(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)
Indian Tribal Trade and Investment Demonstration Project Act of 2011 - (Sec. 3) Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to select up to six Indian tribes or consortia of Indian tribes to participate in an Indian Tribal Trade and Investment Demonstration Project that facilitates trade and financial investment in Indian tribal economies by private entities from Turkey.
Allows participating tribes or consortia to lease land held in trust for them by the federal government without the Secretary's approval if the lease: (1) is in furtherance of a community, economic, or business development undertaking with a Turkish entity; (2) is entered into within 1 year of this Act's enactment; (3) is not for mineral exploration, development, or extraction; (4) does not include land held in trust for an individual Indian; (5) is executed under tribal regulations approved by the Secretary under this Act; and (6) has a term that does not exceed 25 years, though it may include certain renewal options.
Requires the Secretary to approve tribal lease regulations if they are consistent with any regulations the Secretary issues under this Act and subject proposed activities to an environmental review process. Requires that process to identify and evaluate significant impacts the proposed activity may have on the environment and give the public an opportunity to be heard regarding those impacts before a lease is approved by the tribe or consortium.
Allows participating tribes or consortia to rely on federal environmental reviews if proposed actions are federally funded.
Authorizes the Secretary, pursuant to federal trust obligations, to enforce the provisions of, or cancel, any lease executed by a participating Indian tribe or consortium under this Act. Absolves the federal government from liability for any loss sustained by a party to such a lease.
Allows an interested party, after exhausting applicable tribal remedies, to petition the Secretary to review the compliance of a participating tribe or consortium with tribal regulations approved by the Secretary under this Act.
(Sec. 4) Requires tribes and consortia to demonstrate financial stability and financial management capability for the three fiscal years that precede their request to participate in the demonstration project by showing that there were no material audit exceptions in the required annual audit of their self-determination contracts.
(Sec. 6) Directs the Secretary, within one year of this Act's enactment, to report to Congress on the effects of the demonstration project and on ways to improve its effectiveness.
[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2362 Introduced in House (IH)]
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2362
To facilitate economic development by Indian tribes and encourage
investment by Turkish enterprises.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 24, 2011
Mr. Cole introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To facilitate economic development by Indian tribes and encourage
investment by Turkish enterprises.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS; PURPOSES.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Indian Tribal
Trade and Investment Demonstration Project Act of 2011''.
(b) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(1) the public and private sectors in the Republic of
Turkey have demonstrated a unique interest in bolstering
cultural, political, and economic relationships with Indian
tribes and tribal members;
(2) uneconomic regulatory, statutory, and policy barriers
are preventing more robust relationships between the Turkish
and Indian tribal communities; and
(3) it is in the interest of Indian tribes, the United
States, and the United States-Turkey relationship to remove or
ameliorate these barriers through the establishment of an
Indian Tribal Trade and Investment Demonstration Project.
(c) Purpose.--The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to remove or ameliorate the certain barriers to
facilitate trade and financial investment in Indian tribal
economies;
(2) to encourage increased levels of commerce and economic
investment by private entities incorporated in or emanating
from the Republic of Turkey; and
(3) to further the policy of Indian self-determination by
strengthening Indian tribal economies and political
institutions in order to raise the material standard of living
of Indians.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Applicant.--The term ``applicant'' means an Indian
tribe or a consortium of Indian tribes that submits an
application under this Act seeking participation in the
demonstration project.
(2) Demonstration project.--The term ``demonstration
project'' means the trade and investment demonstration project
authorized by this Act.
(3) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian tribe'' has the
meaning given that term in section 102 of the Federally
Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 479a).
(4) Participating indian tribe.--The term ``participating
Indian tribe'' means an Indian tribe selected by the Secretary
from the applicant pool.
(5) Project; activity.--The terms ``project'' and
``activity'' mean a community, economic, or business
development undertaking that includes components that
contribute materially to carrying out a purpose or closely
related purposes that are proposed or approved for assistance
under more than one Federal program.
(6) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Interior.
SEC. 3. INDIAN TRIBAL TRADE AND INVESTMENT DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.
(a) In General.--The Secretary shall authorize Indian tribes
selected under section 4 to participate in a demonstration project
under this Act, which shall be known as the ``Indian Tribal Trade and
Investment Demonstration Project''.
(b) Lead Agency.--The Department of the Interior shall be the lead
agency for purposes of carrying out the demonstration project.
(c) Tribal Approval of Leases.--Notwithstanding any other provision
of law, and in the discretion of a participating Indian tribe or
consortium, any lease of Indian land held in trust by the United States
for a participating Indian tribe (or an Indian tribe in a consortium)
entered into under this Act to carry out a project or activity shall
not require the approval of the Secretary if the lease--
(1) is entered into in furtherance of a commercial
partnership involving one or more private entities incorporated
in or emanating from the Republic of Turkey;
(2) is entered into not later than one year after the date
of the enactment of this Act;
(3) is not for the exploration, development, or extraction
of any mineral resources;
(4) does not include lease of land or an interest in land
held in trust for an individual Indian;
(5) is executed under the tribal regulations approved by
the Secretary under this Act; and
(6) has a term that does not exceed 25 years, except that
any such lease may include an option to renew for up to 2
additional terms, each of which may not exceed 25 years.
(d) Activities To Be Conducted on Leased Lands.--Indian land held
in trust by the United States for the benefit of a participating Indian
tribe (or an Indian tribe in a consortium) may be leased for activities
consistent with the purposes of this Act, including business and
economic development, public, educational, or residential purposes,
including the development or use of natural resources in connection
with operations under such leases, for grazing purposes, and for those
farming purposes which require the making of a substantial investment
in the improvement of the land for the production of specialized crops
as determined by the Secretary.
(e) Approval of Tribal Regulations.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall approve a tribal
regulation issued for the purposes of subsection (c)(4), if the
tribal regulation--
(A) is consistent with regulations, if any, issued
by the Secretary under this Act; and
(B) provides for an environmental review process
that includes--
(i) the identification and evaluation of
any significant effects of the proposed action
on the environment; and
(ii) a process for ensuring that--
(I) the public is informed of, and
has a reasonable opportunity to comment
on, any significant environmental
impacts of the proposed action
identified by the participating Indian
tribe or consortium; and
(II) the participating Indian tribe
or consortium provides responses to
relevant and substantive public
comments on those impacts before the
participating Indian tribe or
consortium approves the lease.
(2) Secretarial review.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 120 days after the
date on which the tribal regulations under this
subsection are submitted to the Secretary, the
Secretary shall review and approve or disapprove the
regulations.
(B) Written documentation.--If the Secretary
disapproves such tribal regulations, the Secretary
shall include written documentation with the
disapproval notification that describes the basis for
the disapproval.
(C) Extension.--The deadline described in
subparagraph (A) may be extended by the Secretary,
after consultation with the participating Indian tribe
or consortium.
(f) Federal Environmental Review.--Notwithstanding subsection
(e)(2), if a participating Indian tribe or consortium carries out a
project or activity funded by a Federal agency, the participating
Indian tribe or consortium may rely on the environmental review process
of the applicable Federal agency rather than any tribal environmental
review process under this subsection.
(g) Documentation.--If a participating Indian tribe or consortium
executes a lease pursuant to tribal regulations approved under this
section, the participating Indian tribe or consortium shall provide the
Secretary with--
(1) a copy of the lease, including any amendments or
renewals to the lease; and
(2) in the case of tribal regulations or a lease that
allows for lease payments to be made directly to the
participating Indian tribe or consortium, documentation of the
lease payments that are sufficient to enable the Secretary to
discharge the trust responsibility of the United States under
subsection (h).
(h) Trust Responsibility.--
(1) In general.--The United States shall not be liable for
losses sustained by any party to a lease executed under this
Act.
(2) Authority of secretary.--Pursuant to the authority of
the Secretary to fulfill the trust obligation of the United
States to an Indian tribe under Federal law, including
regulations, the Secretary may, upon reasonable notice from the
Indian tribe and at the discretion of the Secretary, enforce
the provisions of, or cancel, any lease executed by a
participating Indian tribe or consortium under this Act.
(i) Compliance.--
(1) In general.--An interested party, after exhausting
applicable tribal remedies, may submit a petition to the
Secretary, at such time and in such form as the Secretary
determines to be appropriate, to review the compliance of a
participating Indian tribe or consortium with any tribal
regulations approved by the Secretary under this Act.
(2) Violations.--If, after carrying out a review under
paragraph (1), the Secretary determines that the tribal
regulations were violated, the Secretary may take any action
the Secretary determines to be necessary to remedy the
violation, including rescinding the approval of the tribal
regulations and reassuming responsibility for the approval of
leases of Indian lands.
(3) Documentation.--If the Secretary determines under this
paragraph that a violation of tribal regulations has occurred
and a remedy is necessary, the Secretary shall--
(A) make a written determination with respect to
the regulations that have been violated;
(B) provide the applicable participating Indian
tribe or consortium with a written notice of the
alleged violation together with such written
determination; and
(C) prior to the exercise of any remedy, the
rescission of the approval of the regulation involved,
or the reassumption of lease approval responsibilities,
provide the applicable participating Indian tribe or
consortium with--
(i) a hearing that is on the record; and
(ii) a reasonable opportunity to cure the
alleged violation.
SEC. 4. SELECTION OF PARTICIPATING INDIAN TRIBES.
(a) Participants.--
(1) In general.--During the first year after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary may select not more
than 6 Indian tribes or consortia from the applicant pool
described in subsection (b) to submit an application to be a
participating Indian tribe or consortium.
(2) Consortia.--Two or more Indian tribes may form a
consortium to participate as an applicant under paragraph (1).
(b) Applicant Pool.--The applicant pool described in this
subsection shall consist of each Indian tribe or consortium that--
(1) requests participation in the demonstration project
through a resolution or other official action of the tribal
governing body; and
(2) demonstrates, for the 3 fiscal years immediately
preceding the fiscal year for which participation is requested,
financial stability and financial management capability as
demonstrated by a showing by the Indian tribe or consortium
that there were no material audit exceptions in the required
annual audit of the self-determination contracts of the Indian
tribe or consortium.
SEC. 5. APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS, REVIEW, AND APPROVAL.
(a) Requirements.--An Indian tribe or consortium selected under
subsection (a) may submit to the Secretary an application that--
(1) identifies the activities to be conducted by the Indian
tribe or consortium;
(2) describes the revenues, jobs, and related economic
benefits and other likely consequences to the Indian tribe or
consortium, its members, the investors, and the surrounding
communities to be generated as a result of the activities
identified in paragraph (1); and
(3) is approved by the governing body of the Indian tribe
or consortium, including, in the case of an applicant that is a
consortium of Indian tribes, the governing body of each
affected member Indian tribe.
(b) Review and Approval.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
receipt of an application under subsection (a), the Secretary
shall inform the applicant, in writing, of the approval or
disapproval of the application.
(2) Disapproval.--If an application is disapproved, the
written notice shall identify the reasons for the disapproval
and the applicant shall be provided an opportunity to amend and
resubmit the application to the Secretary.
SEC. 6. REPORT TO CONGRESS.
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act,
the Secretary shall prepare and submit to Congress a report that
includes--
(1) a description of the economic benefits and other
consequences to participating Indian tribes, their members, and
surrounding communities as a result of the economic activities
and financial investment engendered by the demonstration
project; and
(2) observations drawn from the implementation of this Act
and recommendations reasonably designed to improve the
operation or consequences of the demonstration project.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Referred to the Subcommittee Indian and Alaska Native Affairs.
Subcommittee Hearings Held.
Subcommittee Indian and Alaska Native Affairs Discharged.
Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
Ordered to be Reported by the Yeas and Nays: 27 - 15.
Reported by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 112-451.
Reported by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 112-451.
Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 315.
Mr. Hastings (WA) moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H5088-5096)
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DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 2362.
At the conclusion of debate, the Yeas and Nays were demanded and ordered. Pursuant to the provisions of clause 8, rule XX, the Chair announced that further proceedings on the motion would be postponed.
Considered as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H5114-5115)
Failed of passage/not agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Failed by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 222 - 160 (Roll no. 499).(text: CR H5088-5089)
Roll Call #499 (House)On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Failed by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 222 - 160 (Roll no. 499). (text: CR H5088-5089)
Roll Call #499 (House)