[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5584 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5584

 To protect certain lands held in fee by the Pechanga Band of Luiseno 
   Mission Indians from condemnation until a final decision is made 
regarding a pending fee to trust application for that land, to provide 
an environmentally sound process for the expeditious consideration and 
 approval of an electricity transmission line right-of-way through the 
 Trabuco Ranger District of the Cleveland National Forest and adjacent 
                 Federal lands, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 9, 2002

   Mr. Issa introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To protect certain lands held in fee by the Pechanga Band of Luiseno 
   Mission Indians from condemnation until a final decision is made 
regarding a pending fee to trust application for that land, to provide 
an environmentally sound process for the expeditious consideration and 
 approval of an electricity transmission line right-of-way through the 
 Trabuco Ranger District of the Cleveland National Forest and adjacent 
                 Federal lands, 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. LAND OF PECHANGA BAND OF LUISENO MISSION INDIANS.

    (a) Limitation on Conveyance.--Land described in subsection (b) (or 
any interest in that land) shall not be voluntarily or involuntarily 
transferred or otherwise made available for condemnation until the date 
on which--
            (1)(A) the Secretary of the Interior renders a final 
        decision on the fee to trust application pending on the date of 
        the enactment of this Act concerning the land; and
            (B) final decisions have been rendered regarding all 
        appeals relating to that application decision; or
            (2) the fee to trust application described in paragraph 
        (1)(A) is withdrawn.
    (b) Description of Land.--The land referred to in subsection (a) is 
land located in Riverside County, California, that is held in fee by 
the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians, as described in Document 
No. 211130 of the Office of the Recorder, Riverside County, California, 
and recorded on May 15, 2001.
    (c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section designates, or 
shall be used to construe, any land described in subsection (b) (or any 
interest in that land) as an Indian reservation, Indian country, Indian 
land, or reservation land (as those terms are defined under any Federal 
law (including a regulation)) for any purpose under any Federal law.

SEC. 2. ELECTRICITY TRANSMISSION LINE RIGHT-OF-WAY, CLEVELAND NATIONAL 
              FOREST.

    (a) Issuance.--The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of 
Agriculture shall issue all necessary grants, easements, permits, plan 
revisions or amendments, and other approvals to allow for the siting 
and construction of a high-voltage electricity transmission line right-
of-way running approximately north to south through the Trabuco Ranger 
District of the Cleveland National Forest in the State of California 
and adjacent lands under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land 
Management and the Forest Service. The right-of-way approvals shall 
provide all necessary Federal authorization from the Secretaries of 
Agriculture and the Interior for the routing, construction, operation, 
and maintenance of a 500 KV transmission line capable of meeting the 
region's long-term electricity transmission needs between the existing 
Valley-Serrano transmission line to the north and the Telega-Escondido 
transmission line to the south, and for connecting to future generating 
capacity that may be developed in the region.
    (b) Protection of Wilderness Areas.--The Secretary of the Interior 
and the Secretary of Agriculture shall not allow any portion of a 
transmission line right-of-way corridor identified in subsection (a) to 
enter any identified wilderness area in existence as of the date of the 
enactment of this Act.
    (c) Environmental and Administrative Review.--Nothing in this 
section shall affect the applicability of any environmental or 
administrative review required under other provision of laws, including 
the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 note) or 
the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The 
Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of Land 
Management, shall be the lead Federal agency with overall 
responsibility to ensure completion of required environmental and other 
reviews of the approvals to be issued under subsection (a). For the 
portions of the corridor on Forest Service land, the Secretary of 
Agriculture shall complete all required environmental reviews and 
administrative actions, in coordination with the Secretary of the 
Interior. It is anticipated that the right-of-way route through the 
Trabuco Ranger District of the Cleveland National Forest will make it 
unnecessary to construct regional transmission lines through heavily 
populated lands in the Temecula Valley.
    (d) Time for Review and Issuance.--Any Federal agency that conducts 
or participates in any environmental or administrative review of the 
approvals to be issued under subsection (a) shall work expeditiously, 
and complete such review as soon as possible, taking full advantage of 
any ongoing governmental review processes for any similar or associated 
projects and proposals, and using all existing or ongoing studies, 
reports, and assessments to satisfy review requirements. The necessary 
grants, easements, permits, plan amendments and other approvals for the 
transmission line right-of-way shall be issued not later than 60 days 
after the completion of the administrative and environmental review 
under subsection (c) or March 31, 2004, whichever occurs first.
    (e) Preserving State Authority.--Nothing in this section shall 
affect the authority of the State of California in making any decision 
regarding the siting or public need for the transmission line described 
in subsection (a).
    (f) Other Terms and Conditions.--The transmission line right-of-way 
shall be subject to such terms and conditions as the Secretary of the 
Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture consider necessary, as a 
result of the environmental review under subsection (c), to protect the 
value of historic, cultural, tribal, and natural resources under the 
jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior or the Department of 
Agriculture.
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