Sponsor
Doug Lamalfa
Representative · R-CA
Allows qualifying self‑governance Tribes to substitute USPAP‑compliant Tribal appraisals for DOI appraisals for trust land acquisitions and requires DOI to revise fee‑to‑trust rules within one year.
Representative · R-CA
The bill speeds and streamlines trust and fee-to-trust land transactions and strengthens tribal self-determination by accepting ISDEAA-authorized tribal appraisals for reservation and adjacent trust lands, but it shifts review authority away from Interior — raising risks of inconsistent valuations, financing uncertainty, and administrative or legal trade-offs.
Tribal governments and tribal landowners will see faster fee-to-trust and land-acquisition processing because ISDEAA-authorized tribal appraisals can be accepted without routine Interior re-review.
Tribes that have assumed realty/appraisal authority gain greater control over land transactions, strengthening tribal self-determination and sovereignty over reservation and adjacent trust lands.
When tribal appraisals meet USPAP standards, the bill reduces duplication of federal review and can lower administrative delays and costs for tribes and the Department of the Interior.
Federal oversight of appraisals for trust acquisitions is reduced, which could produce inconsistent appraisal quality, conflicts of interest, or reduced independent review.
Less federal review may limit the ability to detect valuation errors or fraud, risking understated market values and potential losses to taxpayers or other landowners.
Financial institutions and third parties may face uncertainty when tribal appraisals are accepted without Interior review, complicating financing or transactions that rely on appraisal consistency.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Official title: To improve Tribal self-governance by streamlining appraisals for on-reservation trust land acquisitions by Indian Tribes with self-governance realty programs.
Introduced October 6, 2025 by Doug Lamalfa · Last progress October 6, 2025
Allows federally recognized Tribes that operate self‑governance realty programs under the Indian Self‑Determination and Education Assistance Act to use Tribal appraisals or valuations, in place of Department of the Interior appraisals, for fee‑to‑trust and other trust land acquisitions within a Tribe’s reservation or contiguous trust area, when the Tribe has assumed appraisal authority and follows professional appraisal standards. The Department must treat accepted Tribal appraisals as sufficient to establish fair market value, revise its fee‑to‑trust regulation within one year, publish processing‑time comparisons, and the Government Accountability Office must evaluate effects on processing time, quality, and litigation within three years.