II

Calendar No. 714

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1586

[Report No. 106–361]

To reduce the fractionated ownership of Indian lands, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

SEPTEMBER 15, 1999

Mr. CAMPBELL (for himself and Mr. BINGAMAN) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs

JULY 26, 2000

Reported by Mr. CAMPBELL, with an amendment

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

A BILL

To reduce the fractionated ownership 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 ‘‘Indian Land Consoli5 dation Act Amendments of 1999’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 Congress finds that—

3 (1) in the 1800’s and early 1900’s, the United

4 States sought to assimilate Indian people into the

5 surrounding non-Indian culture by allotting tribal

6 lands to individual members of Indian tribes;

7 (2) many trust allotments were taken out of

8 trust status and sold by their Indian owners;

9 (3) the trust periods for trust allotments have

10 been extended indefinitely;

11 (4) because of the inheritance provisions in the

12 original treaties or allotment Acts, the ownership of

13 many of the trust allotments that have remained in

14 trust status has become fractionated into hundreds

15 or thousands of interests, many of which represent

16 2 percent or less of the total interests;

17 (5) Congress has authorized the acquisition of

18 lands in trust for individual Indians, and many of

19 those lands have also become fractionated by subse20 quent inheritance;

21 (6) the acquisitions referred to in paragraph (5)

22 continue to be made;

23 (7) the fractional interests described in this sec24 tion provide little or no return to the beneficial own25 ers of those interests and the administrative costs
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1 borne by the United States for those interests are

2 inordinate;

3 (8) substantial numbers of fractional interests

4 of 2 percent or less of a total interest in trust or re5 stricted lands have escheated to Indian tribes under

6 section 207 of the Indian Land Consolidation Act

7 (25 U.S.C. 2206), which was enacted in 1983;

8 (9) in Babbit v. Youpee (117 S Ct. 727

9 (1997)), the United States Supreme Court found

10 that the application of section 207 of the Indian

11 Land Consolidation Act to the facts presented in

12 that case to be unconstitutional;

13 (10) in the absence of remedial legislation, the

14 number of the fractional interests will continue to

15 grow; and

16 (11) the problem of the fractionation of Indian

17 lands described in this section is the result of a pol18 icy of the Federal Government, cannot be solved by

19 Indian tribes, and requires a solution under Federal

20 law.

21 SEC. 3. DECLARATION OF POLICY.

22 It is the policy of the United States—

23 (1) to prevent the further fractionation of trust

24 allotments made to Indians;
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1 (2) to consolidate fractional interests and own2 ership of those interests into usable parcels;

3 (3) to consolidate fractional interests in a man4 ner that enhances tribal sovereignty; and

5 (4) to promote tribal self-sufficiency and self6 determination.

7 SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS TO THE INDIAN LAND CONSOLIDA8 TION ACT.

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Indian Land Consolidation

10 Act (25 U.S.C. 2201 et seq.) is amended—

11 (1) in section 202—

12 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘(1)

13 ‘tribe’ ’’ and inserting ‘‘(1) ‘Indian tribe’ or

14 ‘tribe’ ’’;

15 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and insert16 ing the following:

17 ‘‘(2)‘Indian’ means any person who is a mem18 ber of an Indian tribe or is eligible to become a

19 member of an Indian tribe at the time of the dis20 tribution of the assets of a decedent’s estate;’’;

21 (C) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para22 graph (3);

23 (D) by striking the period at the end of

24 paragraph (4) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

25 (E) by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(5) ‘heirs of the first or second degree’ means

2 parents, children, grandchildren, grandparents,

3 brothers and sisters of a decedent.’’;

4 (2) by amending section 203 to read as follows:

5 ‘‘SEC. 203. OTHER APPLICABLE PROVISIONS.

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), sec7 tions 5 and 7 of the Act of June 18, 1934 (commonly

8 known as the ‘Indian Reorganization Act’) (48 Stat. 985

9 et seq., chapter 576; 25 U.S.C. 465 and 467) shall apply

10 to all Indian tribes, notwithstanding section 18 of that Act

11 (25 U.S.C. 478).

12 ‘‘(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec13 tion is intended to supersede any other provision of Fed14 eral law which authorizes, prohibits, or restricts the acqui15 sition of land or the creation of reservations for Indians

16 with respect to any specific Indian tribe, reservation, or

17 State.’’;

18 (3) in section 205—

19 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph

20 (1)—

21 (i) by striking ‘‘Any Indian’’ and in22 serting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to

23 subsection (b), any Indian’’;

24 (ii) by striking ‘‘per centum of the un25 divided interest in such tract’’ and insert-
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1 ing ‘‘percent of the individual interests in

2 such tract. Interests owned by an Indian

3 tribe in a tract may be included in the

4 computation of the percentage of owner5 ship of the undivided interests in that tract

6 for purposes of determining whether the

7 consent requirement under the preceding

8 sentence has been met.’’;

9 (iii) by striking ‘‘: Provided, That—’’;

10 and inserting the following:

11 ‘‘(b) CONDITIONS APPLICABLE TO PURCHASE.—Sub12 section (a) applies on the conditions that—’’;

13 (B) in paragraph (2)—

14 (i) by striking ‘‘If,’’ and inserting

15 ‘‘if’’; and

16 (ii) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end; and

17 (C) by striking paragraph (3) and insert18 ing the following:

19 ‘‘(3) the approval of the Secretary shall be re20 quired for a land sale initiated under this section,

21 except that such approval shall not be required with

22 respect to a land sale transaction initiated by an In23 dian tribe that has in effect a land consolidation

24 plan that has been approved by the Secretary under

25 section 204.’’;
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1 (4) by striking section 206 and inserting the

2 following:

3 ‘‘SEC. 206. DESCENT AND DISTRIBUTION OF TRUST OR RE4 STRICTED LANDS; TRIBAL ORDINANCE BAR5 RING NONMEMBERS OF AN INDIAN TRIBE

6 FROM INHERITANCE BY DEVISE OR DE7 SCENT.

8 ‘‘(a) TRIBAL PROBATE CODES.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other

10 provision of law, any Indian tribe may adopt a tribal

11 probate code to govern descent and distribution of

12 trust or restricted lands that are—

13 ‘‘(A) located within that Indian tribe’s res14 ervation; or

15 ‘‘(B) otherwise subject to the jurisdiction

16 of that Indian tribe.

17 ‘‘(2) CODES.—A tribal probate code referred to

18 in paragraph (1) may provide that, notwithstanding

19 section 207, only members of the Indian tribe shall

20 be entitled to receive by devise or descent any inter21 est in trust or restricted lands within that Indian

22 tribe’s reservation or otherwise subject to that In23 dian tribe’s jurisdiction.

24 ‘‘(b) SECRETARIAL APPROVAL.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any tribal probate code en2 acted under subsection (a), and any amendment to

3 such a tribal probate code, shall be subject to the

4 approval of the Secretary.

5 ‘‘(2) REVIEW AND APPROVAL.—

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each Indian tribe

7 that adopts a tribal probate code under sub8 section (a) shall submit that code to the Sec9 retary for review. Not later than 180 days after

10 a tribal probate code is submitted to the Sec11 retary under this paragraph, the Secretary shall

12 review and approve or disapprove that tribal

13 probate code.

14 ‘‘(B) CONSEQUENCE OF FAILURES TO AP15 PROVE OR DISAPPROVE A TRIBAL PROBATE

16 CODE.—If the Secretary fails to approve or dis17 approve a tribal probate code submitted for re18 view under subparagraph (A) by the date speci19 fied in that subparagraph, the tribal probate

20 code shall be deemed to have been approved by

21 the Secretary, but only to the extent that the

22 tribal probate code is consistent with Federal

23 law.

24 ‘‘(C) CONSISTENCY OF TRIBAL PROBATE

25 CODE WITH THIS ACT.—The Secretary may not
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1 approve a tribal probate code under this para2 graph unless the Secretary determines that the

3 tribal probate code is consistent with this Act.

4 ‘‘(D) EXPLANATION.—If the Secretary dis5 approves a tribal probate code under this para6 graph, the Secretary shall include in a notice of

7 the disapproval to the Indian tribe a written ex8 planation of the reasons for the disapproval.

9 ‘‘(E) AMENDMENTS.—

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Each Indian tribe

11 that amends a tribal probate code under

12 this paragraph shall submit the amend13 ment to the Secretary for review and ap14 proval. Not later than 60 days after receiv15 ing an amendment under this subpara16 graph, the Secretary shall review and ap17 prove or disapprove the amendment.

18 ‘‘(ii) CONSEQUENCE OF FAILURE TO

19 APPROVE OR DISAPPROVE AN AMEND20 MENT.—If the Secretary fails to approve

21 or disapprove an amendment submitted

22 under clause (i), the amendment shall be

23 deemed to have been approved by the Sec24 retary, but only to the extent that the

25 amendment is consistent with Federal law.
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1 ‘‘(3) EFFECTIVE DATES.—A tribal probate code

2 or amendment approved under paragraph (2) shall

3 become effective on the later of—

4 ‘‘(A) the date specified in section

5 207(e)(1); or

6 ‘‘(B) 180 days after the date of approval.

7 ‘‘(4) LIMITATIONS.—

8 ‘‘(A) TRIBAL PROBATE CODES.—Each trib9 al probate code enacted under subsection (a)

10 shall apply only to the estate of a decedent who

11 dies on or after the effective date of the tribal

12 probate code.

13 ‘‘(B) AMENDMENTS TO TRIBAL PROBATE

14 CODES.—With respect to an amendment to a

15 tribal probate code referred to in subparagraph

16 (A), that amendment shall apply only to the es17 tate of a descendant who dies on or after the

18 effective date of the amendment.

19 ‘‘(5) REPEALS.—The repeal of a tribal probate

20 code shall—

21 ‘‘(A) not become effective earlier than the

22 date that is 180 days after the Secretary re23 ceives notice of the repeal; and
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1 ‘‘(B) apply only to the estate of a decedent

2 who dies on or after the effective date of the re3 peal.

4 ‘‘(c) USE OF PROPOSED FINDINGS BY TRIBAL JUS5 TICE SYSTEMS.—

6 ‘‘(1) TRIBAL JUSTICE SYSTEM DEFINED.—In

7 this subsection, the term ‘tribal justice system’ has

8 the meaning given that term in section 3 of the In9 dian Tribal Justice Act (25 U.S.C. 3602).

10 ‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall pro11 mulgate regulations concerning the use of proposed

12 findings of fact and conclusions of law, as rendered

13 by a tribal justice system, in the adjudication of pro14 bate proceedings by the Department of the Interior.

15 ‘‘(d) LIFE ESTATES FOR NON-INDIAN SPOUSES AND

16 CHILDREN WHO WOULD OTHERWISE BE PRECLUDED

17 FROM INHERITING BY REASON OF THE OPERATION OF

18 A TRIBAL PROBATE CODE.—

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (2) shall apply

20 with respect to a non-Indian spouse or child of an

21 Indian decedent, if that decedent is subject to a trib22 al probate code that has been approved by the Sec23 retary (or deemed approved) under subsection (b)

24 and—

25 ‘‘(A) dies intestate; and
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1 ‘‘(B) has devised an interest in trust or re2 stricted lands to that non-Indian spouse or

3 child, which the spouse or child is otherwise

4 prohibited from inheriting by reason of that

5 tribal probate code.

6 ‘‘(2) LIFE ESTATES.—

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A surviving non-In8 dian spouse or child of the decedent described

9 in paragraph (1) may elect to receive a life es10 tate in the portion of the trust or restricted

11 lands to which that individual would have been

12 entitled under the tribal probate code, if that

13 individual were an Indian.

14 ‘‘(B) REMAINDER OF INTEREST.—If a

15 non-Indian spouse or child elects to receive a

16 life estate described in subparagraph (A), the

17 remainder of the interest of the Indian decedent

18 shall vest in the Indians who would otherwise

19 have been heirs, but for that spouse’s or child’s

20 election to receive a life estate.’’;

21 (5) by striking section 207 and inserting the

22 following:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 207. DESCENT AND DISTRIBUTION; ESCHEAT OF

2 FRACTIONAL INTERESTS.

3 ‘‘(a) DESCENT AND DISTRIBUTION.—Except as pro4 vided in this section, interests in trust or restricted lands

5 may descend by testate or intestate succession only to—

6 ‘‘(1) the decedent’s heirs-at-law or relatives

7 within the first and second degree;

8 ‘‘(2) a person who owns a preexisting interest

9 in the same parcel of land conveyed by the decedent;

10 ‘‘(3) members of the Indian tribe with jurisdic11 tion over the lands devised; or

12 ‘‘(4) the Indian tribe with jurisdiction over the

13 lands devised.

14 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL RULE.—A decedent that does not have

15 a relative who meets the description under subsection

16 (a)(1) or a relative who is a member described in sub17 section (a)(3) may devise that decedent’s estate or any

18 asset of that estate to any relative.

19 ‘‘(c) DEVISE OF INTERESTS IN THE SAME PARCEL

20 TO MORE THAN 1 PERSON.—

21 ‘‘(1) JOINT TENANCY WITH RIGHT OF SURVI22 VORSHIP.—If a testator devises interests in the same

23 parcel of trust or restricted land to more than 1 per24 son, in the absence of express language in the devise

25 to the contrary, the devise shall be presumed to cre26 ate a joint tenancy with right of survivorship.
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1 ‘‘(2) ESTATES PASSING BY INTESTATE SUCCES2 SION.—With respect to an estate passing by intes3 tate succession, only a spouse and heirs of the first

4 or second degree may inherit an interest in trust or

5 restricted lands.

6 ‘‘(3) ESCHEAT.—If no individual is eligible to

7 receive an interest in trust or restricted lands, the

8 interest shall escheat to the Indian tribe having ju9 risdiction over the trust or restricted lands, subject

10 to any life estate that may be created under section

11 206(d).

12 ‘‘(4) NOTIFICATION TO INDIAN TRIBES.—Not

13 later than 180 days after the date of enactment of

14 the Indian Land Consolidation Act Amendments of

15 1999, the Secretary shall, to the extent that the Sec16 retary considers to be practicable, notify Indian

17 tribes and individual landowners of the amendments

18 made by the Indian Land Consolidation Act Amend19 ments of 1999. The notice shall list estate planning

20 options available to the owners.

21 ‘‘(5) DESCENT OF OFF-RESERVATION LANDS.—

22 ‘‘(A) INDIAN RESERVATION DEFINED.—

23 For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘In24 dian reservation’ includes lands located

25 within—
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1 ‘‘(i) Oklahoma; and

2 ‘‘(ii) the boundaries of an Indian

3 tribe’s former reservation (as defined and

4 determined by the Secretary).

5 ‘‘(B) DESCENT.—Upon the death of an in6 dividual holding an interest in trust or re7 stricted lands that are located outside the

8 boundaries of an Indian reservation and that

9 are not subject to the jurisdiction of any Indian

10 tribe, that interest shall descend either—

11 ‘‘(A) by testate or intestate succession in

12 trust to an Indian; or

13 ‘‘(B) in fee status to any other devises or

14 heirs.

15 ‘‘(6) NOTICE TO INDIANS.—

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

17 provide notice to each Indian that has an inter18 est in trust or restricted lands of that interest.

19 The notice shall specify that if such interest is

20 in 2 percent or less of the total acreage in a

21 parcel of trust or restricted lands, that interest

22 may escheat to the Indian tribe of that Indian.

23 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Subsections (a) and

24 (d) shall not apply to the probate of any inter25 est in trust or restricted lands of an Indian de-
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1 cedent if the Secretary failed to provide notice

2 under subparagraph (A) to that individual be3 fore the date that is 180 days before the death

4 of the decedent.

5 ‘‘(d) ESCHEATABLE FRACTIONAL INTERESTS.—

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding subsection

7 (a), no undivided interest which represents 2 percent

8 or less of the total acreage in a parcel of trust or

9 restricted land shall pass by intestacy.

10 ‘‘(2) ESCHEAT.—An undivided interest referred

11 to in paragraph (1) shall escheat—

12 ‘‘(A) to the Indian tribe on whose reserva13 tion the interest is located; or

14 ‘‘(B) if that interest is located outside of a

15 reservation, to the recognized tribal government

16 possessing jurisdiction over the land.’’; and

17 (6) by adding at the end the following:

18 ‘‘SEC. 213. ACQUISITION OF FRACTIONAL INTERESTS.

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may acquire, in

20 the discretion of the Secretary, with the consent of its

21 owner and at fair market value, any fractional interest in

22 trust or restricted lands. The Secretary shall give priority

23 to the acquisition of fractional interests representing 2

24 percent or less of a parcel of trust or restricted land. The

25 Secretary shall hold in trust for the Indian tribe that has
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1 jurisdiction over the fractional interest in trust or re2 stricted lands the title of all interests acquired under this

3 section.

4 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM OF ACQUISITION.—Any Indian tribe

5 that has in effect a consolidation plan that has been ap6 proved by the Secretary under section 204 may request

7 the Secretary to enter into an agreement with the Indian

8 tribe to implement a program to acquire fractional inter9 ests, as authorized by subsection (a) using funds appro10 priated pursuant to this Act.

11 ‘‘SEC. 214. ADMINISTRATION OF ACQUIRED FRACTIONAL

12 INTERESTS, DISPOSITION OF PROCEEDS.

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the conditions de14 scribed in subsection (b)(1), an Indian tribe receiving a

15 fractional interest under section 207 or 213 may, as a ten16 ant in common with the other owners of the trust or re17 stricted lands, lease the interest, sell the resources, con18 sent to the granting of rights-of-way, or engage in any

19 other transaction affecting the trust or restricted land au20 thorized by law.

21 ‘‘(b) CONDITIONS.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The conditions described in

23 this paragraph are as follows:

24 ‘‘(A) Until the purchase price paid by the

25 Secretary for the interest referred to in sub-
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1 section (a) has been recovered, any lease, re2 source sale contract, right-of-way, or other

3 transaction affecting the document providing

4 for the disposition of the interest under that

5 subsection shall contain a clause providing that

6 all revenue derived from the interest shall be

7 paid to the Secretary.

8 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall deposit any rev9 enue derived from interest paid under subpara10 graph (A) in the Acquisition Fund created

11 under section 216.

12 ‘‘(C) The Secretary shall deposit any rev13 enue derived from the interest that is paid

14 under subparagraph (A) that is in an amount

15 in excess of the purchase price of the fractional

16 interest involved to the credit of the Indian

17 tribe that receives the fractional interest under

18 section 213.

19 ‘‘(D) Notwithstanding any other provision

20 of law, including section 16 of the Act of June

21 18, 1934 (commonly referred to as the ‘Indian

22 Reorganization Act’) (48 Stat. 987, chapter

23 576; 25 U.S.C. 476), during such time as an

24 Indian tribe is a tenant in common with indi25 vidual Indian landowners on land acquired
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1 under section 207 or 213, the Indian tribe may

2 not refuse to enter into any transaction covered

3 under this section if landowners owning a ma4 jority of the undivided interests in the parcel

5 consent to the transaction.

6 ‘‘(E) If the Indian tribe does not consent

7 to enter into a transaction referred to in sub8 paragraph (D), the Secretary may consent on

9 behalf of the Indian tribe.

10 ‘‘(F) For leases of allotted land that are

11 authorized to be granted by the Secretary, the

12 Indian tribe shall be treated as if the Indian

13 tribe were an individual Indian landowner.

14 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1)(A) shall not

15 apply to any revenue derived from an interest in a

16 parcel of land acquired by the Secretary under sec17 tion after an amount equal to the purchase price of

18 that interest in land has been paid into the Acquisi19 tion Fund created under section 216.

20 ‘‘SEC. 215. ESTABLISHING FAIR MARKET VALUE.

21 ‘‘For the purposes of this Act, the Secretary may de22 velop a reservation-wide system (or system for another ap23 propriate geographical unit) for establishing the fair mar24 ket value of various types of lands and improvements.

25 That system may govern the amounts offered for the pur-
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1 chase of interests in trust or restricted lands under section

2 213.

3 ‘‘SEC. 216. ACQUISITION FUND.

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish an

5 Acquisition Fund to—

6 ‘‘(1) disburse appropriations authorized to ac7 complish the purposes of section 213; and

8 ‘‘(2) collect all revenues received from the lease,

9 permit, or sale of resources from interests in trust

10 or restricted lands transferred to Indian tribes by

11 the Secretary under section 213.

12 ‘‘(b) DEPOSITS; USE.—

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

14 all proceeds from leases, permits, or resource sales

15 derived from an interest in trust or restricted lands

16 described in subsection (a)(2) shall—

17 ‘‘(A) be deposited in the Acquisition Fund;

18 and

19 ‘‘(B) as specified in advance in appropria20 tions Acts, be available for the purpose of ac21 quiring additional fractional interests in trust

22 or restricted lands.

23 ‘‘(2) MAXIMUM DEPOSITS OF PROCEEDS.—With

24 respect to the deposit of proceeds derived from an

25 interest under paragraph (1), the aggregate amount
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1 deposited under that paragraph shall not exceed the

2 purchase price of that interest under section 213.

3 ‘‘SEC. 217. DETERMINATION OF RESERVATION BOUND4 ARIES AND TRIBAL JURISDICTION.

5 ‘‘(a) DETERMINATION OF JURISDICTION.—

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall deter7 mine whether a parcel of land is—

8 ‘‘(A) within an Indian reservation; or

9 ‘‘(B) otherwise subject to an Indian tribe’s

10 jurisdiction.

11 ‘‘(2) REVIEW.—The United States District

12 Court for the district where land that is subject to

13 a determination under paragraph (1) is located may

14 review the determination under chapter 7 of title 5,

15 United States Code.

16 ‘‘(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act

17 may be construed to affect section 2409a of title 28,

18 United States Code.

19 ‘‘SEC. 218. TRUST AND RESTRICTED LAND TRANSACTIONS.

20 ‘‘(a) POLICY.—It is the policy of the United States

21 to encourage and assist the consolidation of land owner22 ship through transactions involving individual Indians in

23 a manner consistent with the policy of maintaining the

24 trust status of allotted lands.
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1 ‘‘(b) VALUATION OF SALES AND EXCHANGES.—Not2 withstanding any other provision of law—

3 ‘‘(1) the sale of an interest in trust or restricted

4 land may be made for an amount that is less than

5 the fair market value of that interest; and

6 ‘‘(2) the exchange of an interest in trust or re7 stricted lands may be made for an interest of a value

8 less than the fair market value of the interest in

9 those lands.

10 ‘‘(c) STATUS OF LANDS.—The sale or exchange of

11 an interest in trust or restricted land under this section

12 shall not affect the status of that land as trust or re13 stricted land.

14 ‘‘(d) GIFT DEEDS.—

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An individual owner of an

16 interest in trust or restricted land may convey that

17 interest by gift deed to—

18 ‘‘(A) an individual Indian who is a member

19 of the Indian tribe that exercises jurisdiction

20 over the land;

21 ‘‘(B) the Indian tribe that exercises juris22 diction over that land; or

23 ‘‘(C) any other person whom the Secretary

24 determines may hold the land in trust or re25 stricted status.
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1 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE.—With respect to any gift

2 deed conveyed under this section, the Secretary shall

3 not require an appraisal.

4 ‘‘SEC. 219. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the date that is

6 3 years after the date of enactment of the Indian Land

7 Consolidation Act Amendments of 1999, and annually

8 thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report

9 that indicates, for the period covered by the report—

10 ‘‘(1) the number of fractional interests in trust

11 or restricted lands acquired; and

12 ‘‘(2) the impact of the resulting reduction in

13 the number of such fractional interests on the finan14 cial and realty recordkeeping systems of the Bureau

15 of Indian Affairs.

16 ‘‘(b) RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LEGISLATION.—The

17 Secretary, after consultation with the Indian tribes, shall

18 make recommendations for such legislation as is necessary

19 to make further reductions in the fractional interests re20 ferred to in subsection (a).

21 ‘‘SEC. 220. APPROVAL OF LEASES, RIGHTS-OF-WAY, AND

22 SALES OF NATURAL RESOURCES.

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may approve any

24 lease, right-of-way, sale of natural resources, or any other
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1 transaction affecting individually owned trust or restricted

2 lands that requires approval by the Secretary, if—

3 ‘‘(1) the owners of a majority interest in the

4 trust or restricted lands consent to the transaction;

5 and

6 ‘‘(2) the Secretary determines that approval of

7 the transaction is in the best interest of the Indian

8 owners.

9 ‘‘(b) BINDING TRANSACTIONS.—Upon the approval

10 of a transaction referred to in subsection (a), the trans11 action shall be binding upon the owners of the minority

12 interests in the trust or restricted land, and all other par13 ties to the transaction to the same extent as if all of the

14 Indian owners had consented to the transaction.

15 ‘‘SEC. 221. REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS INVOLVING NON16 TRUST LANDS.

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro18 vision of law, any Indian tribe may on the same basis as

19 any other person, buy, sell, mortgage, or otherwise acquire

20 or dispose of lands or interests in land described in sub21 section (b), without an Act of Congress or the approval

22 of the Secretary.

23 ‘‘(b) LANDS.—Lands described in this subsection are

24 lands that are—
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1 ‘‘(1) acquired after the date of enactment of the

2 Indian Land Consolidation Act Amendments of

3 1999; and

4 ‘‘(2) not held in trust or subject to a pre5 existing Federal restriction on alienation imposed by

6 the United States.

7 ‘‘(c) NO LIABILITY ON PART OF THE UNITED

8 STATES.—The disposition of lands described in subsection

9 (b) shall create no liability on the part of the United

10 States.’’.

11 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY.—

12 (1) EFFECTIVE DATE OF AMENDMENTS TO SEC13 TION 207 OF THE INDIAN LAND CONSOLIDATION

14 ACT.—Except with respect to the notification under

15 section 207(c) (4) and (6) of the Indian Land Con16 solidation Act (25 U.S.C. 2206(c) (4) and (6)), the

17 amendments made by subsection (a) to section 207

18 of the Indian Land Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C.

19 2206) shall become effective on the date that is 2

20 years after the date of enactment of this Act.

21 (2) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made

22 by subsection (a) to section 207 of the Indian Land

23 Consolidation Act shall apply only to the estates of

24 decedents that die on or after the date specified in

25 paragraph (1).
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1 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

3 as are necessary to carry out this Act.

4 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

5 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Indian Land Consolida6 tion Act Amendments of 2000’’.

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

8 Congress finds that—

9 (1) in the 1800’s and early 1900’s, the United

10 States sought to assimilate Indian people into the

11 surrounding non-Indian culture by allotting tribal

12 lands to individual members of Indian tribes;

13 (2) as a result of the allotment Acts and related

14 Federal policies, over 90,000,000 acres of land have

15 passed from tribal ownership;

16 (3) many trust allotments were taken out of trust

17 status, often without their owners’ consent;

18 (4) without restrictions on alienation, allotment

19 owners were subject to exploitation and their allot20 ments were often sold or disposed of without any tan21 gible or enduring benefit to their owners;

22 (5) the trust periods for trust allotments have

23 been extended indefinitely;

24 (6) because of the inheritance provisions in the

25 original treaties or allotment Acts, the ownership of

26 many of the trust allotments that have remained in
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1 trust status has become fractionated into hundreds or

2 thousands of interests, many of which represent 2 per3 cent or less of the total interests;

4 (7) Congress has authorized the acquisition of

5 lands in trust for individual Indians, and many of

6 those lands have also become fractionated by subse7 quent inheritance;

8 (8) the acquisitions referred to in paragraph (7)

9 continue to be made;

10 (9) the fractional interests described in this sec11 tion provide little or no return to the beneficial own12 ers of those interests and the administrative costs

13 borne by the United States for those interests are in14 ordinately high;

15 (10) in Babbitt v. Youpee (117 S Ct. 727

16 (1997)), the United States Supreme Court found that

17 the application of section 207 of the Indian Land

18 Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 2206) to the facts pre19 sented in that case to be unconstitutional, forcing the

20 Department of the Interior to address the status of

21 thousands of undivided interests in trust and re22 stricted lands;

23 (11)(A) on February 19, 1999, the Secretary of

24 Interior issued a Secretarial Order which officially

25 reopened the probate of all estates where an interest
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1 in land was ordered to escheat to an Indian tribe

2 pursuant to section 207 of the Indian Land Consoli3 dation Act (25 U.S.C. 2206); and

4 (B) the Secretarial Order also directed appro5 priate officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to dis6 tribute such interests ‘‘to the rightful heirs and bene7 ficiaries without regard to 25 U.S.C. 2206’’;

8 (12) in the absence of comprehensive remedial

9 legislation, the number of the fractional interests will

10 continue to grow exponentially;

11 (13) the problem of the fractionation of Indian

12 lands described in this section is the result of a policy

13 of the Federal Government, cannot be solved by In14 dian tribes, and requires a solution under Federal

15 law.

16 (14) any devise or inheritance of an interest in

17 trust or restricted Indian lands is based on Federal

18 law; and

19 (15) consistent with the Federal policy of tribal

20 self-determination, the Federal Government should en21 courage the recognized tribal government that exer22 cises jurisdiction over a reservation to establish a

23 tribal probate code for that reservation.

24 SEC. 3. DECLARATION OF POLICY.

25 It is the policy of the United States—
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1 (1) to prevent the further fractionation of trust

2 allotments made to Indians;

3 (2) to consolidate fractional interests and owner4 ship of those interests into usable parcels;

5 (3) to consolidate fractional interests in a man6 ner that enhances tribal sovereignty;

7 (4) to promote tribal self-sufficiency and self-de8 termination; and

9 (5) to reverse the effects of the allotment policy

10 on Indian tribes.

11 SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS TO THE INDIAN LAND CONSOLIDA12 TION ACT.

13 The Indian Land Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 2201

14 et seq.) is amended—

15 (1) in section 202—

16 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘(1)

17 ‘tribe’ ’’ and inserting ‘‘(1) ‘Indian tribe’ or

18 ‘tribe’ ’’;

19 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting

20 the following:

21 ‘‘(2) ‘Indian’ means any person who is a member

22 of any Indian tribe or is eligible to become a member

23 of any Indian tribe at the time of the distribution of

24 the assets of a decedent’s estate;’’;
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1 (C) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para2 graph (3);

3 (D) by striking the period at the end of

4 paragraph (4) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

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

6 ‘‘(5) ‘heirs of the first or second degree’ means

7 parents, children, grandchildren, grandparents, broth8 ers and sisters of a decedent.’’;

9 (2) in section 205—

10 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph

11 (1)—

12 (i) by striking ‘‘Any Indian’’ and in13 serting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to sub14 section (b), any Indian’’;

15 (ii) by striking the colon and inserting

16 the following: ‘‘. Interests owned by an In17 dian tribe in a tract may be included in the

18 computation of the percentage of ownership

19 of the undivided interests in that tract for

20 purposes of determining whether the consent

21 requirement under the preceding sentence

22 has been met.’’;

23 (iii) by striking ‘‘: Provided, That—’’;

24 and inserting the following:
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1 ‘‘(b) CONDITIONS APPLICABLE TO PURCHASE.—Sub2 section (a) applies on the condition that—’’;

3 (B) in paragraph (2)—

4 (i) by striking ‘‘If,’’ and inserting ‘‘if’’;

5 and

6 (ii) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end; and

7 (C) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting

8 the following:

9 ‘‘(3) the approval of the Secretary shall be re10 quired for a land sale initiated under this section, ex11 cept that such approval shall not be required with re12 spect to a land sale transaction initiated by an In13 dian tribe that has in effect a land consolidation plan

14 that has been approved by the Secretary under section

15 204.’’;

16 (3) by striking section 206 and inserting the fol17 lowing:

18 ‘‘SEC. 206. TRIBAL PROBATE CODES; ACQUISITIONS OF

19 FRACTIONAL INTERESTS BY TRIBES.

20 ‘‘(a) TRIBAL PROBATE CODES.—

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other

22 provision of law, any Indian tribe may adopt a trib23 al probate code to govern descent and distribution of

24 trust or restricted lands that are—
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1 ‘‘(A) located within that Indian tribe’s res2 ervation; or

3 ‘‘(B) otherwise subject to the jurisdiction of

4 that Indian tribe.

5 ‘‘(2) POSSIBLE INCLUSIONS.—A tribal probate

6 code referred to in paragraph (1) may include—

7 ‘‘(A) rules of intestate succession; and

8 ‘‘(B) other tribal probate code provisions

9 that are consistent with Federal law and that

10 promote the policies set forth in section 3 of the

11 Indian Land Consolidation Act Amendments of

12 2000.

13 ‘‘(3) LIMITATIONS.—The Secretary shall not ap14 prove a tribal probate code if such code prevents an

15 Indian person from inheriting an interest in an allot16 ment that was originally allotted to his or her lineal

17 ancestor.

18 ‘‘(b) SECRETARIAL APPROVAL.—

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any tribal probate code en20 acted under subsection (a), and any amendment to

21 such a tribal probate code, shall be subject to the ap22 proval of the Secretary.

23 ‘‘(2) REVIEW AND APPROVAL.—

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each Indian tribe that

25 adopts a tribal probate code under subsection (a)
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1 shall submit that code to the Secretary for re2 view. Not later than 180 days after a tribal pro3 bate code is submitted to the Secretary under

4 this paragraph, the Secretary shall review and

5 approve or disapprove that tribal probate code.

6 ‘‘(B) CONSEQUENCE OF FAILURES TO AP7 PROVE OR DISAPPROVE A TRIBAL PROBATE

8 CODE.—If the Secretary fails to approve or dis9 approve a tribal probate code submitted for re10 view under subparagraph (A) by the date speci11 fied in that subparagraph, the tribal probate

12 code shall be deemed to have been approved by

13 the Secretary, but only to the extent that the

14 tribal probate code is consistent with Federal

15 law and promotes the policies set forth in section

16 3 of the Indian Land Consolidation Act Amend17 ments of 2000.

18 ‘‘(C) CONSISTENCY OF TRIBAL PROBATE

19 CODE WITH ACT.—The Secretary may not ap20 prove a tribal probate code, or any amendment

21 to such a code, under this paragraph unless the

22 Secretary determines that the tribal probate code

23 promotes the policies set forth in section 3 of the

24 Indian Land Consolidation Act Amendments of

25 2000.
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1 ‘‘(D) EXPLANATION.—If the Secretary dis2 approves a tribal probate code, or an amendment

3 to such a code, under this paragraph, the Sec4 retary shall include in the notice of disapproval

5 to the Indian tribe a written explanation of the

6 reasons for the disapproval.

7 ‘‘(E) AMENDMENTS.—

8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Each Indian tribe

9 that amends a tribal probate code under

10 this paragraph shall submit the amendment

11 to the Secretary for review and approval.

12 Not later than 60 days after receiving an

13 amendment under this subparagraph, the

14 Secretary shall review and approve or dis15 approve the amendment.

16 ‘‘(ii) CONSEQUENCE OF FAILURE TO

17 APPROVE OR DISAPPROVE AN AMEND18 MENT.—If the Secretary fails to approve or

19 disapprove an amendment submitted under

20 clause (i), the amendment shall be deemed

21 to have been approved by the Secretary, but

22 only to the extent that the amendment is

23 consistent with Federal law and promotes

24 the policies set forth in section 3 of the In25 dian Land Consolidation Act of 2000.
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1 ‘‘(3) EFFECTIVE DATES.—A tribal probate code

2 approved under paragraph (2) shall become effective

3 on the later of—

4 ‘‘(A) the date specified in section 207(f)(5);

5 or

6 ‘‘(B) 180 days after the date of approval.

7 ‘‘(4) LIMITATIONS.—

8 ‘‘(A) TRIBAL PROBATE CODES.—Each tribal

9 probate code enacted under subsection (a) shall

10 apply only to the estate of a decedent who dies

11 on or after the effective date of the tribal probate

12 code.

13 ‘‘(B) AMENDMENTS TO TRIBAL PROBATE

14 CODES.—With respect to an amendment to a

15 tribal probate code referred to in subparagraph

16 (A), that amendment shall apply only to the es17 tate of a descendant who dies on or after the ef18 fective date of the amendment.

19 ‘‘(5) REPEALS.—The repeal of a tribal probate

20 code shall—

21 ‘‘(A) not become effective earlier than the

22 date that is 180 days after the Secretary receives

23 notice of the repeal; and
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1 ‘‘(B) apply only to the estate of a decedent

2 who dies on or after the effective date of the re3 peal.

4 ‘‘(c) AUTHORITY AVAILABLE TO INDIAN TRIBES.—

5 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.—The recognized tribal gov6 ernment that has jurisdiction over an Indian reserva7 tion (as defined in section 207(c)(5)) may exercise the

8 authority provided for in paragraph (2).

9 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY TO MAKE PAYMENTS IN LIEU OF

10 INHERITANCE OF INTEREST IN LAND.—

11 ‘‘(A) PROHIBITION.—An individual who is

12 not an Indian shall not be entitled to receive by

13 devise or descent any interest in trust or re14 stricted land, except by reserving a life estate

15 under subparagraph (B)(ii), within the reserva16 tion over which a tribal government has jurisdic17 tion if, while the decedent’s estate is pending be18 fore the Secretary, the tribal government referred

19 to in paragraph (1) pays to the Secretary, on be20 half of such individual, the value of such interest.

21 The interest for which payment is made under

22 this subparagraph shall be held by the Secretary

23 in trust for the tribal government.

24 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—
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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (A)

2 shall not apply to any interest in trust or

3 restricted land if, while the decedent’s estate

4 is pending before the Secretary, the ineli5 gible non-Indian heir or devisee described in

6 such subparagraph renounces the interest in

7 favor of a person or persons who are other8 wise eligible to inherit.

9 ‘‘(ii) RESERVATION OF LIFE ESTATE.—

10 The non-Indian heir or devisee described in

11 clause (i) may retain a life estate in the in12 terest and convey the remaining interest to

13 an Indian person.

14 ‘‘(iii) PRESUMPTION.—In the absence

15 of any express language to the contrary, a

16 conveyance under clause (ii) is presumed to

17 reserve to the life estate holder all income

18 from the lease, use, rents, profits, royalties,

19 bonuses, or sales of natural resources during

20 the pendency of the life estate and any right

21 to occupy the tract of land as a home.

22 ‘‘(C) PAYMENTS.—With respect to payments

23 by a tribal government under subparagraph (A),

24 the Secretary shall—
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1 ‘‘(i) upon the request of the tribal gov2 ernment, allow a reasonable period of time,

3 not to exceed 2 years, for the tribal govern4 ment to make payments of amounts due

5 pursuant to subparagraph (A); or

6 ‘‘(ii) recognize alternative agreed upon

7 exchanges of consideration between the ineli8 gible non-Indian and the tribe in satisfac9 tion of the payment under subparagraph

10 (A).

11 ‘‘(d) USE OF PROPOSED FINDINGS BY TRIBAL JUS12 TICE SYSTEMS.—

13 ‘‘(1) TRIBAL JUSTICE SYSTEM DEFINED.—In this

14 subsection, the term ‘tribal justice system’ has the

15 meaning given that term in section 3 of the Indian

16 Tribal Justice Act (25 U.S.C. 3602).

17 ‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary by regula18 tion may provide for the use of findings of fact and

19 conclusions of law, as rendered by a tribal justice sys20 tem, as proposed findings of fact and conclusions of

21 law in the adjudication of probate proceedings by the

22 Department of the Interior.’’;

23 (4) by striking section 207 and inserting the fol24 lowing:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 207. DESCENT AND DISTRIBUTION; ESCHEAT OF

2 FRACTIONAL INTERESTS.

3 ‘‘(a) TESTAMENTARY DISPOSITION.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in this

5 section, interests in trust or restricted land may be

6 devised only to—

7 ‘‘(A) the decedent’s Indian spouse or any

8 other Indian person; or

9 ‘‘(B) the Indian tribe with jurisdiction over

10 the land so devised.

11 ‘‘(2) NON-INDIAN ESTATE.—Any devise not de12 scribed in paragraph (1) shall create a non-Indian es13 tate in Indian land as provided for under subsection

14 (c).

15 ‘‘(3) JOINT TENANCY WITH RIGHT OF SURVIVOR16 SHIP.—If a testator devises interests in the same par17 cel of trust or restricted land to more than 1 person,

18 in the absence of express language in the devise to the

19 contrary, the devise shall be presumed to create a

20 joint tenancy with right of survivorship.

21 ‘‘(b) INTESTATE SUCCESSION.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs (2)

23 and (3), with respect to an interest in trust or re24 stricted land passing by intestate succession, only a

25 spouse or heirs of the first or second degree may in26 herit such an interest.
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1 ‘‘(2) NON-INDIAN ESTATE.—Notwithstanding

2 paragraph (1), a non-Indian spouse or non-Indian

3 heir of the first or second degree may only receive a

4 non-Indian estate in Indian land as provided for

5 under subsection (c).

6 ‘‘(3) JOINT TENANCY.—

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Unless modified by a

8 tribal probate code that is approved under sec9 tion 206—

10 ‘‘(i) any heirs of the first or second de11 gree that inherit an interest that constitutes

12 5 percent or more of the undivided interest

13 in a parcel of trust or restricted land, shall

14 hold such interest as tenants in common;

15 and

16 ‘‘(ii) any heirs of the first or second de17 gree that inherit an interest that constitutes

18 less than 5 percent of the undivided interest

19 in a parcel of trust or restricted land, shall

20 hold such interest as joint tenants with the

21 right of survivorship.

22 ‘‘(B) RENOUNCING OF RIGHTS.—The heirs

23 who inherit an interest as tenants in common

24 with a right of survivorship under subparagraph
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1 (A)(ii) may renounce their right of survivorship

2 in favor of one or more of their co-owners.

3 ‘‘(4) ACQUISITION OF INTEREST BY INDIAN CO4 OWNERS.—An Indian co-owner of a parcel of trust or

5 restricted land may prevent the escheat of an interest

6 in Indian lands for which there is no legal heir by

7 paying into the decedent’s estate, the fair market

8 value of the interest in such land. If more than 1 In9 dian co-owner offers to pay for such interest, the high10 est bidder shall obtain the interest. If no such offer is

11 made, the interest will escheat to the tribe that exer12 cises jurisdiction over the land.

13 ‘‘(c) NON-INDIAN ESTATES.—

14 ‘‘(1) RIGHTS OF NON-INDIAN ESTATE HOLD15 ERS.—

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An individual who re17 ceives a non-Indian estate in Indian land under

18 subsection (a)(2) or (b)(2)—

19 ‘‘(i) shall receive a proportionate share

20 of the proceeds of any lease, use, rents, prof21 its, royalties, bonuses, or sale of natural re22 sources based on their share of the decedent’s

23 interest in such land; and

24 ‘‘(ii) may—
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1 ‘‘(I) convey or deed by gift the de2 cedent’s interest in trust or restricted

3 land to an Indian or the tribe with ju4 risdiction over the land; or

5 ‘‘(II) devise the decedent’s interest

6 to either an Indian or an Indian tribe

7 as provided for in subsection (a)(1) or

8 a non-Indian as provided for in sub9 section (a)(2).

10 ‘‘(B) DECEDENT’S INTEREST.—In this sec11 tion, the term ‘decedent’s interest’ means the eq12 uitable title held by the last Indian owner of an

13 interest in trust or restricted lands.

14 ‘‘(2) ESCHEAT AND INTESTATE SUCCESSION.—If

15 the holder of a non-Indian estate in Indian land dies

16 without having devised or conveyed the interest of the

17 individual under paragraph (1)(A)(ii), the decedent’s

18 interest in the trust or restricted land involved

19 shall—

20 ‘‘(A) descend to the non-Indian

21 estateholder’s Indian spouse or Indian heirs of

22 the first or second degree as provided for in sub23 section (b)(3); or

24 ‘‘(B) in the case of a decedent that does not

25 have an Indian spouse or heir of the first or sec-
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1 ond degree, descend to the Indian tribe having

2 jurisdiction over the trust or restricted lands.

3 ‘‘(3) ACQUISITION OF INTEREST BY INDIAN CO4 OWNERS.—An Indian co-owner of a parcel of trust or

5 restricted land may prevent the escheat of an interest

6 to the tribe under paragraph (2) by paying into the

7 estate of the owner of a non-Indian estate in Indian

8 land the fair market value of the interest. If more

9 than 1 Indian co-owner offers to pay for such interest,

10 the highest bidder shall obtain the interest.

11 ‘‘(4) DEVISE OF INTEREST.—If the owner of a

12 non-Indian estate in Indian land devises the interest

13 in such land to a person who is not an Indian, at

14 the discretion of the Secretary and subject to the

15 availability of appropriations, the Secretary may,

16 pursuant to section 213, acquire such interest, with or

17 without the consent of the devisee, by depositing the

18 value of the interest in the estate of the owner of the

19 non-Indian estate in Indian land.

20 ‘‘(5) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—With respect to a dece22 dent’s interest in trust or restricted lands under

23 this subsection, until such time as an Indian or

24 an Indian tribe acquires such interest through

25 inheritance, escheat, or conveyance, the Secretary
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1 shall be treated as the holder of the remainder

2 from the life estate.

3 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Subparagraph (A) shall

4 not be construed to authorize the Secretary to re5 tain any of the proceeds from the lease, use,

6 rents, profits, royalties, bonuses, or sale of nat7 ural resources with respect to the trust or re8 stricted lands involved.

9 ‘‘(6) DESCENT OF OFF-RESERVATION LANDS.—

10 ‘‘(A) INDIAN RESERVATION DEFINED.—For

11 purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘Indian res12 ervation’ includes lands located within—

13 ‘‘(i)(I) Oklahoma; and

14 ‘‘(II) the boundaries of an Indian

15 tribe’s former reservation (as defined and

16 determined by the Secretary);

17 ‘‘(ii) the boundaries of any Indian

18 tribe’s current or former reservation; or

19 ‘‘(iii) any area where the Secretary is

20 required to provide special assistance or

21 consideration of a tribe’s acquisition of land

22 or interests in land.

23 ‘‘(B) DESCENT.—Upon the death of an in24 dividual holding an interest in trust or restricted

25 lands that are located outside the boundaries of
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1 an Indian reservation and that are not subject

2 to the jurisdiction of any Indian tribe, that in3 terest shall descend either—

4 ‘‘(i) by testate or intestate succession

5 in trust to an Indian; or

6 ‘‘(ii) in fee status to any other devises

7 or heirs.

8 ‘‘(d) APPROVAL OF AGREEMENTS.—The official au9 thorized to adjudicate the probate of trust or restricted lands

10 shall have the authority to approve agreements between a

11 decedent’s heirs and devisees to consolidate interests in trust

12 or restricted lands. The agreements referred to in the pre13 ceding sentence may include trust or restricted lands that

14 are not a part of the decedent’s estate that is the subject

15 of the probate. The Secretary may promulgate regulations

16 for the implementation of this subsection.

17 ‘‘(e) ESTATE PLANNING ASSISTANCE.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide

19 estate planning assistance in accordance with this

20 subsection, to the extent amounts are appropriated for

21 such purpose.

22 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The estate planning as23 sistance provided under paragraph (1) shall be de24 signed to—
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1 ‘‘(A) inform, advise, and assist Indian

2 landowners with respect to estate planning in

3 order to facilitate the transfer of trust or re4 stricted lands to a devisee or devisees selected by

5 the landowners; and

6 ‘‘(B) assist Indian landowners in accessing

7 information pursuant to section 217(g).

8 ‘‘(3) CONTRACTS.—In carrying out this section,

9 the Secretary may enter into contracts with entities

10 that have expertise in Indian estate planning and

11 tribal probate codes.

12 ‘‘(f) NOTIFICATION TO INDIAN TRIBES AND OWNERS

13 OF TRUST OR RESTRICTED LANDS.—

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

15 after the date of enactment of the Indian Land Con16 solidation Act Amendments of 2000, the Secretary

17 shall notify Indian tribes and owners of trust or re18 stricted lands of the amendments made by the Indian

19 Land Consolidation Act Amendments of 2000.

20 ‘‘(2) SPECIFICATIONS.—The notice required

21 under paragraph (1) shall be designed to inform In22 dian owners of trust or restricted land of—

23 ‘‘(A) the effect of this Act, with emphasis on

24 the effect of the provisions of this section, on the
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1 testate disposition and intestate descent of their

2 interests in trust or restricted land; and

3 ‘‘(B) estate planning options available to

4 the owners, including any opportunities for re5 ceiving estate planning assistance or advice.

6 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall pro7 vide the notice required under paragraph (1)—

8 ‘‘(A) by direct mail for those Indians with

9 interests in trust and restricted lands for which

10 the Secretary has an address for the interest

11 holder;

12 ‘‘(B) through the Federal Register;

13 ‘‘(C) through local newspapers in areas

14 with significant Indian populations, reservation

15 newspapers, and newspapers that are directed at

16 an Indian audience; and

17 ‘‘(D) through any other means determined

18 appropriate by the Secretary.

19 ‘‘(4) CERTIFICATION.—After providing notice

20 under this subsection, the Secretary shall certify that

21 the requirements of this subsection have been met and

22 shall publish notice of such certification in the Fed23 eral Register.

24 ‘‘(5) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The provisions of this

25 section shall not apply to the estate of an individual
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1 who dies prior to the day that is 365 days after the

2 Secretary makes the certification required under

3 paragraph (4).’’; and

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

5 ‘‘SEC. 213. PILOT PROGRAM FOR THE ACQUISITION OF

6 FRACTIONAL INTERESTS.

7 ‘‘(a) ACQUISITION BY SECRETARY.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may acquire,

9 at the discretion of the Secretary and with the consent

10 of the owner, except as provided in section 207(c)(4),

11 and at fair market value, any fractional interest in

12 trust or restricted lands.

13 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.—

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

15 have the authority to acquire interests in trust or

16 restricted lands under this section during the 3-

17 year period beginning on the date of certification

18 that is referred to in section 207(f)(5).

19 ‘‘(B) REQUIRED REPORT.—Prior to expira20 tion of the authority provided for in subpara21 graph (A), the Secretary shall submit the report

22 required under section 218 concerning whether

23 the program to acquire fractional interests

24 should be extended or altered to make resources
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1 available to Indian tribes and individual Indian

2 landowners.

3 ‘‘(3) INTERESTS HELD IN TRUST.—Subject to

4 section 214, the Secretary shall immediately hold in5 terests acquired under this Act in trust for the recog6 nized tribal government that exercises jurisdiction

7 over the reservation.

8 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—In implementing subsection

9 (a), the Secretary—

10 ‘‘(1) shall promote the policies provided for in

11 section 3 of the Indian Land Consolidation Act

12 Amendments of 2000;

13 ‘‘(2) may give priority to the acquisition of frac14 tional interests representing 2 percent or less of a

15 parcel of trust or restricted land, especially those in16 terests that would have escheated to a tribe but for the

17 Supreme Court’s decision in Babbitt v. Youpee, (117

18 S Ct. 727 (1997));

19 ‘‘(3) to the extent practicable—

20 ‘‘(A) shall consult with the reservation’s rec21 ognized tribal government in determining which

22 tracts to acquire on a reservation;

23 ‘‘(B) shall coordinate the acquisition activi24 ties with the reservation’s recognized tribal gov25 ernment’s acquisition program, including a trib-
50

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1 al land consolidation plan approved pursuant to

2 section 204; and

3 ‘‘(C) may enter into agreements (such agree4 ments will not be subject to the provisions of the

5 Indian Self-Determination and Education As6 sistance Act of 1974) with the reservation’s rec7 ognized tribal government or a subordinate enti8 ty of the tribal government to carry out some or

9 all of the Secretary’s land acquisition program;

10 and

11 ‘‘(4) shall minimize the administrative costs as12 sociated with the land acquisition program.

13 ‘‘(c) SALE OF INTEREST TO INDIAN LANDOWNERS.—

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—At the request of any Indian

15 who owns at least 5 percent of the undivided interest

16 in a parcel of trust or restricted land, the Secretary

17 shall convey an interest acquired under this section to

18 the Indian landowner upon payment by the Indian

19 landowner of the amount paid for the interest by the

20 Secretary.

21 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.—

22 ‘‘(A) TRIBAL CONSENT.—If an Indian tribe

23 that has jurisdiction over a parcel of trust or re24 stricted land owns 10 percent or more of the un25 divided interests in a parcel of such land, such
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1 interest may only be acquired under paragraph

2 (1) with the consent of such Indian tribe.

3 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—With respect to a con4 veyance under this subsection, the Secretary shall

5 not approve an application to terminate the

6 trust status or remove the restrictions of such an

7 interest.

8 ‘‘SEC. 214. ADMINISTRATION OF ACQUIRED FRACTIONAL IN9 TERESTS, DISPOSITION OF PROCEEDS.

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the conditions described

11 in subsection (b)(1), an Indian tribe receiving a fractional

12 interest under section 213 may, as a tenant in common

13 with the other owners of the trust or restricted lands, lease

14 the interest, sell the resources, consent to the granting of

15 rights-of-way, or engage in any other transaction affecting

16 the trust or restricted land authorized by law.

17 ‘‘(b) CONDITIONS.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The conditions described in

19 this paragraph are as follows:

20 ‘‘(A) Except as provided in subsection (d),

21 until the purchase price paid by the Secretary

22 for an interest referred to in subsection (a) has

23 been recovered, any lease, resource sale contract,

24 right-of-way, or other document evidencing a

25 transaction affecting the interest shall contain a
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1 clause providing that all revenue derived from

2 the interest shall be paid to the Secretary.

3 ‘‘(B) Subject to subparagraph (C), the Sec4 retary shall deposit any revenue derived under

5 subparagraph (A) into the Acquisition Fund cre6 ated under section 216.

7 ‘‘(C) The Secretary shall deposit any rev8 enue that is paid under subparagraph (A) that

9 is in excess of the purchase price of the fractional

10 interest involved to the credit of the Indian tribe

11 that receives the fractional interest under section

12 213 and the tribe shall have access to such funds

13 in the same manner as other funds paid to the

14 Secretary for the use of lands held in trust for

15 the tribe.

16 ‘‘(D) Notwithstanding any other provision

17 of law, including section 16 of the Act of June

18 18, 1934 (commonly referred to as the ‘Indian

19 Reorganization Act’) (48 Stat. 987, chapter 576;

20 25 U.S.C. 476), with respect to any interest ac21 quired by the Secretary under section 213, the

22 Secretary may approve a transaction covered

23 under this section on behalf of a tribe until—

24 ‘‘(i) the Secretary makes any of the

25 findings under paragraph (2)(A); or
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1 ‘‘(ii) an amount equal to the purchase

2 price of that interest has been paid into the

3 Acquisition Fund created under section 216.

4 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1)(A) shall not

5 apply to any revenue derived from an interest in a

6 parcel of land acquired by the Secretary under section

7 213 after—

8 ‘‘(A) the Secretary makes a finding that—

9 ‘‘(i) the costs of administering the in10 terest will equal or exceed the projected reve11 nues for the parcel involved;

12 ‘‘(ii) in the discretion of the Secretary,

13 it will take an unreasonable period of time

14 for the parcel to generate revenue that

15 equals the purchase price paid for the inter16 est; or

17 ‘‘(iii) a subsequent decrease in the

18 value of land or commodities associated

19 with the land make it likely that the inter20 est will be unable to generate revenue that

21 equals the purchase price paid for the inter22 est in a reasonable time; or

23 ‘‘(B) an amount equal to the purchase price

24 of that interest in land has been paid into the

25 Acquisition Fund created under section 216.
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1 ‘‘(c) EFFECT ON INDIAN TRIBE.—

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (2) shall apply

3 with respect to any undivided interest in allotted

4 land held by the Secretary in trust for a tribe if a

5 lease or agreement under subsection (a) is otherwise

6 applicable to such undivided interest by reason of this

7 section even though the Indian tribe did not consent

8 to the lease or agreement.

9 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION OF LEASE.—The lease or

10 agreement described in paragraph (1) shall apply to

11 the portion of the undivided interest in allotted land

12 described in such paragraph (including entitlement of

13 the Indian tribe to payment under the lease or agree14 ment), and the Indian tribe shall not be treated as

15 being a party to the lease or agreement. Nothing in

16 this section (or in the lease or agreement) shall be

17 construed to affect the sovereignty of the Indian tribe.

18 ‘‘SEC. 215. ESTABLISHING FAIR MARKET VALUE.

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this Act, the Sec20 retary may develop a system for establishing the fair market

21 value of various types of lands and improvements. Such a

22 system may include determinations of fair market value

23 based on appropriate geographic units as determined by the

24 Secretary. Such system may govern the amounts offered for
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1 the purchase of interests in trust or restricted lands under

2 section 213.

3 ‘‘(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec4 tion shall be construed to prevent the owner of an interest

5 in trust or restricted lands from appealing a determination

6 of fair market value made in accordance with this section.

7 ‘‘SEC. 216. ACQUISITION FUND.

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish an

9 Acquisition Fund to—

10 ‘‘(1) disburse appropriations authorized to ac11 complish the purposes of section 213; and

12 ‘‘(2) collect all revenues received from the lease,

13 permit, or sale of resources from interests in trust or

14 restricted lands transferred to Indian tribes by the

15 Secretary under section 213.

16 ‘‘(b) DEPOSITS; USE.—

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

18 proceeds from leases, permits, or resource sales derived

19 from an interest in trust or restricted lands described

20 in subsection (a)(2) shall—

21 ‘‘(A) be deposited in the Acquisition Fund;

22 and

23 ‘‘(B) as specified in advance in appropria24 tions Acts, be available for the purpose of acquir-
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1 ing additional fractional interests in trust or re2 stricted lands.

3 ‘‘(2) MAXIMUM DEPOSITS OF PROCEEDS.—With

4 respect to the deposit of proceeds derived from an in5 terest under paragraph (1), the aggregate amount de6 posited under that paragraph shall not exceed the

7 purchase price of that interest under section 213.

8 ‘‘SEC. 217. TRUST AND RESTRICTED LAND TRANSACTIONS.

9 ‘‘(a) POLICY.—It is the policy of the United States to

10 encourage and assist the consolidation of land ownership

11 through transactions involving individual Indians and be12 tween Indians and a reservation’s recognized tribal govern13 ment in a manner consistent with the policy of maintain14 ing the trust status of allotted lands. Nothing in this section

15 shall be construed to apply to or to authorize the sale of

16 trust or restricted lands to a person who is not an Indian.

17 ‘‘(b) SALES AND EXCHANGES BETWEEN INDIANS AND

18 BETWEEN INDIANS AND INDIAN TRIBES.—

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—

20 ‘‘(A) ESTIMATE OF VALUE.—Notwith21 standing any other provision of law and only

22 after the Indian selling or exchanging an interest

23 in land has been provided with an estimate of

24 the value of the interest of the Indian pursuant

25 to this section—
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1 ‘‘(i) the sale or exchange of an interest

2 in trust or restricted land may be made for

3 an amount that is less than the fair market

4 value of that interest; and

5 ‘‘(ii) the approval of a transaction that

6 is in compliance with this section shall not

7 constitute a breach of trust by the Secretary.

8 ‘‘(B) WAIVER OF REQUIREMENT.—The re9 quirement for an estimate of value under sub10 paragraph (A) may be waived in writing by an

11 Indian selling or exchanging an interest in land

12 with an Indian person who is the owner’s

13 spouse, brother, sister, lineal ancestor of Indian

14 blood, lineal descendant, or collateral heir.

15 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—For a period of 5 years after

16 the Secretary approves a conveyance pursuant to this

17 subsection, the Secretary shall not approve an appli18 cation to terminate the trust status or remove the re19 strictions of such an interest.

20 ‘‘(c) ACQUISITION OF INTEREST BY SECRETARY.—An

21 Indian, or the recognized tribal government of a reserva22 tion, in possession of an interest in trust or restricted lands,

23 at least a portion of which is in trust or restricted status

24 on the date of enactment of the Indian Land Consolidation

25 Act Amendments of 2000 and located within a reservation,
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1 may request that the interest be taken into trust by the Sec2 retary. Upon such a request, the Secretary shall forthwith

3 take such interest into trust.

4 ‘‘(d) STATUS OF LANDS.—The sale or exchange of an

5 interest in trust or restricted land under this section shall

6 not affect the status of that land as trust or restricted land.

7 ‘‘(e) GIFT DEEDS.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An individual owner of an

9 interest in trust or restricted land may convey that

10 interest by gift deed to—

11 ‘‘(A) an individual Indian; or

12 ‘‘(B) the Indian tribe that exercises jurisdic13 tion over that land.

14 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE.—With respect to any gift

15 deed conveyed under this section, the Secretary shall

16 not require an appraisal and the transaction shall be

17 consistent with this Act and any other provision of

18 Federal law.

19 ‘‘(f) NO TERMINATION.—During the 7-year period be20 ginning on the date on which the Secretary approves a con21 veyance of an interest in trust or restricted land under sub22 section (e), the Secretary shall not approve an application

23 to terminate the trust status of, or remove the restrictions

24 on, such an interest.
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1 ‘‘(g) LAND OWNERSHIP INFORMATION.—Notwith2 standing any other provision of law, the names and mailing

3 addresses of the Indian owners of trust or restricted lands,

4 and information on the location of the parcel and the per5 centage of undivided interest owned by each individual, or

6 of any interest in trust or restricted lands, shall, upon writ7 ten request, be made available to—

8 ‘‘(1) other Indian owners of interests in trust or

9 restricted lands within the same reservation;

10 ‘‘(2) the tribe that exercises jurisdiction over the

11 reservation where the parcel is located or any person

12 who is eligible for membership in that tribe; and

13 ‘‘(3) prospective applicants for the leasing, use,

14 or consolidation of such trust or restricted land or the

15 interest in trust or restricted lands.

16 ‘‘SEC. 218. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Prior to expiration of the author18 ity provided for in section 213(a)(2)(A), the Secretary, after

19 consultation with Indian tribes and other interested parties,

20 shall submit to the Committee on Indian Affairs and the

21 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate

22 and the Committee on Resources of the House of Representa23 tives a report that indicates, for the period covered by the

24 report—
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1 ‘‘(1) the number of fractional interests in trust

2 or restricted lands acquired; and

3 ‘‘(2) the impact of the resulting reduction in the

4 number of such fractional interests on the financial

5 and realty recordkeeping systems of the Bureau of In6 dian Affairs.

7 ‘‘(b) REPORT.—The reports described in subsection (a)

8 and section 213(a) shall contain findings as to whether the

9 program under this Act to acquire fractional interests in

10 trust or restricted lands should be extended and whether

11 such program should be altered to make resources available

12 to Indian tribes and individual Indian landowners.

13 ‘‘SEC. 219. APPROVAL OF LEASES, RIGHTS-OF-WAY, AND

14 SALES OF NATURAL RESOURCES.

15 ‘‘(a) APPROVAL BY THE SECRETARY.—

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other

17 provision of law, the Secretary may approve any

18 lease or agreement that affects individually owned al19 lotted land, if—

20 ‘‘(A) the owners of not less than the applica21 ble percentage (determined under subsection (b))

22 of the undivided interest in the allotted land that

23 is covered by the lease or agreement consent in

24 writing to the lease or agreement; and
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1 ‘‘(B) the Secretary determines that approv2 ing the lease or agreement is in the best interest

3 of the owners of the undivided interest in the al4 lotted land.

5 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this

6 section shall be construed to apply to leases involving

7 coal or uranium.

8 ‘‘(b) APPLICABLE PERCENTAGE.—

9 ‘‘(1) PERCENTAGE INTEREST.—The applicable

10 percentage referred to in subsection (a)(1) shall be de11 termined as follows:

12 ‘‘(A) If there are 5 or fewer owners of the

13 undivided interest in the allotted land, the appli14 cable percentage shall be 100 percent.

15 ‘‘(B) If there are more than 5 such owners,

16 but fewer than 11 such owners, the applicable

17 percentage shall be 80 percent.

18 ‘‘(C) If there are more than 10 such owners,

19 but fewer than 20 such owners, the applicable

20 percentage shall be 60 percent.

21 ‘‘(D) If there are 20 or more such owners,

22 the applicable percentage shall be a majority of

23 the interests in the allotted land.

24 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF OWNERS.—
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this

2 subsection, in determining the number of owners

3 of, and their interests in, the undivided interest

4 in the allotted land with respect to a lease or

5 agreement, the Secretary shall make such deter6 mination based on the records of the Department

7 of the Interior that identify the owners of such

8 lands and their interests and the number of own9 ers of such land on the date on which the lease

10 or agreement involved is submitted to the Sec11 retary under this section.

12 ‘‘(B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in

13 subparagraph (A) shall be construed to authorize

14 the Secretary to treat an Indian tribe as the

15 owner of an interest in allotted land that did not

16 escheat to the tribe pursuant to section 207 as a

17 result of the Supreme Court’s decision in Babbitt

18 v. Youpee, (117 S Ct. 727 (1997)).

19 ‘‘(c) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY TO SIGN LEASE OR

20 AGREEMENT ON BEHALF OF CERTAIN OWNERS.—The Sec21 retary may give written consent to a lease or agreement

22 under subsection (a)—

23 ‘‘(1) on behalf of the individual Indian owner if

24 the owner is deceased and the heirs to, or devisees of,
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1 the interest of the deceased owner have not been deter2 mined; or

3 ‘‘(2) on behalf of any heir or devisee referred to

4 in paragraph (1) if the heir or devisee has been deter5 mined but cannot be located

6 ‘‘(d) EFFECT OF APPROVAL.—

7 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION TO ALL PARTIES.—

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph

9 (2), a lease or agreement approved by the Sec10 retary under subsection (a) shall be binding on

11 the parties described in subparagraph (B), to the

12 same extent as if all of the owners of the undi13 vided interest in allotted land covered under the

14 lease or agreement consented to the lease or

15 agreement.

16 ‘‘(B) DESCRIPTION OF PARTIES.—The par17 ties referred to in subparagraph (A) are—

18 ‘‘(i) the owners of the undivided inter19 est in the allotted land covered under the

20 lease or agreement referred to in such sub21 paragraph; and

22 ‘‘(ii) all other parties to the lease or

23 agreement.

24 ‘‘(2) EFFECT ON INDIAN TRIBE.—
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (B)

2 shall apply with respect to any undivided inter3 est in allotted land held by the Secretary in trust

4 for a tribe if a lease or agreement under sub5 section (a) is otherwise applicable to such undi6 vided interest by reason of this section even

7 though the Indian tribe did not consent to the

8 lease or agreement.

9 ‘‘(B) APPLICATION OF LEASE.—The lease or

10 agreement described in subparagraph (A) shall

11 apply to the portion of the undivided interest in

12 allotted land described in such paragraph (in13 cluding entitlement of the Indian tribe to pay14 ment under the lease or agreement), and the In15 dian tribe shall not be treated as being a party

16 to the lease or agreement. Nothing in this section

17 (or in the lease or agreement) shall be construed

18 to affect the sovereignty of the Indian tribe.

19 ‘‘(e) DISTRIBUTION OF PROCEEDS.—

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The proceeds derived from a

21 lease or agreement that is approved by the Secretary

22 under subsection (a) shall be distributed to all owners

23 of undivided interest in the allotted land covered

24 under the lease or agreement.
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1 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNTS DISTRIB2 UTED.—The amount of the proceeds under paragraph

3 (1) that are distributed to each owner under that

4 paragraph shall be determined in accordance with the

5 portion of the undivided interest in the allotted land

6 covered under the lease or agreement that is owned by

7 that owner.

8 ‘‘(f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec9 tion shall be construed to amend or modify the provisions

10 of Public Law 105–188 (25 U.S.C. 396 note), the American

11 Indian Agricultural Resources Management Act (25 U.S.C.

12 3701 et seq.) or any other Act that provides specific stand13 ards for the percentage of ownership interest that must ap14 prove a lease or agreement on a specified reservation.

15 ‘‘SEC. 220. APPLICATION TO ALASKA.

16 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress find that—

17 ‘‘(1) numerous academic and governmental orga18 nizations have studied the nature and extent of

19 fractionated ownership of Indian land outside of

20 Alaska and have proposed solutions to this problem;

21 and

22 ‘‘(2) despite these studies, there has not been a

23 comparable effort to analyze the problem, if any, of

24 fractionated ownership in Alaska.
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1 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION OF ACT TO ALASKA.—Except as

2 provided in this section, this Act shall not apply to land

3 located within Alaska.

4 ‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec5 tion shall be construed to constitute a ratification of any

6 determination by any agency, instrumentality, or court of

7 the United States that may support the assertion of tribal

8 jurisdiction over allotment lands or interests in such land

9 in Alaska.’’.

10 SEC. 5. JUDICIAL REVIEW.

11 Notwithstanding section 207(f)(5) of the Indian Land

12 Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 2206(f)(5)), after the Sec13 retary of Interior provides the certification required under

14 section 207(f)(4) of such Act, the owner of an interest in

15 trust or restricted land may bring an administrative action

16 to challenge the application of such section 207 to their in17 terest in trust or restricted lands, and may seek judicial

18 review of the final decision of the Secretary of Interior with

19 respect to such challenge.

20 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

21 There are authorized to be appropriated not to exceed

22 $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2001 and each subsequent fiscal

23 year to carry out the provisions of this Act (and the amend24 ments made by this Act) that are not otherwise funded
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1 under the authority provided for in any other provision of

2 Federal law.

3 SEC. 7. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

4 (a) PATENTS HELD IN TRUST.—The Act of February

5 8, 1887 (24 Stat. 388) is amended—

6 (1) by repealing sections 1, 2, and 3 (25 U.S.C.

7 331, 332, and 333); and

8 (2) in the second proviso of section 5 (25 U.S.C.

9 348)—

10 (A) by striking ‘‘and partition’’; and

11 (B) by striking ‘‘except’’ and inserting ‘‘ex12 cept as provided by the Indian Land Consolida13 tion Act or a tribal probate code approved under

14 such Act and except’’.

15 (b) ASCERTAINMENT OF HEIRS AND DISPOSAL OF AL16 LOTMENTS.—The Act of June 25, 1910 (36 Stat. 855) is

17 amended—

18 (1) in the first sentence of section 1 (25 U.S.C.

19 372), by striking ‘‘under’’ and inserting ‘‘under the

20 Indian Land Consolidation Act or a tribal probate

21 code approved under such Act and pursuant to’’; and

22 (2) in the first sentence of section 2 (25 U.S.C.

23 373), by striking ‘‘with regulations’’ and inserting

24 ‘‘with the Indian Land Consolidation Act or a tribal
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1 probate code approved under such Act and regula2 tions’’.

3 (c) TRANSFER OF LANDS.—Section 4 of the Act of

4 June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 464) is amended by striking

5 ‘‘trust:’’ and inserting ‘‘trust, except as provided by the In6 dian Land Consolidation Act:’’.

Calendar No. 714

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1586

[Report No. 106–361]

A BILL

To reduce the fractionated ownership of Indian

lands, and for other purposes.

JULY 26, 2000

Reported with an amendment