43 U.S.C. § 1617 : US Code - Section 1617: Revocation of Indian allotment authority in Alaska

Search 43 U.S.C. § 1617 : US Code - Section 1617: Revocation of Indian allotment authority in Alaska

(a) Revocation of authority
No Native covered by the provisions of this chapter, and no
descendant of his, may hereafter avail himself of an allotment
under the provisions of the Act of February 8, 1887 (24 Stat. 389),
as amended and supplemented, or the Act of June 25, 1910 (36 Stat.
363). Further, the Act of May 17, 1906 (34 Stat. 197), as amended,
is repealed. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this
section, any application for an allotment that is pending before
the Department of the Interior on December 18, 1971, may, at the
option of the Native applicant, be approved and a patent issued in
accordance with said 1887, 1910, or 1906 Act, as the case may be,
in which event the Native shall not be eligible for a patent under
section 1613(h)(5) of this title.
(b) Charging allotment against statutory grant
Any allotments approved pursuant to this section during the four
years following December 18, 1971, shall be charged against the two
million acre grant provided for in section 1613(h) of this title.
(c) Relocation of allotment
(1)(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an allotment
applicant, who had a valid application pending before the
Department of the Interior on December 18, 1971, and whose
application remains pending as of October 14, 1992, may amend the
land description in the application of the applicant (with the
advice and approval of the responsible officer of the Bureau of
Indian Affairs) to describe land other than the land that the
applicant originally intended to claim if -
(i) the application pending before the Department, either
describes land selected by, tentatively approved to, or patented
to the State of Alaska or otherwise conflicts with an interest in
land granted to the State of Alaska by the United States prior to
the filing of the allotment application;
(ii) the amended land description describes land selected by,
tentatively approved to, or patented to the State of Alaska of
approximately equal acreage in substitution for the land
described in the original application; and
(iii) the Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources
for the State of Alaska, acting under the authority of State law,
has agreed to reconvey or relinquish to the United States the
land, or interest in land, described in the amended application.
(B) If an application pending before the Department of the
Interior as described in subparagraph (A) describes land selected
by, but not tentatively approved to or patented to, the State of
Alaska, the concurrence of the Secretary of the Interior shall be
required in order for an application to proceed under this section.
(2)(A) The Secretary shall accept reconveyance or relinquishment
from the State of Alaska of the land described in an amended
application pursuant to paragraph (1)(A), except where the land
described in the amended application is State-owned land within the
boundaries of a conservation system unit as defined in the Alaska
National Interest Lands Conservation Act. Upon acceptance, the
Secretary shall issue a Native Allotment certificate to the
applicant for the land reconveyed or relinquished by the State of
Alaska to the United States.
(B) The Secretary shall adjust the computation of the acreage
charged against the land entitlement of the State of Alaska to
ensure that this subsection will not cause the State to receive
either more or less than its full land entitlement under section 6
of the Act entitled "An Act to provide for the admission of the
State of Alaska into the Union", approved July 7, 1958 (commonly
referred to as the "Alaska Statehood Act"), and section 906 of the
Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (43 U.S.C. 1635).
If the State retains any part of the fee estate, the State shall
remain charged with the acreage.
(d) Correction of conveyance documents
(1) If an allotment application is valid or would have been
approved under section 1634 of this title had the land described in
the application been in Federal ownership on December 2, 1980, the
Secretary may correct a conveyance to a Native Corporation or to
the State that includes land described in the allotment application
to exclude the described allotment land with the written
concurrence of the Native Corporation or the State.
(2) A written concurrence shall -
(A) include a finding that the land description proposed by the
Secretary is acceptable; and
(B) attest that the Native Corporation or the State has not -
(i) granted any third party rights or taken any other action
that would affect the ability of the United States to convey
full title under the Act of May 17, 1906 (34 Stat. 197, chapter
2469); and
(ii) stored or allowed the deposit of hazardous waste on the
land.
(3) On receipt of an acceptable written concurrence, the
Secretary, shall -
(A) issue a corrected conveyance document to the State or
Native Corporation, as appropriate; and
(B) issue a certificate of allotment to the allotment
applicant.
(4) No documents of reconveyance from the State or an Alaska
Native Corporation or evidence of title, other than the written
concurrence and attestation described in paragraph (2), are
necessary to use the procedures authorized by this subsection.
(e) Native allotment revisions on land selected by or conveyed to a
Native Corporation
(1) An allotment applicant who had an application pending before
the Department of the Interior on December 18, 1971, and whose
application is still open on the records of the Department of the
Interior as of December 10, 2004, may revise the land description
in the application to describe land other than the land that the
applicant originally intended to claim if -
(A) the application -
(i) describes land selected by or conveyed by interim
conveyance or patent to a Native Corporation formed to receive
benefits under this chapter; or
(ii) otherwise conflicts with an interest in land granted to
a Native Corporation by the United States;
(B) the revised land description describes land selected by or
conveyed by interim conveyance or patent to a Native Corporation
of approximately equal acreage in substitution for the land
described in the original application;
(C) the Director of the Bureau of Land Management has not
adopted a final plan of survey for the final entitlement of the
Native Corporation or its successor in interest; and
(D) the Native Corporation that selected the land or its
successor in interest provides a corporate resolution authorizing
reconveyance or relinquishment to the United States of the land,
or interest in land, described in the revised application.
(2) The land description in an allotment application may not be
revised under this section unless the Secretary has determined -
(A) that the allotment application is valid or would have been
approved under section 1634 of this title had the land in the
allotment application been in Federal ownership on December 2,
1980;
(B) in consultation with the administering agency, that the
proposed revision would not create an isolated inholding within a
conservation system unit (as defined in section 3102 of title
16); and
(C) that the proposed revision will facilitate completion of a
land transfer in the State.
(3)(A) On obtaining title evidence acceptable under Department of
Justice title standards and acceptance of a reconveyance or
relinquishment from a Native Corporation under paragraph (1), the
Secretary shall issue a Native allotment certificate to the
applicant for the land reconveyed or relinquished by the Native
Corporation.
(B) Any allotment revised under this section shall, when
allotted, be made subject to any easement, trail, right-of-way, or
any third-party interest (other than a fee interest) in existence
on the revised allotment land on the date of revision.
(f) Reinstatements and reconstructions
(1) If an applicant for a Native allotment filed under the Act of
May 17, 1906 (34 Stat. 197, chapter 2469) petitions the Secretary
to reinstate a previously closed Native allotment application or to
accept a reconstructed copy of an application claimed to have been
timely filed with an agency of the Department of the Interior, the
United States -
(A) may seek voluntary reconveyance of any land described in
the application that is reinstated or reconstructed after
December 10, 2004; but
(B) shall not file an action in any court to recover title from
a current landowner.
(2) A certificate of allotment that is issued for any allotment
application for which a request for reinstatement or reconstruction
is received or accepted after December 10, 2004 shall be made
subject to any Federal appropriation, trail, right-of-way,
easement, or existing third party interest of record, including
third party interests created by the State, without regard to the
date on which the Native allotment applicant initiated use and
occupancy.