[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 135 (Thursday, September 26, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S11442]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          THE NAVAJO-HOPI LAND DISPUTE SETTLEMENT ACT OF 1996

                                 ______
                                 

                    McCAIN AMENDMENTS NOS. 5407-5411

  Mr. LOTT (for Mr. McCain) proposed five amendments to the bill (S. 
1973) to provide for the settlement of the Navajo-Hopi land dispute, 
and for other purposes; as follows:

                           Amendment No. 5407

       On page 13, between lines 20 and 21, insert the following:
       (8) Newly acquired trust lands.--The term ''newly acquired 
     trust lands'' means lands taken into trust for the Tribe 
     within the State of Arizona pursuant to this Act or the 
     Settlement Agreement.
                                                                    ____


                           Amendment No. 5408

       On page 15, line 18, strike ``town (as that term is'' and 
     insert ``town or city (as those terms are''.
                                                                    ____


                           Amendment No. 5409

       On page 12, line 12, strike ``and''
       On page 12, line 18, strike the period and insert ``; and 
     ''.
       on Page 12, between lines 18 and 19, insert the following:
       (7) neither the Navajo Nation nor the Navajo families 
     residing upon Hopi Partitioned lands were parties to or 
     signers of the Settlement Agreement between the United States 
     and the Hopi Tribe.
                                                                    ____


                           Amendment No. 5410

       On page 15, between lines 20 and 21, insert the following:
       (4) Expeditious action by the secretary.--Consistent with 
     all other provisions of this Act, the Secretary is directed 
     to take lands into trust under this Act expeditiously and 
     without undue delay.
                                                                    ____


                          Amendment No. 5411.

       On page 19, after line 15, add the following:

     SEC. 11. EFFECT OF THIS ACT ON CASES INVOLVING THE NAVAJO 
                   NATION AND THE HOPI TRIBE.

       Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act 
     shall be interpreted or deemed to preclude, limit, or 
     endorse, in any manner, actions by the Navajo Nation that 
     seek, in court, an offset from judgments for payments 
     received by the Hopi Tribe under the Settlement Agreement.

     SEC. 12. WATER RIGHTS.

       (a) In General.--
       (1) Water rights.--Subject to the other provisions of this 
     section, newly acquired trust lands shall have only the 
     following water rights:
       (A) The right to the reasonable use of groundwater pumped 
     from such lands.
       (B) All rights to the use of surface water on such lands 
     existing under State law on the date of acquisition, with the 
     priority date of such right under State law.
       (C) The right to make any further beneficial use on such 
     lands which is unappropriated on the date each parcel of 
     newly acquired trust lands is taken into trust. The priority 
     date for the right shall be the date the lands are taken into 
     trust.
       (2) Rights not subject to forfeiture or abandonment.--The 
     Tribe's water rights for newly acquired trust lands shall not 
     be subject to forfeiture or abandonment arising from events 
     occurring after the date the lands are taken into trust.
       (b) Recognition as Valid Uses.--
       (1) Groundwater.--With respect to water rights associated 
     with newly acquired trust lands, the Tribe, and the United 
     States on the Tribe's behalf, shall recognize as valid all 
     uses of groundwater which may be made from wells (or their 
     subsequent replacements) in existence on the date each 
     parcel of newly acquired trust land is acquired and shall 
     not object to such groundwater uses on the basis of water 
     rights associated with the newly acquired trust lands. The 
     Tribe, and the United States on the Tribe's behalf, may 
     object only to the impact of groundwater uses on newly 
     acquired trust lands which are initiated after the date 
     the lands affected are taken into trust and only on 
     grounds allowed by the State law as it exists when the 
     objection is made. The Tribe, and the United States on the 
     Tribe's behalf, shall not object to the impact of 
     groundwater uses on the Tribe's right to surface water 
     established pursuant to subsection (a)(3) when those 
     groundwater uses are initiated before the Tribe initiates 
     its beneficial use of surface water pursuant to subsection 
     (a)(3).
       (2) Surface water.--With respect to water rights associated 
     with newly acquired trust lands, the Tribe, and the United 
     States on the Tribe's behalf, shall recognize as valid all 
     uses of surface water in existence on or prior to the date 
     each parcel of newly acquired trust land is acquired and 
     shall not object to such surface water uses on the basis of 
     water rights associated with the newly acquired trust lands, 
     but shall have the right to enforce the priority of its 
     rights against all junior water rights the exercise of which 
     interfere with the actual use of the Tribe's senior surface 
     water rights.
       (3) Rule of construction.--Nothing in paragraph (1) or (2) 
     shall preclude the Tribe, or the United States on the Tribe's 
     behalf, from asserting objections to water rights and uses on 
     the basis of the Tribe's water rights on its currently 
     existing trust lands.
       (c) Applicability of State Law on Lands Other Than Newly 
     Acquired Lands.--The Tribe, and the United States on the 
     Tribe's behalf, further recognize that State law applies to 
     water uses on lands, including subsurface estates, that exist 
     within the exterior boundaries of newly acquired trust lands 
     and that are owned by any party other than the Tribe.
       (d) Adjudication of Water Rights on Newly Acquired Trust 
     Lands.--The Tribe's water rights on newly acquired trust 
     lands shall be adjudicated with the rights of all other 
     competing users in the court now presiding over the Little 
     Colorado River Adjudication, or if that court no longer has 
     jurisdiction, in the appropriate State or Federal court. Any 
     controversies between or among users arising under Federal or 
     State law involving the Tribe's water rights on newly 
     acquired trust lands shall be resolved in the court now 
     presiding over the Little Colorado River Adjudication, or, if 
     that court no longer has jurisdiction, in the appropriate 
     State or Federal court. Nothing in this subsection shall be 
     construed to affect any court's jurisdiction; provided, that 
     the Tribe shall administer all water rights established in 
     subsection (a).
       (e) Prohibition.--Water rights for newly acquired trust 
     lands shall not be used, leased, sold, or transported for use 
     off of such lands or the Tribe's other trust lands, provided 
     that the Tribe may agree with other persons having junior 
     water rights to subordinate the Tribe's senior water rights. 
     Water rights for newly acquired trust lands can only be used 
     on those lands or other trust lands of the Tribe located 
     within the same river basin tributary to the main stream of 
     the Colorado River.
       (f) Subsurface Interests.--On any newly acquired trust 
     lands where the subsurface interest is owned by any party 
     other than the Tribe, the trust status of the surface 
     ownership shall not impair any existing right of the 
     subsurface owner to develop the subsurface interest and to 
     have access to the surface for the purpose of such 
     development.
       (g) Statutory Construction with Respect to Water Rights of 
     Other Federally Recognized Indian Tribes.--Nothing in this 
     section shall affect the water rights of any other federally 
     recognized Indian tribe with a priority date earlier than the 
     date the newly acquired trust lands are taken into trust.
       (h) Statutory Construction.--Nothing in this section shall 
     be construed to determine the law applicable to water use on 
     lands owned by the United States, other than on the newly 
     acquired trust lands. The granting of the right to make 
     beneficial use of unappropriated surface water on the newly 
     acquired trust lands with a priority date such lands are 
     taken into trust shall not be construed to imply that such 
     right is a Federal reserved water right. Nothing in this 
     section or any other provision of this Act shall be construed 
     to establish any Federal reserved right to groundwater. 
     Authority for the Secretary to take land into trust for the 
     Tribe pursuant to the Settlement Agreement and this Act shall 
     be construed as having been provided solely by the provisions 
     of this Act.

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