Former Bennett Freeze Area Development Act - Requires the Commissioner of the Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation (ONHIR), by request of the Navajo Nation or the Hopi Tribe by tribal resolution, to enter into a self-determination contract or contracts with the requesting Indian tribe to plan, conduct, and administer programs, functions, services, or activities, including construction programs administered by the Commissioner that pertain directly to the requesting Indian tribe.
Establishes the Former Bennett Freeze Area Rehabilitation Trust Fund in the Treasury.
Makes amounts in the Fund available to the Navajo Nation solely for purposes which will contribute to the continuing rehabilitation and improvement of the economic, housing, infrastructure, health, educational, and social condition of families, and Navajo communities, that have been affected by the former Bennett Freeze.
Authorizes the Commissioner to carry out a rehabilitation program to redress the effects of federal development restrictions (Bennett Freeze) in the western portion of the Navajo Reservation, limited to housing construction and renovation, infrastructure improvements, and economic development initiatives.Repeals requirements that: (1) the United States be reimbursed for funds appropriated to the Navajo Rehabilitation Trust Fund before its termination; and (2) the income derived by the Navajo Tribe from the surface and mineral estates of certain lands located in New Mexico acquired for the Tribe's benefit be used to reimburse the General Fund of the U.S. Treasury. Reauthorizes the Fund.
Grants the Navajo Nation the right to negotiate and approve an Accommodation Agreement with the Hopi Tribe for any Navajo head of household residing on Hopi Partitioned Land that has not otherwise entered into such Agreement but intends to remain on the Land.
Amends the Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute Settlement Act of 1996 to grant any Navajo family that has entered into an Accommodation Agreement the right to: (1) relinquish that Agreement at any time up until the closure of the ONHIR; and after such relinquishment (2) receive the full relocation benefits to which the family would otherwise have been entitled had the family not signed such Agreement, including relocation housing, counseling, and other services.