Yurok Lands Act of 2022
Bill: H.R.7581 | Sponsor: Rep. Huffman, Jared (D-CA)
Policy area: Native Americans

Summary:
Yurok Lands Act of 2022
This bill addresses the management of Yurok Reservation lands.
The Department of the Interior must enter into a cooperative agreement with the Yurok Tribe for protecting the natural resources of Redwood National Park.
The bill confirms the 2006 Cooperative Agreement between the Department of the Interior and the Yurok Tribe for the Cooperative Management of Tribal and Federal Lands and Resources in the Klamath River Basin of California and authorizes Interior to implement the agreement.
The Forest Service must transfer approximately 1,229 acres in the Yurok Experimental Forest and Six Rivers National Forest to Interior. That land must be held in trust for the benefit of the tribe and be managed by the tribe for conservation and research purposes. The land may not be used for gaming activity or for old growth logging.
Interior must revise the boundary of the reservation as depicted on the map titled Proposed Yurok Reservation Boundary and dated March 30, 2022. National Forest System land and National Park System land within the revised reservation must be administered by the Forest Service and the National Park Service, respectively.
The bill gives the tribe the option to expand its role in the environmental review process with respect to major federal actions within the revised Yurok Reservation.
The bill designates the Bald Hills Road, which runs from U.S. Highway 101 to the Klamath River, as the Yurok Scenic Byway.
The bill ratifies and confirms the tribe's governing documents.

To recognize tribal cooperation in the environmental review of proposed 
    actions affecting the revised Yurok Reservation, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Yurok Lands Act of 2022''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purposes of this Act:
            (1) Federal agency.--The term ``Federal agency'' has the 
        same meaning given that term in section 1508.12 of title 40, 
        Code of Federal Regulations, except that such term shall not 
        include States, units of general local government, and Indian 
        Tribes.
            (2) NEPA.--The term ``NEPA'' means the National 
        Environmental Policy Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
            (3) Revised yurok reservation.--The term ``revised Yurok 
        Reservation'' means the land within the exterior boundary of 
        the Yurok Reservation as revised in section 4(a), except land 
        owned in fee by or held in trust by the United States for the 
        benefit of a federally recognized Indian Tribe other than the 
        Yurok Tribe.
            (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, or the Secretary 
        of Transportation, as appropriate.
            (5) Tribe.--The term ``Tribe'' means the Yurok Tribe, a 
        federally recognized Indian Tribe.

SEC. 3. LAND TO BE HELD IN TRUST FOR THE TRIBE.

    (a) In General.--Subject to any valid existing rights, the 
Secretary of Agriculture shall transfer to the Secretary of the 
Interior administrative jurisdiction over approximately 1,229 acres in 
the Yurok Experimental Forest and Six Rivers National Forest, as 
generally depicted on the map entitled ``Experimental Forest'' and 
dated October 4, 2016. The map shall be on file and available for 
public inspection in the appropriate offices of the Forest Service.
    (b) Administration.--The Secretary of the Interior shall hold the 
land transferred under subsection (a) in trust for the benefit of the 
Tribe.
    (c) Tribal Land Use Management Plan.--The Tribe shall develop a 
Tribal Land Use Management Plan in accordance with NEPA requirements 
for the land held in trust pursuant to subsection (b).
    (d) Government-to-Government Agreements.--Not later than one year 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
Agriculture and the Tribe--
            (1) shall enter into government-to-government 
        consultations;
            (2) shall develop protocols to ensure that research 
        activities of the Forest Service on lands taken into trust 
        pursuant to subsection (b) shall continue in perpetuity; and
            (3) may enter into cooperative agreements between the 
        Secretary of Agriculture and the Tribe for the purpose of 
        implementing this section.
    (e) Survey.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall complete a 
survey to establish the exterior boundaries of the land taken into 
trust pursuant to subsection (b).
    (f) Use of Trust Land.--Land taken into trust pursuant to 
subsection (b) shall--
            (1) be managed by the Tribe for conservation and research 
        purposes;
            (2) not be eligible, or considered to have been taken into 
        trust, for any gaming activity under the Indian Gaming 
        Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.); and
            (3) not be subject to old growth logging.

SEC. 4. YUROK RESERVATION BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall revise the boundary of the 
Yurok Reservation as depicted on the map entitled ``Proposed Yurok 
Reservation Boundary'' and dated March 30, 2022. The map shall be on 
file and available for public inspection at the Office of the Regional 
Forester, Pacific Southwest Region, Vallejo, California, and other 
appropriate offices of the Forest Service.
    (b) Land Management.--Subject to the requirements of sections 3 and 
5--
            (1) all National Forest System land within the revised 
        Yurok Reservation shall continue to be administered by the 
        Forest Service in accordance with applicable laws and 
        regulations; and
            (2) all National Park System land within the revised Yurok 
        Reservation shall continue to be administered by the National 
        Park Service in accordance with applicable laws and 
        regulations.

SEC. 5. TRIBAL-FEDERAL PARTNERSHIPS FOR FEDERAL LAND AND RESOURCE 
              MANAGEMENT.

    (a) In General.--For the purposes of any process triggered by a 
requirement under NEPA regarding major Federal action on Federal land 
within the revised Yurok Reservation, at the Tribe's option, the Tribe 
shall act as a joint lead agency in accordance with a Memorandum of 
Understanding entered into between the lead Federal agency and the 
Tribe not later than 30 days after the date of notice of initiation of 
the process.
    (b) Requirements for Memorandum of Understanding.--A Memorandum of 
Understanding entered into under this section shall--
            (1) be negotiated in good faith;
            (2) comply with the NEPA statute and regulations; and
            (3) include--
                    (A) the respective roles and responsibilities of 
                the Tribe and the lead Federal agency in the NEPA 
                process;
                    (B) mechanisms for dispute resolution; and
                    (C) a requirement that environmental impact 
                statements shall discuss any inconsistency of a 
                proposed action with any plan or environmental 
                requirement of the Tribe (whether or not federally 
                sanctioned), and, where such an inconsistency exists, a 
                requirement that the environmental impact statement 
                shall describe--
                            (i) the extent to which the lead Federal 
                        agency would reconcile its proposed action with 
                        the plan or environmental requirement; and
                            (ii) what mitigation measures are being 
                        imposed to lessen adverse environmental impacts 
                        of the proposal identified by the Tribe.
    (c) Cooperating Agency.--For the purpose of any process triggered 
by a requirement under NEPA regarding a major Federal action on Federal 
land that may affect the revised Yurok Reservation, at the option of 
the Tribe, the Tribe shall act as a cooperating agency.
    (d) No Limitation on Existing Authority.--Nothing in this section 
shall limit ability of the Tribe or any other federally recognized 
Indian Tribe to participate in any process triggered by a requirement 
under NEPA as a joint lead or a cooperating agency.
    (e) Cooperative Agreements With the Tribe.--
            (1) Redwood national park.--The Secretary shall enter into 
        a cooperative agreement with the Tribe for system unit natural 
        resource protection for the purpose of protecting natural 
        resources of Redwood National Park pursuant to section 101702 
        of title 54, United States Code.
            (2) Forest service.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall 
        enter into a cooperative agreement with the Tribe that 
        includes, at a minimum, provisions that implement section 3.
            (3) Tribe as an agency.--The Tribe shall be considered a 
        State or local government agency for purposes of section 101703 
        of title 54, United States Code, and the Secretary shall enter 
        into a cooperative management agreement with the Tribe pursuant 
        to that section.
            (4) Confirmation and authorization of cooperative agreement 
        related to the klamath river basin.--The 2006 ``Cooperative 
        Agreement between the Department of the Interior and the Yurok 
        Tribe for the Cooperative Management of Tribal and Federal 
        Lands and Resources in the Klamath River Basin of California'' 
        is confirmed and the Secretary is authorized to take such 
        actions as are necessary to effectuate the agreement.
    (f) Self-Governance Agreements.--Federal agencies, as appropriate, 
shall negotiate, in good faith, self-governance agreements under this 
Act pursuant to the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 
Act (25 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.). Program functions, services, and 
activities, or portions thereof, carried out by the National Park 
Service on Federal land within the revised Yurok Reservation shall be 
included in a contract or compact to the extent allowed under title I 
or title IV of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 
Act.

SEC. 6. YUROK SCENIC BYWAY DESIGNATION.

    (a) Designation of the Yurok Scenic Byway.--Bald Hills Road from 
its junction with U.S. Highway 101 to its terminus on the Klamath River 
shall be designated as the ``Yurok Scenic Byway'', an Indian Tribe 
scenic byway, and the Tribe shall be eligible for appropriate grants 
and technical assistance as authorized in section 162(b) of title 23, 
United States Code.
    (b) Continued Access and Use Retained.--The Tribe shall not 
prohibit or limit, and the Secretary of the Interior shall allow, 
continued access and use of the Bald Hills Road in accordance with 
section 3(b)(1) of the Act entitled ``An Act to establish a Redwood 
National Park in the State of California, and for other purposes'', 
approved October 2, 1968 (16 U.S.C. 79c).

SEC. 7. CONFIRMATION OF GOVERNING BODY AND DOCUMENTS.

    The governing documents of the Tribe and the governing body 
established and elected thereunder, as recognized by the Secretary and 
in effect on the date of the enactment of this Act, are hereby ratified 
and confirmed and shall only have effect within the revised Yurok 
Reservation.

SEC. 8. NO DELEGATION OF FEDERAL AUTHORITY OVER NON-TRIBAL LAND OR 
              PEOPLE.

    Nothing in this Act shall be construed as a delegation of Federal 
or other authority to the Tribe, the Tribal body or any member of the 
Tribe, over or related to land or interests in land that are not within 
the revised Yurok Reservation.

SEC. 9. NO ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY OR RIGHTS.

    Nothing in this Act shall increase, diminish, or otherwise affect 
the rights, privileges, or authorities of any federally recognized 
Indian Tribe in relation to any other federally recognized Indian 
Tribe.
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