1.This Act may be cited as
the Montana Mineral Conveyance
Act
.
2.Congress finds that—
(1)under section
503(a)(2) of the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations
Act, 1998 (Public Law 105–83; 111 Stat. 1617), the Secretary of the Interior
has conveyed mineral rights in certain very large tracts of coal to the State
of Montana, the tracts of which lie as near as 3 or 4 miles east of the
Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation;
(2)development of
the coal tracts and other existing and proposed major developments of Federal,
State, and private energy resources in areas surrounding the Northern Cheyenne
Indian Reservation yield substantial public revenues to the State (including
political subdivisions of the State), thereby assisting the State (including
political subdivisions of the State) in addressing the impacts of the
development;
(3)although the
Northern Cheyenne tribal community chronically suffers harsh economic
conditions and severe deficits in public services and facilities, the community
does not share in any significant portion of the public revenues generated by
surrounding energy development;
(4)the Northern
Cheyenne Tribe has few, if any, sources of revenue available to address
development impacts;
(5)in 2002, the
Tribe brought suit against the Secretary, asserting that the proposed
conveyances of the extensive Federal coal tracts to the State under the
Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1998
(Public Law 105–83; 111 Stat. 1543) would violate—
(A)several Federal
laws (including regulations); and
(B)the Federal trust
responsibility to the Tribe;
(6)subsequently, the
Tribe withdrew the suit described in paragraph (5) with prejudice, based in
substantial part on commitments that legislation substantially in the form of
this Act (and further legislation providing funding to the Tribe to address the
impacts of coal development in areas adjoining the Reservation) would be
introduced and pursued with support from the State, Great Northern Properties,
and others;
(7)the Tribe asserts
that the Tribe retains claims against the United States arising from the
failure of the United States to acquire mineral rights underlying approximately
5,000 acres of Reservation land when the Reservation, at the direction of
Congress, was expanded eastward to the Tongue River in 1900, the mineral rights
of which, as of the date of enactment of this Act, are owned by Great Northern
Properties; and
(8)if the
conveyances of mineral rights are carried out under this Act, the Tribe will
waive all legal claims against the United States arising from the longstanding
and continuing loss of the Tribe of mineral rights relating to the Reservation
land.
3.In this Act:
(1)The term Cheyenne tracts means the aggregate
tract of land that—
(A)is located in the
eastern portion of the State within the boundaries of the Reservation;
(B)comprises
approximately 5,000 acres;
(C)is generally
depicted on the map entitled Cheyenne Coal Land Conveyance
and
dated April 7, 2010; and
(D)is comprised of
land located in—
(i)T.
2 S., R. 44 E., sec. 17;
(ii)T.
2 S., R. 44 E., sec. 19, E½ and
E½W½, Lots 1–4;
(iii)T. 3 S., R. 44
E., sec. 5, S½ and
S½N½, Lots 1–4;
(iv)T.
3 S., R. 44 E., sec. 7, E ½ and
E½W½, Lots 1–4;
(v)T.
3 S., R. 44 E., sec. 9, N½, SW¼, and
W½SE¼, Lots 2–4;
(vi)T.
3 S., R. 44 E., sec. 17;
(vii)T. 3 S., R. 44
E., sec. 19, E½ and
E½W½, Lots 1–4; and
(viii)T. 3 S., R. 44
E., sec. 21, N½, SW¼, and
SW¼ SE¼, Lots 1 and 2.
(2)The term Federal tracts means the unleased
tracts of land that—
(A)are located in
the State;
(B)are located
outside of the boundaries of the Reservation;
(C)consist of
approximately 5,000 acres;
(D)are generally
depicted on the map entitled Federal Coal Land Conveyance
and
dated March 18, 2011; and
(E)are comprised of
land located in—
(i)T.
3 S., R. 44 E., sec. 26, S½;
(ii)T.
3 S., R. 44 E., sec. 34;
(iii)T. 3 S., R. 45
E., sec. 30, E½SW¼ and
SE¼, Lots 1–4;
(iv)T.
4 S., R. 44 E., sec. 2, S½N½ and
S½, Lots 1–4;
(v)T.
6 N., R. 27 E., sec. 4, S½N½ and
S½, Lots 1–4;
(vi)T.
6 N., R. 27 E., sec. 8;
(vii)T. 6 N., R. 27
E., sec. 10;
(viii)T. 6 N., R. 27
E., sec. 14; and
(ix)T.
6 N., R. 27 E., sec. 22.
(3)Great Northern
PropertiesThe term Great Northern Properties
means—
(A)the Great
Northern Properties Limited Partnership, which is a Delaware limited
partnership; and
(B)any successor to
the ownership interest of Great Northern Properties in any coal or iron that
underlies the Cheyenne tracts.
(4)The
term Reservation means the Northern Cheyenne Reservation.
(5)The
term Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior.
(6)The
term State means the State of Montana.
(7)The
term Tribe means the Northern Cheyenne Tribe.
4.Mineral rights
conveyances
(a)Notwithstanding any other Federal law (including
regulations) that otherwise applies to the conveyance of any Federal coal
right, title, or interest, if Great Northern Properties conveys to the Tribe
all mineral interests of Great Northern Properties underlying the Cheyenne
tracts in accordance with this Act, the Secretary shall convey to Great
Northern Properties all right, title, and interest of the United States in and
to the coal underlying the Federal tracts.
(b)The
mineral interests underlying the Cheyenne tracts conveyed to the Tribe under
subsection (a) shall not be subject to taxation by the State (including any
political subdivision of the State).
5.Terms and
conditions of mineral conveyances
(a)In return for the mineral conveyances under section 4(a),
the Tribe shall waive each claim relating to the failure of the United States
to acquire in trust for the Tribe as part of the Reservation the private
mineral interests underlying the Cheyenne tracts.
(b)As
a condition of the mineral conveyances by the Secretary under section 4(a), the
Tribe and Great Northern Properties shall jointly notify the Secretary in
writing that the Tribe and Great Northern Properties have agreed on a formula
for the sharing of revenue from coal produced from any portion of the Federal
tracts.
(c)Completion of
mineral conveyancesNotwithstanding any other Federal law
(including regulations) that otherwise applies to the conveyance of any Federal
coal right, title, or interest, after satisfaction of the condition described
in subsection (b) and not later than 90 days after the date on which the
Secretary receives written notification under subsection (b), the mineral
conveyances under section 4(a) shall be completed in a single
transaction.
(d)Rescission of
mineral conveyances
(1)If any portion of the mineral conveyances under section
4(a) is invalidated by a Federal district court, and the judgment of the
Federal district court is not vacated or reversed on appeal, the Secretary or
Great Northern Properties may rescind completely each mineral conveyance under
section 4(a).
(2)If
the Secretary or Great Northern Properties carries out a rescission under
paragraph (1), the waiver of the Tribe under subsection (a) shall be considered
to be rescinded.
6.Eligibility for
other Federal benefitsNo sums
or other benefits provided to the Tribe under this Act shall result in the
reduction or denial of any Federal services, benefits, or programs to the Tribe
or to any member of the Tribe to which the Tribe or member is entitled or
eligible because of—
(1)the status of the Tribe as a federally
recognized Indian tribe; or
(2)the status of the member as a member of the
Tribe.
7.Authorization of
appropriationsThere are
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act such sums as are
necessary.