Notice2025-04962
HEARTH Act Approval of Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut, Residential Leasing Ordinance
Primary source
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Published
March 25, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentIndian Affairs Bureau
Abstract
The Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs approved the residential leasing ordinance adopted by the Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut under the Helping Expedite and Advance Responsible Tribal Homeownership Act of 2012 (HEARTH Act). With this approval, the Tribe is authorized to enter into residential leases without further Secretary of the Interior approval.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 56 (Tuesday, March 25, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 56 (Tuesday, March 25, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13623-13624]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-04962]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Indian Affairs
[256A2100DD/AAKC001030/A0A501010.000000]
HEARTH Act Approval of Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut,
Residential Leasing Ordinance
AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs approved the
residential leasing ordinance adopted by the Mohegan Tribe of Indians
of Connecticut under the Helping Expedite and Advance Responsible
Tribal Homeownership Act of 2012 (HEARTH Act). With this approval, the
Tribe is authorized to enter into residential leases without further
Secretary of the Interior approval.
DATES: This approval was made on March 18, 2025.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Carla Clark, Bureau of Indian
Affairs, Division of Real Estate Services, 1001 Indian School Road NW,
Albuquerque, NM 87104, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#84e7e5f6e8e5aae7e8e5f6efc4e6ede5aae3ebf2"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="107371627c713e737c71627b507279713e777f66">[email protected]</span></a>, (702) 484-3233.
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 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 those
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 Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut.
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
[[Page 13624]]
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 apply 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 would 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 and other types of leases not
covered under the Tribal regulations according to 25 CFR part 162.
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 25 CFR part 162. Improvements,
activities, and leasehold or possessory interests may be subject to
taxation by the Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut.
Bryan Mercier,
Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Exercising the delegated authority
of the Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2025-04962 Filed 3-24-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4337-15-P
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