Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives 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 Repub-
lic of Turkey have demonstrated a unique interest in 
bolstering cultural, political, and economic relation-
ships with Indian tribes and tribal members; 
(2) uneconomic regulatory, statutory, and policy 
barriers are preventing more robust relationships be-
tween the Turkish and Indian tribal communities; 
and 
(3) it is in the interest of Indian tribes, the 
United States, and the United States–Turkey rela-
tionship 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; 
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(2) to encourage increased levels of commerce 
and economic investment by private entities incor-
porated in or emanating from the Republic of Tur-
key; and 
(3) to further the policy of Indian self-deter-
mination by strengthening Indian tribal economies 
and political institutions in order to raise the mate-
rial 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 par-
ticipation in the demonstration project. 
(2) DEMONSTRATION
PROJECT.—The term 
‘‘demonstration project’’ means the trade and invest-
ment 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. 
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(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 DEM-
ONSTRATION PROJECT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall authorize In-
dian 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 Dem-
onstration 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.—Notwith-
standing 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 consor-
tium) entered into under this Act to carry out a project 
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or activity shall not require the approval of the Secretary 
if the lease— 
(1) is entered into in furtherance of a commer-
cial partnership involving one or more private enti-
ties 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 ap-
proved 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 con-
sistent with the purposes of this Act, including business 
and economic development, public, educational, or residen-
tial purposes, including the development or use of natural 
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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 special-
ized 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 sub-
section (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 ac-
tion on the environment; and 
(ii) a process for ensuring that— 
(I) the public is informed of, and 
has a reasonable opportunity to com-
ment on, any significant environ-
mental impacts of the proposed action 
identified by the participating Indian 
tribe or consortium; and 
(II) the participating Indian tribe 
or consortium provides responses to 
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relevant and substantive public com-
ments on those impacts before the 
participating Indian tribe or consor-
tium approves the lease. 
(2) SECRETARIAL REVIEW.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 120 
days after the date on which the tribal regula-
tions under this subsection are submitted to the 
Secretary, the Secretary shall review and ap-
prove or disapprove the regulations. 
(B) WRITTEN
DOCUMENTATION.—If the 
Secretary disapproves such tribal regulations, 
the Secretary shall include written documenta-
tion with the disapproval notification that de-
scribes the basis for the disapproval. 
(C) EXTENSION.—The deadline described 
in subparagraph (A) may be extended by the 
Secretary, after consultation with the partici-
pating Indian tribe or consortium. 
(f) FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.—Notwith-
standing 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 consor-
tium may rely on the environmental review process of the 
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applicable Federal agency rather than any tribal environ-
mental review process under this subsection. 
(g) DOCUMENTATION.—If a participating Indian 
tribe or consortium executes a lease pursuant to tribal reg-
ulations approved under this section, the participating In-
dian tribe or consortium shall provide the Secretary 
with— 
(1) a copy of the lease, including any amend-
ments 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, doc-
umentation of the lease payments that are sufficient 
to enable the Secretary to discharge the trust re-
sponsibility 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 ob-
ligation of the United States to an Indian tribe 
under Federal law, including regulations, the Sec-
retary may, upon reasonable notice from the Indian 
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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 ap-
proved by the Secretary under this Act. 
(2) VIOLATIONS.—If, after carrying out a re-
view under paragraph (1), the Secretary determines 
that the tribal regulations were violated, the Sec-
retary may take any action the Secretary determines 
to be necessary to remedy the violation, including re-
scinding the approval of the tribal regulations and 
reassuming responsibility for the approval of leases 
of Indian lands. 
(3) DOCUMENTATION.—If the Secretary deter-
mines under this paragraph that a violation of tribal 
regulations has occurred and a remedy is necessary, 
the Secretary shall— 
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(A) make a written determination with re-
spect to the regulations that have been violated; 
(B) provide the applicable participating In-
dian tribe or consortium with a written notice 
of the alleged violation together with such writ-
ten 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 partici-
pating 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 con-
sortia from the applicant pool described in sub-
section (b) to submit an application to be a partici-
pating Indian tribe or consortium. 
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(2) CONSORTIA.—Two or more Indian tribes 
may form a consortium to participate as an appli-
cant under paragraph (1). 
(b) APPLICANT POOL.—The applicant pool described 
in this subsection shall consist of each Indian tribe or con-
sortium 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 imme-
diately preceding the fiscal year for which participa-
tion is requested, financial stability and financial 
management capability as demonstrated by a show-
ing by the Indian tribe or consortium that there 
were no material audit exceptions in the required an-
nual audit of the self-determination contracts of the 
Indian tribe or consortium. 
SEC. 5. APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS, REVIEW, AND AP-
PROVAL. 
(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; 
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(2) describes the revenues, jobs, and related 
economic benefits and other likely consequences to 
the Indian tribe or consortium, its members, the in-
vestors, and the surrounding communities to be gen-
erated as a result of the activities identified in para-
graph (1); and 
(3) is approved by the governing body of the In-
dian 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 sub-
section (a), the Secretary shall inform the applicant, 
in writing, of the approval or disapproval of the ap-
plication. 
(2) DISAPPROVAL.—If an application is dis-
approved, the written notice shall identify the rea-
sons for the disapproval and the applicant shall be 
provided an opportunity to amend and resubmit the 
application to the Secretary. 
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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 Con-
gress 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 invest-
ment engendered by the demonstration project; and 
(2) observations drawn from the implementa-
tion of this Act and recommendations reasonably de-
signed to improve the operation or consequences of 
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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