 any tribal regulations approved by the Sec14 retary under this subsection. 

15 ‘‘(B) VIOLATIONS.—If, after carrying out 

16 a review under subparagraph (A), the Secretary 

17 determines that the tribal regulations were vio18 lated, the Secretary may take any action the 

19 Secretary determines to be necessary to remedy 

20 the violation, including rescinding the approval 

21 of the tribal regulations and reassuming respon22 sibility for the approval of leases of tribal trust 

23 lands. 

24 ‘‘(C) DOCUMENTATION.—If the Secretary 

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1 tions has occurred and a remedy is necessary, 

2 the Secretary shall— 

3 ‘‘(i) make a written determination 

4 with respect to the regulations that have 

5 been violated; 

6 ‘‘(ii) provide the applicable Indian 

7 tribe with a written notice of the alleged 

8 violation together with such written deter9 mination; and 

10 ‘‘(iii) prior to the exercise of any rem11 edy, the rescission of the approval of the 

12 regulation involved, or the reassumption of 

13 lease approval responsibilities, provide the 

14 applicable Indian tribe with— 

15 ‘‘(I) a hearing that is on the 

16 record; and 

17 ‘‘(II) a reasonable opportunity to 

18 cure the alleged violation. 

19 ‘‘(9) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this sub20 section shall affect subsection (e) or any tribal regu21 lations issued under that subsection.’’. 

22 (c) LAND TITLE REPORTS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

24 after the date on which funds are first made avail25 able to carry out this Act, the Bureau of Indian AfVerDate Mar 15 2010 06:16 Apr 01, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S703.IS S703

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1 fairs shall prepare and submit to the Committees on 

2 Financial Services and Natural Resources of the 

3 House of Representatives and the Committees on 

4 Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and Indian 

5 Affairs of the Senate a report regarding the history 

6 and experience of Indian tribes that have chosen to 

7 assume responsibility for operating the Indian Land 

8 Title and Records Office (referred to in this sub9 section as the ‘‘LTRO’’) functions from the Bureau 

10 of Indian Affairs. 

11 (2) CONSULTATION.—In conducting the review 

12 under paragraph (1), the Bureau of Indian Affairs 

13 shall consult with the Department of Housing and 

14 Urban Development Office of Native American Pro15 grams and the Indian tribes that are managing 

16 LTRO functions (referred to in this subsection as 

17 the ‘‘managing Indian tribes’’). 

18 (3) CONTENTS.—The review under paragraph 

19 (1) shall include an analysis of the following factors: 

20 (A) Whether and how tribal management 

21 of the LTRO functions has expedited the proc22 essing and issuance of Indian land title certifi23 cations as compared to the period during which 

24 the Bureau of Indian Affairs managed the pro25 grams. 


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1 (B) Whether and how tribal management 

2 of the LTRO functions has increased home 

3 ownership among the population of the man4 aging Indian tribe. 

5 (C) What internal preparations and proc6 esses were required of the managing Indian 

7 tribes prior to assuming management of the 

8 LTRO functions. 

9 (D) Whether tribal management of the 

10 LTRO functions resulted in a transfer of finan11 cial resources and manpower from the Bureau 

12 of Indian Affairs to the managing Indian tribes 

13 and, if so, what transfers were undertaken. 

14 (E) Whether, in appropriate circumstances 

15 and with the approval of geographically proxi16 mate Indian tribes, the LTRO functions may be 

17 performed by a single Indian tribe or a tribal 

18 consortium in a cost effective manner. 

Æ 


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