[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1586 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
S.1586
One Hundred Sixth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday,
the twenty-fourth day of January, two thousand
An Act
To reduce the fractionated ownership of Indian lands, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

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This Act may be cited as the ``Indian Land Consolidation Act
Amendments of 2000''.

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Congress finds that--
(1) in the 1800's and early 1900's, the United States sought to
assimilate Indian people into the surrounding non-Indian culture by
allotting tribal lands to individual members of Indian tribes;
(2) as a result of the allotment Acts and related Federal
policies, over 90,000,000 acres of land have passed from tribal
ownership;
(3) many trust allotments were taken out of trust status, often
without their owner's consent;
(4) without restrictions on alienation, allotment owners were
subject to exploitation and their allotments were often sold or
disposed of without any tangible or enduring benefit to their
owners;
(5) the trust periods for trust allotments have been extended
indefinitely;
(6) because of the inheritance provisions in the original
treaties or allotment Acts, the ownership of many of the trust
allotments that have remained in trust status has become
fractionated into hundreds or thousands of undivided interests,
many of which represent 2 percent or less of the total interests;
(7) Congress has authorized the acquisition of lands in trust
for individual Indians, and many of those lands have also become
fractionated by subsequent inheritance;
(8) the acquisitions referred to in paragraph (7) continue to
be made;
(9) the fractional interests described in this section often
provide little or no return to the beneficial owners of those
interests and the administrative costs borne by the United States
for those interests are inordinately high;
(10) in Babbitt v. Youpee (117 S Ct. 727 (1997)), the United
States Supreme Court found the application of section 207 of the
Indian Land Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 2206) to the facts
presented in that case to be unconstitutional, forcing the
Department of the Interior to address the status of thousands of
undivided interests in trust and restricted lands;
(11)(A) on February 19, 1999, the Secretary of the Interior
issued a Secretarial Order which officially reopened the probate of
all estates where an interest in land was ordered to escheat to an
Indian tribe pursuant to section 207 of the Indian Land
Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 2206); and
(B) the Secretarial Order also directed appropriate officials
of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to distribute such interests ``to
the rightful heirs and beneficiaries without regard to 25 U.S.C.
2206'';
(12) in the absence of comprehensive remedial legislation, the
number of the fractional interests will continue to grow
exponentially;
(13) the problem of the fractionation of Indian lands described
in this section is the result of a policy of the Federal
Government, cannot be solved by Indian tribes, and requires a
solution under Federal law.
(14) any devise or inheritance of an interest in trust or
restricted Indian lands is a matter of Federal law; and
(15) consistent with the Federal policy of tribal self-
determination, the Federal Government should encourage the
recognized tribal government that exercises jurisdiction over a
reservation to establish a tribal probate code for that
reservation.

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TITLE I

-INDIAN LAND CONSOLIDATION

It is the policy of the United States--
(1) to prevent the further fractionation of trust allotments
made to Indians;
(2) to consolidate fractional interests and ownership of those
interests into usable parcels;
(3) to consolidate fractional interests in a manner that
enhances tribal sovereignty;
(4) to promote tribal self-sufficiency and self-determination;
and
(5) to reverse the effects of the allotment policy on Indian
tribes.

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Notwithstanding section 207(g)(5) of the Indian Land Consolidation
Act (25 U.S.C. 2206(f)(5)), after the Secretary of the Interior
provides the certification required under section 207(g)(4) of such
Act, the owner of an interest in trust or restricted land may bring an
administrative action to challenge the application of such section 207
to the devise or descent of his or her interest or interests in trust
or restricted lands, and may seek judicial review of the final decision
of the Secretary of the Interior with respect to such challenge.

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There are authorized to be appropriated not to exceed $8,000,000
for fiscal year 2001 and each subsequent fiscal year to carry out the
provisions of this title (and the amendments made by this title) that
are not otherwise funded under the authority provided for in any other
provision of Federal law.

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(a) Patents Held in Trust.--The Act of February 8, 1887 (24 Stat.
388) is amended--
(1) by repealing sections 1, 2, and 3 (25 U.S.C. 331, 332, and
333); and
(2) in the second proviso of section 5 (25 U.S.C. 348)--
(A) by striking ``and partition''; and
(B) by striking ``except'' and inserting ``except as
provided by the Indian Land Consolidation Act or a tribal
probate code approved under such Act and except''.
(b) Ascertainment of Heirs and Disposal of Allotments.--The Act of
June 25, 1910 (36 Stat. 855) is amended--
(1) in the first sentence of section 1 (25 U.S.C. 372), by
striking ``under'' and inserting ``under the Indian Land
Consolidation Act or a tribal probate code approved under such Act
and pursuant to''; and
(2) in the first sentence of section 2 (25 U.S.C. 373), by
striking ``with regulations'' and inserting ``with the Indian Land
Consolidation Act or a tribal probate code approved under such Act
and regulations''.
(c) Transfer of Lands.--Section 4 of the Act of June 18, 1934 (25
U.S.C. 464) is amended by striking ``member or:'' and inserting
``member or, except as provided by the Indian Land Consolidation
Act,''.

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(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian tribe'' has the meaning
given the term in section 4(e) of the Indian Self-Determination and
Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(e)).
(2) Individually owned navajo indian allotted land.--The term
``individually owned Navajo Indian allotted land'' means Navajo
Indian allotted land that is owned in whole or in part by 1 or more
individuals.
(3) Navajo indian.--The term ``Navajo Indian'' means a member
of the Navajo Nation.
(4) Navajo indian allotted land.--The term ``Navajo Indian
allotted land'' means a single parcel of land that--
(A) is located within the jurisdiction of the Navajo
Nation; and
(B)(i) is held in trust or restricted status by the United
States for the benefit of Navajo Indians or members of another
Indian tribe; and
(ii) was--
(I) allotted to a Navajo Indian; or
(II) taken into trust or restricted status by the
United States for a Navajo Indian.
(5) Owner.--The term ``owner'' means, in the case of any
interest in land described in paragraph (4)(B)(i), the beneficial
owner of the interest.
(6) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of
the Interior.
(b) Approval by the Secretary.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary may approve an oil or gas lease
or agreement that affects individually owned Navajo Indian allotted
land, if--
(A) the owners of not less than the applicable percentage
(determined under paragraph (2)) of the undivided interest in
the Navajo Indian allotted land that is covered by the oil or
gas lease or agreement consent in writing to the lease or
agreement; and
(B) the Secretary determines that approving the lease or
agreement is in the best interest of the owners of the
undivided interest in the Navajo Indian allotted land.
(2) Percentage interest.--The applicable percentage referred to
in paragraph (1)(A) shall be determined as follows:
(A) If there are 10 or fewer owners of the undivided
interest in the Navajo Indian allotted land, the applicable
percentage shall be 100 percent.
(B) If there are more than 10 such owners, but fewer than
51 such owners, the applicable percentage shall be 80 percent.
(C) If there are 51 or more such owners, the applicable
percentage shall be 60 percent.
(3) Authority of secretary to sign lease or agreement on behalf
of certain owners.--The Secretary may give written consent to an
oil or gas lease or agreement under paragraph (1) on behalf of an
individual Indian owner if--
(A) the owner is deceased and the heirs to, or devisees of,
the interest of the deceased owner have not been determined; or
(B) the heirs or devisees referred to in subparagraph (A)
have been determined, but 1 or more of the heirs or devisees
cannot be located.
(4) Effect of approval.--
(A) Application to all parties.--
(i) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), an oil or
gas lease or agreement approved by the Secretary under
paragraph (1) shall be binding on the parties described in
clause (ii), to the same extent as if all of the owners of
the undivided interest in Navajo Indian allotted land
covered under the lease or agreement consented to the lease
or agreement.
(ii) Description of parties.--The parties referred to
in clause (i) are--
(I) the owners of the undivided interest in the
Navajo Indian allotted land covered under the lease or
agreement referred to in clause (i); and
(II) all other parties to the lease or agreement.
(B) Effect on indian tribe.--If--
(i) an Indian tribe is the owner of a portion of an
undivided interest in Navajo Indian allotted land; and
(ii) an oil or gas lease or agreement under paragraph
(1) is otherwise applicable to such portion by reason of
this subsection even though the Indian tribe did not
consent to the lease or agreement,
then the lease or agreement shall apply to such portion of the
undivided interest (including entitlement of the Indian tribe
to payment under the lease or agreement), but the Indian tribe
shall not be treated as a party to the lease or agreement and
nothing in this subsection (or in the lease or agreement) shall
be construed to affect the sovereignty of the Indian tribe.
(5) Distribution of proceeds.--
(A) In general.--The proceeds derived from an oil or gas
lease or agreement that is approved by the Secretary under
paragraph (1) shall be distributed to all owners of the
undivided interest in the Navajo Indian allotted land covered
under the lease or agreement.
(B) Determination of amounts distributed.--The amount of
the proceeds under subparagraph (A) distributed to each owner
under that subparagraph shall be determined in accordance with
the portion of the undivided interest in the Navajo Indian
allotted land covered under the lease or agreement that is
owned by that owner.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.

Indian Land Consolidation Act Amendments of 2000

Other Sections

TITLE I

TITLE II

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