[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2344 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2344

  To provide for the implementation of an Intergovernmental Agreement 
    between the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and the State of Colorado 
concerning Air Quality Control on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 27, 2001

 Mr. McInnis introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on 
 Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
 in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide for the implementation of an Intergovernmental Agreement 
    between the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and the State of Colorado 
concerning Air Quality Control on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; PURPOSE.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Southern Ute and 
Colorado Intergovernmental Agreement Implementation Act of 2001''.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to provide for the 
implementation and enforcement of an Intergovernmental Agreement 
entered into by and between the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and the State 
of Colorado on December 13, 1999, providing for the regulation of air 
quality within the exterior boundaries of the Southern Ute Indian 
Reservation and establishing a Southern Ute Indian Tribe/State of 
Colorado Environmental Commission.

SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF FINDINGS.

    The Congress, after review and in recognition of the purposes of 
the Intergovernmental Agreement between the Southern Ute Indian Tribe 
and the State of Colorado, finds and declares that--
            (1) the Intergovernmental Agreement is consistent with the 
        special legal relationship between Federal Government and 
        federally recognized Indian tribes; and
            (2) the Intergovernmental Agreement can be implemented in a 
        manner that is consistent with the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 
        7401 et seq., 91 Stat. 685, Public Law 95-95, Aug. 7, 1977, as 
        amended).

SEC. 3. TRIBAL AUTHORITY.

    The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency is 
authorized to treat the Southern Ute Indian Tribe in the same manner as 
a State under section 301(d) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7601(d), 
91 Stat. 685), as amended, for air program applications that the Tribe 
submits to the Environmental Protection Agency to implement and carry 
out the Intergovernmental Agreement entered into by and between the 
Southern Ute Indian Tribe and the State of Colorado in a manner 
consistent with the Clean Air Act. If the Administrator approves any 
such air program application of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, the 
approved program shall become applicable to all air resources within 
the exterior boundaries of the Southern Ute Indian Reservation. Such 
treatment as a State authorization and any such approval of a tribal 
air program application shall remain in effect for such time as the 
Intergovernmental Agreement is in full force and effect.

SEC. 4. CIVIL ENFORCEMENT.

    In the event any person fails to comply with a final civil order of 
the Southern Ute Indian Tribe or the Southern Ute Indian Tribe/State of 
Colorado Environmental Commission made pursuant to an air quality 
program established under the Intergovernmental Agreement between the 
Southern Ute Indian Tribe and the State of Colorado, the Tribe or the 
Commission, as is appropriate, may file a petition for declaratory or 
injunctive relief, or for other orders in aid of enforcement, only in 
the United States District Court for the District of Colorado, which 
court shall have jurisdiction to hear such petition.

SEC. 5. JUDICIAL REVIEW.

    A petition for review of a final action of the Southern Ute Indian 
Tribe State of Colorado Environmental Commission made pursuant to an 
air quality program established under the Intergovernmental Agreement 
between the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and the State of Colorado, may be 
filed only in the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, 
which court shall have jurisdiction to hear such petition for review. 
The scope and standard of such review shall be the same as that 
provided in section 706 of title 5, United States Code.

SEC. 6. DISCLAIMER.

    Nothing in this Act is intended to, nor shall it be construed as, 
amending, modifying, repealing, or in any other way enlarging or 
diminishing the provisions of the Clean Air Act (91 Stat. 685), as 
amended, or the Act of May 21, 1984 (98 Stat. 201, 202, Public Law 98-
290; 25 U.S.C. 668 note), an Act to Confirm the Boundaries of the 
Southern Ute Indian Reservation in Colorado, or any lawful 
administrative rule promulgated pursuant to such statutes, or as 
affecting or influencing in any manner any past or prospective judicial 
interpretation or application of such statutes by the United States, 
the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, or the State of Colorado or any Federal, 
tribal, or State court.
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