[Senate Report 108-91]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                       Calendar No. 199
108th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session                                                     108-91

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                LAKE TAHOE BASIN MANAGEMENT UNIT, NEVADA

                                _______
                                

                 July 11, 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. 490]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 490) to direct the Secretary of 
Agriculture to convey certain land in the Lake Tahoe Basin 
Management Unit, Nevada, to the Secretary of the Interior, in 
trust for the Washoe Indian Tribe of Nevada and California, 
having considered the same, reports favorably thereon with 
amendments and recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass.
    The amendments are as follows:
    On page 1, strike line 4 and all that follows through page 
2, line 19, and redesignate subsequent subsections accordingly.

                         PURPOSE OF THE MEASURE

    The purpose of S. 490 is to direct the Secretary of 
Agriculture to convey certain land in the Lake Tahoe Basin 
Management Unit to the Secretary of the Interior to be held in 
trust for the Washoe Indian Tribe.

                          BACKGROUND AND NEED

    S. 490 is intended to provide the Washoe Tribe of Nevada 
and California access to the shore of Lake Tahoe to support 
traditional and cultural uses. The Washoe Tribe's ancestral 
homeland includes over 5,000 square miles in the vicinity of 
the Lake Tahoe basin. The Tribe historically gathered along the 
shore of Lake Tahoe for activities such as spiritual renewal, 
land stewardship, traditional learning, and reunification of 
tribal and family bonds.
    The concept of providing the Washoe Tribe with access to 
the shore of Lake Tahoe was ratified by a group of Federal, 
State and local government leaders who gathered at a 1997 
Presidential Forum to discuss the future of Lake Tahoe. Goals 
and an action plan developed during the Lake Tahoe Forum became 
known as ``Presidential Forum Deliverables.'' These 
Deliverables include a commitment to provide the Washoe Tribe 
access to the shore of Lake Tahoe for traditional and cultural 
purposes.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    S. 490 was introduced by Senator Reid and Senator Ensign on 
February 27, 2003. The Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests 
held a hearing on S. 490 on June 12, 2003. The Committee 
ordered S. 490 favorably reported, with an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute on July 25, 2003. Similar legislation, 
S. 691, was introduced by Senators Reid and Ensign in the 107th 
Congress. The Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests held a 
hearing on S. 691 on November 27, 2001 (S. Hrg. 107-373). The 
Committee favorably reported S. 691 on June 28, 2002 (S. Rept. 
1707-191), and the Senate passed it by unanimous consent on 
August 12, 2002. A similar bill, S. 2751, passed the Senate 
during the 106th Congress.

                        COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

    The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in an 
open business session on July 25, 2002, by unanimous consent of 
a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass W. 490, if 
amended as described herein.

                          COMMITTEE AMENDMENT

    During its consideration of S. 490, the Committee adopted 
an amendment striking the findings in the original bill.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

    Section 1(a) states the purposes of the Act.
    Subsection (b) directs the Secretary of Agriculture, 
subject to valid existing rights, an access easement and other 
use limitations, to transfer 24.3 acres of lands administered 
by the Forest Service within the Lake Tahoe Basin Management 
unit to the Washoe Tribe.
    Subsection (c) reserves an easement to the United States 
over a portion of the conveyed land for public and nonexclusive 
access over a Forest Development Road, and provides for a 
reciprocal easement to the Tribe for vehicular access along the 
road for administration and safety purposes.
    Subsection (e) requires the Tribe to limit the use of the 
land to traditional and customary uses and to prohibit 
development or commercial use of the site, including gaming. 
The Tribe is also required to comply with environmental 
requirements that are no less protective than those which apply 
under the Tahoe Regional Plan. Finally, the subsection includes 
a reversal to the Secretary of Agriculture if the Tribe has 
used the land in violation of the restrictions listed in this 
Act.

                   COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

    The following estimate of the costs of this measure has 
been provided by the Congressional Budget Office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                     Washington, DC, June 27, 2003.
Hon. Pete V. Domenici,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 490, a bill to 
direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain land in 
the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, Nevada, to the Secretary 
of the Interior, in trust for the Washoe Indian Tribe of Nevada 
and California.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Megan 
Carroll.
            Sincerely,
                                          Peter H. Fontaine
                               (For Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Director).
    Enclosure.

S. 490--A bill to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain 
        land in the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, Nevada, to the 
        Secretary of the Interior, in trust for the Washoe Indian Tribe 
        of Nevada and California.

    Based on information from the Forest Service, CBO estimates 
that implementing S. 490 would have no significant impact on 
the federal budget. Enacting the legislation would not affect 
direct spending or revenues. S. 490 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. 490 would direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey, 
without consideration, about 24 acres of national forest system 
land within the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit to the 
Secretary of the Interior, to be taken into trust on behalf of 
the Washoe Indian Tribe of Nevada and California. According to 
the Forest Service, the lands to be conveyed currently generate 
no receipts and are not expected to do so over the next 10 
years. The Secretary of Agriculture would retain an easement to 
provide for access to federal lands adjacent to those that 
would be conveyed. S. 490 outlines conditions for the tribe's 
use of the conveyed lands and specifies that ownership of the 
lands would revert back to the Secretary of Agriculture if the 
tribe violates those conditions.
    On June 16, 2003, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R. 
74, similar legislation, as ordered reported by the House 
Committee on Resources on June 11, 2003. The two bills are very 
similar, and our estimates are the same.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is 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. 490. The bill is not a regulatory measure in 
the sense of imposing Government-established standards or 
significant 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. 490.

                        EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

    On June 3, 2003, the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources requested legislative reports from the Department of 
Agriculture and the Office of Management and Budget setting 
forth Executive agency recommendations of S. 490. These reports 
had not been received at the time that report on S. 490 was 
filed. The testimony provided by the Department of Agriculture 
at the Subcommittee hearing follows:

Statement of Tom Thompson, Deputy Chief, National Forest System, Forest 
                   Service, Department of Agriculture

    S. 490 directs the Secretary of Agriculture to convey 24.3 
acres of National Forest System land within the Lake Tahoe 
Basin Management Unit to the Secretary of the Interior to be 
held in trust for the Washoe Indian Tribe of Nevada and 
California. The conveyance would be subject to a reservation of 
a non-exclusive easement on a forest road to continue public 
and administrative access to other adjacent National Forest 
System land. In addition, the bill would grant vehicular access 
over a forest road to the parcel by tribal members under 
certain circumstances. The transfer would occur without 
consideration. The Department believes the bill would defeat 
public expectations of continued access to this lakefront 
parcel. The Department has concerns with S. 490 and would like 
to work with the Committee on alternatives that would meet 
tribal needs as discussed in our testimony.
    The Department understands and appreciates the goals of the 
Washoe Tribe to acquire land in the Lake Tahoe Basin for the 
purpose of exercising recurring exclusive use of Lake Tahoe 
shoreline property for traditional and customary cultural 
purposes. The Forest Service has taken extensive actions to 
meet the needs of the Tribe within the limits of its authority. 
At present, the Washoe Tribe holds a special use permit with 
the Forest Service for the uses described in Section 1(b)(2). 
These uses have been analyzed and approved through the Forest 
Service special use permitting process and appear to meet the 
needs of the Tribe.
    The 24.3-acre parcel identified in S. 490 for transfer to 
the Department of the Interior was originally acquired by the 
Forest Service as part of a larger purchase using funds 
authorized by the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act to 
provide public access to recreational resources in the Lake 
Tahoe Basin. Transfer of this parcel to the Department of the 
Interior to be held in trust for exclusive use by the Washoe 
Tribe is not consistent with the public purposes for which this 
land was purchased. The Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit has 
placed a high priority on the acquisition and retention of 
lakefront property for public access and watershed protection. 
Any land conveyance should be with consideration to ensure the 
public obtains market value. The Department also has concerns 
with the reversionary interests identified in 1(e)(2).
    In lieu of transferring the parcel to the Secretary of the 
Interior, the Department recommends the bill be amended to 
authorize the Secretary of Agriculture, upon the Tribe's 
request, to close the parcel to general public use on a 
temporary basis to protect the privacy of the traditional and 
customary cultural uses of the land by the Tribe. We note that 
Congress has provided similar statutory authority to the 
Secretary of the Interior in section 705(a) of the California 
Desert Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 410aaa-75(a)) and section 
507(c) of Public Law 100-225) (16 U.S.C. 460uu-47(c)), and to 
the Secretary of Agriculture in section 2(d)(1) of Public Law 
103-014 (16 U.S.C. 460jjj-1(d)(1)), an act establishing the 
Jemez National Recreation Area. Additionally, to meet the 
Tribe's goal of using the parcel for cultural horticulture and 
ethnobotany purposes, a provision could be added to the bill to 
authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to issue a permit to the 
Washoe Tribe for these uses. The Department believes this 
approach would accommodate both the goals of the Washoe Tribe 
and the objective of maintaining public access to the parcel.
    This concludes my statement. I would be happy to answer 
your questions.

                        CHANGES IN 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. 490, as ordered 
reported.

                                
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