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[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2362 Introduced in House (IH)]

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.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS; PURPOSES.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Indian Tribal 
Trade and Investment Demonstration Project Act of 2011''.
    (b) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) the public and private sectors in the Republic of 
        Turkey have demonstrated a unique interest in bolstering 
        cultural, political, and economic relationships with Indian 
        tribes and tribal members;
            (2) uneconomic regulatory, statutory, and policy barriers 
        are preventing more robust relationships between the Turkish 
        and Indian tribal communities; and
            (3) it is in the interest of Indian tribes, the United 
        States, and the United States-Turkey relationship to remove or 
        ameliorate these barriers through the establishment of an 
        Indian Tribal Trade and Investment Demonstration Project.
    (c) Purpose.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to remove or ameliorate the certain barriers to 
        facilitate trade and financial investment in Indian tribal 
        economies;
            (2) to encourage increased levels of commerce and economic 
        investment by private entities incorporated in or emanating 
        from the Republic of Turkey; and
            (3) to further the policy of Indian self-determination by 
        strengthening Indian tribal economies and political 
        institutions in order to raise the material standard of living 
        of Indians.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Applicant.--The term ``applicant'' means an Indian 
        tribe or a consortium of Indian tribes that submits an 
        application under this Act seeking participation in the 
        demonstration project.
            (2) Demonstration project.--The term ``demonstration 
        project'' means the trade and investment demonstration project 
        authorized by this Act.
            (3) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian tribe'' has the 
        meaning given that term in section 102 of the Federally 
        Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 479a).
            (4) Participating indian tribe.--The term ``participating 
        Indian tribe'' means an Indian tribe selected by the Secretary 
        from the applicant pool.
            (5) Project; activity.--The terms ``project'' and 
        ``activity'' mean a community, economic, or business 
        development undertaking that includes components that 
        contribute materially to carrying out a purpose or closely 
        related purposes that are proposed or approved for assistance 
        under more than one Federal program.
            (6) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.

SEC. 3. INDIAN TRIBAL TRADE AND INVESTMENT DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall authorize Indian tribes 
selected under section 4 to participate in a demonstration project 
under this Act, which shall be known as the ``Indian Tribal Trade and 
Investment Demonstration Project''.
    (b) Lead Agency.--The Department of the Interior shall be the lead 
agency for purposes of carrying out the demonstration project.
    (c) Tribal Approval of Leases.--Notwithstanding any other provision 
of law, and in the discretion of a participating Indian tribe or 
consortium, any lease of Indian land held in trust by the United States 
for a participating Indian tribe (or an Indian tribe in a consortium) 
entered into under this Act to carry out a project or activity shall 
not require the approval of the Secretary if the lease--
            (1) is entered into in furtherance of a commercial 
        partnership involving one or more private entities incorporated 
        in or emanating from the Republic of Turkey;
            (2) is entered into not later than one year after the date 
        of the enactment of this Act;
            (3) is not for the exploration, development, or extraction 
        of any mineral resources;
            (4) does not include lease of land or an interest in land 
        held in trust for an individual Indian;
            (5) is executed under the tribal regulations approved by 
        the Secretary under this Act; and
            (6) has a term that does not exceed 25 years, except that 
        any such lease may include an option to renew for up to 2 
        additional terms, each of which may not exceed 25 years.
    (d) Activities To Be Conducted on Leased Lands.--Indian land held 
in trust by the United States for the benefit of a participating Indian 
tribe (or an Indian tribe in a consortium) may be leased for activities 
consistent with the purposes of this Act, including business and 
economic development, public, educational, or residential purposes, 
including the development or use of natural resources in connection 
with operations under such leases, for grazing purposes, and for those 
farming purposes which require the making of a substantial investment 
in the improvement of the land for the production of specialized crops 
as determined by the Secretary.
    (e) Approval of Tribal Regulations.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall approve a tribal 
        regulation issued for the purposes of subsection (c)(4), if the 
        tribal regulation--
                    (A) is consistent with regulations, if any, issued 
                by the Secretary under this Act; and
                    (B) provides for an environmental review process 
                that includes--
                            (i) the identification and evaluation of 
                        any significant effects of the proposed action 
                        on the environment; and
                            (ii) a process for ensuring that--
                                    (I) the public is informed of, and 
                                has a reasonable opportunity to comment 
                                on, any significant environmental 
                                impacts of the proposed action 
                                identified by the participating Indian 
                                tribe or consortium; and
                                    (II) the participating Indian tribe 
                                or consortium provides responses to 
                                relevant and substantive public 
                                comments on those impacts before the 
                                participating Indian tribe or 
                                consortium approves the lease.
            (2) Secretarial review.--
                    (A) In general.--Not later than 120 days after the 
                date on which the tribal regulations under this 
                subsection are submitted to the Secretary, the 
                Secretary shall review and approve or disapprove the 
                regulations.
                    (B) Written documentation.--If the Secretary 
                disapproves such tribal regulations, the Secretary 
                shall include written documentation with the 
                disapproval notification that describes the basis for 
                the disapproval.
                    (C) Extension.--The deadline described in 
                subparagraph (A) may be extended by the Secretary, 
                after consultation with the participating Indian tribe 
                or consortium.
    (f) Federal Environmental Review.--Notwithstanding subsection 
(e)(2), if a participating Indian tribe or consortium carries out a 
project or activity funded by a Federal agency, the participating 
Indian tribe or consortium may rely on the environmental review process 
of the applicable Federal agency rather than any tribal environmental 
review process under this subsection.
    (g) Documentation.--If a participating Indian tribe or consortium 
executes a lease pursuant to tribal regulations approved under this 
section, the participating Indian tribe or consortium shall provide the 
Secretary with--
            (1) a copy of the lease, including any amendments or 
        renewals to the lease; and
            (2) in the case of tribal regulations or a lease that 
        allows for lease payments to be made directly to the 
        participating Indian tribe or consortium, documentation of the 
        lease payments that are sufficient to enable the Secretary to 
        discharge the trust responsibility of the United States under 
        subsection (h).
    (h) Trust Responsibility.--
            (1) In general.--The United States shall not be liable for 
        losses sustained by any party to a lease executed under this 
        Act.
            (2) Authority of secretary.--Pursuant to the authority of 
        the Secretary to fulfill the trust obligation of the United 
        States to an Indian tribe under Federal law, including 
        regulations, the Secretary may, upon reasonable notice from the 
        Indian tribe and at the discretion of the Secretary, enforce 
        the provisions of, or cancel, any lease executed by a 
        participating Indian tribe or consortium under this Act.
    (i) Compliance.--
            (1) In general.--An interested party, after exhausting 
        applicable tribal remedies, may submit a petition to the 
        Secretary, at such time and in such form as the Secretary 
        determines to be appropriate, to review the compliance of a 
        participating Indian tribe or consortium with any tribal 
        regulations approved by the Secretary under this Act.
            (2) Violations.--If, after carrying out a review under 
        paragraph (1), the Secretary determines that the tribal 
        regulations were violated, the Secretary may take any action 
        the Secretary determines to be necessary to remedy the 
        violation, including rescinding the approval of the tribal 
        regulations and reassuming responsibility for the approval of 
        leases of Indian lands.
            (3) Documentation.--If the Secretary determines under this 
        paragraph that a violation of tribal regulations has occurred 
        and a remedy is necessary, the Secretary shall--
                    (A) make a written determination with respect to 
                the regulations that have been violated;
                    (B) provide the applicable participating Indian 
                tribe or consortium with a written notice of the 
                alleged violation together with such written 
                determination; and
                    (C) prior to the exercise of any remedy, the 
                rescission of the approval of the regulation involved, 
                or the reassumption of lease approval responsibilities, 
                provide the applicable participating Indian tribe or 
                consortium with--
                            (i) a hearing that is on the record; and
                            (ii) a reasonable opportunity to cure the 
                        alleged violation.

SEC. 4. SELECTION OF PARTICIPATING INDIAN TRIBES.

    (a) Participants.--
            (1) In general.--During the first year after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Secretary may select not more 
        than 6 Indian tribes or consortia from the applicant pool 
        described in subsection (b) to submit an application to be a 
        participating Indian tribe or consortium.
            (2) Consortia.--Two or more Indian tribes may form a 
        consortium to participate as an applicant under paragraph (1).
    (b) Applicant Pool.--The applicant pool described in this 
subsection shall consist of each Indian tribe or consortium that--
            (1) requests participation in the demonstration project 
        through a resolution or other official action of the tribal 
        governing body; and
            (2) demonstrates, for the 3 fiscal years immediately 
        preceding the fiscal year for which participation is requested, 
        financial stability and financial management capability as 
        demonstrated by a showing by the Indian tribe or consortium 
        that there were no material audit exceptions in the required 
        annual audit of the self-determination contracts of the Indian 
        tribe or consortium.

SEC. 5. APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS, REVIEW, AND APPROVAL.

    (a) Requirements.--An Indian tribe or consortium selected under 
subsection (a) may submit to the Secretary an application that--
            (1) identifies the activities to be conducted by the Indian 
        tribe or consortium;
            (2) describes the revenues, jobs, and related economic 
        benefits and other likely consequences to the Indian tribe or 
        consortium, its members, the investors, and the surrounding 
        communities to be generated as a result of the activities 
        identified in paragraph (1); and
            (3) is approved by the governing body of the Indian tribe 
        or consortium, including, in the case of an applicant that is a 
        consortium of Indian tribes, the governing body of each 
        affected member Indian tribe.
    (b) Review and Approval.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
        receipt of an application under subsection (a), the Secretary 
        shall inform the applicant, in writing, of the approval or 
        disapproval of the application.
            (2) Disapproval.--If an application is disapproved, the 
        written notice shall identify the reasons for the disapproval 
        and the applicant shall be provided an opportunity to amend and 
        resubmit the application to the Secretary.

SEC. 6. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary shall prepare and submit to Congress a report that 
includes--
            (1) a description of the economic benefits and other 
        consequences to participating Indian tribes, their members, and 
        surrounding communities as a result of the economic activities 
        and financial investment engendered by the demonstration 
        project; and
            (2) observations drawn from the implementation of this Act 
        and recommendations reasonably designed to improve the 
        operation or consequences of the demonstration project.
                                 <all>
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