{"id":129749,"date":"2025-03-26T16:15:28","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T21:15:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=129749"},"modified":"2025-03-26T16:15:30","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T21:15:30","slug":"bureau-of-indian-affairs-approves-hearth-act-regulations-for-mohegan-tribe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2025\/03\/26\/bureau-of-indian-affairs-approves-hearth-act-regulations-for-mohegan-tribe\/","title":{"rendered":"Bureau of Indian Affairs approves HEARTH Act regulations for Mohegan Tribe"},"content":{"rendered":" \"Mohegan<\/a>
The Mohegan Tribe Community Center and Government Building in Uncasville, Connecticut. Photo by Bob Nichols \/ U.S. Department of Agriculture<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n
Bureau of Indian Affairs approves HEARTH Act regulations for Mohegan Tribe<\/div>\r\n
Wednesday, March 26, 2025<\/div>\r\n
By Acee Agoyo<\/div>\r\n
Indianz.Com<\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe Mohegan Tribe<\/a> will be able to exercise greater control over economic development with federal approval of its HEARTH Act regulations<\/a>.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe Bureau of Indian Affairs<\/a> (BIA) approved the tribe’s residential leasing ordinance on March 18, according to a notice published in the Federal Register<\/a> on Tuesday. The tribe will be able to enter into residential leases without going to the federal government for every agreement.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“With this approval, the Tribe is authorized to enter into residential leases without further Secretary of the Interior approval,” the March 25 notice<\/a> states.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nCongress passed the Helping Expedite and Advance Responsible Tribal Home Ownership Act, also known as the HEARTH Act, in 2012<\/a>. The law makes it easier for tribes to engage in economic development on their own lands by streamlining approval of agriculture, business, housing and other types of leases.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n“The\u202fHelping Expedite and Advance Responsible Tribal Home Ownership Act of\u202f2012 (HEARTH Act)\u202foffers a\u202fvoluntary, more efficient land-leasing process\u202ffor Tribes,” the BIA states on its website<\/a>.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“Under the HEARTH Act, once Tribes’ governing Tribal leasing regulations are submitted to and approved by\u202fthe Secretary of the Interior, they are authorized to negotiate and\u202fenter into\u202fsurface leases under their approved HEARTH Act regulations without further approval from the Department of the Interior,” the BIA continues.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe approval for the Mohegan Tribe, based in Connecticut, marks the first HEARTH Act approval of the Donald Trump era. Since January 20, the new administration has put a hold on most regulatory activities across the federal government<\/a>, including the BIA.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nWith President Trump in office, only a handful of substantive actions have been published by the BIA in the Federal Register<\/a>. In total, only seven notices have been published by the agency in the last 65 days.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nDuring the Joe Biden administration, the BIA approved HEARTH Act regulations for more than 50 tribes, according to the agency’s website<\/a>. The most recent approvals came in August, November and December of 2024.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe HEARTH Act notice for the Mohegan Tribe was signed by Bryan Mercier<\/a>, a career employee who serves as the director of the BIA. According to the document, he is “Exercising the delegated authority of the Assistant Secretary\u2014Indian Affairs.”\r\n

<\/p>\r\nDuring the Biden era, HEARTH Act notices<\/a> were signed by Bryan Newland<\/a>, who was serving as the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs<\/a> at the time.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nTrump has nominated nominated Billy Kirkland<\/a>, a citizen of the Navajo Nation<\/a>, to serve as the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, a political post at the Department of the Interior<\/a>. He has told associates that he doesn’t plan on relocating to the nation’s capital from his home in Georgia until the end of the current school year.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nSecretary Doug Burgum<\/a>, a former two-term governor of North Dakota, is leading Interior, the cabinet-level agency with the most trust and treaty responsibilities Indian Country. He has not publicly commented on Kirkland’s nomination.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nThe Senate Committee on Indian Affairs<\/a> has yet to announce a confirmation hearing for Kirkland, whose nomination was initially referred to the wrong legislative panel by the White House on February 3. Burgum otherwise is the sole Interior official who has been confirmed by the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate<\/a>.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nSen. Lisa Murkowski<\/a> (R-Alaska), the Republican chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, was expected to issue a statement about Kirkland but has yet to do so. Her staff<\/a> has reiterated that the nomination will be handled by the panel that she leads.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe Congressional database for Kirkland’s nomination<\/a> has since been corrected to reflect that it has been referred to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n

Federal Register Notice<\/div>\r\nHEARTH Act Approval of Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut, Residential Leasing Ordinance<\/a> (March 25, 2025)\r\n

<\/p>\r\n

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