HEARTH Act Approval of Catawba Indian Nation Business Leasing Act, 40313-40314 [2020-14484]
Download as PDF
<![CDATA[
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 129 / Monday, July 6, 2020 / Notices
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Indian Affairs
[201A2100DD/AAKC001030/
A0A501010.999900]
HEARTH Act Approval of Catawba
Indian Nation Business Leasing Act
AGENCY:
Bureau of Indian Affairs,
Interior.
ACTION:
Notice.
On June 25, 2020, the Bureau
of Indian Affairs (BIA) approved the
Catawba Indian Nation’s leasing
regulations under the Helping Expedite
and Advance Responsible Tribal
Homeownership Act of 2012 (HEARTH
Act). With this approval, the Tribe is
authorized to enter into business leases
without further BIA approval.
SUMMARY:
Ms.
Sharlene Round Face, Bureau of Indian
Affairs, Division of Real Estate Services,
sharelene.roundface@bia.gov, (505)
563–3132.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
I. Summary of the HEARTH Act
The HEARTH Act makes a voluntary,
alternative land leasing process
available to Tribes, by amending the
Indian Long-Term Leasing Act of 1955,
25 U.S.C. 415. The HEARTH Act
authorizes Tribes to negotiate and enter
into agricultural and business leases of
Tribal trust lands with a primary term
of 25 years, and up to two renewal terms
of 25 years each, without the approval
of the Secretary of the Interior
(Secretary). The HEARTH Act also
authorizes Tribes to enter into leases for
residential, recreational, religious or
educational purposes for a primary term
of up to 75 years without the approval
of the Secretary. Participating Tribes
develop Tribal leasing regulations,
including an environmental review
process, and then must obtain the
Secretary’s approval of those regulations
prior to entering into leases. The
HEARTH Act requires the Secretary to
approve Tribal regulations if the Tribal
regulations are consistent with the
Department of the Interior’s
(Department) leasing regulations at 25
CFR part 162 and provide for an
environmental review process that
meets requirements set forth in the
HEARTH Act. This notice announces
that the Secretary, through the Assistant
Secretary—Indian Affairs,
has approved the Tribal regulations
for the Catawba Indian Nation.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
04:41 Jul 03, 2020
Jkt 250001
II. Federal Preemption of State and
Local Taxes
The Department’s regulations
governing the surface leasing of trust
and restricted Indian lands specify that,
subject to applicable Federal law,
permanent improvements on leased
land, leasehold or possessory interests,
and activities under the lease are not
subject to State and local taxation and
may be subject to taxation by the Indian
Tribe with jurisdiction. See 25 CFR
162.017. As explained further in the
preamble to the final regulations, the
Federal Government has a strong
interest in promoting economic
development, self-determination, and
Tribal sovereignty. 77 FR 72440, 72447–
48 (December 5, 2012). The principles
supporting the Federal preemption of
State law in the field of Indian leasing
and the taxation of lease-related
interests and activities applies with
equal force to leases entered into under
Tribal leasing regulations approved by
the Federal Government pursuant to the
HEARTH Act.
Section 5 of the Indian Reorganization
Act, 25 U.S.C. 5108, preempts State and
local taxation of permanent
improvements on trust land.
Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis
Reservation v. Thurston County, 724
F.3d 1153, 1157 (9th Cir. 2013) (citing
Mescalero Apache Tribe v. Jones, 411
U.S. 145 (1973)). Similarly, section 5108
preempts State taxation of rent
payments by a lessee for leased trust
lands, because ‘‘tax on the payment of
rent is indistinguishable from an
impermissible tax on the land.’’ See
Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Stranburg,
799 F.3d 1324, 1331, n.8 (11th Cir.
2015). In addition, as explained in the
preamble to the revised leasing
regulations at 25 CFR part 162, Federal
courts have applied a balancing test to
determine whether State and local
taxation of non-Indians on the
reservation is preempted. White
Mountain Apache Tribe v. Bracker, 448
U.S. 136, 143 (1980). The Bracker
balancing test, which is conducted
against a backdrop of ‘‘traditional
notions of Indian self- government,’’
requires a particularized examination of
the relevant State, Federal, and Tribal
interests. We hereby adopt the Bracker
analysis from the preamble to the
surface leasing regulations, 77 FR at
72447–48, as supplemented by the
analysis below.
The strong Federal and Tribal
interests against State and local taxation
of improvements, leaseholds, and
activities on land leased under the
Department’s leasing regulations apply
equally to improvements, leaseholds,
PO 00000
Frm 00130
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
40313
and activities on land leased pursuant to
Tribal leasing regulations approved
under the HEARTH Act. Congress’s
overarching intent was to ‘‘allow Tribes
to exercise greater control over their
own land, support self-determination,
and eliminate bureaucratic delays that
stand in the way of homeownership and
economic development in Tribal
communities.’’ 158 Cong. Rec. H. 2682
(May 15, 2012). The HEARTH Act was
intended to afford Tribes ‘‘flexibility to
adapt lease terms to suit [their] business
and cultural needs’’ and to ‘‘enable
[Tribes] to approve leases quickly and
efficiently.’’ H. Rep. 112–427 at 6
(2012).
Assessment of State and local taxes
would obstruct these express Federal
policies supporting Tribal economic
development and self-determination,
and also threaten substantial Tribal
interests in effective Tribal government,
economic self-sufficiency, and territorial
autonomy. See Michigan v. Bay Mills
Indian Community, 572 U.S. 782, 810
(2014) (Sotomayor, J., concurring)
(determining that ‘‘[a] key goal of the
Federal Government is to render Tribes
more self-sufficient, and better
positioned to fund their own sovereign
functions, rather than relying on Federal
funding’’). The additional costs of State
and local taxation have a chilling effect
on potential lessees, as well as on a tribe
that, as a result, might refrain from
exercising its own sovereign right to
impose a Tribal tax to support its
infrastructure needs. See id. at 810–11
(finding that State and local taxes
greatly discourage Tribes from raising
tax revenue from the same sources
because the imposition of double
taxation would impede Tribal economic
growth).
Similar to BIA’s surface leasing
regulations, Tribal regulations under the
HEARTH Act pervasively cover all
aspects of leasing. See 25 U.S.C.
415(h)(3)(B)(i) (requiring Tribal
regulations be consistent with BIA
surface leasing regulations).
Furthermore, the Federal Government
remains involved in the Tribal land
leasing process by approving the Tribal
leasing regulations in the first instance
and providing technical assistance,
upon request by a Tribe, for the
development of an environmental
review process. The Secretary also
retains authority to take any necessary
actions to remedy violations of a lease
or of the Tribal regulations, including
terminating the lease or rescinding
approval of the Tribal regulations and
reassuming lease approval
responsibilities. Moreover, the Secretary
continues to review, approve, and
monitor individual Indian land leases
E:\FR\FM\06JYN1.SGM
06JYN1
40314
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 129 / Monday, July 6, 2020 / Notices
and other types of leases not covered
under the Tribal regulations according
to the part 162 regulations.
Accordingly, the Federal and Tribal
interests weigh heavily in favor of
preemption of State and local taxes on
lease-related activities and interests,
regardless of whether the lease is
governed by Tribal leasing regulations
or part 162. Improvements, activities,
and leasehold or possessory interests
may be subject to taxation by the
Catawba Indian Nation.
Tara Sweeney,
Assistant Secretary—Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2020–14484 Filed 7–2–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4337–15–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS–WASO–NAGPRA–NPS0030389;
PPWOCRADN0–PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S.
Department of Defense, Army Corps of
Engineers, Nashville District,
Nashville, TN; Correction
National Park Service, Interior.
Notice; correction.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
The U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, Nashville District (USACE),
has corrected an inventory of human
remains and associated funerary objects,
published in a Notice of Inventory
Completion in the Federal Register on
July 19, 2017. This notice corrects the
number of associated funerary objects.
ADDRESSES: Dr. Valerie McCormack,
Archeologist, Department of Defense,
Nashville District, Corps of Engineers,
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Nashville
District, 110 9th Avenue South, Room
A–405, Nashville, TN 37203, telephone
(615) 736–7847, email
Valerie.j.mccormack@usace.army.mil.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is
here given in accordance with the
Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C.
3003, of the correction of an inventory
of human remains and associated
funerary objects under the control of the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Nashville
District, Nashville, TN. The human
remains and associated funerary objects
were removed from Stewart County, TN.
This notice is published as part of the
National Park Service’s administrative
responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25
U.S.C. 3003(d)(3). The determinations in
this notice are the sole responsibility of
the museum, institution, or Federal
agency that has control of the Native
American human remains and
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
04:41 Jul 03, 2020
Jkt 250001
associated funerary objects. The
National Park Service is not responsible
for the determinations in this notice.
This notice corrects the number of
associated funerary objects published in
a Notice of Inventory Completion in the
Federal Register (82 FR 33155–33156,
July 19, 2017). During a re-inventory of
the collection, an additional 11
associated funerary objects from site
40SW23 were located.
Correction
In the Federal Register (82 FR 33155,
July 19, 2017), column 2, paragraph 3,
sentence 9 is corrected by substituting
the following sentence:
The 11 associated funerary objects are
limestone slabs from a stone box grave.
In the Federal Register (82 FR 33156,
July 19, 2017), column 1, paragraph 3,
sentence 3 is corrected by substituting
the following sentence:
Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 142
objects described in this notice are
reasonably believed to have been placed with
or near individual human remains at the time
of death or later as part of the death rite or
ceremony.
Additional Requestors and Disposition
For questions related to this notice,
contact Dr. Valerie McCormack,
Archeologist, Department of Defense,
Nashville District, Corps of Engineers,
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Nashville
District, 110 9th Avenue South, Room
A–405, Nashville, TN 37203, telephone
(615) 736–7847, email
Valerie.j.mccormack@usace.army.mil.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
Nashville District, is responsible for
notifying the Cherokee Nation, Eastern
Band of the Cherokee Indians, and the
United Keetoowah Band of the Cherokee
Indians in Oklahoma that this notice has
been published.
Dated: May 27, 2020.
Melanie O’Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2020–14396 Filed 7–2–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312–52–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS–WASO–NAGPRA–NPS0030388;
PPWOCRADN0–PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion:
California Department of
Transportation, Sacramento, CA, and
Fowler Museum at the University of
California Los Angeles, Los Angeles,
CA
National Park Service, Interior.
Notice.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
PO 00000
Frm 00131
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
The California Department of
Transportation and the Fowler Museum
at the University of California Los
Angeles (UCLA) have completed an
inventory of human remains and
associated funerary objects, in
consultation with the appropriate
Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian
organizations, and has determined that
there is a cultural affiliation between the
human remains and associated funerary
objects and present-day Indian Tribes or
Native Hawaiian organizations. Lineal
descendants or representatives of any
Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian
organization not identified in this notice
that wish to request transfer of control
of these human remains and associated
funerary objects should submit a written
request to the California Department of
Transportation. If no additional
requestors come forward, transfer of
control of the human remains and
associated funerary objects to the lineal
descendants, Indian Tribes, or Native
Hawaiian organizations stated in this
notice may proceed.
SUMMARY:
Lineal descendants or
representatives of any Indian Tribe or
Native Hawaiian organization not
identified in this notice that wish to
request transfer of control of these
human remains and associated funerary
objects should submit a written request
with information in support of the
request to the California Department of
Transportation at the address in this
notice by August 5, 2020.
DATES:
Sarah Allred, California
Department of Transportation, P.O. Box
942874 MS 27, Sacramento, CA 94271–
0001, telephone (916) 653–0013, email
Sarah.Allred@dot.ca.gov.
ADDRESSES:
Notice is
here given in accordance with the
Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C.
3003, of the completion of an inventory
of human remains and associated
funerary objects under the control of the
California Department of
Transportation, Sacramento, CA, and in
the physical custody of the Fowler
Museum at the University of California
Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA. The
human remains and associated funerary
objects were removed from Batiquitos
Lagoon, San Diego County, CA.
This notice is published as part of the
National Park Service’s administrative
responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25
U.S.C. 3003(d)(3). The determinations in
this notice are the sole responsibility of
the museum, institution, or Federal
agency that has control of the Native
American human remains and
associated funerary objects. The
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
E:\FR\FM\06JYN1.SGM
06JYN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 129 (Monday, July 6, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40313-40314]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-14484]
[[Page 40313]]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Indian Affairs
[201A2100DD/AAKC001030/A0A501010.999900]
HEARTH Act Approval of Catawba Indian Nation Business Leasing Act
AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: On June 25, 2020, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) approved
the
Catawba Indian Nation's leasing regulations under the Helping
Expedite and Advance Responsible Tribal Homeownership Act of 2012
(HEARTH Act). With this approval, the Tribe is authorized to enter into
business leases without further BIA approval.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Sharlene Round Face, Bureau of
Indian Affairs, Division of Real Estate Services,
[email protected], (505) 563-3132.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Summary of the HEARTH Act
The HEARTH Act makes a voluntary, alternative land leasing process
available to Tribes, by amending the Indian Long-Term Leasing Act of
1955, 25 U.S.C. 415. The HEARTH Act authorizes Tribes to negotiate and
enter into agricultural and business leases of Tribal trust lands with
a primary term of 25 years, and up to two renewal terms of 25 years
each, without the approval of the Secretary of the Interior
(Secretary). The HEARTH Act also authorizes Tribes to enter into leases
for residential, recreational, religious or educational purposes for a
primary term of up to 75 years without the approval of the Secretary.
Participating Tribes develop Tribal leasing regulations, including an
environmental review process, and then must obtain the Secretary's
approval of those regulations prior to entering into leases. The HEARTH
Act requires the Secretary to approve Tribal regulations if the Tribal
regulations are consistent with the Department of the Interior's
(Department) leasing regulations at 25 CFR part 162 and provide for an
environmental review process that meets requirements set forth in the
HEARTH Act. This notice announces that the Secretary, through the
Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs,
has approved the Tribal regulations for the Catawba Indian Nation.
II. Federal Preemption of State and Local Taxes
The Department's regulations governing the surface leasing of trust
and restricted Indian lands specify that, subject to applicable Federal
law, permanent improvements on leased land, leasehold or possessory
interests, and activities under the lease are not subject to State and
local taxation and may be subject to taxation by the Indian Tribe with
jurisdiction. See 25 CFR 162.017. As explained further in the preamble
to the final regulations, the Federal Government has a strong interest
in promoting economic development, self-determination, and Tribal
sovereignty. 77 FR 72440, 72447-48 (December 5, 2012). The principles
supporting the Federal preemption of State law in the field of Indian
leasing and the taxation of lease-related interests and activities
applies with equal force to leases entered into under Tribal leasing
regulations approved by the Federal Government pursuant to the HEARTH
Act.
Section 5 of the Indian Reorganization Act, 25 U.S.C. 5108,
preempts State and local taxation of permanent improvements on trust
land. Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation v. Thurston
County, 724 F.3d 1153, 1157 (9th Cir. 2013) (citing Mescalero Apache
Tribe v. Jones, 411 U.S. 145 (1973)). Similarly, section 5108 preempts
State taxation of rent payments by a lessee for leased trust lands,
because ``tax on the payment of rent is indistinguishable from an
impermissible tax on the land.'' See Seminole Tribe of Florida v.
Stranburg, 799 F.3d 1324, 1331, n.8 (11th Cir. 2015). In addition, as
explained in the preamble to the revised leasing regulations at 25 CFR
part 162, Federal courts have applied a balancing test to determine
whether State and local taxation of non-Indians on the reservation is
preempted. White Mountain Apache Tribe v. Bracker, 448 U.S. 136, 143
(1980). The Bracker balancing test, which is conducted against a
backdrop of ``traditional notions of Indian self- government,''
requires a particularized examination of the relevant State, Federal,
and Tribal interests. We hereby adopt the Bracker analysis from the
preamble to the surface leasing regulations, 77 FR at 72447-48, as
supplemented by the analysis below.
The strong Federal and Tribal interests against State and local
taxation of improvements, leaseholds, and activities on land leased
under the Department's leasing regulations apply equally to
improvements, leaseholds, and activities on land leased pursuant to
Tribal leasing regulations approved under the HEARTH Act. Congress's
overarching intent was to ``allow Tribes to exercise greater control
over their own land, support self-determination, and eliminate
bureaucratic delays that stand in the way of homeownership and economic
development in Tribal communities.'' 158 Cong. Rec. H. 2682 (May 15,
2012). The HEARTH Act was intended to afford Tribes ``flexibility to
adapt lease terms to suit [their] business and cultural needs'' and to
``enable [Tribes] to approve leases quickly and efficiently.'' H. Rep.
112-427 at 6 (2012).
Assessment of State and local taxes would obstruct these express
Federal policies supporting Tribal economic development and self-
determination, and also threaten substantial Tribal interests in
effective Tribal government, economic self-sufficiency, and territorial
autonomy. See Michigan v. Bay Mills Indian Community, 572 U.S. 782, 810
(2014) (Sotomayor, J., concurring) (determining that ``[a] key goal of
the Federal Government is to render Tribes more self-sufficient, and
better positioned to fund their own sovereign functions, rather than
relying on Federal funding''). The additional costs of State and local
taxation have a chilling effect on potential lessees, as well as on a
tribe that, as a result, might refrain from exercising its own
sovereign right to impose a Tribal tax to support its infrastructure
needs. See id. at 810-11 (finding that State and local taxes greatly
discourage Tribes from raising tax revenue from the same sources
because the imposition of double taxation would impede Tribal economic
growth).
Similar to BIA's surface leasing regulations, Tribal regulations
under the HEARTH Act pervasively cover all aspects of leasing. See 25
U.S.C. 415(h)(3)(B)(i) (requiring Tribal regulations be consistent with
BIA surface leasing regulations). Furthermore, the Federal Government
remains involved in the Tribal land leasing process by approving the
Tribal leasing regulations in the first instance and providing
technical assistance, upon request by a Tribe, for the development of
an environmental review process. The Secretary also retains authority
to take any necessary actions to remedy violations of a lease or of the
Tribal regulations, including terminating the lease or rescinding
approval of the Tribal regulations and reassuming lease approval
responsibilities. Moreover, the Secretary continues to review, approve,
and monitor individual Indian land leases
[[Page 40314]]
and other types of leases not covered under the Tribal regulations
according to the part 162 regulations.
Accordingly, the Federal and Tribal interests weigh heavily in
favor of preemption of State and local taxes on lease-related
activities and interests, regardless of whether the lease is governed
by Tribal leasing regulations or part 162. Improvements, activities,
and leasehold or possessory interests may be subject to taxation by the
Catawba Indian Nation.
Tara Sweeney,
Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2020-14484 Filed 7-2-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4337-15-P
