§167 Trust Status of Lease Payments

Summary

The Secretary of the Interior must put any upfront payments, deposits, or earnest money that the Secretary gets while reviewing a sale, lease, permit, or other transfer of trust or restricted Indian land into the federal trust account for the benefit of the tribe or individual owner. If the tribe or owner asks otherwise, or if the money comes from a competitive bidding process, only the winning bidder’s payment will be kept in trust once the winner is picked. If the Secretary approves the deal, the trust money and any investment income must be paid to the tribe or individual landowners. If the Secretary does not approve the deal, the money and income must be paid to whoever the rules, advertisement, or notice for that specific offer say should get it, in the amounts and on the terms those sources set. This rule applies to funds the Secretary received on or after December 18, 2018.