[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3522 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3522

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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 10, 2007

   Mr. Udall of New Mexico introduced the following bill; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
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.
                                 <all>