[Senate Report 106-327]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                       Calendar No. 661
106th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session                                                     106-327

======================================================================



 
 PROVIDING TO THE TIMBISHA SHOSHONE TRIBE A PERMANENT LAND BASE WITHIN 
            ITS ABORIGINAL HOMELAND, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

                                _______
                                

                 June 30, 2000.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

   Mr. Campbell, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 2102]

    The Committee on Indian Affairs, to which was referred the 
bill (S. 2102) to provide to the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe a 
permanent land base within its aboriginal homeland, and for 
other purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably 
thereon with an amendment-in-the-nature-of-a-substitute and 
recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass.

                                purpose

    The purpose of S. 2102, the Timbisha Shoshone Homeland Act, 
is to provide in trust for the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe land on 
which the Tribe can live permanently and govern its affairs in 
a modern community within the ancestral homeland of the Tribe 
outside and within Death Valley National Park, consistent with 
the recommendations of the report prepared by the Secretary of 
the Interior as required by section 705(b) of the California 
Desert Protection Act of 1994 (Public Law 102-433; 108 Stat. 
4498).

                          background and need

    Ancestral homeland and lifestyle.--The traditional 
ancestral homeland of the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe encompasses a 
vast territory of up to 1 million acres in the region of Death 
Valley, California, and extends into Western Nevada. Located 
almost entirely within the Mojave Desert, the land consists of 
hills and mountains, plains and alluvial fans, plateaus, 
badlands, pediments, river washes, playas and sand dunes, as 
well as springs, hot springs, creeks and waterfalls. Elevation 
ranges from 11,000 feet to below sea level while temperatures 
range from below zero on the mountain peaks to more than 120 
degrees on the valley floors.
    For millennia, the Timbisha Shoshone people have been 
inextricably tied to the austere desert landscape which has 
been their home and the source of their sustenance. The 
Timbisha have a profound attachment to the land and a strong 
sense of responsibility for it. Their knowledge of the area and 
the life within it is unequaled, and they have devised 
ingenious methods for managing natural resources, such as using 
fire to control vegetation in marshes and to encourage seeds 
and other plants known to be fire followers. Rich harvests and 
lush plant growth resulted from the time and effort the people 
traditionally spent clearing and pruning plants like pinon, 
mesquite, and willow and transplanting and cultivating native 
domesticated plants such as devil's claw, corn, beans, and 
squash. Tribal knowledge also included the location of water 
sources which they regularly cleaned and kept clear of debris 
to ensure a continued supply of clean, potable water for 
humans, animals, and migratory birds. Although mining 
interests, homesteaders, and ranchers began moving into Death 
Valley in the 1850s, the Timbisha maintained their traditional 
lifestyle, in which families would move into the mountains 
during the hot summer months and return to the mild valley 
floor in winter, until well into the twentieth century.
    Dislocation.--The process of Timbisha dislocation began in 
the 1850's and accelerated through the 1870's and 1880's when 
homesteaders and ranchers moved into the area to supply mining 
camps and other settlements that served the miners. Dislocation 
increased even more dramatically in the twentieth century. 
Between the mid-1920s and 1936, the Tribe was forced to move 
four times within the area that is now Furnace Creek in Death 
Valley National Park.
    In the 1920's, the Pacific Coast Borax Company built a 
large ranch house and established a ranch north of the present 
post office at Furnace Creek. During this time, the Company 
experimented with the cultivation of grapes, citrus and dates. 
Many Timbisha members lived near the ranch house, worked at the 
ranch and on the 20-mule team borax wagons, and cultivated 
gardens of their own. In the late 1920s, the Tribe, whose 
families were living in traditional brush homes and using water 
from the Furnace Creek ditch, was directed to leave the ranch 
and move to what is now the Sunset Campground area.
    In the early 1930s, the Company directed the Tribe to leave 
the Sunset Campground area and to move to where the Park 
Visitor Center is located today. Although no water was then 
available at the site, the Tribe complied with the Company's 
directive with the understanding that piped water would be 
provided. Tribal members constructed homes and planted gardens; 
however, after only a few years they were forced to move once 
more.
    In 1933, President Herbert Hoover established the Death 
Valley National Monument by Executive Order, but the Order had 
no provisions addressing Timbisha Shoshone land tenure or a 
tribal land base. To address the Tribe's situation, the 
National Park Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs entered 
into an agreement in 1936 to establish a tribal village site, 
to construct adobe residences, and provide for a tribal gift 
shop and laundry business. The Timbisha moved to their present 
location, south of Furnace Creek Ranch, as the adobe houses 
were being built, with some of their families being forced to 
live in tents, and the tribal settlement near the Visitors 
Center was razed.
    In the ensuing years the Tribe maintained an existence in 
the Monument, despite what tribal members came to perceive as a 
Park Service policy designed to drive them out. In the 1940's 
the Tribe was forced to discontinue hunting and caring for the 
land within the Monument. In addition, according to tribal 
testimony, their adobe homes at times were washed down by high-
powered water hoses, or set on fire when the people left the 
Valley for the highlands during the hot summers. These actions 
effectively stopped them from moving to the mountains, and to 
remain instead on the Valley floor in the intense heat without 
electricity, which was not provided until the early 1970's.
    In 1983, the Tribe was granted Federal recognition, and its 
present tribal government structure was established. Unlike 
nearly all other Federally-recognized Indian tribes, however, 
and despite having lived in Death Valley since time immemorial, 
the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe continues to be without secure land 
tenure or a permanent land base. The Tribe's landless status 
has been and continues to constitute a major barrier to the 
social, economic and political advancement of the Tribe and its 
members.
    Effects of landless status.--Currently, about fifty tribal 
members live in seven adobe residences and eleven mobile 
residences at Furnace Creek. The lack of a land base has 
prevented the Tribe from having access to Federal housing or 
other community development programs. The lack of adequate 
housing in turn has caused many Timbisha tribal members to move 
to other Indian communities in California and Nevada. This 
geographic dispersion not only adversely affects relationships 
between and among tribal members but also impedes their 
communication with and full participation in tribal government.
    Without a land base the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe's access to 
Federal aid programs in general is limited, as is aid for basic 
tribal services that is otherwise available through the Bureau 
of Indian Affairs. Unless the Tribe secures a land base of 
sufficient size to ensure sustainable development, its long-
term economic prognosis is dramatically diminished. The need 
for such assistance is acute. Of 285 enrolled tribal members, 
nearly 40 percent are unemployed, a rate more than four times 
higher than the State of California.\1\ Although more than 50 
percent of the Tribe's population is in the active labor force, 
almost 25 percent work only part time. More than 80 percent of 
the Tribe's households fall below the 1993 poverty threshold in 
the United States, which is $13,950 for a family of four.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ Timbisha Shoshone Tribe ``Tribal Needs Assessment and Socio-
Economic Profile'', Vallo and Associates, Sacramento, California for 
California Indian Manpower Consortium, Inc., Sacramento California. 
March 1994
    \2\ Ibid.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Without a land base the Tribe continues to be without the 
ability or opportunity to establish and provide health services 
in the community. The need for these services is also acute. 
Approximately 57 percent of tribal members have no health 
insurance, or rely solely on the health services provided 
through the Indian Health Service clinic and/or Medicare, and/
or MediCal. Nearly 40 percent of tribal members do not receive 
dental care.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\ Ibid.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The landless status of the Tribe also continues to be a 
source of frustration between the Tribe and National Park 
Service. Authorities available to the Park Service under 
existing law, such as to grant special use permits or to enter 
into memoranda of understanding, cannot provide the permanence, 
security, and economic opportunity that a trust land base 
affords a Tribe. Similarly, the Tribe's landless status 
precludes the Park Service and the Tribe from establishing 
clear allocations of administrative responsibilities for 
Furnace Creek tribal village area or providing a more 
appropriate framework for the division of responsibilities 
among the Tribe, the Park, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
    Study, report and recommendations.--In 1994, in response to 
the Tribe's request for assistance in dealing with its needs 
and circumstances, the Congress included a requirement in 
section 705(b) of the California Desert Protection Act, P.L. 
103-433, that the Secretary of the Interior conduct a study to 
identify lands within and outside the Death Valley National 
Park thatwould be suitable for a reservation for the Tribe.
    In December, 1999, after extensive study and deliberation 
with the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe and consultation with the 
public, the Secretary submitted a draft report to the Congress 
containing his findings and recommendations for a tribal land 
base. All of the parcels recommended for trust status are 
within the Tribe's ancestral homeland area and were identified 
as having particular historical, cultural, or economic 
importance to the Tribe. They include former sites of homes and 
gardens of tribal members, burial grounds, sacred sites, camp 
sites and areas where tribal members gathered and used 
important food resources such as mesquite, pinon nuts, and 
spring greens, and cared for the springs and other water 
sources, and the land itself. These lands reflect the 
historical Timbisba Shoshone settlement pattern of dispersed 
residences and seasonal use of particular areas within their 
ancestral homeland area.
    In analyzing the suitability for trust status, the 
Secretary assessed particular land parcels with respect to the 
Tribe's present and future social and economic needs, tribal 
historical ties to the lands in relation to current land uses, 
conservation and preservation needs of the area, and potential 
resource constraints. Locations were selected in order to 
establish a foundation for a viable, self-sufficient tribal 
community both within and outside of the Death Valley National 
Park given existing critical resources such as water.
    On February 24, 2000, Senator Inouye, together with Senator 
Dianne Feinstein and Senator Barbara Boxer, introduced S. 2102, 
the Timbisha Shoshone Homeland Act. This legislation would 
implement the Secretary's recommendations for the establishment 
of a permanent land base for the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe and 
for cooperative management agreements between the Tribe and the 
National Park Service (NPS) and the Bureau of Land Management 
(BLM).

                       summary of major provision

    S. 2101, as amended and reported by the Committee on Indian 
Affairs, provides authority for the transfer of five parcels of 
Federal land, totaling appoximately 7,753.99 acres in 
California and Nevada, into trust for the Tribe, and for the 
Secretary to acquire, from willing sellers, two other parcels 
of land in California and Nevada totaling 2,460 acres, which 
also would be taken in trust for the tribe. A 300-acre parcel 
of Federal land at Furnace Creek is the only parcel located 
within Death Valley National Park; the other parcels of Federal 
land are outside the Park and currently administered by the 
BLM. Tribal development on the Furnace Creek lands would be 
limited to a maximum of 50 single-family residences; a tribal 
multi-purpose community center a small-to-moderate desert inn; 
and a tribal museum and gift shop, together with necessary 
associated infrastructure, all of which would be subject to 
environmental standards and practices no less restrictive than 
applied elsewhere within the National Park System. In addition, 
the Federal lands taken into trust status for the Tribe would 
be subject to valid rights and mining claims existing on the 
date of enactment of the Act.
    S. 2102 designates three nonexclusive ``special use areas'' 
within the Park wherein the Tribe could engage in low impact, 
ecologically sustainable, traditional practices pursuant to a 
management plan agreed to by the Tribe, the NPS and the BLM. 
Within these areas, the Tribe could coninue to use park 
resources for traditional purposes, including the management of 
mesquite and other plants and the conduct of religious 
ceremonies and other traditional practices and activities that 
are not in derogation of Park purposes and values. Such uses of 
Park resources by the Tribe do not include the taking of 
wildlife.
    S. 2102 requires the NPS, the BLM and the Tribe to enter 
into government-to-government agreements regarding planned 
development in the Park, and to enter into cooperative 
agreements to provide training for Park personnel and tribal 
members on the interpretation, management, protection, and 
preservation of the natural and cultural resources of the 
special uses areas. Insofar as practicable, the Secretary would 
be required to give first preference in employment for any 
construction, maintenance, interpretation, or other service in 
the Park to qualified members of the Tribe.
    S. 2102 bars any gaming activity on any land that would be 
taken in trust for the Tribe within the Park. On the parcels of 
land outside the Park, the primary uses of which would be for 
residential, agricultural and economic development, the Tribe 
could conduct class II (bingo) gaming if it had a gaming 
ordinance approved by the National Indian Gaming Commission 
(NGC). Class III, or casino gaming, could occur on these 
parcels outside the Park only if (1) class III gaming is 
permitted by the State, (2) the Tribe has a gaming ordinance 
approved by the NIGS, and (3) the Tribe and the governor of the 
State within which the parcel is located successfully negotiate 
a gaming compact.
    S. 2102 provides that the Tribe could assume and administer 
civil and criminal jurisdiction over Timbisha Shoshone 
Reservation lands pursuant to the laws and regulations 
applicable to other Indian trust lands. However, those trust 
lands located in California would remain under state criminal 
and civil jurisdiction, as provided under Public Law 83-280, 
until such time that the Secretary, after consultation with the 
Attorney General, certifies that the law enforcement system in 
place for such lands will be adequate to provide for the public 
safety and the public interest. Such certification could not 
take effect until three years after the date of enactment of 
the Timbisha Shoshone Homeland Act.
    Finally, the bill authorizes the appropriation of such sums 
as may be necessary to carry out its provisions.

                          legislative history

    On February 24, 2000 Senator Inouye, for himself, Senator 
Feinstein and Senator Boxer introduced S. 2102 and the bill was 
referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs. On March 21, 2000, 
the Committee on Indian Affairs held a hearing on S. 2102. 
Witnesses from the Administration and the Tribe testified in 
strong support of the bill, but agreed that further 
negotiations were needed to clarify provisions dealing with 
water rights and several other matters. In a letter to the 
Committee dated May 1, 2000, and printed elsewhere in this 
report, the Departments of Interior and Justice proposed 
changes and additions to S. 2102 with which the Tribe 
concurred. These changes and additions were included in an 
amendment-in-the-nature-of-a-substitute that was adopted by the 
committee on May 10, 2000.

            committee recommendation and tabulation of vote

    The Committee on Indian Affairs, in an open business 
session on May 10, 2000, adopted an amendment-in-the-nature-of-
a-substitute to S. 2102 by voice vote and ordered the bill, as 
amended, reported favorably to the Senate.

                      section-by-section analysis

Section 1. Short title

    Section 1 cites the short title of S. 2102 as the 
``Timbisha Shoshone Homeland Act''.

Section 2. Findings

    Section 2 sets forth Congressional Findings:
    (1) The ancestral homeland of the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe, 
which has lived in portions of California and Nevada since time 
immemorial, includes the area that now comprises Death Valley 
National Park and other areas of California and Nevada 
administered by the Bureau of Land Management.
    (2) Since 1936, the Tribe has lived on and governed its 
affairs on approximately 40 acres of land near Furnace Creek in 
the Park.
    (3) The Tribe achieved Federal recognition in 1983 but does 
not have a land base within its ancestral homeland.
    (4) The Tribe's growing membership desires and needs 
housing, government and administrative facilities, cultural 
facilities, and sustainable economic development to provide 
decent, safe and healthy conditions for themselves and their 
families.
    (5) The interests of the Tribe and the National Park 
Service would be enhanced by recognizing their coexistence on 
the same land and by establishing partnerships for compatible 
land uses and for the interpretation of the Tribe's history and 
culture for visitors to the Park.
    (6) The interests of the Tribe and the United States would 
be enhanced by the establishment of a land base for the Tribe 
and by further delineation of the rights and obligations of 
each with respect to the Furnace Creek area and to the Park as 
a whole.

Section 3. Purposes

    Section 3 states the 7 purposes of the Act, which are 
consistent with the report required by Section 705(b) of the 
California Desert Protection Act of 1994, as--
    (1) to provide in trust to the Tribe land on which it can 
live permanently and govern its affairs in a modern community 
within its ancestral homeland outside and within the Park;
    (2) to formally recognize the contributions by the Tribe to 
the history, culture, and ecology of the Park and surrounding 
area;
    (3) to ensure that the resources within the Park are 
protected and enhanced by cooperative activities within the 
Tribe's ancestral homeland and by partnerships between the 
Tribe and the National Park Service (NPS) and with the Bureau 
of Land Management (BLM);
    (4) to ensure that such activities are not in derogation of 
the purposes and values for which the Park was established;
    (5) to provide opportunities for a richer visitor 
experience at the Park through direct interactions between 
visitors and the Tribe including guided tours, interpretation, 
and the establishment of a tribal museum and cultural center;
    (6) to provide appropriate opportunities within the Park 
for economically viable and ecologically sustainable visitor-
related development by the Tribe that is not in derogation of 
the purposes and values for which the Park was established; and
    (7) to transfer 4 separate parcels of land administered by 
the BLM in trust for the Tribe and to authorize the purchase of 
2 parcels of privately-owned land to be taken in trust for the 
Tribe.

Section 4. Definitions

    Section 4 sets forth definitions of the terms ``Park''; 
``Secretary''; ``Tribal''; ``Tribe''; and ``Trust Lands''.

Section 5. Tribal rights and authority on the Timbisha Shoshone 
        homeland

    Subsection (a) declares all right, title and interest of 
the United States in and to the lands, including improvements 
and appurtenances, listed in subsection (b) to he held in trust 
by the United States for the benefit of the Tribe, subject to 
valid rights and mining claims existing on the date of 
enactment of this Act. It further requires that maps indicating 
such lands be on file and available for public inspection in 
the appropriate offices of the NPS and the BLM.
    Subsection (b)(1) describes the land and water to be held 
in trust for the Tribe pursuant to subsection (a), as follows:
    A. 313.99 acres at Furnace Creek in Death Valley National 
Park, together with 92 acre-feet per annum of surface and 
ground water for the purposes of community 
development,residential development, historic restoration, and visitor-
related economic development. Twenty-five acres at the north end of 
this area would be designated as a non-development zone. Because it 
contains several historic adobe homes, this area would also be 
designated as an Adobe Restoration zone that will be managed by the 
Tribe as a tribal historic district.
    Furnace Creek is located on the valley floor of central 
Death Valley and encompasses the tribal village, a privately-
owned inholding containing the Furnace Creek Ranch and Furnace 
Creek Inn, the Park Visitor Center, Texas Springs Campground, 
and a small airport. The area is bordered on the west by a 
large alluvial fan of about 3,000 acres of mesquite groves of 
great importance to the Tribe and the Park.
    The Furnace Creek area is the cultural, political, and 
geographic heart of Timbisha Shoshone ancestral lands. The 
Timbisha Shoshone people have never left it. The area contains 
sacred sites and tribal burial grounds. The settlement at 
Furnace Creek is where the current tribal government was 
formed, and is the place where the Tribe wants to build homes 
for its people, tribal offices to carry on tribal governance 
and business, and to develop visitor-related services to 
provide income and employment opportunities for its people.
    B. 1,000 acres at Death Valley Junction, California, 
together with 15.1 acre feet per annum of ground water for the 
purposes associated with such transfer.
    Death Valley Junction is located in Inyo County at about 
2,000 feet elevation in open saltbush scrub habitat. The parcel 
lies on the eastern edge of an alluvial fan sloping gently to 
the east. It is located at the junction of highways 127 and 
190, the latter being a main entrance road into the Park. 
According to the Secretary's report, the purposes for which the 
parcel could be used include establishment of several 
residences and small businesses. Although the ground water is 
of poor quality and would require treatment, it would be 
sufficient for these purposes.
    Tribal members traveled through what is now Death Valley 
Junction on their way to camps, residences, and gardens near 
the springs at Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.
    C. 640 acres at Centennial, California, together with an 
amount of ground water not exceed 10 acre feet per annum, for 
the purposes associated with such transfer.
    This land is located in Inyo County, west of the Park at 
4,000 to 5,000 feet in elevation. It is part of the Centennial 
bowl which is ringed on three sides by desert mountains, and 
contains creosote bush and Joshua tree woodland. Highway 190 
runs to the north and China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station lies 
to the south. The land would be used for a limited number of 
residences and small-scale economic development, subject to the 
availability of water and valid existing water rights.
    Information provided to the Committee from the Department 
of the Interior is inconclusive as to full extent of available 
ground water on the Centennial acreage. As this report is 
written it is known that pumping domestic water quantities from 
the Lower Centennial Flat groundwater reservoir for many years 
may induce a measurable ground water level decline up to one 
mile away. However, pumping would not impact other communities 
in the area because the ground water in the Lower Centennial 
Flat basin is not connected to nearby community water supply 
sources. Coso Spring, over 10 miles south at an elevation of 
about 5,400 feet, is the water supply for the town of Darwin. 
The Keeler water supply well, over 10 miles north, is in the 
alluvial fan west of the Inyo Mountains and is recharged by 
runoff on the fan. Nevertheless, the Committee recognizes 
concerns of existing water users in these areas regarding the 
availability of sufficient water to fulfill the Tribe's Federal 
water right of up to 10 acre feet per year for the Centennial 
parcel. The Committee notes the language of section (5)(b)(2) 
which provides that the priority date of the Tribe's Federal 
water rights shall be the date of enactment of this Act, thus 
designating the Tribe's water rights as junior to all existing 
state and Federal water rights. The Committee further observes 
that, if the Secretary were to seek to purchase water rights 
for the Tribe, the policy of the Committee and the Congress, 
consistent with the provisions of section (5)(d), limits the 
Secretary to purchase such rights only from willing sellers, at 
no less than fair market value.
    Centennial is an important location at the western edge of 
the Tribe's ancestral lands in view of Hunter Mountain, a 
sacred site and traditional hunting and camping area. Tribal 
cultural history maintains that there is a sacred relationship 
between Hunter Mountain and the valley floors below. The area 
was used for both summer and winter camps, and is documented as 
a place where tribal members conducted communal rabbit and 
antelope hunts and gathered basketry materials.
    D. 2,800 acres at Scotty's Junction, Nevada, together with 
375.5 acre feet per annum of ground water for the purposes 
associated with the transfer of such lands.
    Scotty's Junction is located east of the Park in Nye 
County, Nevada, on the junction of Highways 95 and 267 which is 
the access road to northern Death Valley. The land is in the 
Sarcobatus Flat valley bottom, and the terrain is relatively 
flat with low lying hot desert shrubs. The area is within the 
Tribe's ancestral area and several tribal families lived there, 
with tribal members hunting for bighorn sheep and deer until 
the 1940's. This parcel of land would be used for several 
residences and small businesses.
    Scotty's Junction is supplied only by ground water from an 
aquifer 200 to 300 feet below the surface. The annual yield in 
the valley in which it is located is about 3,000 acre feet with 
an annual discharge of about 5 acre feet per acre. Current 
water use in the area is between 1,200 and 2,000 acre feet, 
leaving approximately 1,000 acre feet per year available on a 
valley-wide basis.
    E. 3,000 acres at Lida, Nevada, together with 14.7 acre 
feet per annum of ground water for the purposes associated with 
the transfer of such lands.
    This parcel of land is located north of Death Valley 
National Park in Esmeralda County, Nevada, and lies on the 
eastern slope of the Palmetto Mountains. Its terrain varies 
from gradual to steep and rugged slopes and contains a mix of 
hot desert shrub and pinon-juniper vegetation. The parcel is 
adjacent to the historic town of Lida.
    The area has been used continuously by the Tribe since at 
least the early nineteenthcentury, and continues to be used for 
hunting, harvesting pine nuts, and ceremonies. At least five 
traditional villages were located in this area which is also the 
birthplace and burial area of relatives and ancestors. There are at 
least four springs known to tribal members who in the past had gardens 
and raised cattle in the area. The land would be used for residences 
and for economic development.
    Ground water is supplied by an alluvial fill aquifer 
primarily recharged by local precipitation, with annual 
recharge estimated to be 150 acre feet per year. Local yield, 
estimated to be about 30 acre feet per year, is of generally 
good quality and sufficient to supply several residences and 
small businesses.
    Subsection (b)(2) provides that the priority date of the 
Federal water rights described in subparagraphs (A) through (E) 
of paragraph (1) shall be the date of enactment of this Act, 
that such water rights shall be junior to Federal and State 
water rights existing on such date, and shall not be subject to 
relinquishment, forfeiture, or abandonment by the Tribe.
    Subsection (b)(3) limits tribal community and residential 
development in the Furnace Creek area to a maximum of 50 
single-family residences, a tribal community center with space 
for tribal offices, recreation facilities, a multipurpose room 
and kitchen, and senior and youth facilities, and limits 
economic development to a small-to-moderate desert inn, a 
tribal museum and cultural center with a gift shop, together 
with the infrastructure necessary to support all such 
development.
    Subsection (b)(3)(B) authorizes the NPS and the Tribe to 
negotiate visitor-related economic development in lieu of that 
described in the previous subparagraph if such alternative 
development will have no greater environmental impact.
    Subsection (b)(3)(C) provides that the Tribe shall have a 
right-of-way for ingress and egress on Highway 190 in 
California.
    Subsection (b)(4) states that nothing in this Act shall be 
construed as terminating any valid existing mining claim or 
limit existing rights associated with such a claim.
    Subsection (c) requires the Secretary to file a legal 
description of the areas described in subsection (b) with the 
House Committee on Resources, the Senate Committee on Indian 
Affairs and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources within one year of enactment, and to make such 
description available for public inspection in NPS and BLM 
offices.
    Subsection (d) authorizes the Secretary to purchase, from 
willing sellers, and to take in trust for the Tribe, 
approximately 120 acres known as the Indian Rancheria Site, 
California, and approximately 2,340 acres comprising the Lida 
Ranch, Nevada, or another parcel mutually agreed upon by the 
Secretary and the Tribe, with appurtenant or separate water 
rights.
    Subsection (e) provides for the designation of three areas 
as nonexclusive special use areas wherein the Tribe, subject to 
other Federal law, may engage in low impact, ecologically 
sustainable, traditional practices pursuant to a management 
plan jointly established and agreed to by the Tribe, the NPS, 
and the BLM.
    In the special use areas, in recognition of the Tribe's 
significant contributions to the history, ecology and culture 
of the Park and to ensure that the visitor experience in the 
Park will be enhanced by the increased and continued presence 
of the Tribe, the Secretary shall permit the Tribe's continued 
use of Park resources for traditional tribal purposes, 
practices, and activities that are not in derogation of Park 
purposes and values.
    These special use areas, which shall be depicted on NPS and 
BLM maps that are provided for general visitor use, are:
    (A) Mesquite Use Area, where the Tribe may process mesquite 
using traditional plant management techniques such as thinning, 
pruning, harvesting, removing excess sand, and removing exotic 
species. The NPS may limit and condition, but not prohibit 
entirely, public use of this area, in consultation with the 
Tribe. The area is to be managed in accordance with the joint 
management plan referred to paragraph (1);
    (B) Buffer Area, wherein the NPS shall restrict visitor use 
to protect the privacy of the Tribe to enable the Tribe to 
conduct community affairs without undue interruption from the 
public; and
    (C) Timbisha Shoshone Natural and Cultural Preservation 
Area, where the Tribe may establish and maintain a tribal 
resource management field office, garage and storage area at 
the site of an existing ranger station at Wildrose, and tribal 
members may use traditional camps at Wildrose and Hunter 
Mountain.
    The NPS and BLM shall accommodate access and use by the 
Tribe of this area for traditional cultural and religious 
activities and shall, at the request of the Tribe, temporarily 
close to the general public the smallest practicable portions 
of the area for the minimum period of time necessary to protect 
the privacy of tribal members engaging in traditional cultural 
and religious activities.
    Subsection (f) provides that members of the Tribe shall 
have the right to enter and use the Park without payment of any 
fee for admission into the Park.
    Subsection (g) provides that the trust lands constituting 
the Timbisha Shoshone Reservation shall be administered 
pursuant to the laws and regulations applicable to other Indian 
trust lands, except as otherwise provided in this Act.

Section 6. Implementation process

    Subsection (a) requires the NPS, BLM and the Tribe to enter 
into government-to-government consultations and develop 
protocols to review planned development in the Park, 
andauthorizes the NPS and the BLM to enter into cooperative agreements 
with the Tribe to provide training on the interpretation, management, 
protection, and preservation of the natural and cultural resources of 
the special use area as designated under Section 5.
    Subsection (b) requires the NPS and the Tribe to develop 
mutually agreed-upon standards for size, impact, and design for 
use in planning, resources protection, and development of the 
Furnace Creek area and for the facilities at Wildrose. These 
standards shall be based on standards for recognized best 
practices for environmental sustainability and shall not be 
less restrictive than the environmental standards applied 
within the National Park System. Development in the area is to 
be consistent with these standards, which shall be reviewed 
periodically and revised as necessary.

Section 7. Miscellaneous provisions

    Subsection (a) requires the Secretary, insofar as 
practicable, to give first preference in employment for any 
construction, maintenance, interpretation, or other service in 
the Park to qualified members of the Tribe.
    Subsection (b) prohibits gaming, as defined and regulated 
by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) (25 U.S.C. 2701), on 
trust lands within the Park.
    Subsection (c) provides that lands taken in trust for the 
Tribe pursuant to section 5(a) shall be considered to be the 
Tribe's initial reservation for purposes of section 
20(b)(1)(B)(ii) of the IGRA.
    Subsection (d) provides that all lands in California that 
are transferred in trust to the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe shall 
be exempt from the State's civil and criminal jurisdiction 
pursuant to section 1162 of title 18, United States Code, and 
section 1360 of title 28, United States Code, upon the 
certification by the Secretary, after consultation with the 
Attorney General, that the law enforcement system in place for 
such lands will be adequate to provide for the public safety 
and the public interest, except that no such certification may 
take effect until after three years after the enactment of this 
Act.

Section 8. Authorization of appropriations

    This section authorizes to be appropriated such sums as may 
be necessary to carry out this Act.

                   cost and budgetary considerations

    The cost estimate for S. 2102, as amended, as provided by 
the Congressional Budget Office, is set forth below:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                      Washington, DC, May 26, 2000.
Hon. Ben Nighthorse Campbell,
Chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 2102, the Timbisha 
Shoshone Homeland Act.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Lanette 
Keith.
            Sincerely,
                                          Barry B. Anderson
                                    (For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
    Enclosure.

S. 2102--Timbisha Shoshone Homeland Act

    CBO estimates that implementing S. 2102 would cost about 
$14 million over the 2001-2005 period, assuming appropriation 
of the necessary amounts. The bill would not affect direct 
spending or receipts; thus, pay-as-you-go procedures would not 
apply. S. 2102 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA). 
Enactment of this bill would benefit the Timbisha Shoshone 
tribe, and would have no significant impact on the budgets of 
state, local, or other tribal governments.
    S. 2102 would establish a reservation for the Timbisha 
Shoshone Tribe of California and Nevada. The bill would direct 
the Secretary of the Interior to take into trust for the 
benefit of that tribe, subject to valid existing rights 
approximately 7,754 acres of federal land currently 
administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the 
National Park Service (NPS) and about 508 acre-feet per year of 
federal water rights. S. 2102 also would authorize the 
Secretary to purchase and take into trust about 2,500 acres of 
privately owned land. Under the bill, the agencies and the 
tribe could negotiate cooperative agreements for the purpose of 
planning, developing, and managing areas within the reservation 
designated for special uses by the tribe.
    Based on information from the Department of the Interior, 
CBO estimates that purchasing additional privately owned land 
for the tribe would cost about $14 million. We estimate that 
the administrative cost of taking the land into trust and any 
additional costs incurred by the land management agencies would 
be insignificant in any given year. According to BML and NPS, 
the federal land to be taken into trust currently does not 
generate significant receipts, and the agencies do not expect 
it to generate significant receipts over the next ten years.
    The CBO staff contact is Nanette Keith. This estimate was 
approved by Robert A. Sunshine, Assistant Director for Budget 
Analysis.

                        executive communications

    The views of the Administration on S. 2102 are set forth in 
the following letters of March 21, 2000, and May 1, 2000, from 
Donald J. Barry, assistant Secretary for Fish Wildlife and 
Parks, Department of the Interior, to the Chairman of the 
Committee on Indian Affairs, Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell:

                        Department of the Interior,
                                   Office of the Secretary,
                                    Washington, DC, March 21, 2000.
Hon. Ben Nighthorse Campbell,
Chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: This letter sets forth the views of the 
Department of the Interior on S. 2102, a bill to provide a land 
base, or homeland, for the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe inside and 
outside Death Valley National Park. The Department supports 
this bill, with amendments, as it would provide a comprehensive 
integrated plan to establish a permanent homeland for the tribe 
sufficient to meet its needs into the future.
    For thousands of years, the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe has 
lived in its ancestral homelands in the Mojave Desert, much of 
which is now in Death Valley National Park. The Timbisha are 
integrally tied to this land. Since 1850 the Timbisha have been 
dislocated from this land, first by homesteaders and ranchers, 
and later by mining interests. In 1933 President Hoover 
established Death Valley National Monument by executive 
proclamation under the Antiquities Act. The order creating the 
Monument was silent on the question of the Timbisha Shoshone 
land tenure. To address this situation, the National Park 
Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs entered into an 
agreement to establish the Timbisha Shoshone village and to 
construct adobe residences in the Furnace Creek Area of the 
Monument. Unable to continue caring for their land within this 
unit of the park system, and limited economic opportunities in 
the area, many Timbisha families left the area. Today, about 50 
tribal members live in seven adobe residences and eleven mobile 
residences at Furnace Creek.
    In 1994, as part of the California Desert Protection Act, 
Congress recognized the hardships the Timbisha have endured by 
requiring the Secretary of the Interior to study and identify 
lands that would be suitable for a reservation for the Timbisha 
Shoshone Tribe. A suitability study was conducted on a 
government-to-government basis with representatives of the 
Timbisha Tribe and the Department of the Interior. This joint 
federal-tribal negotiating team developed a comprehensive plan 
to establish a homeland for the tribe. S. 2102 would implement 
the recommendations of this plan. The Department of Interior is 
currently preparing a legislative Environmental Impact 
Statement which will analyze the potential environment effects 
of this proposed land transfer.
    S. 2102 would transfer five parcels of land, which contain 
7,540 acres, in trust to the Timbisha Tribe. These parcels 
would constitute a discontinuous reservation for the tribe. 
This is appropriate, given the desert environment in which 
essential resources like water are scarce and separated by vast 
distances. The existence of mining claims, the availability of 
infrastructure such as roads, power, and other services, and 
the fact that much of the land in this area has specialresource 
designations, have resulted in the identification of several parcels to 
meet tribal needs, rather than a single contiguous parcel. In addition, 
a discontinuous reservation mirrors the way the Timbisha Shoshone 
people historically used their ancestral homelands, which covered more 
than eleven million acres. They used highlands during the hot summers 
and the valley floors in the cooler winters while drawing on a wide 
range of resources for sustenance. The parcels identified in S. 2102 as 
the tribe's proposed reservation represent many of the historical areas 
used traditionally by the tribe.
    S. 2102 would transfer into trust for the benefit of the 
Timbisha Shoshone approximately 320 acres of Furnace Creek in 
Death Valley National Park, and 7,240 acres of land close to 
the park, located in California and Nevada and currently under 
the administration of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The 
bill also authorizes the purchase of two additional properties 
now in private ownership, to be taken into trust for the tribe. 
Each of these lands is located within the ancestral homeland of 
the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe, and each is of particular 
historical, cultural, or spiritual significance.
    Over 95 percent of the acreage to be taken into trust for 
the Timbisha is presently under the jurisdiction of the BLM. 
The acreage is to be transferred in four parcels, which are 
located in Centennial, California; Death Valley Junction, 
California; Scotty's Junction, Nevada; and Lida, Nevada. While 
the current California Desert Conservation Protection Plan 
specifies that the Centennial and Death Valley Junction parcels 
are to be retained by BLM, the BLM now believes, based on its 
analysis of the current uses and resource values, that these 
parcels are suitable for legislative transfer to the tribe. 
Each of the 2,800 acre parcels located in Scotty's Junction and 
Lida, Nevada, have been classified as suitable for disposal in 
BLM management plans. The parcel at Scotty's Junction is 
suitable for tribal residences, or development. The parcel at 
Lida, Nevada, is an area that once had five traditional 
Timbisha villages, and continues to be used by the tribe. It is 
also suitable for residences and economic development. The 640-
acre parcel at Centennial, California, lies to the west of 
Death Valley National Park, and would preserve a tribal 
presence on the western edge of its ancestral homelands. It is 
suitable for residences. The 1,000-acre parcel at Death Valley 
Junction, California, is located at the main entrance to the 
park and is suitable for economic development and residences.
    S. 2102 also authorizes the acquisition of the privately-
owned 2,430-acre Lida Ranch, in Lida, Nevada, and the 120-acre 
Indian Rancheria Site, in Saline Valley, California.
    The land that is central to the Timbisha's present-day 
existence is the 300-acre parcel at Furnace Creek, Death Valley 
National Park. This site is the current home of the Timbisha, 
and has the potential for modest economic development. This 
potential is recognized by Section 5(b)(2) of S. 2101, which 
would allow the Timbisha to construct and operate a small to 
moderate desert inn and a tribal museum on this land. S. 2102 
also allows for the construction of residences and a community 
center at Furnace Creek, while recognizing the need to ensure 
the protection of national park resources.
    Section 5(d)(4) of S. 2102 authorizes the National Park 
Service and the Bureau of Land Management to designate certain 
areas for nonexclusive special uses subject to Federal law. 
This section creates a unique partnership between the Timbisha 
Shoshone and federal land managers and encourages collaborative 
efforts to learn from the tribe's traditional knowledge of the 
area. These areas would remain in federal ownership, and 
applicable laws relating to wilderness, endangered species, and 
cultural resources would remain in force. Tribal members would 
use these areas for low-impact, ecologically sustainable, 
traditional practices pursuant to jointly established 
management plans. The allowed traditional uses of the tribe 
would not include the taking of wildlife within Death Valley 
National Park.
    Two special use areas are located near the proposed tribal 
land at Furnace Creek in the park. S. 2102 provides for a 
buffer zone of approximately 1,500 acres between Highway 190 
and the trust parcel and between the trust parcel and the 
inholding development at Furnace Creek. This area would be 
managed by the National Park Service to ensure that the tribe 
is able to conduct its community affairs without undue 
disruption from the public. The Mesquite Use area of 
approximately 2,000 acres surrounds the western and southern 
boundaries of the trust parcel at Furnace Creek. The tribe 
would use this area for processing mesquite, a key element of 
their traditional diet, and mange the area using traditional 
plant management practices. This area would be managed subject 
to a cooperative agreement between the National Park Service 
and the tribe for the traditional uses of mesquite in a 
sustainable fashion.
    The proposed special use area called the Timbisha Shoshone 
Natural and Cultural Preservation Area encompasses nearly one-
half of Death Valley National Park. It is located primarily 
within the Park, although it includes a small area in 
California managed by the BLM. We support this designation as 
it recognizes the tribe's contributions to the history, 
culture, and ecology of the region and the inherent value of 
the tribe's continued presence in the Park. Consistent with 
such designation, the Secretary would be directed to permit the 
tribe's continued use of park resources for traditional tribal 
purposes, practices and activities, as defined in a jointly 
established management plan. Within this large area, two 
smaller areas would be designated for special tribal uses, one 
at Wildrose, and the other at Hunter Mountain. Portions of 
these areas are not designated wilderness areas. Wildrose was 
an area that the Tribe used for seasonal residence to escape 
the summer heat, and for the harvest and processing of pinyon 
nut which continue to be important in the tribal diet. The bill 
provides for a tribal resource management office, a garage and 
storage facility at Wildrose within the area of the existing 
ranger station, and for traditional use camps at areas agreed 
to by the tribe and the National Park Service. Hunter Mountain 
is an important ceremonial area containing burials and sacred 
sites. The bill provides for traditional use camps at Hunter 
Mountain, also in non-wilderness locations agreed to by the 
tribe and the National Park Service.
    In addition, the bill provides for access by tribal members 
to the park without fee admission payment, government-to-
government agreements to establish cooperative partnerships and 
protocols for the review of planned development within the 
park. The agencies would be authorized to provide training and 
technical assistance to the tribe, and to provide preferential 
hiring to qualified members of the tribe.
    S. 2102 provides that all of the parcels taken into trust 
would constitute the initial reservation of the Timbisha 
Shoshone Tribe under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. 
Consequently, class II gaming, commonly known as bingo, could 
occur on the parcels if the state in which the parcel is 
located permits such gaming and the tribe has a gaming 
ordinance approved by the NationalIndian Gaming Commission. 
Class III gaming, commonly known as casino gaming, can occur on these 
parcels only if: (1) class III gaming is permitted by the state, (2) 
the tribe has a gaming ordinance approved by the National Indian Gaming 
Commission, and (3) the tribe and the governor of the state within 
which the parcel is located successfully negotiate a gaming compact.
    The effect of this would be to require the Timbisha to 
negotiate a compact with either California or Nevada if it 
wished to conduct class III gaming on lands located in those 
states. The Timbisha Shoshone Tribe would be able to conduct 
class II gaming without federal approval of the concurrence of 
the governor of the state in which the Indian lands are located 
if the State otherwise permits such gaming by any person or 
organization and the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe has an ordinance 
approved the National Indian Gaming Commission.
    S. 2102 also provides for a prohibition on gaming on the 
Furnace Creek parcel within Death Valley National Park. This 
prohibition is consistent with the agreement the Department 
negotiated with the Timbisha Shoeshone Tribe during our study 
process. Both the Tribe and Department agreed that gaming on 
the Furnace Creek parcel would be inconsistent with tribal and 
park purposes and values. We are recommending that Section 7(c) 
of S. 2102 be amended to make it clear that the Furnace Creek 
parcel would not be considered part of the Timbisha Shoshone's 
``initial reservation'' for purposes of gaming under the Indian 
Gaming Regulatory Act.
    The Department strongly supports S. 2102. The bill would 
create a foundation for the tribe to live in a modern community 
and to exercise its right to self-determination within the 
boundaries of the largest national park in the ``lower 48.'' 
The bill also recognizes that the interests of the tribe and 
the National Park Service would be enhanced by recognizing 
their coexistence on the same land and by establishing 
partnerships for compatible land uses. Quite simply, we believe 
that this bill would create the foundation for a better park--a 
park in which the contributions of the tribe to the history, 
culture and ecology of the region are recognized and 
interpreted in ways not now possible.
    At the same time, we believe that S. 2102 provides 
sufficient safeguards that ensure that the resources of Death 
Valley National Park will be protected.
    The Timbisha Shoshone Tribe deserves a homeland within 
which it can exercise its inherent right of self-governance and 
provide a decent standard of living for its people. The 
American people will benefit as the human history of Death 
Valley National Park becomes more fully expressed through a 
renewed and vibrant tribal presence. And finally, this bill 
establishes a firm foundation for cooperative, collaborative, 
partnerships among governments which can only enrich our 
American heritage.
    We recommend amendments to the bill on issues relating to 
wildlife and gaming prohibitions on land within Death Valley 
National Park, Public Law 280, and on federal reserved water 
rights. The Department's amendment on wildlife clarifies that 
Timbisha traditional purposes, practices, and activities in the 
special use areas that would be created in the park does not 
include the taking of wildlife. The Department's amendment on 
Public Law 280 would clarify that Sec. 7(d) applies only to the 
trust lands located in California proposed for transfer by S. 
2102. The Department and the Timbisha Shoshone are currently 
working on issues related to federal reserved water rights 
including the possibility of quantification at each parcel to 
be taken into trust for the tribe. We will continue to work on 
these issues in consultation with the State of Nevada and 
California and will provide a proposed amendment once these 
negotiations are completed. We understand that the Department 
of Justice is also reviewing this bill and may provide its 
views on provisions dealing with law enforcement, water rights, 
and other issues in the near future. We will be happy to work 
with the committee staff on developing this language.
    The Office of Management and Budget has advised that there 
is no objection to the presentation of this report from the 
standpoint of the Administration's program.
            Sincerely,
                                   Donald J. Barry,
                                    Assistant Secretary for
                                         Fish, Wildlife, and Parks.
                                ------                                

                        Department of the Interior,
                                   Office of the Secretary,
                                       Washington, DC, May 1, 2000.
Hon. Ben Nighthorse Campbell,
Chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: On behalf of the Department of the 
Interior, we are submitting the following amendments as was 
noted in our March 21, 2000, testimony on S. 2102. The first 
amendment clarifies that the traditional practices in the 
special use areas of the park section of the bill does not 
include the taking of wildlife. The second amendment, clarifies 
that the ``initial reservation'' for purposes of the Indian 
Gaming Regulatory Act does not include the Furnace Creek parcel 
which is located within the boundaries of Death Valley National 
Park. The third amendment will be submitted by the Department 
of Justice to address the Administration's concerns regarding 
tribal lands to be located in California. The fourth, fifth and 
sixth amendments provide for a quantification of water at each 
of the five parcels proposed for transfer and describe the 
attributes of those water rights.
    In addition, we are submitting a complete set of all the 
maps referenced in the legislation in an 8\1/2\ x 11 format and 
poster-size GIS maps of the land transfer parcels and the 
special use areas. Please note that only one map, Map #8 
entitled ``Furnace Creek trust parcels and cooperative 
agreement areas,'' is provided for the ``Mesquite Use Area'' 
and for the ``Buffer Area'' described in the proposed 
legislation.
    In our written testimony, we provided the acreage amount of 
1,500 acres for the buffer area to be inserted in Section 
5(e)(4)(B), page 12, line 19 of S. 2102.
    The Office of Management and Budget has advised that from 
the perspective of the Administration's program, there is no 
objection of the submission of this report.
    We appreciate your consideration of these amendmends.
            Sincerely,
                                   Donald J. Barry,
                                    Assistant Secretary for
                                       Fish and Wildlife and Parks.

   Department of Interior Proposed Amendments to S. 2102 a bill ``To 
                establish a Timbisha Shoshone Homeland''

    1. Proposed clarification of ``traditional practices'' 
language in the special use areas of the park section of the 
draft bill.
    Section 5(e)(3) Page 11, line 24, after ``shall not'' 
insert ``include the taking of wildlife and shall not''.
    2. To clarify that the Furnace Creek trust parcel within 
the park is not part of the tribe's ``initial reservation'' for 
purposes of gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
    Section 7(c), Page 17, line 1, replace with the following: 
``The lands taken into trust for the Tribe, except for the Park 
land described in section 5(b)(1)(A), shall be considered to be 
the Tribe's initial reservation for purposes of section 
20(b)(1)(B)(ii) of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 
2719(b)(1)(B)(ii)).''
    3. The Department concurs with the substitute amendment for 
section 7(d) that is recommended by the Department of Justice.
    4. To clarify that the transfer of land includes the 
following quantified water rights.
    Section 5(b)(1), page 6, line 3, after ``following lands'' 
insert: ``and water''.
    5. To provide a quantified ground water right for each 
parcel to be transferred in subsections 5(b)(1)(A), (B), (C), 
(D), and (E) the following language should be inserted at the 
end of the description for each parcel:
    Section 5(b)(1)(A) Furnace Creek, page 6, line 8, after 
``Map #1 and dated December 3, 1999'' insert: ``together with 
92 acre feet per annum of surface and ground water for the 
purposes associated with the transfer of lands.''
    Section 5(b)(1)(B) Death Valley Junction, page 6, line 24, 
after ``Map #2 and dated December 3, 1999'' insert: ``together 
with 15.1 acre feet per annum of ground water for the purposes 
associated with the transfer of lands.''
    Section 5(b)(1)(C) Centennial, page 7, line 4, after ``Map 
#3 and dated December 3, 1999'' insert: ``together with an 
amount of ground water not to exceed 10 acre feet per annum for 
the purposes associated with the transfer of lands.''
    Section 5(b)(1)(D) Scotty's Junction, page 7, line 9, after 
``Map #4 and dated December 3, 1999'' insert: ``together with 
375.5 acre feet per annum of ground water for the purposes 
associated with the transfer of lands.''
    Section 5(b)(1)(E) Lida, page 7, line 14, after ``Map #5 
and dated December 3, 1999'' insert: ``together with 14.7 acre 
feet per annum of ground water for the purposes associated with 
the transfer of lands.''
    6. Section 5(b)(2), page 7, line 15, insert new subsection 
(2) and renumber the current subsection (2) and subsequent 
subsections:
          ``(2) Water rights.--The priority date of these 
        federal water rights set forth in subsections 
        5(b)(1)(A), (B), (C), (D), and (E) shall be the date of 
        the enactment of this Act. These water rights shall be 
        subject to existing state and federal water rights. 
        These water rights shall not be subject to 
        relinquishment, forfeiture or abandonment.

                      regulatory impact statement

    Paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the 
Senate requires each report accompanying a bill to evaluate the 
regulatory and paperwork impact that would be incurred in 
carrying out the bill S. 2102, as amended. The Committee finds 
that the regulatory impact of S. 2102, as amended, will be 
minimal.

                        changes in existing law

    In compliance with subsection 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by 
the bill are required to be set forth in the accompanying 
Committee report. The Committee states that enactment of S. 
2102 will not result in any changes in existing law.

                                  
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