Open season for certain Alaska Native veterans for allotments

The Secretary may not convey allotments containing any of the following— lands selected or claimed, but not conveyed, under a public land law, including but not limited to the following: A person who qualifies for an allotment on lands prohibited from conveyance by a provision of subsection (a)(3) may select an alternative allotment from the following lands located within the geographic boundaries of the same Regional Corporation as the excluded allotment— All conveyances under this section shall— A person is eligible to select an allotment under this section if that person— is a veteran who served during the period between January 1, 1969 and December 31, 1971 and— The personal representative or special administrator, appointed in an Alaska State court proceeding of the estate of a decedent who was eligible under subsection (b)(1)(A) may, for the benefit of the heirs, select an allotment if the decedent was a veteran who served in South East Asia at any time during the period beginning August 5, 1964, and ending December 31, 1971, and during that period the decedent— If the Secretary requests that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs make a determination whether a veteran died as a direct consequence of a wound received in action, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall, within 60 days of receipt of the request— The Secretary of the Interior shall conduct a study to identify and assess the circumstances of veterans of the Vietnam era who— For the purposes of this section, the terms “veteran” and “Vietnam era” have the meanings given those terms by paragraphs (2) and (29), respectively, of section 101 of title 38. No later than 18 months after October 21, 1998, the Secretary of the Interior shall promulgate, after consultation with Alaska Natives groups, rules to carry out this section.