110 HR 1276 IH: Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians
U.S. House of Representatives
2007-03-01
text/xml
EN
Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
1.This Act may be cited as the
Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians
Settlement Act
.
2.
(a)Congress
finds the following:
(1)The Soboba Band of
Luiseño Indians is a federally recognized Indian tribe whose Reservation of
approximately 6,000 acres, extending east and north from the banks of San
Jacinto River in Riverside County, California, was created by an Executive
Order of June 19, 1883, and enlarged and modified by subsequent Executive
Orders, purchases, and an Act of Congress.
(2)The Tribe’s water rights have not been
quantified, and the Tribe has longstanding unresolved claims for interferences
with the water resources of its Reservation, which the Tribe maintains have
rendered much of the Tribe’s Reservation useless for habitation, livestock, or
agriculture. On April 20, 2000, the Tribe filed a lawsuit against the
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California for interference with the
Tribe’s water resources and damages to its Reservation allegedly caused by
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s construction and operation
of the San Jacinto Tunnel, which is part of the Colorado River Aqueduct. The
lawsuit, titled Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians v. Metropolitan Water District
of Southern California, No. 00–04208 GAF (MANx), is pending in the United
States District Court for the Central District of California.
(3)The Tribe also has
made claims against Eastern Municipal Water District and Lake Hemet Municipal
Water District, located adjacent to the Reservation, seeking to secure its
water rights and damages arising from alleged past interference with the
Tribe’s water resources.
(4)Recognizing that
the final resolution of its water rights and claims through litigation will
take many years and entail great expense to all parties, continue to limit the
Tribe’s access to water with economic, social, and cultural consequences to the
Tribe, prolong uncertainty as to the availability of water supplies, and
seriously impair the long-term economic planning and development of all
parties, the Tribe and non-Indian entities have sought to settle their
water-related disputes and reduce the burdens of litigation.
(5)After
negotiations, which included participation by representatives of the Tribe, the
United States, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the
Eastern Municipal Water District, and Lake Hemet Municipal Water District, the
parties have entered into a Settlement Agreement to determine the Tribe’s water
rights, resolve all of its claims for interference with the water resources of,
and damages to, its Reservation, and provide for the construction of water
projects to facilitate the exercise of the Tribe’s rights.
(6)Pursuant to the
Settlement Agreement, Eastern Municipal Water District and Lake Hemet Municipal
Water District acknowledge and assure the Tribe’s prior and paramount right,
superior to all others, to pump 9,000 acre-feet of water annually from the San
Jacinto River basin. To provide water to the Tribe and to reduce the overdraft
of the basin, the two water districts and the Metropolitan Water District of
Southern California will contract to import and recharge supplemental water
supplies into the basin. The water districts also will make substantial
additional contributions to the settlement, including the conveyance of certain
replacement lands and economic development funds to the Tribe, to carry out the
Settlement Agreement’s provisions.
(7)It is appropriate
that the United States participate in the implementation of the Settlement
Agreement, and contribute funds to enable the Tribe to use its water
entitlement in developing its Reservation, and to assist the neighboring
non-Indian entities in the construction, operation, and maintenance of the
facilities required to recharge the imported water.
(b)The
purposes of this Act include—
(1)to approve,
ratify, and confirm the Settlement Agreement entered into by the Tribe and
non-Indians entities;
(2)to authorize and
direct the Secretary of the Interior to execute and perform the Settlement
Agreement and related waivers; and
(3)to authorize the
actions, agreements, and appropriations as provided in the Settlement Agreement
and this Act.
3.In this Act, the following definitions
apply:
(1)The term Development Fund means the Soboba Band
of Luiseño Indians Water Development Fund established by section 7.
(2)The
term Reservation means the Soboba Indian Reservation created by an
Executive Order dated June 19, 1883, and enlarged and modified by subsequent
Executive Orders, purchases, and an Act of Congress, excluding the 950 acres
northwest of and contiguous to the Reservation known as the Jones
Ranch,
purchased by the Soboba Tribe in fee on July 21, 2001, and
placed into trust on January 13, 2003, the 129.19 acres southeast of and
contiguous to the Reservation known as the Horseshoe Properties,
purchased by the Soboba Tribe in fee in four separate transactions in June and
December 2001, and the 478 acres north of and contiguous to the Reservation
known as Kwiili,
purchased by the Soboba Tribe in fee on April
4, 2004.
(3)The term Restoration Fund means the San Jacinto
Basin Restoration Fund established by this Act.
(4)The
term Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior or the
Secretary’s designee.
(5)The term Settlement Agreement means that
agreement dated June 7, 2006, together with all exhibits thereto. The parties
to the Settlement Agreement are the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians and its
members, the United States on behalf of the Tribe and its members, the
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Eastern Municipal Water
District, and Lake Hemet Municipal Water District.
(6)Tribe, soboba
tribe, or soboba band of luiseño indiansThe terms
Tribe, Soboba Tribe, or Soboba Band of Luiseño
Indians means the body politic and federally recognized Indian tribe,
and its members.
(7)The term Water Management Plan means the plan,
approved by the Soboba Tribe and the Secretary, developed pursuant to Section
4.8, paragraph A of the Settlement Agreement to resolve the overdraft of the
San Jacinto basin.
4.Ratification of
settlement agreement; authorization
(a)The United States hereby approves, ratifies, and confirms
the Settlement Agreement, except to the extent it conflicts with the provisions
of this Act, and consents to be made a party to the pending action described in
section 2(a)(2) for the purpose of entering the judgment and decree attached to
the Settlement Agreement as Exhibit H.
(b)The
Secretary is authorized and directed to execute, and take such other actions as
are necessary to implement, the Settlement Agreement and any amendments
approved by the parties necessary to make the Settlement Agreement consistent
with this Act.
5.Authorization of
appropriations
(a)There is authorized $10,000,000 to be appropriated to the
San Jacinto Basin Restoration Fund established in this Act to pay or reimburse
costs associated with constructing, operating, and maintaining the portion of
the basin recharge project, described in Section 4.5 of the Settlement
Agreement, necessary to accommodate deliveries of the supplemental imported
water under Section 4.4 of the Settlement Agreement.
(b)There is authorized $11,000,000 to be appropriated to the
Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians Water Development Fund to pay or reimburse costs
associated with constructing, operating, and maintaining water and sewage
infrastructure, and other water-related development projects.
6.
(a)Thereis
established within the Treasury of the United States a non-interest bearing
account to be known as the San Jacinto Basin Restoration Fund
,
consisting of the amounts authorized to be appropriated in section 5(a).
(b)The
Restoration Fund shall be administered by the Secretary for the purposes set
forth in subsection (d).
(c)The
funds authorized to be appropriated pursuant to section 5(a) shall be available
for expenditure or withdrawal only after the requirements set forth in section
9(e) and subsection (d) of this section have been met.
(d)Expenditures and
withdrawals
(1)
(A)Eastern Municipal Water District, on behalf of the Water
Management Plan, shall submit to the Secretary for approval an expenditure plan
for use of the Restoration Fund.
(B)The
expenditure plan shall require that any funds be expended or reimbursed in
accordance with the purposes described in section 5(a).
(C)The
Secretary shall approve the expenditure plan if it is reasonable and not
inconsistent with this Act.
(2)On
approval by the Secretary of the expenditure plan described in this section,
the Eastern Municipal Water District, on behalf of the Water Management Plan,
may withdraw monies from the Restoration Fund as provided in the plan.
(3)The
Secretary may take judicial or administrative action to enforce the provisions
of any expenditure plan to ensure that monies withdrawn from the Restoration
Fund under the plan are used in accordance with this Act.
(4)If
the Eastern Municipal Water District, on behalf of the Water Management Plan,
exercises the right to withdraw monies from the Restoration Fund, neither the
Secretary nor the Secretary of the Treasury shall retain any liability for the
expenditure or investment of the monies withdrawn.
(5)Eastern Municipal Water District shall submit to the Tribe
and the Secretary an annual report that describes all expenditures from the
Restoration Fund during the year covered by the report.
7.
(a)There
is established within the Treasury an interest bearing account to be known as
the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians Water Development Fund
, to be
managed and invested by the Secretary, consisting of the amounts authorized to
be appropriated in section 5(b).
(b)The
Secretary shall manage the Development Fund, make investments, and make monies
available for distribution consistent with the American Indian Trust Fund
Management Reform Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 4001 et seq.) (referred to in this
section as the Trust Fund Reform Act
), this Act, and the
Settlement Agreement.
(c)The
Secretary shall invest amounts in the Development Fund in accordance
with—
(1)the Act of April
1, 1880 (21 Stat. 70, ch. 41, 25 U.S.C. 161);
(2)the first section
of the Act of June 24, 1938 (52 Stat. 1037, ch. 648, 25 U.S.C. 162a);
and
(3)subsection
(b).
(d)The
funds authorized to be appropriated pursuant to section 5(b) shall be available
for expenditure or withdrawal only after the requirements set forth in section
9(e) and subsection (e) have been met.
(e)Expenditures and
withdrawals
(1)
(A)The Tribe may withdraw all or part of the Development
Fund on approval by the Secretary of a tribal management plan as described in
the Trust Fund Reform Act.
(B)In
addition to the requirements under the Trust Fund Reform Act, the tribal
management plan shall require that any funds be expended or reimbursed in
accordance with the purposes described in section 5(b).
(2)The
Secretary may take judicial or administrative action to enforce the provisions
of any tribal management plan to ensure that monies withdrawn from the
Development Fund under the plan are used in accordance with this Act.
(3)If
the Tribe exercises the right to withdraw monies from the Development Fund,
neither the Secretary nor the Secretary of the Treasury shall retain any
liability for the expenditure or investment of the monies withdrawn.
(4)The Tribe shall submit to the Secretary an annual report
that describes all expenditures from the Development Fund during the year
covered by the report.
(5)No per capita
distributionsNo part of the Development Fund shall be
distributed on a per capita basis to members of the Tribe.
8.
(a)Tribe and united
states authorizationThe Tribe, on behalf of itself and its
members, and the Secretary, on behalf of the United States in its capacity as
trustee for the Tribe and its members, are authorized, as part of the
performance of their obligations under the Settlement Agreement, to execute a
waiver and release for claims under Federal, State, or other law against the
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the Eastern Municipal Water
District, and the Lake Hemet Municipal Water District, for any and all of the
following:
(1)Past, present, and
future claims to surface and groundwater rights for the Reservation from time
immemorial through the effective date described in section 10 and anytime
thereafter.
(2)Past, present, and
future claims for injury of any kind, whether to person, property, or other
right or interest, arising from, or in any way related to, interference with
surface and groundwater rights and resources of the Reservation, including, but
not limited to, all claims for injury to the Tribe’s use and enjoyment of the
Reservation, economic development, religion, language, social structure and
culture, and injury to the natural resources of the Reservation, from time
immemorial through the effective date described in section 10.
(3)Past, present, and
future claims for injury of any kind, whether to person, property, or other
right or interest, arising from, or in any way related to, continuing
interference with surface and groundwater rights and resources of the
Reservation, including the full scope of claims defined in Section 5.1,
paragraph A(2) of the Settlement Agreement, to the extent that such continuing
interference began prior to the effective date described in section 10 of this
Act, from time immemorial through the effective date described in section 10 of
this Act and anytime thereafter.
(4)Past, present, and
future claims for injury of any kind, whether to person, property, or other
right or interest, arising from, or in any way related to, seepage of water
into the San Jacinto Tunnel, including the full scope of claims defined in
Section 5.1, paragraph A(2) of the Settlement Agreement, from time immemorial
through the effective date described in section 10 of this Act and anytime
thereafter.
(b)Tribal waivers
against the united statesThe Tribe is authorized, as part of the
performance of its obligations under the Settlement Agreement, to execute a
waiver and release for claims against the United States (acting in its capacity
as trustee for the Tribe or its members, or otherwise acting on behalf of the
Tribe or its members), including any agencies, officials, or employees thereof,
for any and all of the following:
(1)Claims described
in subsection (a).
(2)Past, present, and
future claims for failure to acquire or develop water rights and resources of
the Reservation from time immemorial through the effective date described in
section 10 of this Act and anytime thereafter.
(3)Past, present, and
future claims for failure to protect water rights and resources of the
Reservation from time immemorial through the effective date described in
section 10 of this Act, and any past, present, and future claims for any
continuing failure to protect water rights and resources of the Reservation,
from time immemorial through the effective date described in section 10 of this
Act and, to the extent that such continuing failure to protect began before the
effective date described in section 10 of this Act, anytime thereafter.
(4)Past, present, and
future claims arising from the failure of any non-federal Party to fulfill the
terms of the Settlement Agreement at anytime.
(5)Past, present, and
future claims arising out of the negotiation of the Settlement Agreement or the
negotiation and enactment of this Act, or any specific terms or provisions
thereof, including, but not limited to, the Tribe's consent to limit the number
of participant parties to the Settlement Agreement.
9.
(a)Waiver of
sovereign immunityIf any party to the Settlement Agreement
brings an action or other proceeding in any court of the United States relating
only and directly to the interpretation or enforcement of this Act or the
Settlement Agreement and names the United States or the Soboba Tribe as a
party—
(1)the United States,
the Tribe, or both, may be joined in any such action; and
(2)any claim by the
United States or the Tribe to sovereign immunity from the action is waived,
other than with respect to claims for monetary awards, for the limited and sole
purpose of such interpretation or enforcement.
(b)
(1)With respect to water rights made available under the
Settlement Agreement—
(A)the Tribe may use
water made available to it under the Settlement Agreement for any use it deems
advisable on the Reservation and on any other lands it owns or may acquire, in
fee or in trust, contiguous to the Reservation or within the area of the
groundwater basin described in Section 2.4 of the Settlement Agreement;
(B)such water rights
shall be held in trust by the United States in perpetuity, and shall not be
subject to forfeiture or abandonment; and
(C)State law shall not
apply to the Tribe's use of water made available to it under the Settlement
Agreement.
(2)
(A)Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the Tribe shall
not sell or lease water made available to it under the Settlement
Agreement.
(B)The
Tribe may enter into contracts and options to lease, contracts and options to
exchange, or contracts and options to forbear the use of water made available
to it under the Settlement Agreement or postpone undertaking new or expanded
water uses, provided that any such contract or option for a term greater than
five years shall require the approval of the Secretary. Any such water thereby
made available to others shall only be used by participants in, or other users
within the area of, the Water Management Plan described in Section 2.32 of the
Settlement Agreement. No contract shall be for a term exceeding 100 years, nor
shall any contract provide for permanent alienation of any portion of the water
rights made available under the Settlement Agreement.
(c)Acceptance of
land into trustThe Secretary shall accept into trust for the
benefit of the Tribe the lands conveyed to the Tribe pursuant to Section 4.6 of
the Settlement Agreement.
(d)The United States, in its capacity as trustee for
the Tribe, and the Tribe in its own right shall make available, including, if
necessary, by conveyance of a permanent easement to the United States Fish and
Wildlife Service or other agency of the United States, up to 98 acres of
Reservation land for habitat conservation related to the portion of the basin
recharge project necessary to accommodate deliveries of the supplemental
imported water described in Section 4.4 of the Settlement Agreement.
(e)Availability of
appropriationsThe funds authorized to be appropriated under
section 5 of this Act shall not be available for expenditure or withdrawal
until the requirements of section 10(a) of this Act have been met and the
waivers and releases set out in section 8 of this Act become effective.
(f)In the event the waivers and releases set out in section 8
of this Act do not become effective pursuant to section 10(a) of this Act, the
Soboba Tribe and the United States shall retain the right to assert all rights
and claims enumerated in section 8, and any claims or defenses of the parties
to the Settlement Agreement shall also be retained. The parties expressly
reserve all rights not specifically granted, recognized, waived, or released by
the Settlement Agreement or this Act.
(g)Nothing
in this Act shall be construed or interpreted as a precedent for the
quantification or litigation of Federal reserved water rights or the
interpretation or administration of future water settlement Acts.
(h)Nothing in the Settlement Agreement or this Act shall be
construed in any way to quantify or otherwise adversely affect the water
rights, claims, or entitlements to water of any Indian tribe, band, or
community, other than the Tribe.
(i)Signing by the Secretary of the Settlement Agreement
does not constitute major Federal action under the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). The Secretary shall comply with
all aspects of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et
seq.), and other applicable environmental laws, in implementing the terms of
the Settlement Agreement and this Act.
10.
(a)The waiver and release authorizations contained in
subsections (b) and (c) of section 8 shall become effective on the date that
the Secretary causes to be published in the Federal Register a statement of
findings that—
(1)to the extent that
the Settlement Agreement conflicts with this Act, the Settlement Agreement has
been revised to conform with the Act;
(2)the Settlement
Agreement, revised as necessary, and the waivers and releases described in
Article 5 of the Settlement Agreement and section 8 of this Act have been
executed by the parties and the Secretary;
(3)warranty deeds for
the property to be conveyed to the Tribe described in section 4.6 of the
Settlement Agreement have been placed in escrow;
(4)the Tribe and the
Secretary have approved the Water Management Plan;
(5)the
judgment and decree attached to the Settlement Agreement as Exhibit H has been
approved by the United States District Court, Eastern Division of the Central
District of California, and that judgment and decree have become final and
nonappealable; and
(6)the payment of the
funds authorized by section 5 of this Act have been appropriated and deposited
into the Restoration Fund and the Development Fund.
(b)Deadline for
effective dateIf the conditions precedent required under
paragraph (a) have not been fulfilled by December 31, 2008, the Settlement
Agreement and this Act shall not thereafter be effective and shall be null and
void, any funds and the interest accrued thereon appropriated pursuant to
section 5 shall revert to the general fund of the United States Treasury on
October 1, 2009.