[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 6 (Tuesday, January 10, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S207-S208]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CORNYN (for himself and Mr. Cruz):
  S. 90. A bill to survey the gradient boundary along the Red River in 
the States of Oklahoma and Texas, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of 
the bill be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                 S. 90

       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.

[[Page S208]]

       (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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