This bill revises the area in which land may be transferred to or acquired by the Navajo Tribe to the area within 18 miles of the trust lands of the Navajo Tribe, including the bands of the tribe, as of January 2015.
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands anywhere within Arizona and New Mexico may be exchanged for lands within 18 miles of those trust lands.
The Navajo Tribe may exchange up to 757 acres of resettlement land selected as of January 2014 with the BLM.
The Department of the Interior must report on annual rents owed by the Navajo Tribe to the Hopi Tribe for each of the years 2001-2014.
The Navajo Tribe may designate up to 150,000 acres within specified lands as Navajo Sovereignty Empowerment Zones. Specified laws do not apply within these zones. Federal agencies responsible for implementing laws that do not apply in these zones must transfer to the Navajo Tribe the funds the agencies would have expended implementing those laws in these zones.
This bill amends the Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute Settlement Act of 1996 to allow Navajo heads of household or their successors to relinquish an Accommodation Agreement with the Hopi Tribe regarding their residence on Hopi lands and receive relocation benefits.
The Navajo Rehabilitation Trust Fund is extended through FY2019 and revised to allow it to be used for the development of Navajo Sovereignty Empowerment Zones. The Navajo Tribe is no longer required to reimburse appropriations to the fund.