Virginia Republicans kill bill giving Indian tribes role in reviewing development on ancestral lands
The measure had cleared the Senate on a unanimous vote of 40 to 0 and had bipartisan support in the House, but a subcommittee rejected it Wednesday and urged bringing it back next year for consideration.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin , who took office Jan. 15, has not rescinded Northam’s order but has not signaled whether he intends to follow it. A spokeswoman for Youngkin did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday evening.Federal law requires that sovereign Indian tribes be given a chance to comment on development permitting that affects federal tribal areas. The law that failed Wednesday was an effort to require the same practice for state government.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Jennifer L. McClellan , would not give tribes veto power over most development projects but would require the state to give them an opportunity to comment as part of any permitting process. The one exception would be projects that involve relocating burials, in which case tribes would have to sign off on appropriate methods for relocating human remains.
The tribes have pushed for a greater role in reviewing development projects around the state that impact their ancestral sites and, in many cases, the archaeological remnants of their cultures. Because state law does not guarantee them a review, the tribes most often find out about impacts from proposed development only after projects have advanced through the permitting process.