I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2387 
To amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to provide for equitable 
allotment of land to Alaska Native veterans. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 15, 2015 
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to pro-
vide for equitable allotment of land to Alaska Native 
veterans. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Alaska Native Vet-
erans Land Allotment Equity Act’’. 
SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION REGARDING OCCUPANCY OF NA-
TIVE ALLOTMENTS IN NATIONAL FORESTS. 
Section 18(a) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement 
Act (43 U.S.C. 1617(a)) is amended— 
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(1) by striking ‘‘(a) No Native’’ and inserting 
the following: 
‘‘(a) REVOCATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No Native’’; 
(2) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘Fur-
ther, the’’ and inserting the following: 
‘‘(2) REPEAL.—The’’; 
(3) in the third sentence, by striking ‘‘Notwith-
standing the foregoing provisions of this section, 
any’’ and inserting the following: 
‘‘(3) APPLICATIONS FOR ALLOTMENT.— 
‘‘(A) 
IN
GENERAL.—Notwithstanding 
paragraphs (1) and (2), any’’; and 
(4) in paragraph (3) (as designated by para-
graph (3)), by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(B) 
CERTAIN
APPLICATIONS
AP-
PROVED.—Any allotment application pending 
before the Department of the Interior on De-
cember 18, 1971, that was closed by the De-
partment pursuant to the civil action styled 
‘Shields v. United States’ (698 F.2d 987 (9th 
Cir. 1983), cert. denied (104 S. Ct. 73 (1983))) 
shall be reopened and considered to be approved 
pursuant to this paragraph.’’. 
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SEC. 3. OPEN SEASON FOR CERTAIN ALASKA NATIVE VET-
ERANS FOR ALLOTMENTS. 
Section 41 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement 
Act (43 U.S.C. 1629g) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) in the subsection heading, by striking 
‘‘IN GENERAL’’ and inserting ‘‘ALASKA NATIVE 
VETERAN ALLOTMENTS’’; 
(B) by striking paragraphs (1) through (4) 
and inserting the following: 
‘‘(1) ALLOTMENTS.— 
‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.—Any person 
described in paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection 
(b) shall be eligible to receive an allotment 
under the Act of May 17, 1906 (34 Stat. 197, 
chapter 2469) (as in effect before December 18, 
1971), of not more than 2 parcels of Federal 
land, the total area of which shall not exceed 
160 acres. 
‘‘(B) FILING
DEADLINE.—An allotment 
shall be filed for an eligible recipient not later 
than 3 years after the date on which the Sec-
retary promulgates regulations pursuant to sec-
tion 4 of the Alaska Native Veterans Land Al-
lotment Equity Act. 
‘‘(2) LAND AVAILABLE FOR ALLOTMENTS.— 
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‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-
graph (C), an allotment under this section shall 
be selected from land that is— 
‘‘(i)(I) vacant; and 
‘‘(II) owned by the United States; 
‘‘(ii) selected by, or conveyed to, the 
State of Alaska, if the State voluntarily re-
linquishes or conveys to the United States 
the land for the allotment; or 
‘‘(iii) selected by, or conveyed to, a 
Native Corporation, if the Native Corpora-
tion voluntarily relinquishes or conveys to 
the United States the land for the allot-
ment. 
‘‘(B) RELINQUISHMENT BY NATIVE COR-
PORATION.—If a Native Corporation relin-
quishes land under subparagraph (A)(iii), the 
Native Corporation may select appropriate Fed-
eral land, as determined by the Secretary, the 
area of which is equal to the area of the land 
relinquished by the Native Corporation, to re-
place the relinquished land. 
‘‘(C) EXCLUSIONS.—An allotment under 
this section shall not be selected from land that 
is located within— 
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(C) by redesignating paragraphs (5) and 
(6) as paragraphs (4) and (5), respectively; 
(2) in subsection (b)— 
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking subpara-
graph (B) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(B) is a veteran who served during the period 
beginning on August 5, 1964, and ending on May 7, 
1975.’’; 
(B) by striking paragraph (2) and insert-
ing the following: 
‘‘(2) DECEASED INDIVIDUALS.—If an individual 
who would otherwise have been eligible for an allot-
ment under this section dies before applying for an 
allotment, an heir of the individual may apply for, 
and receive, an allotment under this section, on be-
half of the estate of the individual.’’; and 
(C) in paragraph (3), by inserting before 
the period at the end the following: ‘‘, other 
than an heir who applies for, and receives, an 
allotment on behalf of the estate of a deceased 
individual under paragraph (2)’’; 
(3) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as 
subsections (f) and (g), respectively; and 
(4) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol-
lowing: 
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‘‘(d) APPROVAL OF ALLOTMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to any valid right 
in existence on the date of enactment of the Alaska 
Native Veterans Land Allotment Equity Act, and ex-
cept as provided in paragraph (3), not later than 
December 31, 2020, the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(A) approve any application for an allot-
ment filed in accordance with subsection (a); 
and 
‘‘(B) issue a certificate of allotment under 
such terms, conditions, and restrictions as the 
Secretary determines to be appropriate. 
‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than December 
31, 2017, on receipt of an application for an allot-
ment under this section, the Secretary shall provide 
to any person or entity that has an interest in land 
described in subsection (a)(2) that is potentially ad-
verse to the interest of the applicant a notice of the 
right of the person or entity, by not later than 90 
days after the date of receipt of the notice— 
‘‘(A) to initiate a private contest of the al-
lotment; or 
‘‘(B) to file a protest against the allotment 
in accordance with procedures established by 
the Secretary. 
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‘‘(3) ACTION BY SECRETARY.—If a private con-
test or protest relating to an application for an allot-
ment is initiated or filed under paragraph (2), the 
Secretary shall not issue a certificate for the allot-
ment under paragraph (1)(B) until a final deter-
mination has been made with respect to the private 
contest or protest. 
‘‘(e) RESELECTION.—A person that selected an allot-
ment under this section may withdraw that selection and 
reselect land in accordance with this section after the date 
of enactment of the Alaska Native Veterans Land Allot-
ment Equity Act, if the land originally selected— 
‘‘(1) was selected before the date of enactment 
of the Alaska Native Veterans Land Allotment Eq-
uity Act; and 
‘‘(2) as of the date of enactment of that Act, 
was not conveyed to the person.’’. 
SEC. 4. REGULATIONS. 
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall promulgate 
final regulations to carry out the amendments made by 
this Act. 
Æ 
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