IB 
Union Calendar No. 389 
119TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4284 
[Report No. 119–454, Part I] 
To amend the Small Tract Act of 1983 to authorize the Secretary of Agri-
culture to convey, without consideration, certain cemeteries, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 2, 2025 
Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee 
on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speak-
er, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the ju-
risdiction of the committee concerned 
JANUARY 14, 2026 
Additional sponsor: Mr. HURD of Colorado 
JANUARY 14, 2026 
Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources 
JANUARY 14, 2026 
Committee on Agriculture discharged; 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 amend the Small Tract Act of 1983 to authorize the 
Secretary of Agriculture to convey, without consideration, 
certain cemeteries, and for other purposes. 
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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 ‘‘Small Cemetery Con-
veyance Act’’. 
SEC. 2. CONVEYANCES OF CERTAIN CEMETERIES. 
(a) AMENDMENTS TO SMALL TRACT ACT OF 1983.— 
The Small Tract Act of 1983 (16 U.S.C. 521c et seq.) 
is amended— 
(1) in section 2(a)— 
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking the pe-
riod at the end and inserting ‘‘and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(3) to convey, without consideration, certain 
parcels used, or previously used, as cemeteries in ac-
cordance with section 9.’’; 
(2) in section 3(6), by striking ‘‘a cemetery (in-
cluding a parcel of not more than 1 acre adjacent 
to the parcel used as a cemetery), a landfill, or’’ and 
inserting ‘‘a landfill or’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
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dition to the authority available to the Secretary 
pursuant to the last sentence of section 4. 
‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) CEMETERY.—The term ‘cemetery’ means a 
natural or prepared physical location (regardless of 
location below, on, or above the surface of the earth) 
into which human remains are deposited— 
‘‘(A)(i) as part of— 
‘‘(I) a death rite or ceremony of 
a culture; or 
‘‘(II) a common burying ground 
of a community; or 
‘‘(ii) that is determined to be a ceme-
tery by an Indian Tribe; and 
‘‘(B) that, as determined by the Secretary, 
is a parcel of land less than or equal to 40 
acres. 
‘‘(2) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian Tribe’ 
means the governing body of any individually identi-
fied and federally recognized Indian or Alaska Na-
tive tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, community, 
affiliated Tribal group, or component reservation in-
cluded on the most recent list published pursuant to 
section 104(a) of the Federally Recognized Indian 
Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131(a)). 
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‘‘(3) QUALIFIED
LAND
GRANT-MERCED.—The 
term ‘qualified land grant-merced’ means a commu-
nity land grant issued under the laws or customs of 
the Government of Spain or Mexico that— 
‘‘(A) is recognized under New Mexico Stat-
utes Chapter 49, Articles 1 and 4 (or a suc-
cessor statute); and 
‘‘(B)(i) has a record of historical or tradi-
tional use on Federal land under the jurisdic-
tion of the Secretary; or 
‘‘(ii) has a patented exterior boundary 
that is or was previously located on or ad-
jacent to Federal land under the jurisdic-
tion of the Secretary. 
‘‘(4) QUALIFIED PERSON.—The term ‘qualified 
person’ means, with respect to a cemetery, a State 
or local government, Indian Tribe, or qualified land 
grant-merced that has a bona fide interest or his-
toric claim to the cemetery.’’. 
(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-
tion or an amendment made by this section may be con-
strued to modify, waive, or otherwise affect the application 
of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatri-
ation Act (25 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.). 
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Union Calendar No. 389 
119TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4284 
[Report No. 119–454, Part I] 
A BILL 
To amend the Small Tract Act of 1983 to authorize 
the Secretary of Agriculture to convey, without 
consideration, certain cemeteries, and for other 
purposes. 
JANUARY 14, 2026 
Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources 
JANUARY 14, 2026 
Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to the 
Committee of the Whole House on the State of the 
Union and ordered to be printed 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:32 Jan 15, 2026
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PO 00000
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