IB 

Union Calendar No. 315 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2362 

[Report No. 112–451] 

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 

APRIL 19, 2012 

Additional sponsors: Ms. FOXX, Mr. WHITFIELD, Mr. STIVERS, Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. COHEN, Mr. MORAN, Ms. RICHARDSON, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. 

BOREN, and Mr. HONDA

APRIL 19, 2012 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 

and ordered to be printed 


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A BILL 

To facilitate economic development by Indian tribes and 

encourage investment by Turkish enterprises. 


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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 

10 bolstering cultural, political, and economic relation11 ships with Indian tribes and tribal members; 

12 (2) uneconomic regulatory, statutory, and policy 

13 barriers are preventing more robust relationships be14 tween the Turkish and Indian tribal communities; 

15 and 

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

17 United States, and the United States–Turkey rela18 tionship to remove or ameliorate these barriers 

19 through the establishment of an Indian Tribal Trade 

20 and Investment Demonstration Project. 

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

22 (1) to remove or ameliorate the certain barriers 

23 to facilitate trade and financial investment in Indian 

24 tribal economies; 


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1 (2) to encourage increased levels of commerce 

2 and economic investment by private entities incor3 porated in or emanating from the Republic of Tur4 key; and 

5 (3) to further the policy of Indian self-deter6 mination by strengthening Indian tribal economies 

7 and political institutions in order to raise the mate8 rial standard of living of Indians. 

9 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this Act: 

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

12 an Indian tribe or a consortium of Indian tribes that 

13 submits an application under this Act seeking par14 ticipation in the demonstration project. 

15 (2) DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.—The term 

16 ‘‘demonstration project’’ means the trade and invest17 ment demonstration project authorized by this Act. 

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

19 has the meaning given that term in section 102 of 

20 the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 

21 1994 (25 U.S.C. 479a). 

22 (4) PARTICIPATING INDIAN TRIBE.—The term 

23 ‘‘participating Indian tribe’’ means an Indian tribe 

24 selected by the Secretary from the applicant pool. 


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

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

3 business development undertaking that includes 

4 components that contribute materially to carrying 

5 out a purpose or closely related purposes that are 

6 proposed or approved for assistance under more 

7 than one Federal program. 

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

9 the Secretary of the Interior. 

10 SEC. 3. INDIAN TRIBAL TRADE AND INVESTMENT DEM11 ONSTRATION PROJECT. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall authorize In13 dian tribes selected under section 4 to participate in a 

14 demonstration project under this Act, which shall be 

15 known as the ‘‘Indian Tribal Trade and Investment Dem16 onstration Project’’. 

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

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

19 demonstration project. 

20 (c) TRIBAL APPROVAL OF LEASES.—Notwith21 standing any other provision of law, and in the discretion 

22 of a participating Indian tribe or consortium, any lease 

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

24 participating Indian tribe (or an Indian tribe in a consor25 tium) entered into under this Act to carry out a project 


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1 or activity shall not require the approval of the Secretary 

2 if the lease— 

3 (1) is entered into in furtherance of a commer4 cial partnership involving one or more private enti5 ties incorporated in or emanating from the Republic 

6 of Turkey; 

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

8 the date of the enactment of this Act; 

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

10 extraction of any mineral resources; 

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

12 in land held in trust for an individual Indian; 

13 (5) is executed under the tribal regulations ap14 proved by the Secretary under this Act; and 

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

16 except that any such lease may include an option to 

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

18 may not exceed 25 years. 

19 (d) ACTIVITIES TO BE CONDUCTED ON LEASED

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

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

22 tribe in a consortium) may be leased for activities con23 sistent with the purposes of this Act, including business 

24 and economic development, public, educational, or residen25 tial purposes, including the development or use of natural 


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1 resources in connection with operations under such leases, 

2 for grazing purposes, and for those farming purposes 

3 which require the making of a substantial investment in 

4 the improvement of the land for the production of special5 ized crops as determined by the Secretary. 

6 (e) APPROVAL OF TRIBAL REGULATIONS.— 

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

8 a tribal regulation issued for the purposes of sub9 section (c)(4), if the tribal regulation— 

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

11 issued by the Secretary under this Act; and 

12 (B) provides for an environmental review 

13 process that includes— 

14 (i) the identification and evaluation of 

15 any significant effects of the proposed ac16 tion on the environment; and 

17 (ii) a process for ensuring that— 

18 (I) the public is informed of, and 

19 has a reasonable opportunity to com20 ment on, any significant environ21 mental impacts of the proposed action 

22 identified by the participating Indian 

23 tribe or consortium; and 

24 (II) the participating Indian tribe 

25 or consortium provides responses to 


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1 relevant and substantive public com2 ments on those impacts before the 

3 participating Indian tribe or consor4 tium approves the lease. 

5 (2) SECRETARIAL REVIEW.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 

7 days after the date on which the tribal regula8 tions under this subsection are submitted to the 

9 Secretary, the Secretary shall review and ap10 prove or disapprove the regulations. 

11 (B) WRITTEN DOCUMENTATION.—If the 

12 Secretary disapproves such tribal regulations, 

13 the Secretary shall include written documenta14 tion with the disapproval notification that de15 scribes the basis for the disapproval. 

16 (C) EXTENSION.—The deadline described 

17 in subparagraph (A) may be extended by the 

18 Secretary, after consultation with the partici19 pating Indian tribe or consortium. 

20 (f) FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.—Notwith21 standing subsection (e)(2), if a participating Indian tribe 

22 or consortium carries out a project or activity funded by 

23 a Federal agency, the participating Indian tribe or consor24 tium may rely on the environmental review process of the 


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1 applicable Federal agency rather than any tribal environ2 mental review process under this subsection. 

3 (g) DOCUMENTATION.—If a participating Indian 

4 tribe or consortium executes a lease pursuant to tribal reg5 ulations approved under this section, the participating In6 dian tribe or consortium shall provide the Secretary 

7 with— 

8 (1) a copy of the lease, including any amend9 ments or renewals to the lease; and 

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

11 that allows for lease payments to be made directly 

12 to the participating Indian tribe or consortium, doc13 umentation of the lease payments that are sufficient 

14 to enable the Secretary to discharge the trust re15 sponsibility of the United States under subsection 

16 (h). 

17 (h) TRUST RESPONSIBILITY.— 

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

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

20 executed under this Act. 

21 (2) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.—Pursuant to 

22 the authority of the Secretary to fulfill the trust ob23 ligation of the United States to an Indian tribe 

24 under Federal law, including regulations, the Sec25 retary may, upon reasonable notice from the Indian 


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1 tribe and at the discretion of the Secretary, enforce 

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

3 participating Indian tribe or consortium under this 

4 Act. 

5 (i) COMPLIANCE.— 

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

7 exhausting applicable tribal remedies, may submit a 

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

9 form as the Secretary determines to be appropriate, 

10 to review the compliance of a participating Indian 

11 tribe or consortium with any tribal regulations ap12 proved by the Secretary under this Act. 

13 (2) VIOLATIONS.—If, after carrying out a re14 view under paragraph (1), the Secretary determines 

15 that the tribal regulations were violated, the Sec16 retary may take any action the Secretary determines 

17 to be necessary to remedy the violation, including re18 scinding the approval of the tribal regulations and 

19 reassuming responsibility for the approval of leases 

20 of Indian lands. 

21 (3) DOCUMENTATION.—If the Secretary deter22 mines under this paragraph that a violation of tribal 

23 regulations has occurred and a remedy is necessary, 

24 the Secretary shall— 


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1 (A) make a written determination with re2 spect to the regulations that have been violated; 

3 (B) provide the applicable participating In4 dian tribe or consortium with a written notice 

5 of the alleged violation together with such writ6 ten determination; and 

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

8 the rescission of the approval of the regulation 

9 involved, or the reassumption of lease approval 

10 responsibilities, provide the applicable partici11 pating Indian tribe or consortium with— 

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

13 and 

14 (ii) a reasonable opportunity to cure 

15 the alleged violation. 

16 SEC. 4. SELECTION OF PARTICIPATING INDIAN TRIBES. 

17 (a) PARTICIPANTS.— 

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

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

20 may select not more than 6 Indian tribes or con21 sortia from the applicant pool described in sub22 section (b) to submit an application to be a partici23 pating Indian tribe or consortium. 


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

2 may form a consortium to participate as an appli3 cant under paragraph (1). 

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

5 in this subsection shall consist of each Indian tribe or con6 sortium that— 

7 (1) requests participation in the demonstration 

8 project through a resolution or other official action 

9 of the tribal governing body; and 

10 (2) demonstrates, for the 3 fiscal years imme11 diately preceding the fiscal year for which participa12 tion is requested, financial stability and financial 

13 management capability as demonstrated by a show14 ing by the Indian tribe or consortium that there 

15 were no material audit exceptions in the required an16 nual audit of the self-determination contracts of the 

17 Indian tribe or consortium. 

18 SEC. 5. APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS, REVIEW, AND AP19 PROVAL. 

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

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

22 an application that— 

23 (1) identifies the activities to be conducted by 

24 the Indian tribe or consortium; 


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

2 economic benefits and other likely consequences to 

3 the Indian tribe or consortium, its members, the in4 vestors, and the surrounding communities to be gen5 erated as a result of the activities identified in para6 graph (1); and 

7 (3) is approved by the governing body of the In8 dian tribe or consortium, including, in the case of an 

9 applicant that is a consortium of Indian tribes, the 

10 governing body of each affected member Indian 

11 tribe. 

12 (b) REVIEW AND APPROVAL.— 

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

14 the date of receipt of an application under sub15 section (a), the Secretary shall inform the applicant, 

16 in writing, of the approval or disapproval of the ap17 plication. 

18 (2) DISAPPROVAL.—If an application is dis19 approved, the written notice shall identify the rea20 sons for the disapproval and the applicant shall be 

21 provided an opportunity to amend and resubmit the 

22 application to the Secretary. 


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1 SEC. 6. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

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

3 of this Act, the Secretary shall prepare and submit to Con4 gress a report that includes— 

5 (1) a description of the economic benefits and 

6 other consequences to participating Indian tribes, 

7 their members, and surrounding communities as a 

8 result of the economic activities and financial invest9 ment engendered by the demonstration project; and 

10 (2) observations drawn from the implementa11 tion of this Act and recommendations reasonably de12 signed to improve the operation or consequences of 

13 the demonstration project. 


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Union Calendar No. 315 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2362 

[Report No. 112–451] 

A BILL 

To facilitate economic development by Indian tribes 

and encourage investment by Turkish enterprises. 

APRIL 19, 2012 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 


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