[House Report 109-621]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



109th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     109-621

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 TO PROVIDE FOR ACQUISITION OF SUBSURFACE MINERAL RIGHTS TO LAND OWNED 
BY THE PASCUA YAQUI TRIBE AND LAND HELD IN TRUST FOR THE TRIBE, AND FOR 
                             OTHER PURPOSES

                                _______
                                

 September 6, 2006.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

  Mr. Pombo, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 631]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 631) to provide for acquisition of subsurface mineral 
rights to land owned by the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and land held in 
trust for the Tribe, and for other purposes, having considered 
the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and 
recommend that the bill do pass.

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of H.R. 631 is to provide for the acquisition 
of subsurface mineral rights to land owned by the Pascua Yaqui 
Tribe and land held in trust for the Tribe.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    H.R. 631 directs the Secretary of the Interior to acquire, 
through the process of eminent domain and only with the consent 
of the State of Arizona, the subsurface mineral estate beneath 
the fee lands owned by the Pascua Yaqui Indian Tribe of 
Arizona. The purpose for condemnation is to consolidate 
ownership of the subsurface and surface estates to complete the 
Tribe's fee-to-trust application, currently pending at the 
Department of the Interior. Unlike the surface estate which can 
be sold to private interests, condemnation is necessary for the 
mineral estate as subsurface rights currently owned by the 
State of Arizona are unable to be sold by the authority of the 
State's constitution. The State of Arizona has given its 
consent to the condemnation.
    In 1910, the United States Congress enacted the Arizona-New 
Mexico Enabling Act, allowing the State of Arizona admission 
into the United States. That act provided the State of Arizona 
with thousands of acres of land commonly referred to as ``state 
trust land.'' These lands were intended to produce revenue for 
various public institutions such as schools and libraries. In 
addition to the surface land, the State of Arizona also owned 
the subsurface mineral rights which were governed by the same 
guidelines as its surface counterpart.
    Several years ago, the Pascua Yaqui Indian tribe of Arizona 
purchased four parcels of land, totaling approximately 436.18 
acres, from the State of Arizona at fair market value. These 
parcels are adjacent to the Pascua Yaqui tribe's reservation 
near Tucson, Arizona. The Tribe subsequently applied to the 
Department of Interior to take this new acreage into trust. The 
Department objected to the Tribe's application because the 
State of Arizona still owned the subsurface mineral estate 
beneath the Tribe's newly acquired parcels. In order for the 
Tribe to acquire the relevant mineral estate, the United States 
government is required to obtain the subsurface estate as the 
State cannot sell its own lands under State law. Once the 
subsurface estate is owned by the Tribe, the Interior 
Department may move forward with the Tribe's fee-to-trust 
application for the relevant surface lands. The acquisition in 
this legislation is by the consent of the State of Arizona and 
will be paid for at fair market value by the Pascua Yaqui 
Indian Tribe.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 631 was introduced on February 8, 2005, by Congressman 
Raul M. Grijalva (D-AZ). The bill was referred to the Committee 
on Resources. On July 19, 2006, the Full Resources Committee 
met to consider the bill. No amendments were offered and the 
bill was ordered favorably reported to the House of 
Representatives by unanimous consent.

            COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

    Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee on Resources' oversight findings and recommendations 
are reflected in the body of this report.

                   CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

    Article I, section 8, clause 3, and Article IV, section 3, 
clause 2 of the Constitution of the United States grant 
Congress the authority to enact this bill.

                    COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII

    1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and 
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be 
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B) 
of that rule provides that this requirement does not apply when 
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted 
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the 
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
    2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2) 
of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this 
bill does not contain any new budget authority, credit 
authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or tax 
expenditures. The Congressional Budget Office has concluded 
that enactment of this bill would have ``no significant 
effect'' on direct spending.
    3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. This bill does 
not authorize funding and therefore, clause 3(c)(4) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives does not 
apply.
    4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause 
3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives and section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act 
of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate 
for this bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office:

H.R. 631--A bill to provide for acquisition of subsurface mineral 
        rights to land owned by the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and land held in 
        trust for the tribe, and for other purposes

    H.R. 631 would direct the Department of the Interior (DOI) 
to acquire all subsurface rights and interests to certain lands 
in Arizona by eminent domain. Once acquired, these interests 
would be put into trust for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. The tribe, 
which already owns the related surface estate, would reimburse 
the department for any transaction and appraisal costs.
    Based on information provided by DOI, and assuming the 
availability of appropriated funds, CBO estimates that 
acquiring the affected property rights for the Pascua Yaqui 
Tribe would cost less than $500,000 over the next year. We 
expect that reimbursement by the tribe for associated 
transaction costs would sum to a few thousand dollars; 
therefore, we estimate that enacting this legislation would 
have no significant effect on direct spending. Enacting H.R. 
631 would not affect revenues.
    H.R. 631 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. 
The acquisitions authorized by the bill would be voluntary on 
the part of the tribe and the state of Arizona; any costs they 
would incur as a result of these acquisitions would be incurred 
voluntarily.
    On July 21, 2006, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S. 
1291, the Pascua Yaqui Mineral Rights Act of 2005, as ordered 
reported by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on June 29, 
2005. The two bills are similar, and our cost estimates are the 
same.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Daniel Hoople. 
This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy 
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

                    COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4

    This bill contains no unfunded mandates.

                PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

    This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or 
tribal law.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing 
law.

                                  
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