[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3522 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.3522

                       One Hundred Tenth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Thursday,
            the third day of January, two thousand and eight


                                 An Act


 
To ratify a conveyance of a portion of the Jicarilla Apache Reservation 
to Rio Arriba County, State of New Mexico, pursuant to the settlement of 
 litigation between the Jicarilla Apache Nation and Rio Arriba County, 
 State of New Mexico, to authorize issuance of a patent for said lands, 
and to change the exterior boundary of the Jicarilla Apache Reservation 
                  accordingly, 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. DEFINITIONS.
    For the purposes of this act, the following definitions apply:
        (1) Jicarilla apache nation.--The term ``Jicarilla Apache 
    Nation'' means the Jicarilla Apache Nation, a tribe of American 
    Indians recognized by the United States and organized under section 
    16 of the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 476; popularly known as 
    the Indian Reorganization Act).
        (2) 1988 reservation addition.--The term ``1988 Reservation 
    Addition'' means those lands, known locally as the Theis Ranch, 
    that are described in the Federal Register published on September 
    26, 1988 at 53 F.R. 37355-56 and were added to the Jicarilla Apache 
    Reservation in New Mexico in 1988.
        (3) Settlement agreement.--The term ``Settlement Agreement'' 
    means the agreement executed by the President of the Jicarilla 
    Apache Nation on May 6, 2003 and executed by the Chairman of the 
    Rio Arriba Board of County Commissioners on May 15, 2003 and 
    approved by the Department of the Interior on June 18, 2003 to 
    settle the Lawsuit.
        (4) Lawsuit.--The term ``Lawsuit'' means the case identified as 
    Jicarilla Apache Tribe v. Board of County Commissioners, County of 
    Rio Arriba, No. RA 87-2225(C), State of New Mexico District Court, 
    First Judicial District, filed in October 1987.
        (5) Rio arriba county.--The term ``Rio Arriba County'' means 
    the political subdivision of the state of New Mexico described in 
    Section 4-21-1 and Section 4-21-2, New Mexico Statutes Annotated 
    1978 (Original Pamphlet).
        (6) Settlement lands.--The term ``Settlement Lands'' means 
    Tract A and Tract B as described in the plat of the ``Dependent 
    Resurvey and Survey of Tract within Theis Ranch'' within the Tierra 
    Amarilla Grant, New Mexico prepared by Leo P. Kelley, Cadastral 
    Surveyor, United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land 
    Management, dated January 7, 2004, and recorded in the office of 
    the Rio Arriba County Clerk on March 8, 2004, in Cabinet C-1, Page 
    199, Document No. 242411, consisting of 70.75 acres more or less. 
    Title to the Settlement Lands is held by the United States in trust 
    for the Jicarilla Apache Nation.
        (7) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of 
    the Interior.
        (8) Disputed county road.--The term ``Disputed County Road'' 
    means the county road passing through the 1988 Reservation Addition 
    along the course identified in the judgment entered by the New 
    Mexico District Court in the Lawsuit on December 10, 2001 and the 
    decision entered on December 11, 2001, which judgment and decision 
    have been appealed to the New Mexico Court of Appeals.
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.
    Congress finds the following:
        (1) The Lawsuit is now pending before the Court of Appeals of 
    the State of New Mexico and involves a claim that a county road 
    passing through the 1988 Reservation Addition had been established 
    by prescription prior to acquisition of the land by the Jicarilla 
    Apache Nation in 1985.
        (2) The parties to that lawsuit, the Jicarilla Apache Nation 
    and the County of Rio Arriba, have executed a Settlement Agreement, 
    approved by the Secretary of the Interior, to resolve all claims 
    relating to the disputed county road, which agreement requires 
    ratifying legislation by the Congress of the United States.
        (3) The parties to the Settlement Agreement desire to settle 
    the claims relating to the disputed county road on the terms agreed 
    to by the parties, and it is in the best interests of the parties 
    to resolve the claims through the Settlement Agreement and this 
    implementing legislation.
SEC. 3. CONDITION ON EFFECT OF SECTION.
    (a) In General.--Section 4 of this Act shall not take effect until 
the Secretary finds the following events have occurred:
        (1) The Board of Commissioners of Rio Arriba County has enacted 
    a resolution permanently abandoning the disputed county road and 
    has submitted a copy of that resolution to the Secretary.
        (2) The Jicarilla Apache Nation has executed a quitclaim deed 
    to Rio Arriba County for the Settlement Lands subject to the 
    exceptions identified in the Settlement Agreement and has submitted 
    a copy of the quitclaim deed to the Secretary.
    (b) Publication of Findings.--If the Secretary finds that the 
conditions set forth in subsection (a) have occurred, the Secretary 
shall publish such findings in the Federal Register.
SEC. 4. RATIFICATION OF CONVEYANCE; ISSUANCE OF PATENT.
    (a) Conditional Ratification and Approval.--This Act ratifies and 
approves the Jicarilla Apache Nation's quitclaim deed for the 
Settlement Lands to Rio Arriba County, but such ratification and 
approval shall be effective only upon satisfaction of all conditions in 
section 3, and only as of the date that the Secretary's findings are 
published in the Federal Register pursuant to section 3.
    (b) Patent.--Following publication of the notice described in 
section 3, the Secretary shall issue to Rio Arriba County a patent for 
the Settlement Lands, subject to the exceptions and restrictive 
covenants described subsection (c).
    (c) Conditions of Patent.--The patent to be issued by the Secretary 
under subsection (b) shall be subject to all valid existing rights of 
third parties, including but not limited to easements of record, and 
shall include the following perpetual restrictive covenant running with 
the Settlement Lands for the benefit of the lands comprising the 
Jicarilla Apache Reservation adjacent to the Settlement Lands: ``Tract 
A shall be used only for governmental purposes and shall not be used 
for a prison, jail or other facility for incarcerating persons accused 
or convicted of a crime. For purposes of this restrictive covenant,'' 
governmental purposes ``shall include the provision of governmental 
services to the public by Rio Arriba County and the development and 
operation of private businesses to the extent permitted by applicable 
State law.''.
SEC. 5. BOUNDARY CHANGE.
    Upon issuance of the patent authorized by section 4, the lands 
conveyed to Rio Arriba County in the patent shall cease to be a part of 
the Jicarilla Apache Reservation and the exterior boundary of the 
Jicarilla Apache Reservation shall be deemed relocated accordingly.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

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