[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6479 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6479

 To survey the gradient boundary along the Red River in the States of 
              Oklahoma and Texas, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 8, 2016

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To survey the gradient boundary along the Red River in the States of 
              Oklahoma and 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 Gradient Boundary Survey 
Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Affected area.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``affected area'' means 
                land 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.
                    (B) Exclusions.--The term ``affected area'' does 
                not include the portion of the Red River within the 
                boundary depicted on the survey prepared by the Bureau 
                of Land Management entitled ``Township 5 South, Range 
                14 West, of the Indian Meridian, Oklahoma, Dependent 
                Resurvey and Survey'' and dated February 28, 2006.
            (2) Gradient boundary survey method.--The term ``gradient 
        boundary survey method'' means the measurement technique used 
        to locate the South Bank boundary line in accordance with the 
        methodology established in Oklahoma v. Texas, 261 U.S. 340 
        (1923) (recognizing that the boundary line along the Red River 
        is subject to change due to erosion and accretion).
            (3) Landowner.--The term ``landowner'' means any 
        individual, group, association, corporation, federally 
        recognized Indian tribe or member of such an Indian tribe, or 
        other private or governmental legal entity that owns an 
        interest in land in the affected area.
            (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior, acting through the Director of the Bureau of 
        Land Management.
            (5) South bank.--The term ``South Bank'' means the water-
        washed and relatively permanent elevation or acclivity 
        (commonly known as a ``cut bank'') along the southerly or right 
        side of the Red River that--
                    (A) separates the bed of that river from the 
                adjacent upland, whether valley or hill; and
                    (B) usually serves, as specified in the fifth 
                paragraph of Oklahoma v. Texas, 261 U.S. 340 (1923)--
                            (i) to confine the waters within the bed; 
                        and
                            (ii) to preserve the course of the river.
            (6) South bank boundary line.--The term ``South Bank 
        boundary line'' means the boundary, with respect to title and 
        ownership, between the States of Oklahoma and Texas identified 
        through the gradient boundary survey method that does not 
        impact or alter the permanent political boundary line between 
        the States along the Red River, as outlined under article II, 
        section B of the Red River Boundary Compact enacted by the 
        States and consented to by Congress pursuant to Public Law 106-
        288 (114 Stat. 919).

SEC. 3. SURVEY OF SOUTH BANK BOUNDARY LINE.

    (a) Survey Required.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall commission a survey to 
        identify the South Bank boundary line in the affected area.
            (2) Requirements.--The survey shall--
                    (A) adhere to the gradient boundary survey method;
                    (B) span the length of the affected area;
                    (C) be conducted by surveyors that are--
                            (i) licensed and qualified to conduct 
                        official gradient boundary surveys; and
                            (ii) selected jointly by and operating 
                        under the direction of--
                                    (I) the Texas General Land Office, 
                                in consultation with each affected 
                                federally recognized Indian tribe; and
                                    (II) the Oklahoma Commissioners of 
                                the Land Office, in consultation with 
                                the attorney general of the State of 
                                Oklahoma and each affected federally 
                                recognized Indian tribe; and
                    (D) be completed not later than 2 years after the 
                date of enactment of this Act.
    (b) Approval.--
            (1) State approval.--
                    (A) In general.--Not later than 60 days after the 
                date on which the survey under subsection (a)(1) is 
                completed, the Secretary shall submit the survey for 
                approval to--
                            (i) the Texas General Land Office, in 
                        consultation with each affected federally 
                        recognized Indian tribe; and
                            (ii) the Oklahoma Commissioners of the Land 
                        Office, in consultation with the attorney 
                        general of the State of Oklahoma and each 
                        affected federally recognized Indian tribe.
                    (B) Timing of approval.--Not later than 60 days 
                after the date of receipt of the survey under 
                subparagraph (A), the Texas General Land Office, in 
                consultation with each affected federally recognized 
                Indian tribe, and the Oklahoma Commissioners of the 
                Land Office, in consultation with the attorney general 
                of the State of Oklahoma and each affected federally 
                recognized Indian tribe, shall determine whether to 
                approve the survey.
                    (C) Surveys of individual parcels.--
                            (i) In general.--Surveys of individual 
                        parcels in the affected area shall be conducted 
                        in accordance with this section.
                            (ii) Approval or disapproval.--A survey of 
                        an individual parcel conducted under clause (i) 
                        shall be approved or disapproved, on an 
                        individual basis, by the Texas General Land 
                        Office, in consultation with each affected 
                        federally recognized Indian tribe, and the 
                        Oklahoma Commissioners of the Land Office, in 
                        consultation with the attorney general of the 
                        State of Oklahoma and each affected federally 
                        recognized Indian tribe, by not later than 60 
                        days after the date of receipt of the survey.
            (2) No federal approval required.--The survey conducted 
        under subsection (a)(1), and any survey of an individual parcel 
        described in paragraph (1)(C), shall not be submitted to the 
        Secretary for approval.
    (c) Notices.--
            (1) Secretary.--Not later than 60 days after the date on 
        which a survey for an individual parcel is approved by the 
        Texas General Land Office and the Oklahoma Commissioners of the 
        Land Office, in consultation with the attorney general of the 
        State of Oklahoma, under subsection (b)(1)(C), the heads of 
        those offices shall submit to the Secretary--
                    (A) a notice of the approval of the survey; and
                    (B) a copy of--
                            (i) the survey; and
                            (ii) any field notes relating to the 
                        individual parcel.
            (2) Adjacent landowners.--Not later than 30 days after the 
        date on which the Secretary receives a notice relating to an 
        individual parcel under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 
        provide to each landowner of land adjacent to the individual 
        parcel--
                    (A) a notice of the approval of the survey; and
                    (B) a copy of--
                            (i) the survey; and
                            (ii) any field notes relating to the 
                        individual parcel.

SEC. 4. EFFECT OF ACT.

    Nothing in this Act--
            (1) modifies any interest of the State of Oklahoma or 
        Texas, or the sovereignty, property, or trust rights of any 
        federally recognized Indian tribe, relating to land located 
        north of the South Bank boundary line, as established by the 
        survey;
            (2) modifies any land patented under the Act of December 
        22, 1928 (45 Stat. 1069, chapter 47; 43 U.S.C. 1068) (commonly 
        known as the ``Color of Title Act''), before the date of 
        enactment of this Act;
            (3) modifies or supersedes the Red River Boundary Compact 
        enacted by the States of Oklahoma and Texas and consented to by 
        Congress pursuant to Public Law 106-288 (114 Stat. 919);
            (4) creates or reinstates any Indian reservation or any 
        portion of such a reservation; or
            (5) alters any valid right of the State of Oklahoma or the 
        Kiowa, Comanche, or Apache Indian tribes to the mineral 
        interest trust fund established under the Act of June 12, 1926 
        (44 Stat. 740, chapter 572).

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 
out this Act $1,000,000.
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