[Senate Report 108-60]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 124
108th Congress Report
SENATE
1st Session 108-60
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PUEBLO OF SANTA CLARA AND PUEBLO OF SAN ILDEFONSO LAND TRUST
_______
June 9, 2003.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Domenici, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 246]
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was
referred the bill (S. 246) to provide that certain Bureau of
Land Management land shall be held in trust for the Pueblo of
Santa Clara and the Pueblo of San Ildefonso in the State of New
Mexico, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon
with amendments and recommends that the bill, as amended, do
pass.
The amendments are as follows:
1. On page 3, line 8, strike ``New Mexico.'' and insert
``New Mexico, as part of the Santa Clara Reservation.''.
2. On page 4, line 18, strike ``New Mexico.'' and insert
``New Mexico, as part of the San Ildefonso Reservation.''.
3. On page 6, strike line 19 and all that follows through
page 9, line 12 and insert the following:
``(a) Applicable Law.--The trust land shall be administered
in accordance with laws generally applicable to property held
in trust by the United States for Indian tribes.
``(b) Pueblo Lands Act.--The following shall be subject to
section 17 of the Act of June 7, 1924 (25 U.S.C. 331 note;
commonly known as the ``Pueblo Lands Act''):
``(1) The trust land.
``(2) Any land owned as of the date of enactment of
this Act or acquired after the date of enactment of
this Act by the Pueblo of Santa Clara in the Santa
Clara Pueblo Grant.
``(3) Any land owned as of the date of enactment of
this Act or acquired after the date of enactment of
this Act by the Pueblo of San Ildefonso in the San
Ildefonso Pueblo Grant.
``(c) Use of Trust Land.--Subject to criteria developed by
the Pueblos in concert with the Secretary, the trust land may
be used only for traditional and customary uses or stewardship
conservation for the benefit of the Pueblo for which the trust
land is held in trust. Beginning on the date of enactment of
this Act, the trust land shall not be used for any new
commercial developments.
``SEC. 6. EFFECT.
``Nothing in this Act--
``(1) affects any valid right-of-way, lease, permit,
mining claim, grazing permit, water right, or other
right or interest of any person or entity (other than
the United States) in or to the trust land that is in
existence before the date of enactment of this Act;
``(2) enlarges, impairs, or otherwise affects a right
or claim of the Pueblos to any land or interest in land
based on Aboriginal or Indian title that is in
existence before the date of enactment of this Act;
``(3) constitutes an express or implied reservation
of water or water right for any purpose with respect to
the trust land; or
``(4) affects any water right of the Pueblos in
existence before the date of enactment of this Act.''.
PURPOSE
The purpose of S. 246 is to place 4,484 acres of public
lands in New Mexico, including mineral rights, in trust for the
Pueblos of Santa Clara and San Ildefonso. Of this amount, 2,484
acres will be added to the Santa Clara Reservation and 2,000
acres will be added to the San Ildefonso Reservation.
BACKGROUND AND NEED
In 1988, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) declared 4,484
acres of land in northern New Mexico as ``disposal property.''
These lands are important ancestral homelands to the Pueblos of
San Ildefonso and Santa Clara and the Pueblos have continued to
assert claims to them over the years. San Ildefonso is
negotiating a settlement of its Indian Claims Commission case--
the last such case--and this transfer, while not directly
connected to the settlement, will help facilitate a final
resolution of the case.
The public land being transferred is almost entirely
bordered by the land of the two Pueblos and land administered
by the U.S. Forest Service, and access by the general public is
limited. Due to the location of the land and the difficulty of
managing it, the BLM declared the area as ``disposal
property.'' On February 15, 2002, the BLM published a notice in
the Federal Register of the agency's intent to withdraw the
minerals on the land in aid of legislation for the benefit of
the two Pueblos.
At a hearing of the Subcommittee on Public Lands and
Forests on February 27, 2003, the Department of the Interior
testified generally in support of the legislation but expressed
concerns about a claim that the Pueblo of San Ildefonso had on
the Bureau of Land Management related to Claim Docket No. 354.
On May 8, 2003 the Department provided a response to a written
question for clarification by Senator Craig stating, ``Upon
further review and a closer examination of the issue, the
Department of the Interior has determined that no modification
of bill language is needed. The Department supports S. 246 as
introduced.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
S. 246 was introduced by Senators Domenici and Bingaman on
January 29, 2003. A similar measure, H.R. 507, was introduced
in the House of Representatives on the same day. The
Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests held a hearing on S.
246 on February 27, 2003. At its business meeting on May 21,
2003, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources ordered S.
246, as amended, favorably reported. Senators Domenici and
Bingaman sponsored a similar measure, S. 2893, during the 107th
Congress. That bill was favorably reported by the Committee on
October 4, 2002 and passed by the Senate as part of an
amendment to S. 198 on November 19, 2002.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open
business session on May 21, 2003, by a voice vote of a quorum
present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 246, if amended as
described herein.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS
During the consideration of S. 246, the Committee adopted
three amendments to clarify language.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1 defines terms used in the Act.
Section 2(a) places approximately 2,484 acres of public
land in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico in trust for the Pueblo
of Santa Clara, New Mexico. Subsection (b) describes that land.
Section 3(a) places approximately 2,000 acres of public
land in Rio Arriba and Santa Fe Counties, New Mexico in trust
for the Pueblo of San Ildefonso, New Mexico. Subsection (b)
describes that land.
Section 4 directs the Bureau of Land Management, Office of
Cadastral Survey, to complete a survey to establish legal
descriptions of the trust lands.
Section 5 provides self explanatory guidelines for
administration of the trust land.
Section 6 provides a series of self explanatory
disclaimers.
COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS
The following estimate of costs of this measure has been
provided by the Congressional Budget Office:
S. 246--A bill to provide that certain Bureau of Land Management land
shall be held in trust for the Pueblo of Santa Clara and the
Pueblo of San Ildefonso in the state of New Mexico
CBO estimates that enacting S. 246 would not significantly
affect the federal budget. The bill could affect direct
spending, but we estimate that any such impact would be
negligible. S. 246 contains no intergovernmental or private-
sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal
governments.
S. 246 would direct the Secretary of the Interior to take
4,484 acres of federal lands and interests into trust on behalf
of two Indian tribes in New Mexico. The bill would require the
Secretary to survey a portion of those lands to establish new
boundaries of the tribes' reservations. Based on information
from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), we estimate that
federal spending to complete that survey and transfer the lands
into trust would not exceed $500,000, assuming the availability
of appropriated funds.
Taking lands into trust for Indian tribes could result in
forgone offsetting receipts (a credit against direct spending)
if, under current law, the lands would generate income from
programs to develop natural resources. According to BLM,
however, the affected lands currently generate no significant
receipts and are not expected to do so over the next 10 years.
Further, the bill specifies that valid existing rights would
not be affected by the proposed transfer of lands; hence, CBO
estimates that any forgone offsetting receipts under S. 246
would be negligible.
On May 12, 2003, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S.
523, the Native American Technical Corrections Act of 2003, as
ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on
April 10, 2003. S. 523 contains a provision that is similar to
S. 246, and our cost estimates of these provisions are the
same.
The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Jenny Lin and
Megan Carroll. This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine,
Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION
In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in
carrying out S. 246. The bill is not a regulatory measure in
the sense of imposing Government-established standards or
significant economic responsibilities on private individuals
and businesses.
No personal information would be collected in administering
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal
privacy.
Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the
enactment of S. 246, as ordered reported.
EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS
On, February 25, 2003, the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources requested legislative reports from the Department of
the Interior and the Office of Management and Budget setting
forth Executive agency recommendations on S. 246. These reports
had not been received at the time the report on S. 246 was
filed. When the reports become available, the Chairman will
request that they be printed in the Congressional Record for
the advice of the Senate. The testimony provided by the Bureau
of Land Management at the Subcommittee hearing follows together
with a subsequent clarification of the Administration's
position provided on May 8, 2003:
Statement of Jim Hughes, Deputy Director, Bureau of Land Management
Mr. Chairman, and members of the Subcommittee, thank you
for the opportunity to appear here today to discuss S. 246, a
bill to provide that certain Bureau of Land Management land be
held in trust for the Pueblo of Santa Clara and the Pueblo of
San Ildefonso in the State of New Mexico. The Department
generally supports S. 246, but would like to work with the
Subcommittee to make some modifications.
The Department of the Interior generally support S. 246,
but believes the Committee should consider modifications to the
bill. The BLM has identified the approximately 4,480 acres
described in the legislation as available for disposal. The BLM
agrees that the adjacent Pueblos of Santa Clara and San
Ildefonso would be appropriate holders of the land.
The two Pueblos have a long-standing interest in acquiring
this parcel. The parcel is bordered on the north by the Santa
Clara Pueblo, on the south by the San Ildefonso Pueblo, and on
the west by National Forest lands claimed as aboriginal
holdings by the two tribes. In 1988, the BLM's Taos Resource
Management Plan identified the parcel as difficult and
uneconomical to manage and determined it suitable for disposal.
Currently there are no known resource permits, leases, patents
or claims affecting these lands.
S. 246 would divide the parcel by conveying approximately
2,480 acres of BLM land to the Pueblo of Santa Clara and about
2,000 acres to the Pueblo of San Ildefonso. Again, the BLM
believes the Pueblos would be appropriate owners of the land,
and would support placing them in trust to be used for
traditional and customary uses, or to be used for stewardship
conservation for the benefit of the Pueblos. The Department is
concerned however, while this legislation would convey land
that is currently or has recently been the subject of a land
claim, the bill does not settle any future claims for land
managed by the BLM. The bill should be modified to include a
provision for the Pueblo of San Ildefonso to relinquish any
claim under Docket No. 354 in the United States Court of
Federal Claims and a separate provision to waive any future
claims by the Pueblo of Santa Clara with regard to these lands.
This would provide finality to long standing land claims.
The Chairman, the Department looks forward to working with
the Committee on these bills. Thank you for the opportunity to
testify before you today. I would be pleased to answer any
questions that you or the other members may have.
Department of the Interior,
Office of the Secretary,
Washington, DC, May 8, 2003.
Hon. Pete V. Domenici,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: Enclosed are responses to questions
submitted following the February 27, 2003, hearing on S. 203,
``To open certain withdrawn land in Big Horn County, Wyoming,
to locatable mineral development for bentonite mining,'' and S.
246, ``To provide that certain Bureau of Land Management land
shall be held in trust for the Pueblo of Santa Clara and the
Pueblo of San Ildefonso in the State of New Mexico,'' prepared
by the Bureau of Land Management.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide this material to
the Committee.
Sincerely,
Richard Cardinale
(For Jane M. Lyder, Legislative Counsel).
Enclosure.
Question From Senator Craig
S. 246
Question. In your written testimony you seemed to imply you
were concerned about any claim that the Pueblo of San Ildefonso
had on BLM related to Docket No. 354. But during questioning,
you seemed to imply that your concern was only related to that
portion of Claim Docket No. 354 that is within the 4,480 acres
included in S. 246, could you clarify your concern?
Answer. Upon further review and a closer examination of the
issue, the Department of the Interior has determined that no
modification of bill language is needed. The Department
supports S. 246 as introduced.
CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no
changes in existing law are made by the bill S. 246, as ordered
reported.