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December 01, 2011 12:44:54 pm

Sweeping Changes Proposed for Native American Land Lease Process

The Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Indian Affairs jointly announced proposed changes that will streamline the lease process for lands the federal government holds in trust for tribes and individuals. The changes will give tribal governments more decision-making powers and will ease the home ownership approval process, aid economic development and encourage renewable energy development on tribal lands.
The proposed changes:
 

  • Implement a 30-day time limit for the BIA to respond to residential leases, subleases, and mortgages, and a 60-day time limit for leases and subleases for commercial or industrial development
  • Establish an automatic commencement of the lease agreement when the BIA fails to respond within the required timelines
  • Eliminates the need for BIA approval of short-term activities on tribal lands, such as parades
  • Requires the BIA to approve leases unless a compelling reason exists for disapproval, and
  • Eliminates the need for appraisals on land leases by deferring to the tribe’s negotiated lease value.
     
The changes come in response to over 2,300 comments from more than 70 tribes and requests from federal  agencies including the Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD), the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The proposed rule will have a 60-day public comment period, and the BIA has established a workgroup that will review the comments and publish the final rule in 2012.

To review the Department of the Interior’s Q & A document, please click here.  For a comparison of the existing and proposed regulations, please click here.

For more on the announcement, please see Indian Country Today.


Tags: Tribal


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