Interior Improvement Act

Bill: 114-s-1879
Sponsor: Sen. Barrasso, John [R-WY]
Introduced: 2015-07-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Native Americans
Subjects: Economic performance and conditions
Federal-Indian relations
Indian lands and resources rights
Judicial review and appeals
Land transfers

Summary:
action_date: 2015-07-28
text: 

Interior Improvement Act

 
This bill amends the Indian Reorganization Act to expand the definition of Indian to include members of Indian tribes that were federally recognized after June 18, 1934. Trust acquisitions by the Department of the Interior for tribes recognized after June 18, 1934, are ratified and confirmed.
 
Indian tribes and individual Indians may apply to Interior to have off-reservation land taken into trust for the benefit of that Indian tribe or individual Indian. An application must include specified information, including a description of the need for the proposed acquisition and the purpose for which the property is to be used.
 
Interior must publish these applications and notify jurisdictions contiguous to land included in an application.
 
Interior must encourage applicants to enter into cooperative agreements with contiguous jurisdictions and must give preference to applications with cooperative agreements. An application with a cooperative agreement is automatically approved if Interior does not make a decision on the application within a specified number of days.
 In making a decision on an application that does not include a cooperative agreement, Interior must consider whether anticipated economic impacts on contiguous jurisdictions have been mitigated and whether contiguous jurisdictions failed to work in good faith to reach an agreement with the applicant.
action_date: 2016-06-09
text: 

Interior Improvement Act

 
(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Indian Reorganization Act to expand the definition of Indian to include members of Indian tribes that were federally recognized after June 18, 1934. Trust acquisitions by the Department of the Interior for tribes recognized after June 18, 1934, are ratified and confirmed.
 
(Sec. 3) Indian tribes and individual Indians may apply to Interior to have off-reservation land taken into trust for the benefit of that tribe or individual. An application must include specified information, including a description of the need for the proposed acquisition and the purpose for which the property is to be used.
 
Interior must publish these applications and notify jurisdictions contiguous to land included in an application.
 
Interior must encourage applicants to enter into cooperative agreements with contiguous jurisdictions. An application with a cooperative agreement is automatically approved if Interior does not make a decision on the application within a specified number of days.
 In making a decision on an application that does not include a cooperative agreement, Interior must determine whether anticipated impacts on contiguous jurisdictions have been mitigated and consider whether contiguous jurisdictions failed to work in good faith to reach an agreement with the applicant.

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-06-09
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 514.
action_date: 2016-06-09
text: Committee on Indian Affairs. Reported by Senator Barrasso with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 114-275. Minority views filed.
action_date: 2016-06-09
text: Committee on Indian Affairs. Reported by Senator Barrasso with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 114-275. Minority views filed.
action_date: 2015-12-02
text: Committee on Indian Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
action_date: 2015-07-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs.
action_date: 2015-07-28
text: Introduced in Senate