[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 794 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]


        H.R.794

                       One Hundred Ninth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE FIRST SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
            the fourth day of January, two thousand and five


                                 An Act


 
 To correct the south boundary of the Colorado River Indian Reservation 
                   in Arizona, 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, FINDINGS, PURPOSES.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Colorado River 
Indian Reservation Boundary Correction Act''.
    (b) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
        (1) The Act of March 3, 1865, created the Colorado River Indian 
    Reservation (hereinafter ``Reservation'') along the Colorado River 
    in Arizona and California for the ``Indians of said river and its 
    tributaries''.
        (2) In 1873 and 1874, President Grant issued Executive Orders 
    to expand the Reservation southward and to secure its southern 
    boundary at a clearly recognizable geographic location in order to 
    forestall non-Indian encroachment and conflicts with the Indians of 
    the Reservation.
        (3) In 1875, Mr. Chandler Robbins surveyed the Reservation 
    (hereinafter ``the Robbins Survey'') and delineated its new 
    southern boundary, which included approximately 16,000 additional 
    acres (hereinafter ``the La Paz lands''), as part of the 
    Reservation.
        (4) On May 15, 1876, President Grant issued an Executive Order 
    that established the Reservation's boundaries as those delineated 
    by the Robbins Survey.
        (5) In 1907, as a result of increasingly frequent trespasses by 
    miners and cattle and at the request of the Bureau of Indian 
    Affairs, the General Land Office of the United States provided for 
    a resurvey of the southern and southeastern areas of the 
    Reservation.
        (6) In 1914, the General Land Office accepted and approved a 
    resurvey of the Reservation conducted by Mr. Guy Harrington in 1912 
    (hereinafter the ``Harrington Resurvey'') which confirmed the 
    boundaries that were delineated by the Robbins Survey and 
    established by Executive Order in 1876.
        (7) On November 19, 1915, the Secretary of the Interior 
    reversed the decision of the General Land Office to accept the 
    Harrington Resurvey, and upon his recommendation on November 22, 
    1915, President Wilson issued Executive Order No. 2273 ``. . . to 
    correct the error in location said southern boundary line . . .''--
    and thus effectively excluded the La Paz lands from the 
    Reservation.
        (8) Historical evidence compiled by the Department of the 
    Interior supports the conclusion that the reason given by the 
    Secretary in recommending that the President issue the 1915 
    Executive Order--``to correct an error in locating the southern 
    boundary''--was itself in error and that the La Paz lands should 
    not have been excluded from the Reservation.
        (9) The La Paz lands continue to hold cultural and historical 
    significance, as well as economic development potential, for the 
    Colorado River Indian tribes, who have consistently sought to have 
    such lands restored to their Reservation.
    (c) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are:
        (1) To correct the south boundary of the Reservation by 
    reestablishing such boundary as it was delineated by the Robbins 
    Survey and affirmed by the Harrington Resurvey.
        (2) To restore the La Paz lands to the Reservation, subject to 
    valid existing rights under Federal law and to provide for 
    continued reasonable public access for recreational purposes.
        (3) To provide for the Secretary of the Interior to review and 
    ensure that the corrected Reservation boundary is resurveyed and 
    marked in conformance with the public system of surveys extended 
    over such lands.

SEC. 2. BOUNDARY CORRECTION, RESTORATION, DESCRIPTION.

    (a) Boundary.--The boundaries of the Colorado River Indian 
Reservation are hereby declared to include those boundaries as were 
delineated by the Robbins Survey, affirmed by the Harrington Survey, 
and described as follows: The approximately 15,375 acres of Federal 
land described as ``Lands Identified for Transfer to Colorado River 
Indian Tribes'' on the map prepared by the Bureau of Land Management 
entitled ``Colorado River Indian Reservation Boundary Correction Act, 
and dated January 4, 2005'', (hereinafter referred to as the ``Map'').
    (b) Map.--The Map shall be available for review at the Bureau of 
Land Management.
    (c) Restoration.--Subject to valid existing rights under Federal 
law, all right, title, and interest of the United States to those lands 
within the boundaries declared in subsection (a) that were excluded 
from the Colorado River Indian Reservation pursuant to Executive Order 
No. 2273 (November 22, 1915) are hereby restored to the Reservation and 
shall be held in trust by the United States on behalf of the Colorado 
River Indian Tribes.
    (d) Exclusion.--Excluded from the lands restored to trust status on 
behalf of the Colorado River Indian Tribes that are described in 
subsection (a) are 2 parcels of Arizona State Lands identified on the 
Map as ``State Lands'' and totaling 320 acres and 520 acres.

SEC. 3. RESURVEY AND MARKING.

    The Secretary of the Interior shall ensure that the boundary for 
the restored lands described in section 2(a) is surveyed and clearly 
marked in conformance with the public system of surveys extended over 
such lands.

SEC. 4. WATER RIGHTS.

    The restored lands described in section 2(a) and shown on the Map 
shall have no Federal reserve water rights to surface water or ground 
water from any source.

SEC. 5. PUBLIC ACCESS.

    Continued access to the restored lands described in section (2)(a) 
for hunting and other existing recreational purposes shall remain 
available to the public under reasonable rules and regulations 
promulgated by the Colorado River Indian Tribes.

SEC. 6. ECONOMIC ACTIVITY.

    (a) In General.--The restored lands described in section (2)(a) 
shall be subject to all rights-of-way, easements, leases, and mining 
claims existing on the date of the enactment of this Act. The United 
States reserves the right to continue all Reclamation projects, 
including the right to access and remove mineral materials for Colorado 
River maintenance on the restored lands described in section (2)(a).
    (b) Additional Rights-of-Way.--Notwithstanding any other provision 
of law, the Secretary, in consultation with the Tribe, shall grant 
additional rights-of-way, expansions, or renewals of existing rights-
of-way for roads, utilities, and other accommodations to adjoining 
landowners or existing right-of-way holders, or their successors and 
assigns, if--
        (1) the proposed right-of-way is necessary to the needs of the 
    applicant;
        (2) the proposed right-of-way acquisition will not cause 
    significant and substantial harm to the Colorado River Indian 
    Tribes; and
        (3) the proposed right-of-way complies with the procedures in 
    part 169 of title 25, Code of Federal Regulations consistent with 
    this subsection and other generally applicable Federal laws 
    unrelated to the acquisition of interests on trust lands, except 
    that section 169.3 of those regulations shall not be applicable to 
    expansions or renewals of existing rights-of-way for roads and 
    utilities.
    (c) Fees.--The fees charged for the renewal of any valid lease, 
easement, or right-of-way subject to this section shall not be greater 
than the current Federal rate for such a lease, easement, or right-of-
way at the time of renewal if the holder has been in substantial 
compliance with all terms of the lease, easement, or right-of-way.

SEC. 7. GAMING.

    Land taken into trust under this Act shall neither be considered to 
have been taken into trust for gaming nor be used for gaming (as that 
term is used in the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2701 et 
seq.)).

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.