[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3752 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3752

  To require the transfer of certain land to be held in trust for the 
benefit of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North and South Dakota, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 13, 2018

 Ms. Heitkamp introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To require the transfer of certain land to be held in trust for the 
benefit of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North and South Dakota, 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 ``Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Land 
Restoration Act of 2018''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) 56,000 acres of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation 
        were acquired for the Oahe Dam and Reservoir, a component of 
        the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin program;
            (2) the land acquired was fertile, wooded bottomland, 
        comprising the most productive agricultural and pastoral land 
        of the Tribe, with arable soils, abundant timber and wildlife, 
        and important medicinal plants of the Tribe;
            (3) the Joint Tribal Advisory Committee (referred to in 
        this section as the ``Committee'') was established by the 
        Secretary of the Interior on May 10, 1985, to assess the 
        impacts of the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin program on the 
        Tribe; and
            (4) the Committee issued a final report on May 23, 1986, in 
        which the Committee recommended the transfer to the Tribe of 
        the Oahe project land within the exterior boundaries of the 
        Reservation that are located above 1620 mean sea level.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Pick-sloan missouri river basin program.--The term 
        ``Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin program'' means the Pick-
        Sloan Missouri River Basin Program (authorized by section 9 of 
        the Act of December 22, 1944 (commonly known as the ``Flood 
        Control Act of 1944'') (58 Stat. 891, chapter 665)).
            (2) Reservation.--The term ``Reservation'' means the 
        Standing Rock Indian Reservation.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.
            (4) Tribe.--The term ``Tribe'' means the Standing Rock 
        Sioux Tribe of North and South Dakota.

SEC. 4. LAND TRANSFER.

    (a) In General.--Subject to subsection (c), the Secretary of the 
Army shall transfer the land described in subsection (b) to the 
Secretary to be held in trust for the benefit of the Tribe.
    (b) Land To Be Transferred.--The land that shall be transferred 
under this section is the Federal land that--
            (1) lies within the exterior boundaries of the Reservation;
            (2) was acquired by the United States for the Oahe Dam and 
        Reservoir Project pursuant to Public Law 85-915 (72 Stat. 
        1762); and
            (3) is located above the top of the exclusive flood pool of 
        the Oahe Dam and Reservoir Project, as determined by the 
        Secretary of the Army.
    (c) Conditions of Transfer.--
            (1) Authorized purposes.--The transfer of land under this 
        section shall not interfere with any of the authorized purposes 
        of the Oahe Dam and Reservoir Project, any project of the Pick-
        Sloan Missouri River Basin program, or any other applicable 
        law.
            (2) Retained rights.--The Secretary of the Army shall 
        retain the right to inundate with water or cause erosion to the 
        transferred land, as necessary for the operation of the Oahe 
        Dam and Reservoir Project or of any project of the Pick Sloan 
        Missouri River Basin program.
            (3) Retained property interests.--Notwithstanding 
        subsection (b), the Secretary of the Army shall retain any 
        land, structures, easements, or other property interests 
        necessary to carry out authorized purposes of the Oahe Dam and 
        Reservoir Project or of any project of the Pick-Sloan Missouri 
        River Basin program.
            (4) Other terms and conditions.--The transfer of land under 
        this section shall be subject to any other term or condition 
        that the Secretary of the Army determines to be appropriate to 
        ensure the continued operation of the Oahe Dam and Reservoir 
        Project or of any project of the Pick-Sloan Missouri River 
        Basin program.
    (d) Existing Rights and Interests.--Nothing in this Act deprives 
any person of any easement, leasehold, or other right or interest that, 
as of the date of enactment of this Act, the person may have in the 
land to be transferred.
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