(1) has had treaty relations with the United 
States; 
(2) has been denominated a tribe by an Act of 
Congress or Executive order; and 
(3) has been treated by the Federal Govern-
ment as having collective rights in tribal lands or 
funds. 
SEC. 9. NOTICE OF RECEIPT OF A PETITION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after re-
ceiving a letter of intent, or a documented petition if a 
letter of intent has not previously been received and no-
ticed, the Assistant Secretary shall acknowledge to the 
sender such receipt in writing. Notice under this sub-
section shall— 
(1) include the name, location, and mailing ad-
dress of the petitioner and such other information to 
identify the entity submitting the letter of intent or 
documented petition and the date it was received; 
(2) serve to announce the opportunity for inter-
ested parties and informed parties to submit factual 
or legal arguments in support of or in opposition to 
the petitioner’s request for acknowledgment or to re-
quest to be kept informed of all general actions af-
fecting the petition; and 
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(3) indicate where a copy of the letter of intent 
and the documented petition may be examined. 
(b) NOTICE TO STATE GOVERNMENTS.—The Assist-
ant Secretary shall notify, in writing— 
(1) the Governor and Attorney General of the 
State or States in which a petitioner is located; and 
(2) any recognized tribe and any other peti-
tioner that— 
(A) appears to have a historical or present 
relationship with the petitioner; or 
(B) may otherwise be considered to have a 
potential interest in the acknowledgment deter-
mination. 
(c) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 60 days after re-
ceiving a letter of intent, or a documented petition if a 
letter of intent has not previously been received and no-
ticed, the Assistant Secretary shall have the notice re-
quired under this section published— 
(1) in the Federal Register; and 
(2) in a major newspaper or newspapers of gen-
eral circulation in the town or city nearest to the pe-
titioner. 
SEC. 10. PROCESSING OF THE DOCUMENTED PETITION. 
(a) REVIEW.—Upon receipt of a documented petition, 
the Assistant Secretary— 
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(1) shall cause a review to be conducted to de-
termine the extent to which the petitioner has met 
the criteria set forth in section 7; 
(2) shall include consideration of the docu-
mented petition and the factual statements con-
tained therein; 
(3) may initiate other research for any purpose 
relative to analyzing the documented petition and 
obtaining additional information about the peti-
tioner’s status; and 
(4) may consider any evidence which may be 
submitted by interested parties or informed parties. 
(b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 
(1) Prior to review of the documented petition 
under subsection (a), the Assistant Secretary shall 
conduct a preliminary review of the petition in order 
to provide technical assistance to the petitioner. 
(2) The review under paragraph (1) shall be a 
preliminary review for the purpose of providing the 
petitioner an opportunity to supplement or revise the 
documented petition prior to the review under para-
graph (1). Insofar as possible, technical assistance 
reviews under this paragraph will be conducted in 
the order of receipt of documented petitions. How-
ever, technical assistance reviews will not have pri-
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ority over active consideration of documented peti-
tions. 
(3) After the technical assistance review, the 
Assistant Secretary shall notify the petitioner by let-
ter of any obvious deficiencies or significant omis-
sions apparent in the documented petition and pro-
vide the petitioner with an opportunity to withdraw 
the documented petition for further work or to sub-
mit additional information. 
(4) If a petitioner’s documented petition claims 
previous Federal acknowledgment or includes evi-
dence of previous Federal acknowledgment, the tech-
nical assistance review shall also include a review to 
determine whether that evidence is sufficient to meet 
the requirements of previous Federal acknowledg-
ment. 
(c) RESPONSE
TO TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE RE-
VIEW.— 
(1) Petitioners may respond in part or in full 
to the technical assistance review letter or request, 
in writing, that the Assistant Secretary proceed with 
the active consideration of the documented petition 
using the materials already submitted. 
(2) If the petitioner requests that the materials 
submitted in response to the technical assistance re-
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view letter be again reviewed for adequacy, the As-
sistant Secretary shall provide the additional review. 
(3) If the assertion of previous Federal ac-
knowledgment under section 8 cannot be substan-
tiated during the technical assistance review, the pe-
titioner may respond by providing additional evi-
dence. A petitioner that claims previous Federal ac-
knowledgment and fails to respond to a technical as-
sistance review letter under this subsection, or whose 
response fails to establish the claim, shall have its 
documented petition considered on the same basis as 
documented petitions submitted by groups not claim-
ing previous Federal acknowledgment. Petitioners 
that fail to demonstrate previous Federal acknowl-
edgment after a review of materials submitted in re-
sponse to the technical assistance review shall be so 
notified. Such petitioners may submit additional ma-
terials concerning previous acknowledgment during 
the course of active consideration. 
(d) CONSIDERATION OF DOCUMENTED PETITIONS.— 
The Assistant Secretary shall— 
(1) review documented petitions in the order 
that they are determined ready for review; 
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(2) establish and maintain a numbered register 
of documented petitions which have been determined 
ready for active consideration; 
(3) maintain a numbered register of letters of 
intent or incomplete petitions based on the original 
date received by the Department of the Interior; and 
(4) use the register of letters of intent or in-
complete petitions to determine the order of review 
by the Assistant Secretary if two or more docu-
mented petitions are determined ready for review on 
the same date. 
(e) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after notifying 
the petitioner that review of the documented petition has 
begun, the Assistant Secretary shall— 
(1) submit a report including a summary of the 
evidence, findings, petition, and supporting docu-
mentation, to the Committee on Natural Resources 
of the House of Representatives and the Committee 
on Indian Affairs of the Senate; 
(2) notify the petitioner and interested parties 
that the review is complete and the report required 
under paragraph (1) has been submitted; 
(3) provide copies of the report to the petitioner 
and interested parties; and 
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(4) provide copies of the report to informed 
parties and others upon written request. 
SEC. 11. CLARIFICATION OF FEDERAL RECOGNITION AU-
THORITY. 
(a) ACT OF CONGRESS REQUIRED.—An Indian group 
may receive Federal acknowledgment (or reacknowledg-
ment) as an Indian tribe only by an Act of Congress. The 
Secretary may not grant Federal acknowledgment (or re-
acknowledgment) to any Indian group. 
(b) PREVIOUS ACKNOWLEDGMENT.—This Act shall 
not affect the status of any Indian tribe that was federally 
acknowledged before the date of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 12. FORCE AND EFFECT OF REGULATIONS. 
Part 83 of title 25, Code of Federal Regulations, 
shall have no force or effect. 
Æ 
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