Supervisor Rabbitt on Capitol Hill re: Fee to Trust
Sonoma County Supervisor Testifies re: Fee-to-Trust Reform
On Thursday, May 14, the House Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs held an oversight entitled “ Inadequate Standards for Trust Land Acquisition in the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934.” Sonoma County Supervisor David Rabbitt testified before the subcommittee on behalf of CSAC.
The forum provided witnesses with an opportunity to discuss the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ (BIA) fee-to-trust process, as well as the implications of the Supreme Court’s Carcieri v. Salazar decision. In Carcieri, the Court ruled that the secretary of the Interior can only take land into trust for tribes that were “under federal jurisdiction” at the time of the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA).
Since the Court’s action in 2009, many Indian tribes have urged Congress to pass legislation that would overturn the decision. Such bills, known as Carcieri “fix” legislation, would simply reverse the Supreme Court’s action and would not provide for any other amendments to the IRA. For their part, county governments – led by CSAC – have insisted that any Carcieri ”fix” include comprehensive reforms in the fee-to-trust process.
As described by Supervisor Rabbitt in his testimony, the Department of the Interior’s trust land acquisition process - which is governed not by federal statute but by regulations prescribed by the BIA – is void of adequate standards and has led to significant, and in many cases, unnecessary conflict within the federal decision-making system for trust lands. By way of example, current law does not require or incentivize tribes to engage in good faith discussions or enter into enforceable agreements with counties for the mitigation of off-reservation impacts. The result in California and other states has been intense disagreement over proposed tribal development projects and, in many cases, litigation.
Additionally, the BIA does not provide sufficient notice regarding fee-to-trust applications and does not notify counties of requests for Indian lands determinations (which is a critical component of a gaming application). Accordingly, and in light of the various long-standing deficiencies in the fee-to-trust process, CSAC has long advocated for a series of changes that would ensure transparency and fairness in the trust-land system. The proposed modifications are embodied in the association’s comprehensive fee-to-trust reform package, which is gaining traction on Capitol Hill.
At the heart of CSAC’s legislative proposal is the establishment of a process that incentivizes local agreements between counties and tribes. Such an approach would offer the opportunity to streamline the trust land-application process, while helping to ensure the success of tribal projects within local communities. CSAC’s legislative proposal also includes other key standards, including sufficient notice and consultation requirements, as well as provisions that would ensure that changes in land use are sufficiently reviewed.
In addition to Supervisor Rabbitt, the following witnesses testified at the hearing: Kevin Washburn, assistant secretary of Interior for Indian Affairs; Randy Noka, councilman, Narragansett Tribe of Rhode Island and vice president of the United South and Eastern Tribes; Brenda Golden, policy analyst and self governance officer, Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma; Lori Stinson, tribal attorney general, Poarch Band of Creek Indians of Alabama; and, Christian McMillen, Corcoran Department of History, University of Virginia, Charlottesville.
To view a copy of CSAC’s testimony, please click on the following link: CSAC FTT Reform Testimony