For Immediate Release: July 28, 2015

Contact: Gregg Fishman, Communications Coordinator
916-327-7500, ext. 516
916-342-9508 mobile 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Chairman John Barrasso (R-WY) today introduced legislation that would overhaul the Department of the Interior’s fee-to-trust process.  The bill, which includes a series of reforms spearheaded by the California State Association of Counties (CSAC), is expected to see legislative action this fall.

Entitled the Interior Improvement Act (S. 1879) the legislation would transform the process whereby the Interior Department – acting through the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) – takes land into trust on behalf of Indian tribes.  Counties in California have long advocated for reforms in the federal government’s trust land system, which has led to unnecessary conflict, controversy, and litigation.

“CSAC applauds Chairman Barrasso for introducing this critically important reform bill,” said CSAC Executive Director Matt Cate. “Without statutory modifications in the BIA’s fee-to-trust procedures, counties in California and across the nation will continue to be shortchanged by what has been a very one-sided process.”

Under current practices – which are governed not by federal statute but by regulations that have been promulgated by the BIA – counties are afforded limited, and often late, notice of a pending trust land application. Additionally, the BIA does not accord local concerns adequate weight in the land-into-trust process, as counties are only invited to provide comments on two narrow issues – potential jurisdictional conflicts and the loss of tax revenues. Moreover, current law does not provide any incentive for Indian tribes to enter into enforceable mitigation agreements with counties to address the often significant off-reservation impacts associated with tribal development projects, including casinos.

Under the Barrasso legislation, the BIA would be required to provide adequate, up-front notice to counties whenever the agency receives a complete or partial application from a tribe seeking to have off-reservation fee or restricted land taken into trust. In turn, counties would be afforded an opportunity to review and comment on the application.Furthermore, the legislation would encourage tribes that are seeking trust land to enter into cooperative agreements with counties, the terms of which could include language relating to mitigation, changes in land use, dispute resolution, fees, etc.  In cases in which tribes and counties have not entered into mitigation agreements, the bill would require the Secretary of the Interior to consider whether off-reservation impacts have been mitigated. Many of the provisions of S. 1879 closely mirror CSAC’s comprehensive fee-to-trust reform proposal.

While California’s counties have long advocated for statutory reforms in the BIA’s fee-to-trust process, the Supreme Court’s 2009 decision in Carcieri v. Salazar created an avenue for potential legislative action. In Carcieri, the Court ruled that Secretary of the Interior’s trust acquisition authority was limited to those tribes that were “under federal jurisdiction” at the time of the enactment of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934.

Since the Carcieri decision, many tribes have called upon Congress to reverse the Court’s action by passing legislation that would put all federally recognized Indian tribes on equal footing relative to the opportunity to have land taken into trust.  CSAC, while in agreement that Congress should address the inequity caused by the Supreme Court’s decision, has remained steadfast that any legislation restoring the secretary’s trust acquisition authority must be coupled with long-overdue reforms in the BIA’s flawed fee-to-trust process.

The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs may hold a legislative hearing on S. 1879 this fall.  The bill also is expected to be the subject of a committee markup later in the year.

The California State Association of Counties is the voice of California’s 58 counties at the state and federal level.

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