To amend the Act of August 9, 1955, to make improvements to that Act, and for other purposes.
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Schatz (for himself and Ms. Murkowski) introduced the following …
Summary
What This Bill Does
The UNLOCKED Act (Unlocking Native Lands and Opportunities for Commerce and Key Economic Developments) expands tribal sovereignty by allowing federally recognized Indian tribes to grant rights-of-way across their trust lands without requiring case-by-case approval from the federal government. Instead, tribes can create their own regulations governing these rights-of-way, which must be approved once by the Secretary of the Interior. The bill also removes lease term limits for tribal lands and extends leasing authority to all federally recognized tribes.
Who Benefits and How
Indian tribes gain significant new autonomy over their lands and can more easily lease land or grant access for infrastructure projects like pipelines, transmission lines, and roads. This creates new revenue opportunities through negotiated compensation. Energy companies, pipeline operators, mining companies, and infrastructure developers benefit from reduced regulatory barriers and faster project timelines when seeking access across tribal lands. The federal government benefits from reduced liability exposure for tribal land transactions.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Environmental and conservation groups lose oversight mechanisms as the bill explicitly exempts the Secretary of the Interior from following NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act), the National Historic Preservation Act, and the Endangered Species Act when approving tribal regulations. While tribes must create their own environmental review processes, these are lighter than federal requirements. Parties entering into agreements with tribes take on more risk since the federal government will no longer be liable for losses.
Key Provisions
- Tribes can grant rights-of-way for any purpose without federal approval if operating under approved tribal regulations
- Secretary of Interior must approve or disapprove tribal regulations within 180 days
- The Secretary is exempt from NEPA, NHPA, and ESA when approving tribal regulations
- Removes lease term limits that previously capped tribal land leases
- The United States is not liable for losses from tribal-granted rights-of-way
- Preserves tribal sovereign immunity and jurisdiction over lands subject to rights-of-way
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Expands tribal sovereignty by allowing Indian tribes to grant rights-of-way across their trust lands without requiring federal approval, provided they follow approved tribal regulations.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Promote tribal self-governance and economic development by reducing federal bureaucratic barriers to granting rights-of-way across Indian lands while exempting the approval process from major environmental laws"
Likely Beneficiaries
- Indian tribes seeking economic development opportunities
- Energy and utility companies seeking rights-of-way across tribal lands
- Infrastructure developers (pipelines, roads, transmission lines)
- Mining and extraction companies
Likely Burden Bearers
- Environmental regulators (EPA, Fish and Wildlife Service)
- Conservation and environmental groups
- Potentially affected communities near tribal lands
- Historic preservation organizations
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Interior
- "indian_tribe"
- → Any federally recognized Indian tribe
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Interior
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Land held in trust for an Indian tribe, as referenced in existing law (25 U.S.C. 415, 323)
A grant allowing passage or use across tribal land for any purpose (e.g., pipelines, roads, utilities)
A regulation governing the granting of rights-of-way over tribal land, subject to approval by the Secretary of the Interior
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology