[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6469 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6469

        To revise the Yurok Reservation, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 7, 2016

 Mr. Huffman introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
        To revise the Yurok Reservation, 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 ``Yurok Lands Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purposes of this Act:
            (1) Federal agency.--The term ``Federal agency'' has the 
        same meaning given that term in section 40 CFR 1508.12, 
        excluding for purposes of this definition, States and units of 
        general local government and Indian tribes.
            (2) NEPA.--The term ``NEPA'' means the National 
        Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
            (3) Revised yurok reservation.--The term ``revised Yurok 
        Reservation'' means the land within the Yurok Reservation 
        exterior boundary as revised in section 5(a).
            (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, or the Secretary 
        of Transportation, as appropriate.
            (5) Tribe.--The term ``Tribe'' means the Yurok Tribe, a 
        federally recognized Indian tribe.

SEC. 3. TRIBAL-FEDERAL PARTNERSHIPS FOR FEDERAL LAND AND RESOURCE 
              MANAGEMENT.

    (a) In General.--At the Tribe's option, the Tribe shall act as a 
joint lead agency pursuant to NEPA for major Federal actions within the 
Revised Yurok Reservation in accordance with a Memorandum of 
Understanding entered into between the Federal lead agency and the 
Tribe.
            (1) The Memorandum of Understanding shall be negotiated in 
        good faith, comply with NEPA regulations, and shall be 
        finalized within 30 days from the date of notice of initiation 
        of a NEPA process. The Memorandum of Understanding shall 
        include--
                    (A) the respective roles and responsibilities of 
                the Tribe and the Federal lead agency in the NEPA 
                process;
                    (B) mechanisms for dispute resolution; and
                    (C) a requirement that environmental impact 
                statements shall discuss any inconsistency of a 
                proposed action with any plan or environmental 
                requirement of the Tribe (whether or not federally 
                sanctioned). Where such an inconsistency exists, the 
                statement shall describe--
                            (i) the extent to which the agency would 
                        reconcile its proposed action with the plan or 
                        environmental requirement; and
                            (ii) what mitigation measures are being 
                        imposed to lessen adverse environmental impacts 
                        of the proposal identified by the Tribe.
            (2) If the Memorandum of Understanding is not executed in 
        the 30-day period, or an additional time period as agreed to by 
        the Tribe and the Federal lead agency, or is terminated, the 
        Tribe shall have the option of participating as a cooperating 
        agency in the NEPA process.
    (b) Cooperating Agency.--At the Tribe's option, the Tribe shall act 
as a cooperating agency for major Federal actions within the area 
depicted on the map titled ``Klamath and Redwood Creek Watersheds'' 
dated December 7, 2016.
    (c) No Limitation on Existing Authority.--Nothing in this section 
shall limit the Tribe or any other federally recognized Indian tribe's 
ability to participate in any NEPA process as a joint lead agency or a 
cooperating agency.
    (d) Cooperative Agreements With the Tribe.--
            (1) Redwood national park.--The Secretary shall enter into 
        a cooperative agreement with the Tribe for system unit natural 
        resource protection for the purpose of protecting natural 
        resources of Redwood National Park pursuant to section 101702 
        of title 54, United States Code.
            (2) Forest service.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall 
        enter into a cooperative agreement with the Tribe that will 
        include, but is not limited to, provisions that implement 
        section 4.
            (3) Tribe as an agency.--The Tribe shall be considered a 
        State or local government agency for purposes of section 101703 
        of title 54, United States Code, and the Secretary shall enter 
        into a cooperative management agreement with the Tribe pursuant 
        to that section.
            (4) Confirmation and authorization of cooperative agreement 
        related to the klamath river basin.--The 2006 ``Cooperative 
        Agreement between the Department of the Interior and the Yurok 
        Tribe for the Cooperative Management of Tribal and Federal 
        Lands and Resources in the Klamath River Basin of California'' 
        is confirmed and the Secretary is authorized to take such 
        actions as are necessary to effectuate the agreement.
    (e) Self-Governance Agreements.--Federal agencies, as appropriate, 
shall negotiate in good faith self-governance agreements pursuant to 
the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 (25 
U.S.C. 450-458bbb2). Program functions, services, and activities or 
portions thereof carried out by the National Park Service on Federal 
land within the Revised Yurok Reservation shall be included in a 
contract or compact to the extent allowed under title I or title IV of 
the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act.

SEC. 4. LAND TO BE HELD IN TRUST FOR THE TRIBE.

    (a) In General.--Subject to any valid existing rights the Secretary 
of Agriculture shall transfer to the Secretary of the Interior 
administrative jurisdiction over approximately 1,229 acres in the Yurok 
Experimental Forest administered by the Forest Service and as generally 
depicted on the map entitled ``USFS Lands To Be Transferred To the 
Yurok Tribe'' and dated December 7, 2016. The map shall be on file and 
available for public inspection in the appropriate offices of the 
Forest Service.
    (b) Administration.--The Secretary of the Interior shall hold the 
land under subsection (a) in trust for the benefit of the Tribe.
    (c) Tribal Land Use Management Plan.--The Tribe shall develop a 
Tribal Land Use Management Plan in accordance with NEPA requirements 
for the 1,229 acres depicted on the map entitled ``USFS Lands To Be 
Transferred To the Yurok Tribe'' and dated December 7, 2016.
    (d) Government-to-Government Agreements.--Within one year of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture and the Tribe shall 
enter into government-to-government consultations and shall develop 
protocols to ensure that research activities of the Forest Service on 
lands taken into trust in this section shall continue in perpetuity. 
The Forest Service shall be authorized to enter into cooperative 
agreements with the Tribe for the purpose of implementing this section.
    (e) Survey.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall complete a 
survey to establish the exterior boundaries of the land taken into 
trust for the Tribe under this section.
    (f) Use of Trust Land.--Land taken into trust under subsection (a) 
shall--
            (1) be managed by the Tribe for conservation and research 
        purposes;
            (2) not be eligible or used for any gaming activity carried 
        out under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2701 et 
        seq.); and
            (3) not be subject to old growth logging.

SEC. 5. YUROK RESERVATION BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall revise the boundary of the 
Yurok Reservation as depicted on the map entitled ``Revised Yurok 
Reservation Boundary'' and dated December 7, 2016, copies of which 
shall be on file and available for public inspection in the appropriate 
offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
    (b) Land Management.--Subject to the requirements of sections 3 and 
4--
            (1) all National Forest System land within the revised 
        Yurok Reservation shall continue to be administered by the 
        Forest Service in accordance with applicable laws and 
        regulations; and
            (2) all National Park System land within the revised Yurok 
        Reservation shall continue to be administered by the National 
        Park Service in accordance with applicable laws and 
        regulations.

SEC. 6. YUROK SCENIC BYWAY DESIGNATION.

    (a) Designation of the Yurok Scenic Byway.--Bald Hills Road from 
its junction with U.S. Highway 101 to its terminus on the Klamath River 
shall be designated as the ``Yurok Scenic Byway'', an Indian Tribe 
scenic byway, and the Tribe shall be eligible for appropriate grants 
and technical assistance as authorized in section 162(b) of title 23, 
United States Code.
    (b) Continued Access and Use Retained.--The Tribe shall not 
prohibit or limit, and the Secretary of the Interior shall permit, 
continued access and use of the Bald Hills Road in accordance with 
section 101(a)(4) of the Redwood National Park Expansion Act of 1978 
(92 Stat. 163).

SEC. 7. CONFIRMATION OF GOVERNING BODY AND DOCUMENTS.

    The governing documents of the Tribe and the governing body 
established and elected thereunder, as recognized by the Secretary and 
in effect on the date of the enactment of this Act, are hereby ratified 
and confirmed and shall only have effect within the revised Yurok 
Reservation. No inference shall be made by this section as to outside 
the revised Yurok Reservation.
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