1.This Act may be cited as the
Blackfoot River Land Settlement Act of
2010
.
2.
(a)Congress finds that—
(1)it is the policy
of the United States to promote tribal self-determination and economic
self-sufficiency and encourage the resolution of disputes over historical
claims through mutually agreed-upon settlements between Indian tribes and the
United States;
(2)the
Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, a federally recognized Indian tribe with tribal
headquarters at Fort Hall, Idaho—
(A)adopted a tribal
constitution and bylaws on March 31, 1936, that were approved by the Secretary
of the Interior on April 30, 1936, pursuant to the Act of June 18, 1934 (25
U.S.C. 461 et seq.) (commonly known as the Indian Reorganization
Act
);
(B)has entered into
various treaties with the United States, including the Second Treaty of Fort
Bridger, executed on July 3, 1868; and
(C)has maintained a
continuous government-to-government relationship with the United States since
the earliest years of the Union;
(3)(A)in 1867, President
Andrew Johnson designated by Executive order the Fort Hall Reservation for
various bands of Shoshone and Bannock Indians;
(B)the Reservation is located near the
cities of Blackfoot and Pocatello in southeastern Idaho; and
(C)article 4 of the Second Treaty of Fort
Bridger secured the Reservation as a permanent home
for the
Shoshone-Bannock Tribes;
(4)(A)according to the
Executive order referred to in paragraph (3)(A), the Blackfoot River, as the
river existed in its natural state—
(i)is the northern boundary of the
Reservation; and
(ii)flows in a westerly direction
along that northern boundary; and
(B)within the Reservation, land use in
the River watershed is dominated by—
(i)rangeland;
(ii)dry and irrigated farming;
and
(iii)residential development;
(5)(A)in 1964, the Corps of
Engineers completed a local flood protection project on the River—
(i)authorized by section 204 of the
Flood Control Act of 1950 (64 Stat. 170); and
(ii)sponsored by the Blackfoot River
Flood Control District No. 7;
(B)the project consisted of building
levees, replacing irrigation diversion structures, replacing bridges, and
channel realignment; and
(C)the channel realignment portion of the
project severed various parcels of land located contiguous to the River along
the boundary of the Reservation, resulting in Indian land being located north
of the Realigned River and non-Indian land being located south of the Realigned
River;
(6)beginning in 1999,
the Cadastral Survey Office of the Bureau of Land Management conducted surveys
of—
(A)25 parcels of
Indian land; and
(B)19 parcels of
non-Indian land;
(7)in 1988, many
non-Indian landowners and non-Indians acquiring Indian land filed claims in the
Snake River Basin Adjudication seeking water rights that included a place of
use on Indian land; and
(8)the enactment of
this Act and the distribution of funds in accordance with section 12(b) would
represent an agreement among—
(A)the Tribes;
(B)the
allottees;
(C)the non-Indians
acquiring Indian land; and
(D)the non-Indian
landowners.
(b)The
purposes of this Act are—
(1)to resolve the
disputes resulting from realignment of the River by the Corps of Engineers
during calendar year 1964 pursuant to the project described in subsection
(a)(5)(A); and
(2)to achieve a fair,
equitable, and final settlement of all claims and potential claims arising from
those disputes.
3.In this Act:
(1)The
term allottee means an heir of an original allottee of the
Reservation who owns an interest in a parcel of land that is—
(A)held in trust by
the United States for the benefit of the Tribes or allottee; and
(B)located north of
the Realigned River within the exterior boundaries of the Reservation.
(2)The term Indian land means any parcel of land
that is—
(A)held in trust by
the United States for the benefit of the Tribes or the allottees;
(B)located north of
the Realigned River; and
(C)identified in
exhibit C of the survey of the Bureau of Land Management titled Survey
of the Blackfoot River of 2002 to 2005
, which is located at—
(i)the
Fort Hall Indian Agency office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs; and
(ii)the
Blackfoot River Flood Control District No. 7, 75 East Judicial, Blackfoot,
Idaho.
(3)Non-Indian
acquiring Indian landThe term non-Indian acquiring Indian
land means any individual or entity that—
(A)has acquired or
plans to acquire Indian land; and
(B)is included on the
list in exhibit C of the survey referred to in paragraph (2)(C).
(4)The term non-Indian land means any parcel of
fee land that is—
(A)located south of
the Realigned River; and
(B)identified in
exhibit B of the survey referred to in paragraph (2)(C).
(5)The term non-Indian landowner means any
individual who holds fee title to non-Indian land.
(6)The term Realigned River means that portion of
the River that was realigned by the Corps of Engineers during calendar year
1964 pursuant to the project described in section 2(a)(5).
(7)The
term Reservation means the Fort Hall Reservation established by
Executive order during calendar year 1867.
(8)The
term River means the Blackfoot River located in the State of
Idaho.
(9)The
term Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior.
(10)The
term Tribes means the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes.
4.Extinguishment of
claims and titleExcept as
provided in sections 5 and 6, effective beginning on the date on which the
amounts appropriated pursuant to section 12 are distributed in accordance with
that section, all claims and all past, present, and future right, title, and
interest in and to the Indian land and non-Indian land shall be
extinguished.
5.Land to be placed
into trust for TribesEffective beginning on the date on which the
amounts appropriated pursuant to section 12 are distributed in accordance with
that section to the Blackfoot River Flood Control District No. 7, the
non-Indian land shall be considered to be held in trust by the United States
for the benefit of the Tribes.
6.Trust land to be
converted to fee landEffective beginning on the date on which the
amounts appropriated pursuant to section 12 are distributed in accordance with
that section to the tribal trust fund account and the allottee trust account,
the Indian land shall be transferred to the Blackfoot River Flood Control
District No. 7 for conveyance to the non-Indians acquiring Indian land.
7.Tribal trust fund
account and allottee trust account
(a)Tribal trust
fund account
(1)There
is established in the Treasury of the United States an account, to be known as
the tribal trust fund account
, consisting of such amounts as are
deposited in the account under section 12(b)(1).
(2)The
Secretary of the Treasury shall invest amounts in the tribal trust fund account
for the benefit of the Tribes, in accordance with applicable laws and
regulations.
(3)The
Secretary of the Treasury shall distribute amounts in the tribal trust fund
account to the Tribes pursuant to a budget adopted by the Tribes that
describes—
(A)the amounts
required by the Tribes; and
(B)the intended uses
of the amounts, in accordance with paragraph (4).
(4)The Tribes may use amounts in the tribal trust fund account
(including interest earned on those amounts), without fiscal year limitation,
for activities relating to—
(A)construction of a
natural resources facility;
(B)water resources
needs;
(C)economic
development;
(D)land acquisition;
and
(E)such other
purposes as the Tribes determine to be appropriate.
(b)
(1)There
is established in the Treasury of the United States an account, to be known as
the allottee trust account
, consisting of such amounts as are
deposited in the account under section 12(b)(2).
(2)Not later than 60 days after the date on which amounts are
deposited in the allottee trust account under section 12(b)(2), the Secretary
of the Treasury shall deposit the amounts into individual Indian money accounts
for the allottees.
(3)The
Secretary of the Treasury shall invest amounts in the individual Indian money
accounts under paragraph (2) in accordance with applicable laws and
regulations.
8.
(a)Subject to subsection
(b), of the amounts appropriated pursuant to section 12(a), the Secretary shall
pay to the attorneys of the Tribes and the non-Indian landowners such attorneys
fees as are approved by the Tribes and the non-Indian landowners.
(b)The total amount of attorneys fees paid by
the Secretary under subsection (a) shall not exceed 2 percent of the amounts
distributed to the Tribes, allottees, and the non-Indian landowners under
section 12(b).
9.Effect on
original Reservation boundaryNothing in this Act affects the original
boundary of the Reservation, as established by Executive order during calendar
year 1867 and confirmed by treaty during calendar year 1868.
10.Effect on tribal
water rightsNothing in this
Act extinguishes or conveys any water right of the Tribes, as established in
the agreement entitled 1990 Fort Hall Indian Water Rights
Agreement
and ratified by section 4 of the Fort Hall Indian Water
Rights Act of 1990 (Public Law 101–602; 104 Stat. 3060).
11.Disclaimers
regarding claimsNothing in
this Act—
(1)affects in any
manner the sovereign claim of the State of Idaho to title in and to the beds
and banks of the River under the equal footing doctrine of the Constitution of
the United States;
(2)affects any action
by the State of Idaho to establish that title under section 2409a of title 28,
United States Code (commonly known as the Quiet Title
Act
);
(3)affects the
ability of the Tribes or the United States to claim ownership of the beds and
banks of the River; or
(4)extinguishes or
conveys any water rights of non-Indian landowners or the claims of the
landowners to water rights in the Snake River Basin Adjudication.
12.
(a)Authorization of
appropriationsThere is
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act $1,000,000.
(b)After the date on which all attorneys fees
are paid under section 8, the amount appropriated pursuant to subsection (a)
shall be distributed among the Tribes, the allottees, and the Blackfoot River
Flood Control District No. 7 as follows:
(1)28 percent shall
be deposited into the tribal trust fund account established by section
7(a)(1).
(2)25 percent shall
be deposited into the allottee trust account established by section
7(b)(1).
(3)47 percent shall
be provided to the Blackfoot River Flood Control District No. 7 for—
(A)distribution to
the non-Indian landowners on a pro rata, per-acre basis; and
(B)associated
administrative expenses.
(c)Per capita
payments prohibitedNo amount received by the Tribes under this
Act shall be distributed to a member of the Tribes on a per capita
basis.
13.This Act takes effect on
the date on which the amount described in section 12(a) is appropriated.