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Bureau of Indian Affairs

Lippes Mathias LLP

Interior Finalizes Rule to Acquire Lands in Trust for Tribes

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After years of concerns raised by Indian law practitioners and tribal leaders alike, the rules under which the Secretary of the Department of the Interior accepts lands in trust for federally recognized Indian tribes have...more

Snell & Wilmer

BIA Regulatory Changes Seek to Streamline Land-Into-Trust Process

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The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), in an effort to improve and streamline the tribal land acquisition application process, recently announced changes to the pertinent federal regulations, 25 CFR Part 151. Prior to the...more

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

SCOTUS Denies Stay Extension on Seminole Tribe's Sports Betting Plan in Florida

On Oct. 25, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a request to extend the stay ordered in West Flagler Associates, Ltd. v. Haaland. It is unclear if any justice supported the request to extend the stay. This means that West...more

Bennett Jones LLP

Blueberry River First Nation, Treaty 8 First Nations and Province of British Columbia Sign Historic Agreements

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On January 18, 2023, the Province of British Columbia (Province) and the Blueberry River First Nation (BRFN) signed the Blueberry River First Nation Implementation Agreement (Implementation Agreement)....more

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

Proposed Changes to DOI’s Tribal Land Into Trust and Gaming Compact Process Create More Opportunities for Off-Reservation Gaming

Recent proposed regulations seek to streamline and reduce costs for tribal land into trust applications and clarify parameters for negotiation and approval of tribal-state gaming compacts. The administrative process by...more

WilmerHale

Rulemaking To Update Land-Into-Trust Process For Tribes And Individual Indians

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On December 5, 2022, the Interior Department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) published proposed revisions to 25 C.F.R. Part 151—the regulations governing the United States’ discretionary acquisition of land in trust for the...more

Snell & Wilmer

U.S. Department of the Interior Announces Historic Land Acquisition in Alaska

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On November 16, the Solicitor for the U.S. Department of the Interior issued Opinion M-37076, clarifying that the Secretary of the Interior does in fact have authority to acquire land in trust within the State of Alaska. The...more

Perkins Coie

Proposed Revisions to Indian Trust Land Regulations Limit Third-Party Interests

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The Bureau of Indian Affairs has proposed revising the regulations governing the acquisition of land into trust for Indian tribes. The proposed revisions, if adopted, would streamline the fee-to-trust process and eliminate...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Goodbye to McDonnell Douglas Under the Minnesota Whistleblower Act?

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

On April 6, 2022, Minnesota’s Supreme Court in Lori Dowling Hanson v. State of Minnesota, Department of Natural Resources affirmed the lower courts’ summary dismissal of a Minnesota Whistleblower Act (“MWA”) claim brought by...more

Snell & Wilmer

Arizona Supreme Court Confronts Applicability of State Ad Valorem Tax on Tribal Land

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On April 26, 2022, the Arizona Supreme Court issued a significant unanimous decision addressing the applicability of a state ad valorem property tax on a power plant located on Indian land. The Arizona Supreme Court held that...more

Littler

McDonnell Douglas Lives Another Day: A Win for Employers at the Minnesota Supreme Court

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The Minnesota Supreme Court recently reaffirmed the use of the familiar McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting framework to analyze claims of retaliation under Minnesota law, despite the ask by the plaintiff-appellant and amici to...more

Bennett Jones LLP

Blueberry River First Nation and the Government of British Columbia Reach Historic Interim Agreement

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On October 7, 2021, the Blueberry River First Nation (BRFN) and the Province of British Columbia (Province) reached an initial agreement in response to the recent court decision in Yahey v British Columbia [Yahey]. The...more

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

Energy, Environment and Tribal Provisions in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Package

Earlier this week, President Joe Biden signed the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (H.R.3684) into law.   On Nov. 5, the House passed the bill by a vote of 228-206. Thirteen Republicans joined most...more

White and Williams LLP

Connecticut Submits Amended Tribal Gaming Compacts in Next Step Towards Legalizing Sports Betting

As we reported previously, Connecticut enacted legislation on May 25, 2021, authorizing retail and online sports betting, online casino gaming and online daily fantasy sports, to be offered exclusively by the Connecticut...more

White and Williams LLP

Washington Reaches Deal with 15 Tribes for On-Site Sports Betting

White and Williams LLP on

On July 12, 2021, Washington Governor Jay Inslee approved amended state-tribal gaming compacts with 15 of the state’s Indian Tribes that would allow the Tribes to offer retail and online sports betting on the premises of...more

Perkins Coie

Sovereign Immunity Barred Quiet Title Suit Against Indian Tribe

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The First Appellate District held that tribal sovereign immunity bars a quiet title action to establish a public easement for coastal access on property owned by an Indian tribe. Self v. Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community, 60...more

Stoel Rives LLP

Ninth Circuit Finds No Sovereign Immunity Waiver For Tribes Under CWA

Stoel Rives LLP on

On June 23, 2021, the Ninth Circuit in Deschutes River All. v. Portland Gen. Elec. became the first court in the country to hold that Congress did not clearly and unambiguously waive tribal sovereign immunity under the Clean...more

Snell & Wilmer

Arizona Court of Appeals Holds State and Local Property Taxes Assessed Against Permanent Improvements Located on Leased Trust Land...

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In a decision that impacts entities and individuals doing business in Indian Country, the Arizona Court of Appeals sided with the Taxpayer in its challenge to the state and county’s power to tax property on tribal land in the...more

Snell & Wilmer

Secretary of Interior Decentralizes Processing of Requests for Non-Gaming Off-Reservation Fee-to-Trust Land Acquisitions

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The Secretary of the Interior issued Order Number 3400 on April 27, concerning the delegation of authority for non-gaming fee-to-trust land acquisitions concerning off-reservation Tribal lands. The Department of...more

Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt PC

Department of the Interior Announces Changes to Fee-to-Trust Policy for Tribes

Fee-to-trust, sometimes also called land-into-trust, is the process by which tribes can have land taken into trust by the federal government. Congress authorized the Department of the Interior (DOI) to take land into trust...more

Holland & Hart LLP

Biden Administration Issues Temporary Suspension of BLM/BIA Approvals

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The day after the inauguration, the Acting Secretary of Interior issued Order No. 3395, Temporary Suspension of Delegated Authority, suspending the delegation of authority to all Department of Interior Bureaus and Offices,...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

The Supreme Court - November 20, 2020

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United States v. Cooley, No. 19-1414: Whether the lower courts erred in suppressing evidence on the theory that a police officer of an Indian tribe lacked authority to temporarily detain and search respondent, a non-Indian,...more

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

Applications Open for Energy and Mineral Development Program Grant Opportunity

On Sept. 3, the Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development, Division of Energy and Mineral Development (DEMD) issued a solicitation for grant proposals for technical assistance funding to identify, evaluate or assess...more

Hogan Lovells

Suspensions of federal and Indian oil and gas leases

Hogan Lovells on

With storage pressure and pandemic-reduced demand driving oil prices into freefall, lessees of federal and Indian lands may consider turning to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) procedures...more

PilieroMazza PLLC

Weekly Update Newsletter - March 2020

PilieroMazza PLLC on

CLIENT ALERT: FAR Council Changes Rules Regarding Small Business Rerepresentation / Recertification and Multiple Award Contracts - On February 27, 2020, the FAR Council published a final rule that amends the Federal...more

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