STREAMLINE ACT: Tribes Get Green Light to Use Own Property Appraisals, Bypassing Federal Review

The STREAMLINE ACT, officially the Strengthening Tribal Real Estate Authority and Modernizing Land for Indigenous Nation Expansion Act, is designed to cut bureaucratic red tape for certain Indian Tribes dealing with land transactions. Essentially, this bill is about making it faster and easier for Tribes to acquire land to be held in trust by the federal government.

The Appraisal Fast Track

Right now, when an Indian Tribe wants to buy land and have it placed into trust status—a process called "fee-to-trust acquisition"—the Department of the Interior (DOI) usually has to conduct or review a property appraisal. This can take a long time, slowing down economic development and self-governance efforts. The STREAMLINE ACT changes this for Tribes that already manage their own real estate services under a self-governance agreement (specifically, the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, or ISDEAA).

Under this new rule (Section 2), if a Tribe has assumed responsibility for realty functions, the Secretary of the Interior must accept the Tribe's own appraisal instead of doing a federal one. This is mandatory, provided the Tribal appraisal follows the industry standard, known as the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP). The land in question must also be inside or right next to the Tribe’s existing trust lands. For Tribes, this means faster transactions and more control over their own development timelines—a huge win for self-governance.

Fiduciary Duty: Check, Please

Here’s the part that policy wonks and lawyers will be watching closely: Section 2 explicitly states that when the Secretary accepts a compliant Tribal appraisal, it counts as fulfilling the Secretary’s legal duty (their fiduciary and trust responsibility) regarding the property's value. This is a big deal. The federal government has a long-standing trust responsibility to protect Tribal assets, and property valuation is a key part of that. By mandating acceptance of the Tribal appraisal, the DOI’s role shifts from an active reviewer to a simple ministerial one—they just confirm they received the certification and record it.

While this speeds things up dramatically, it also reduces a layer of federal oversight. For the average taxpayer, this means the financial check on the fairness of the land transaction value is now fully delegated to the Tribe, provided they adhere to USPAP. If you’re a third-party seller or buyer involved in one of these transactions, you’ll be relying solely on the Tribal valuation, not a federal one, to establish fair market value.

Transparency and the Three-Year Checkup

To keep things transparent and measure the bill's effectiveness, Section 4 requires the Secretary to start tracking and publishing data on how long it takes to process these land deals. They have to separate the data based on whether the appraisal used was done by the Tribe or by the DOI. This will give us a clear picture of whether the new process actually cuts down on the waiting time, as intended.

Furthermore, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) is tasked with reviewing the entire process three years after the law takes effect. They’ll look at whether the changes actually sped things up, whether the quality of the appraisals held up, and if the new system led to more lawsuits. It’s a built-in quality control check to make sure efficiency doesn't come at the cost of accuracy or legal certainty.

Crucially, Section 4 also confirms that while the appraisal process is changing, all other requirements remain untouched. This means environmental reviews (like NEPA) and the rules for checking land titles still have to be followed. The bill streamlines the financial valuation step, but it doesn't bypass the environmental or legal due diligence necessary for land acquisition.