On November 29, 2022, Congress passed the STOP Act of 2021, Pub. L. No. 117-196. The STOP Act aims to prevent the international export of cultural items prohibited from trafficking under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and the Archeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA).
The STOP Act directs the Department of the Interior (Department), in coordination with the Departments of State, Justice, and Homeland Security, to regulate export of Tribal archaeological resources and cultural items, facilitate voluntary repatriation of Native American tangible cultural heritage back to Indian Tribes and the Native Hawaiian Community in the United States, and to operate a program (authorized up to $3 million annually) to carry out core functions of issuing export certificates, consulting with Tribes and NHOs, managing databases and workflows, collecting fees and fines, coordinating interagency and Native committees, training, temporary holding (repository) and other operational requirements.
In August of 2023, the Department held two consultation sessions with Native Hawaiian organizations and accepted written comments on the development of draft regulations for the STOP Act. The Department is now inviting you to consult on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for the Department’s STOP Act regulations, 25 C.F.R. part 1194. The draft proposed rule reflects input and recommendations provided by the Native Hawaiian Community during the consultations hosted by the Department.
Below you will find a copy of the draft regulation. This document is being provided to you for advance review but does not yet have the force and effect of law. The regulation has been transmitted to the Office of the Federal Register (OFR) for review and is pending filing for public inspection at the OFR and publication in the Federal Register. Consequently, the attached version of the regulation is subject to change during the OFR review process. Only the version published in the Federal Register is the official regulation. Once published, the regulation can be found here: https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/indian-affairs-bureau#documents.
Consultation Materials
Sessions
Comment Deadline
We welcome your written comments, which should be submitted by email to consultation@bia.gov no later than 60 days from the date of publication of the official regulation in the Federal Register. When the the official regulation publishes we will update the written comment period end date with the actual date here on this webpage.
Additional Information
Contact Us
Joaquin Gallegos, Advisor to the Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs
Rachel Brown, Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary-Policy, Management, and Budget
Kaʻiʻini Kaloi, Director, Office of Native Hawaiian Relations
