Notice2025-22804
HEARTH Act Approval of Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians, California, Amended and Restated Leasing Ordinance
Primary source
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Published
December 15, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentIndian Affairs Bureau
Abstract
The Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs approved the Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians, California, Amended and Restated Leasing Ordinance 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 Secretary of the Interior approval.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 238 (Monday, December 15, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 238 (Monday, December 15, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58049-58050]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-22804]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Indian Affairs
[267A2100DD/AAKC001030/A0A501010.999900]
HEARTH Act Approval of Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians,
California, Amended and Restated Leasing Ordinance
AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs approved the Dry Creek
Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians, California, Amended and Restated
Leasing Ordinance 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
Secretary of the Interior approval.
DATES: The Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs issued the approval on
October 31, 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#4e2d2f3c222f602d222f3c250e2c272f60292138"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7c1f1d0e101d521f101d0e173c1e151d521b130a">[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 leases of Tribal trust lands, for various uses, for a
primary term of 25 years and, in some cases, 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 leasing regulations, including an
environmental review process, and then must obtain the Secretary's
approval of those regulations prior to entering into leases.
[[Page 58050]]
The HEARTH Act requires the Secretary to approve Tribal regulations if
the Tribal regulations are consistent with the Department of the
Interior's (Department, we) 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 Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians,
California.
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
72,447-48, 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 the Bureau of Indian Affair's (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 pre-emption 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 Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians, California.
William Henry Kirkland, III,
Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2025-22804 Filed 12-12-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4337-15-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on December 15, 2025.
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