Land-In-Trust Public Hearing Act

Land-In-Trust Public Hearing Act - Requires the Secretary of the Interior, at least six months before approving any application to take land into trust for an Indian tribe, to hold at least one public hearing in the surrounding community where the land is located in order to ascertain the community's needs and interests.

Instructs the Secretary to solicit comments from the public at hearings held pursuant to such requirement and to ensure that comments received or related to such hearings are part of the record.

[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3787 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3787

To require that the Secretary of the Interior hold at least one public 
 hearing in the surrounding community where land requested to be taken 
  into trust for an Indian tribe is located in order to ascertain the 
           needs and interests of that surrounding community.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 9, 2007

Mr. McHugh (for himself and Mr. Arcuri) introduced the following bill; 
        which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require that the Secretary of the Interior hold at least one public 
 hearing in the surrounding community where land requested to be taken 
  into trust for an Indian tribe is located in order to ascertain the 
           needs and interests of that surrounding community.

    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 ``Land-In-Trust Public Hearing Act''.

SEC. 2. HEARING REQUIRED.

    (a) In General.--Not less than 6 months before approving any 
application to take land into trust for an Indian tribe, the Secretary 
of the Interior shall hold at least one public hearing (in addition to 
any hearings held pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969) in the surrounding community where the land requested to be taken 
into trust is located in order to ascertain the needs and interests of 
that surrounding community. All interested individuals shall be 
afforded the opportunity to participate in such hearings.
    (b) Comments.--The Secretary shall--
            (1) solicit comments from the public at hearings held under 
        subsection (a); and
            (2) ensure that any comments received at or related to such 
        hearings are part of the record before the agency.
    (c) Transcripts.--The Secretary shall, on a timely basis, make 
transcripts of such hearings available to the public via the Internet 
or other electronic means.
    (d) Waiver.--Subsection (a) shall not apply if each county in the 
relevant surrounding community waives the right to such hearings.
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