[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4979 Reported in House (RH)]

                                                 Union Calendar No. 531
113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4979

                          [Report No. 113-700]

 To provide legal certainty to property owners along the Red River in 
                     Texas, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 26, 2014

Mr. Thornberry (for himself, Mr. Flores, Mr. Marchant, Mr. Burgess, and 
 Mr. Neugebauer) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
                   the Committee on Natural Resources

                           December 22, 2014

Additional sponsors: Mr. Stockman, Mr. McCaul, Mr. Weber of Texas, Mr. 
 Farenthold, Mr. Gohmert, Mr. Olson, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Carter, and Mr. 
                          Sam Johnson of Texas

                           December 22, 2014

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]
 [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on June 
                               26, 2014]


_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide legal certainty to property owners along the Red River in 
                     Texas, 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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Red River Private Property 
Protection Act''.

SEC. 2. DISCLAIMER OF INTEREST.

     The Secretary hereby disclaims any right, title, and interest to 
all Red River lands located south of the South Bank of the Red River. 
This Act does not change or affect in any manner the sovereignty rights 
of federally recognized Indian tribes over lands located to the north 
of the South Bank of the Red River. Tribal sovereignty rights continue 
to be established and defined by controlling Federal law.

SEC. 3. CLAIMS PROCESS AND ISSUANCE OF DEEDS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall relinquish, disclaim, and 
shall transfer by special warranty deed all right, title, and interest 
of the United States in and to Red River lands to any claimant who 
demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Secretary that the claimant--
            (1) holds all right, title, and interest under a chain of 
        title for at least 30 years from the time of submission;
            (2) has a deed recorded in the appropriate county; and
            (3) has paid all taxes assessed on the land and any 
        interest and penalties associated with any period of tax 
        delinquency.
    (b) Public Notification.--The Secretary shall publish in the 
Federal Register and on official and appropriate Web sites the process 
to receive written and/or electronic submissions of the documents 
required under subsection (a). The Secretary shall treat all proper 
notifications received from the claimant as fulfilling the satisfaction 
requirements under subsection (a).
    (c) Standard of Approval.--The Secretary shall accept all official 
county and State records as filed in the county on the date of 
submission proving right, title, and interest, including all land 
accreted to those lands identified by such records by the processes of 
erosion and accretion.
    (d) Time Period for Approval or Disapproval of Request.--The 
Secretary shall approve or disapprove a request for a special warranty 
deed under subsection (a) not later than 180 days after the date on 
which the written request is received by the Secretary. If the 
Secretary fails to approve or disapprove such a request by the end of 
such 180-day period, the request shall be deemed to be approved.
    (e) Requirements for Decision.--Any final decision by the Secretary 
must contain--
            (1) a field note description used to determine the property 
        claim, which must be--
                    (A) sufficient to locate the land on the ground;
                    (B) consistent with the claimant's deed; and
                    (C) include all land accreted to the claimant by 
                the processes of erosion and accretion;
            (2) an accurate plat of the land that is--
                    (A) consistent with the field notes; and
                    (B) prepared by a Texas licensed State land 
                surveyor; and
            (3) any other matters required by law or as the Secretary 
        considers appropriate consistent with the provisions and intent 
        of this Act.

SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall establish procedures for an 
administrative hearing--
            (1) for a claimant to appeal the final decision made 
        pursuant to section 3 regarding a claim by Secretary to the 
        claimant's property; and
            (2) to adjudicate disputes between two or more private 
        property owners who have interest claims that overlap pursuant 
        to documents submitted under section 3.
    (b) Judicial Resolution.--If after the final determination has been 
issued under subsection (a) and the private property owner disputes the 
decision, the private property owner may pursue a claim in a Federal 
district court within the State of Texas.

SEC. 5. RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN.

    The Secretary shall ensure that no parcels of Red River lands are 
treated as Federal land for the purpose of any resource management plan 
until the Secretary has ensured that such parcels are not subject to 
transfer under section 3.

SEC. 6. CONSTRUCTION.

    Nothing in this Act shall alter--
            (1) any present or future rights and interests of the 
        Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache Tribes and their members or Indian 
        successors-in interest;
            (2) any tribal trust lands;
            (3) allotted lands that may be held in trust or lands 
        subject to a Federal restriction against alienation;
            (4) any boundaries of lands owned by the tribes referred to 
        in paragraph (1), including lands referred to in paragraphs (2) 
        and (3), pursuant to the gradient boundary survey method; and
            (5) the sovereign rights, jurisdiction, or other 
        governmental interests of the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache 
        Tribes and their members or Indian successors-in interest 
        existing or which may be acknowledged by Federal and tribal 
        law.

SEC. 7. SALE OF REMAINING RED RIVER SURFACE RIGHTS.

    (a) Competitive Sale of Identified Federal Lands.--After the 
Secretary has ensured that Red River lands parcels are not subject to 
transfer under section 3, the Secretary shall offer any and all such 
remaining identified Federal lands for disposal by competitive sale for 
not less than fair market value as determined by an appraisal conducted 
in accordance with nationally recognized appraisal standards, including 
the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions; and the 
Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice.
    (b) Existing Rights.--The sale of identified Federal lands under 
this section shall be subject to valid existing tribal, State, and 
local rights.
    (c) Proceeds of Sale of Lands.--Net proceeds from the sale of 
identified Federal lands under this section shall be used to offset any 
costs associated with this Act.
    (d) Report.--Not later than 5 years after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Natural 
Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy 
and Natural Resources of the Senate a list of any identified Federal 
lands that have not been sold under subsection (a) and the reasons such 
lands were not sold.

SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purposes of this Act--
            (1) the term ``Red River lands'' means lands along the 
        approximately 116-mile stretch of the Red River from its 
        confluence with the North Fork of the Red River on the west to 
        the 98th meridian on the east between the States of Texas and 
        Oklahoma;
            (2) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the 
        Interior, acting through the Director of Bureau of Land 
        Management;
            (3) the term ``South Bank'' means the water-washed and 
        relatively permanent elevation or acclivity, commonly called a 
        cut bank, along the southerly or right side of the Red River 
        which separates its bed from the adjacent upland, whether 
        valley or hill, and usually serves to confine the waters within 
        the bed and to preserve the course of the river; as specified 
        in the fifth paragraph of the decree rendered March 12, 1923, 
        in Oklahoma v. Texas, 261 U. S. 340, 43 S. Ct. 376, 67 L. Ed. 
        687; and
            (4) the term ``gradient boundary survey'' means the 
        measurement technique used to demarcate a division of ownership 
        or jurisdiction along the South Bank under the methodology 
        established by the United States Supreme Court which recognizes 
        that the boundary line between the States of Texas and Oklahoma 
        along the Red River is subject to such changes as have been or 
        may be wrought by the natural and gradual processes known as 
        erosion and accretion as specified in the second, third, and 
        fourth paragraphs of the decree rendered March 12, 1923, in 
        Oklahoma v. Texas, 261 U. S. 340, 43 S. Ct. 376, 67 L. Ed. 687.
                                                 Union Calendar No. 531

113th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                               H. R. 4979

                          [Report No. 113-700]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 To provide legal certainty to property owners along the Red River in 
                     Texas, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                           December 22, 2014

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed