I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2362 

To facilitate economic development by Indian tribes and encourage investment 

by Turkish enterprises. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 24, 2011 

Mr. COLE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To facilitate economic development by Indian tribes and 

encourage investment by Turkish enterprises. 

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; FINDINGS; PURPOSES. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Indian Tribal Trade and Investment Demonstration 

6 Project Act of 2011’’. 

7 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

8 (1) the public and private sectors in the Repub9 lic of Turkey have demonstrated a unique interest in 


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1 bolstering cultural, political, and economic relation2 ships with Indian tribes and tribal members; 

3 (2) uneconomic regulatory, statutory, and policy 

4 barriers are preventing more robust relationships be5 tween the Turkish and Indian tribal communities; 

6 and 

7 (3) it is in the interest of Indian tribes, the 

8 United States, and the United States–Turkey rela9 tionship to remove or ameliorate these barriers 

10 through the establishment of an Indian Tribal Trade 

11 and Investment Demonstration Project. 

12 (c) PURPOSE.—The purposes of this Act are— 

13 (1) to remove or ameliorate the certain barriers 

14 to facilitate trade and financial investment in Indian 

15 tribal economies; 

16 (2) to encourage increased levels of commerce 

17 and economic investment by private entities incor18 porated in or emanating from the Republic of Tur19 key; and 

20 (3) to further the policy of Indian self-deter21 mination by strengthening Indian tribal economies 

22 and political institutions in order to raise the mate23 rial standard of living of Indians. 

24 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

25 In this Act: 


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1 (1) APPLICANT.—The term ‘‘applicant’’ means 

2 an Indian tribe or a consortium of Indian tribes that 

3 submits an application under this Act seeking par4 ticipation in the demonstration project. 

5 (2) DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.—The term 

6 ‘‘demonstration project’’ means the trade and invest7 ment demonstration project authorized by this Act. 

8 (3) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 

9 has the meaning given that term in section 102 of 

10 the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 

11 1994 (25 U.S.C. 479a). 

12 (4) PARTICIPATING INDIAN TRIBE.—The term 

13 ‘‘participating Indian tribe’’ means an Indian tribe 

14 selected by the Secretary from the applicant pool. 

15 (5) PROJECT; ACTIVITY.—The terms ‘‘project’’ 

16 and ‘‘activity’’ mean a community, economic, or 

17 business development undertaking that includes 

18 components that contribute materially to carrying 

19 out a purpose or closely related purposes that are 

20 proposed or approved for assistance under more 

21 than one Federal program. 

22 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

23 the Secretary of the Interior. 


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1 SEC. 3. INDIAN TRIBAL TRADE AND INVESTMENT DEM2 ONSTRATION PROJECT. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall authorize In4 dian tribes selected under section 4 to participate in a 

5 demonstration project under this Act, which shall be 

6 known as the ‘‘Indian Tribal Trade and Investment Dem7 onstration Project’’. 

8 (b) LEAD AGENCY.—The Department of the Interior 

9 shall be the lead agency for purposes of carrying out the 

10 demonstration project. 

11 (c) TRIBAL APPROVAL OF LEASES.—Notwith12 standing any other provision of law, and in the discretion 

13 of a participating Indian tribe or consortium, any lease 

14 of Indian land held in trust by the United States for a 

15 participating Indian tribe (or an Indian tribe in a consor16 tium) entered into under this Act to carry out a project 

17 or activity shall not require the approval of the Secretary 

18 if the lease— 

19 (1) is entered into in furtherance of a commer20 cial partnership involving one or more private enti21 ties incorporated in or emanating from the Republic 

22 of Turkey; 

23 (2) is entered into not later than one year after 

24 the date of the enactment of this Act; 

25 (3) is not for the exploration, development, or 

26 extraction of any mineral resources; 


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1 (4) does not include lease of land or an interest 

2 in land held in trust for an individual Indian; 

3 (5) is executed under the tribal regulations ap4 proved by the Secretary under this Act; and 

5 (6) has a term that does not exceed 25 years, 

6 except that any such lease may include an option to 

7 renew for up to 2 additional terms, each of which 

8 may not exceed 25 years. 

9 (d) ACTIVITIES TO BE CONDUCTED ON LEASED

10 LANDS.—Indian land held in trust by the United States 

11 for the benefit of a participating Indian tribe (or an Indian 

12 tribe in a consortium) may be leased for activities con13 sistent with the purposes of this Act, including business 

14 and economic development, public, educational, or residen15 tial purposes, including the development or use of natural 

16 resources in connection with operations under such leases, 

17 for grazing purposes, and for those farming purposes 

18 which require the making of a substantial investment in 

19 the improvement of the land for the production of special20 ized crops as determined by the Secretary. 

21 (e) APPROVAL OF TRIBAL REGULATIONS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall approve 

23 a tribal regulation issued for the purposes of sub24 section (c)(4), if the tribal regulation— 


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1 (A) is consistent with regulations, if any, 

2 issued by the Secretary under this Act; and 

3 (B) provides for an environmental review 

4 process that includes— 

5 (i) the identification and evaluation of 

6 any significant effects of the proposed ac7 tion on the environment; and 

8 (ii) a process for ensuring that— 

9 (I) the public is informed of, and 

10 has a reasonable opportunity to com11 ment on, any significant environ12 mental impacts of the proposed action 

13 identified by the participating Indian 

14 tribe or consortium; and 

15 (II) the participating Indian tribe 

16 or consortium provides responses to 

17 relevant and substantive public com18 ments on those impacts before the 

19 participating Indian tribe or consor20 tium approves the lease. 

21 (2) SECRETARIAL REVIEW.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 

23 days after the date on which the tribal regula24 tions under this subsection are submitted to the 


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1 Secretary, the Secretary shall review and ap2 prove or disapprove the regulations. 

3 (B) WRITTEN DOCUMENTATION.—If the 

4 Secretary disapproves such tribal regulations, 

5 the Secretary shall include written documenta6 tion with the disapproval notification that de7 scribes the basis for the disapproval. 

8 (C) EXTENSION.—The deadline described 

9 in subparagraph (A) may be extended by the 

10 Secretary, after consultation with the partici11 pating Indian tribe or consortium. 

12 (f) FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.—Notwith13 standing subsection (e)(2), if a participating Indian tribe 

14 or consortium carries out a project or activity funded by 

15 a Federal agency, the participating Indian tribe or consor16 tium may rely on the environmental review process of the 

17 applicable Federal agency rather than any tribal environ18 mental review process under this subsection. 

19 (g) DOCUMENTATION.—If a participating Indian 

20 tribe or consortium executes a lease pursuant to tribal reg21 ulations approved under this section, the participating In22 dian tribe or consortium shall provide the Secretary 

23 with— 

24 (1) a copy of the lease, including any amend25 ments or renewals to the lease; and 


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1 (2) in the case of tribal regulations or a lease 

2 that allows for lease payments to be made directly 

3 to the participating Indian tribe or consortium, doc4 umentation of the lease payments that are sufficient 

5 to enable the Secretary to discharge the trust re6 sponsibility of the United States under subsection 

7 (h). 

8 (h) TRUST RESPONSIBILITY.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The United States shall not 

10 be liable for losses sustained by any party to a lease 

11 executed under this Act. 

12 (2) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.—Pursuant to 

13 the authority of the Secretary to fulfill the trust ob14 ligation of the United States to an Indian tribe 

15 under Federal law, including regulations, the Sec16 retary may, upon reasonable notice from the Indian 

17 tribe and at the discretion of the Secretary, enforce 

18 the provisions of, or cancel, any lease executed by a 

19 participating Indian tribe or consortium under this 

20 Act. 

21 (i) COMPLIANCE.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—An interested party, after 

23 exhausting applicable tribal remedies, may submit a 

24 petition to the Secretary, at such time and in such 

25 form as the Secretary determines to be appropriate, 


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1 to review the compliance of a participating Indian 

2 tribe or consortium with any tribal regulations ap3 proved by the Secretary under this Act. 

4 (2) VIOLATIONS.—If, after carrying out a re5 view under paragraph (1), the Secretary determines 

6 that the tribal regulations were violated, the Sec7 retary may take any action the Secretary determines 

8 to be necessary to remedy the violation, including re9 scinding the approval of the tribal regulations and 

10 reassuming responsibility for the approval of leases 

11 of Indian lands. 

12 (3) DOCUMENTATION.—If the Secretary deter13 mines under this paragraph that a violation of tribal 

14 regulations has occurred and a remedy is necessary, 

15 the Secretary shall— 

16 (A) make a written determination with re17 spect to the regulations that have been violated; 

18 (B) provide the applicable participating In19 dian tribe or consortium with a written notice 

20 of the alleged violation together with such writ21 ten determination; and 

22 (C) prior to the exercise of any remedy, 

23 the rescission of the approval of the regulation 

24 involved, or the reassumption of lease approval 


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1 responsibilities, provide the applicable partici2 pating Indian tribe or consortium with— 

3 (i) a hearing that is on the record; 

4 and 

5 (ii) a reasonable opportunity to cure 

6 the alleged violation. 

7 SEC. 4. SELECTION OF PARTICIPATING INDIAN TRIBES. 

8 (a) PARTICIPANTS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—During the first year after 

10 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

11 may select not more than 6 Indian tribes or con12 sortia from the applicant pool described in sub13 section (b) to submit an application to be a partici14 pating Indian tribe or consortium. 

15 (2) CONSORTIA.—Two or more Indian tribes 

16 may form a consortium to participate as an appli17 cant under paragraph (1). 

18 (b) APPLICANT POOL.—The applicant pool described 

19 in this subsection shall consist of each Indian tribe or con20 sortium that— 

21 (1) requests participation in the demonstration 

22 project through a resolution or other official action 

23 of the tribal governing body; and 

24 (2) demonstrates, for the 3 fiscal years imme25 diately preceding the fiscal year for which participaVerDate Mar 15 2010 20:42 Jul 05, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2362.IH H2362

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1 tion is requested, financial stability and financial 

2 management capability as demonstrated by a show3 ing by the Indian tribe or consortium that there 

4 were no material audit exceptions in the required an5 nual audit of the self-determination contracts of the 

6 Indian tribe or consortium. 

7 SEC. 5. APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS, REVIEW, AND AP8 PROVAL. 

9 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—An Indian tribe or consortium 

10 selected under subsection (a) may submit to the Secretary 

11 an application that— 

12 (1) identifies the activities to be conducted by 

13 the Indian tribe or consortium; 

14 (2) describes the revenues, jobs, and related 

15 economic benefits and other likely consequences to 

16 the Indian tribe or consortium, its members, the in17 vestors, and the surrounding communities to be gen18 erated as a result of the activities identified in para19 graph (1); and 

20 (3) is approved by the governing body of the In21 dian tribe or consortium, including, in the case of an 

22 applicant that is a consortium of Indian tribes, the 

23 governing body of each affected member Indian 

24 tribe. 

25 (b) REVIEW AND APPROVAL.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

2 the date of receipt of an application under sub3 section (a), the Secretary shall inform the applicant, 

4 in writing, of the approval or disapproval of the ap5 plication. 

6 (2) DISAPPROVAL.—If an application is dis7 approved, the written notice shall identify the rea8 sons for the disapproval and the applicant shall be 

9 provided an opportunity to amend and resubmit the 

10 application to the Secretary. 

11 SEC. 6. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

12 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 

13 of this Act, the Secretary shall prepare and submit to Con14 gress a report that includes— 

15 (1) a description of the economic benefits and 

16 other consequences to participating Indian tribes, 

17 their members, and surrounding communities as a 

18 result of the economic activities and financial invest19 ment engendered by the demonstration project; and 

20 (2) observations drawn from the implementa21 tion of this Act and recommendations reasonably de22 signed to improve the operation or consequences of 

23 the demonstration project. 

Æ 


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