H.R. 4284 — Small Cemetery Conveyance Act

This section amends the Small Tract Act of 1983 (16 U.S.C. 521c et seq.) as follows: (1) adds cemetery conveyances without consideration, per new section 9, to the authorized purposes in section 2(a); (2) removes cemeteries (previously including up to 1 acre adjacent) from the list of excluded parcels in the definition of "encumbered land" in section 3(6); and (3) in new section 9, authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to convey without consideration any parcel used or previously used as a cemetery (i.e., up to 40 acres, including up to 1 acre adjacent) to a qualified person (i.e., a state or local government, federally recognized Indian tribe per 25 U.S.C. 5211(a), or qualified land grant-merced in New Mexico), subject to reversion to the United States if not used solely as a cemetery and with authority to waive costs under section 4. (As background, the Small Tract Act authorizes conveyance of small federal land parcels for specified uses such as homesites and recreation. Thus, these amendments enable return of historic or traditional cemeteries to tribal, local, or community control.) This section states that the amendments do not affect the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (25 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.).