[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2130 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2130

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 30, 2015

 Mr. Thornberry (for himself, Mr. Carter of Texas, Mr. McCaul, and Mr. 
   Gohmert) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 DISCLAIMER AND OUTDATED SURVEYS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary hereby disclaims any right, title, 
and interest to all land located south of the South Bank boundary line 
of the Red River in the affected area.
    (b) Clarification of Prior Surveys.--Previous surveys conducted by 
the Bureau of Land Management shall have no force or effect in 
determining the current South Bank boundary line.

SEC. 3. IDENTIFICATION OF CURRENT BOUNDARY.

    (a) Boundary Identification.--To identify the current South Bank 
boundary line along the affected area, the Secretary shall commission a 
new survey that--
            (1) adheres to the gradient boundary survey method;
            (2) spans the entire length of the affected area;
            (3) is conducted by Licensed State Land Surveyors chosen by 
        the Texas General Land Office; and
            (4) is completed not later than 2 years after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act.
    (b) Approval of the Survey.--The Secretary shall submit the survey 
conducted under this Act to the Texas General Land Office for approval. 
State approval of the completed survey shall satisfy the requirements 
under this Act.

SEC. 4. APPEAL.

    Not later than 1 year after the survey is completed and approved 
pursuant to section 3, a private property owner who holds right, title, 
or interest in the affected area may appeal public domain claims by the 
Secretary to an Administrative Law Judge.

SEC. 5. RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN.

    The Secretary shall ensure that no parcels of land in the affected 
area are treated as Federal land for the purpose of any resource 
management plan until the survey has been completed and approved and 
the Secretary ensures that the parcel is not subject to further appeal 
pursuant to this Act.

SEC. 6. CONSTRUCTION.

    This Act does not change or affect in any manner the interest of 
the States or sovereignty rights of federally recognized Indian tribes 
over lands located to the north of the South Bank boundary line of the 
Red River as established by this Act.

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

    (a) Competitive Sale of Identified Federal Lands.--After the survey 
has been completed and approved and the Secretary ensures that a parcel 
is not subject to further appeal under this Act, 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) Affected area.--The term ``affected area'' 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) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior, acting through the Director of Bureau of Land 
        Management.
            (3) South bank.--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.
            (4) South bank boundary line.--The term ``South Bank 
        boundary line'' means the boundary between Texas and Oklahoma 
        identified through the gradient boundary survey method; as 
        specified in the sixth and seventh paragraphs of the decree 
        rendered March 12, 1923, in Oklahoma v. Texas, 261 U.S. 340, 43 
        S. Ct. 376, 67 L. Ed. 687.
            (5) Gradient boundary survey method.--The term ``gradient 
        boundary survey method'' means the measurement technique used 
        to locate the South Bank boundary line 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.
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