II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3235 

To amend the Act titled ‘‘An Act to authorize the leasing of restricted 

Indian lands for public, religious, educational, recreational, residential, 

business, and other purposes requiring the grant of long-term leases’’, 

approved August 9, 1955, to provide for Indian tribes to enter into 

certain leases without prior express approval from the Secretary of the 

Interior. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 20, 2010 

Mr. DORGAN (for himself, Mr. JOHNSON, 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 Act titled ‘‘An Act to authorize the leasing 

of restricted Indian lands for public, religious, educational, recreational, residential, business, and other 

purposes requiring the grant of long-term leases’’, approved August 9, 1955, to provide for Indian tribes 

to enter into certain leases without prior express approval 

from the Secretary of the Interior. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Helping Expedite and 

3 Advance Responsible Tribal Homeownership Act of 2010’’ 

4 or the ‘‘HEARTH Act of 2010’’. 

5 SEC. 2. APPROVAL OF, AND REGULATIONS RELATED TO, 

6 TRIBAL LEASES. 

7 The first section of the Act titled ‘‘An Act to author8 ize the leasing of restricted Indian lands for public, reli9 gious, educational, recreational, residential, business, and 

10 other purposes requiring the grant of long-term leases’’, 

11 approved August 9, 1955 (25 U.S.C. 415) is amended as 

12 follows: 

13 (1) In subsection (d)— 

14 (A) by striking paragraph (2) and insert15 ing the following: 

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

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

19 479a);’’; 

20 (B) in paragraph (3)— 

21 (i) in the matter preceding subpara22 graph (A), by striking ‘‘Navajo Indian’’; 

23 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

24 ‘‘the Navajo Nation’’ and inserting ‘‘an In25 dian tribe’’; 


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1 (iii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

2 ‘‘Navajo Indians or members of another 

3 Indian tribe’’ and inserting ‘‘an Indian 

4 tribe or a member of an Indian tribe’’; and 

5 (iv) in subparagraph (C)(i), by strik6 ing ‘‘Navajo Indian’’ and inserting ‘‘mem7 ber of an Indian tribe’’; 

8 (C) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘the 

9 Navajo Nation’’ and inserting ‘‘an applicable 

10 Indian tribe’’; 

11 (D) by striking paragraph (5) and redesig12 nating paragraphs (6), (7), and (8) as para13 graphs (5), (6), and (7), respectively; 

14 (E) in paragraph (5) (as redesignated), by 

15 striking ‘‘the Navajo Nation’’ and inserting ‘‘an 

16 Indian tribe’’; and 

17 (F) in paragraph (7) (as redesignated)— 

18 (i) by striking ‘‘the Navajo Nation’’; 

19 and 

20 (ii) by striking ‘‘with Navajo Nation 

21 law’’ and inserting ‘‘with applicable tribal 

22 law’’. 

23 (2) In subsection (e)— 


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1 (A) by amending the subsection heading to 

2 read as follows: ‘‘APPROVAL OF LEASES—TRIB3 AL DISCRETION.—’’; 

4 (B) in paragraph (1)— 

5 (i) in the matter preceding subpara6 graph (A), by striking ‘‘Any leases by the 

7 Navajo Nation’’ and inserting ‘‘At the dis8 cretion of any Indian tribe, any leases by 

9 the applicable Indian tribe’’; 

10 (ii) by striking ‘‘except a lease for the 

11 exploration, development, or extraction of 

12 any mineral resources,’’; and 

13 (iii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

14 ‘‘Navajo Nation’’ and inserting ‘‘applicable 

15 Indian tribe’’; 

16 (C) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘Nav17 ajo’’; 

18 (D) in paragraph (3)— 

19 (i) in the second sentence, by insert20 ing ‘‘, similar to the process established by 

21 the Department of the Interior under the 

22 National Environmental Policy Act of 

23 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.)’’ after 

24 ‘‘process’’; 


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1 (ii) in the third sentence, by striking 

2 ‘‘the regulations of the Navajo Nation’’ 

3 and inserting ‘‘such regulations’’; and 

4 (iii) in the fifth sentence, by striking 

5 ‘‘with the Navajo Nation’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘with the applicable Indian tribe’’; 

7 (E) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘Navajo 

8 Nation’’ each place it appears and inserting 

9 ‘‘applicable Indian tribe’’; 

10 (F) in paragraph (5)— 

11 (i) by striking ‘‘paragraph (1), includ12 ing the Navajo Nation.’’ and inserting 

13 ‘‘paragraph (1).’’; and 

14 (ii) by striking the second sentence 

15 and inserting ‘‘Pursuant to the Secretary’s 

16 authority to fulfill the trust obligation of 

17 the United States to the applicable Indian 

18 tribe as defined in other statutory or regu19 latory authorizations, the Secretary may, 

20 upon reasonable notice from the applicable 

21 Indian tribe and in the discretion of the 

22 Secretary, enforce the provisions of a lease 

23 or cancel a lease.’’; 

24 (G) in paragraph (6)(A)— 


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1 (i) by striking ‘‘of the Navajo Nation’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘of the applicable Indian 

3 tribe’’; and 

4 (ii) by striking ‘‘Navajo Nation tribal’’ 

5 and inserting ‘‘tribal’’; and 

6 (H) in paragraph (6)(B), by striking 

7 ‘‘Navajo Nation’’ each place it appears and in8 serting ‘‘applicable Indian tribe’’. 

9 SEC. 3. LAND TITLE REPORTS—REVIEW AND REPORT TO 

10 CONGRESS. 

11 Not later than 180 days after funds are made avail12 able for this section, the Bureau of Indian Affairs shall 

13 prepare and submit to the Committees on Financial Serv14 ices and Natural Resources in the House of Representa15 tives and the Committees on Banking, Housing, and 

16 Urban Affairs and Indian Affairs in the Senate a report 

17 regarding the history and experience of Indian tribes that 

18 have chosen to assume responsibility for operating the In19 dian Land Title and Records Office (hereafter referred to 

20 as the ‘‘LTRO’’) functions from the Bureau of Indian Af21 fairs. In conducting the review, the Bureau of Indian Af22 fairs shall consult with the Department of Housing and 

23 Urban Development Office of Native American Programs 

24 and those Indian tribes that are managing LTRO func25 tions (hereafter referred to as the ‘‘managing Indian 


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1 tribes’’). The review shall include an analysis of the fol2 lowing factors: 

3 (1) Whether and how tribal management of the 

4 LTRO functions has expedited the processing and 

5 issuance of Indian land title certifications as com6 pared to when the Bureau of Indian Affairs man7 aged these programs. 

8 (2) Whether and how tribal management of the 

9 LTRO functions has increased home ownership 

10 among the managing Indian tribe’s population. 

11 (3) What internal preparations and processes 

12 were required of the managing Indian tribes prior to 

13 assuming management of the LTRO functions. 

14 (4) Whether tribal management of the LTRO 

15 functions resulting in a transfer of financial re16 sources and manpower from the Bureau of Indian 

17 Affairs to the managing Indian tribes and, if so, 

18 what transfers were undertaken. 

19 (5) Whether, in appropriate circumstances and 

20 with the approval of geographically proximate Indian 

21 tribes, the LTRO functions may be performed by a 

22 single Indian tribe or a tribal consortium in a cost 

23 effective manner. 

Æ 


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