[Senate Report 109-252]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                       Calendar No. 419
109th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session                                                     109-252

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



 
TO RESOLVE CERTAIN NATIVE AMERICAN CLAIMS IN NEW MEXICO, AND FOR OTHER 
                                PURPOSES

                                _______
                                

                  May 3, 2006.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

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

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 1773]

    The Committee on Indian Affairs, to which was referred the 
bill (S. 1773) to resolve certain Native American claims in New 
Mexico, and for other purposes, having considered the same, 
reports favorably thereon with amendments and recommends that 
the bill, as amended, do pass.

                                PURPOSE

    The purpose of S. 1773, the Pueblo de San Ildefonso Claims 
Settlement Act of 2005, is to ratify and provide for the 
implementation of two agreements which, together, would effect 
a settlement of the Pueblo de San Ildefonso's land-related 
claims against the United States. The principal agreement is 
the Settlement Agreement between the United States and the 
Pueblo de San Ildefonso (the ``Pueblo''), which would resolve 
various claims of the Pueblo that were asserted or could have 
been asserted against the United States in Pueblo of San 
Ildefonso v. United States, Docket No. 354 in the United States 
Court of Federal Claims, as well as releasing certain other 
specified land-related claims against the United States, 
persons, the State of New Mexico and its subdivisions, and 
other Indian tribes. The other is a related agreement between 
the Incorporated County of Los Alamos, the Pueblo, the United 
States Department of Agriculture--Forest Service, and the 
United States Department of the Interior--Bureau of Indian 
Affairs, providing for, inter alia, the sale and conveyance of 
certain other National Forest System lands to the County of Los 
Alamos.
    Apart from its significance to the Pueblo and the United 
States as the means for resolving a case that has been pending 
for almost 55 years, the enactment of S. 1773 would represent 
something of a milestone in the history of Federal Indian 
Policy: it would settle the last remaining case filed under the 
provisions of the Indian Claims Commission Act of 1946.\1\
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    \1\ Act of August 13, 1946, 60 Stat. 1049 (Pub. L. No. 79-726, 
codified at 25 U.S.C. Sec. 70 et seq.) (omitted from title 25 after 
termination of the Commission in September of 1978).
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                               BACKGROUND

    Since time immemorial, the Pueblo de San Ildefonso has been 
a tribe of Indians located in what is now northern New Mexico, 
along the upper Rio Grande. Although the government of Spain 
issued a land grant to the Pueblo in 1704, the area within the 
grant was considerably smaller than the total area of the 
Pueblo's aboriginal lands. In 1848, the United States, under 
the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo,\2\ recognized the Pueblo's 
title to the lands included in the Spanish grant, but large 
areas of aboriginal lands lying outside of the grant were, over 
the years, taken or disposed of by the United States without 
compensation to the Pueblo.\3\
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    \2\ See, Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits and Settlement, 
February 2, 1848, 9 Stat. 922.
    \3\ The Pueblo de San Ildefonso was one of several Indian pueblos 
that received land grants from Spain on various dates between 1689 and 
1816. Following Mexico's independence from Spain in 1821, the Mexican 
government subsequently recognized the pueblos' ownership of these 
lands, as did the United States under the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo 
of 1848. Upon recommendation of the United States Surveyor General, 
Congress enacted legislation confirming 22 Spanish land grants to 
Indian pueblos, including the grant to the Pueblo de San Ildefonso. See 
``Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo--Definition and List of Community Land 
Grants in New Mexico,'' United States General Accounting Office, 
September 2001 (GAO-01-951), at page 17, and United States v. Pueblo of 
San Ildefonso, 513 F.2d 1383, 1387 (Ct.Cl. 1975).
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    In 1951, the Pueblo filed claims before the Indian Claims 
Commission seeking damages for these uncompensated losses of 
land as well as for the failure of the United States to deal 
with the Pueblo in conformity with the fair and honorable 
dealings standard of section 2 of the Indian Claims Commission 
Act. The Commission found that prior to the transfer of 
sovereignty from Mexico to the United States under the 1848 
treaty, the Pueblo used and occupied a larger area than its 
current land holdings and that, although the governments of 
Spain and Mexico had already granted some of its aboriginal 
lands to third parties, other portions of those lands were 
later taken from the Pueblo by the United States.\4\ The 
Commission found that the Pueblo's aboriginal lands, aside from 
its then current holdings, were taken or disposed of by the 
United States by three methods: by conveyances on various 
different dates to various third party grantees pursuant to the 
public land laws of the United States; by the establishment of 
the Jemez Forest Reserve (now part of the Santa Fe National 
Forest) in 1905; and by inclusion of a portion of those lands 
in the New Mexico Grazing District in 1941 pursuant to the 
Taylor Grazing Act.\5\ The Commission's findings were affirmed 
by the United States Court of Claims in United States v. Pueblo 
of San Ildefonso, 513 F.2d 1383, 1396 (Ct.C1.1975).
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    \4\ The United States stipulated to the Commission's findings 
relating to the boundaries of the Pueblo's aboriginal area and the 
portions of that area that were taken by United States without 
compensation. However, the U.S. disputed the dates of the takings, in 
that the dates of the takings affected the valuation of the lands and, 
therefore, the amount of compensation due to the Pueblo. See Indian 
Claims Commission Opinion and Findings, 30 Ind.Cl.Comm. 234, 235 (May 
9, 1973). The Commission found that the Pueblo's aboriginal lands that 
lay outside of its current reservation and Spanish land grant totaled 
some 66,227 acres. Id., at 262.
    \5\ See, Opinion and Findings, 30 Ind.Cl.Comm. at 236-37.
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    With the dissolution of the Indian Claims Commission in 
1978, the Pueblo's case, along with all other unresolved cases 
before the Commission, was transferred to the United States 
Court of Claims \6\ and thereafter continued before the United 
States Court of Federal Claims, where, in light of additional 
claims asserted by the Pueblo, the case was organized under 5 
subdockets. Subdocket A included claims for trespasses against 
the Pueblo's water rights; subdocket B, accounting claims 
alleging improper expenditure of the Pueblo's trust funds; 
subdocket C, claims for breach of trust for failure to make 
amounts due to the Pueblo productive and to replace lands and 
water lost to settlers; subdocket D, a claim for failure to 
obtain a particular parcel of land for the Pueblo's benefit in 
violation of the Federal government's duty to deal with it 
fairly and honorably; and subdocket E, the claims for 
uncompensated taking and disposal of aboriginal lands.
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    \6\ A total of 102 unresolved cases were transferred to the United 
States Court of Claims. See, F. Cohen, Handbook of Federal Indian Law 
446 (2005 ed.).
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    In 1996, the United States Court of Federal Claims ruled 
that the United States was liable to the Pueblo on all claims 
except the trespass claims under subdocket A. See, Pueblo of 
San Ildefonso v. United States, 35 Fed.Cl. 777 (1996). The 
Settlement Agreement that is the subject of S. 1773 would 
resolve all of the Pueblo's claims that were asserted or could 
have been asserted in its ICCA case as well as other land-
related claims of the Pueblo to the extent described in the 
Agreement.

                   OVERVIEW OF SETTLEMENT AND S. 1773

    Although Congress gave the Indian Claims Commission and the 
United States Court of Federal Claims jurisdiction to determine 
liability and damages, neither the Commission nor the United 
States Court of Federal Claims could restore land to tribes 
that brought claims under the Indian Claims Commission Act.\7\ 
In its settlement negotiations with the Government following 
the 1996 decision in Pueblo of San Ildefonso v. United States, 
the Pueblo nevertheless pressed for return of its lands. After 
several years of negotiations between the Pueblo and several 
Federal agencies, the Pueblo and the United States have reached 
a mutually acceptable settlement that, if approved by Congress, 
would provide a process for selling and conveying to the Pueblo 
approximately 7100 acres of its aboriginal area that is now 
embraced within National Forest System lands lying contiguous 
to, and northwest of, the San Ildefonso Reservation, and that 
would also address concerns of the County of Los Alamos and the 
neighboring Pueblo of Santa Clara.\8\
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    \7\ See, F. Cohen, supra, at 445.
    \8\ In addition to the resolution of support by the County of Los 
Alamos, the Council of the Pueblo of Santa Clara and the Counties of 
Santa Fe and Rio Arriba have adopted resolutions of support for the 
settlement contemplated by S. 1773.
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    S. 1773 would ratify the Settlement Agreement between the 
Pueblo and the United States and the related Los Alamos 
Agreement between the County of Los Alamos, the Pueblo, the 
U.S.D.A. Forest Service, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs and 
authorize the actions and activities contemplated by the terms 
of those agreements. The Settlement Agreement and the Los 
Alamos Agreement are included in the Appendix to this report. 
By their own respective terms, both agreements are contingent 
upon approval by the United States Congress.
    Under the Settlement Agreement, the Pueblo and the United 
States agree to file a motion for entry of final judgment in 
the amount of $6,900,000 and, after entry of judgment, the 
funds are to be deposited into a special settlement fund 
established under section 6 of the bill. In consideration of 
the benefits of the Settlement Agreement, the Pueblo agrees 
that all of its claims against the United States--with 
exceptions relating to its title to specific lands and 
appurtenant water rights identified in the bill and Settlement 
Agreement--that are based on aboriginal, Indian, or recognized 
title, that relate to federally-administered land, or that 
were, or could have been, asserted in Docket 354 before the 
United States Court of Federal Claims, are relinquished and 
extinguished. Similarly, subject to the exceptions specified in 
the Settlement Agreement, the Pueblo also agrees to the 
relinquishment and extinguishment of such land claims with 
respect to persons, the State of New Mexico and its 
subdivisions, and other Indian tribes.\9\
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    \9\ Besides Federal lands administered by the Forest Service, 
National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management, the Pueblo's 
aboriginal claim boundary encompasses non-Federal lands owned by third 
party individuals and entities.
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    The bill would authorize the Pueblo to use $3.1 million of 
its settlement funds to purchase from the Forest Service 
approximately 7100 acres of land within the Santa Fe National 
Forest,\10\ as provided and described in the Settlement 
Agreement. Thereafter, the Secretary of Agriculture would be 
authorized to use the proceeds received from the Pueblo to 
acquire other non-Federal lands in the State of New Mexico for 
National Forest System purposes.\11\
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    \10\ Referred to in the bill as the ``Settlement Area Land,'' the 
specific lands that are to be sold to the Pueblo have been selected and 
are depicted on the map attached as Appendix B to the Settlement 
Agreement. The $3.1 million price is subject to a quarterly increase at 
the rate of 3% per annum. Upon receipt of the deed to the lands from 
the Secretary of Agriculture, the Pueblo is authorized to convey its 
land to the United States in trust for the Pueblo.
    \11\ This would not be the first legislative settlement of an 
Indian Claims Commission Act case which provides for the conveyance to 
a tribe of a portion of its aboriginal lands within the National Forest 
System. The Santo Domingo Pueblo Claims Settlement Act of 2000, Pub. L. 
No. 106-425, approved a settlement of Santo Domingo Pueblo's claims 
asserted against the United States under the Indian Claims Commission 
Act as well as claims asserted in other litigation, and the settlement 
there authorized the placement of certain public lands administered by 
the Bureau of Land Management in trust for the Santo Domingo Pueblo and 
the use of its claims settlement funds for the purchase of National 
Forest System lands identified in a settlement agreement. As in S. 
1773, the Santo Domingo settlement authorized the Secretary of 
Agriculture to use the proceeds from that sale of land to acquire non-
Federal lands within or adjacent to National Forests in the State of 
New Mexico.
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    In addition to the Settlement Area Land, the bill would 
provide the Pueblo of Santa Clara with an exclusive 90-day 
option to purchase, subject to certain easements for Federal 
and private purposes, the ``Northern Tier Land,'' about 740 
acres of land located to the north of the Settlement Area Lands 
and adjacent to a segment of the southern boundary of the Santa 
Clara Reservation, for the sum of $310,000. The bill would 
direct the Secretary of Agriculture to sell the Northern Tier 
Land to the Pueblo of Santa Clara if it exercises its option. 
In the event that the Pueblo of Santa Clara fails to purchase 
the land as provided in the Act, the Secretary is directed to 
offer the land to the Pueblo de San Ildefonso for the same 
price.
    The Settlement Area Land and the Northern Tier Land would 
be held in trust by the United States for the benefit of the 
Indian tribe that purchases the land without further 
administrative action by the Secretary of Agriculture or 
Secretary of the Interior.
    The Settlement Agreement provides that the National Park 
Service and the Pueblo shall enter into a memorandum of 
understanding acknowledging the important and continuing role 
of certain areas within Bandelier National Monument in the on-
going cultural practices of the Pueblo, and that the Bureau of 
Land Management and the Pueblo shall enter into another 
memorandum of understanding acknowledging and recognizing the 
Pueblo's long-standing and deep ancestral ties to certain land 
located to the south of the Pueblo de San Ildefonso Grant.
    S. 1773 would also approve the Los Alamos Agreement, which 
contemplates two separate land transfers to the County of Los 
Alamos that are key components to the overall settlement with 
the Pueblo. In accordance with the Los Alamos Agreement and the 
Settlement Agreement, the bill would authorize the Pueblo to 
use a portion of its settlement funds to purchase from the 
Forest Service, at fair market value, the so-called ``Water 
System Land''--approximately 555 acres of land within the Santa 
Fe National Forest adjacent to the Settlement Area Lands that 
are an important part of the County's water supply system. The 
Water System Land would then be conveyed to the County in fee, 
subject to a contingent remainder in the United States in trust 
for the Pueblo, in the event that the County ceases to use the 
entirety of those lands as part of its water supply system.
    The Los Alamos Agreement also provides that the U.S.D.A. 
Forest Service will sell to the County, at fair market value, 
the ``Los Alamos Townsite Lands,'' 6 non-contiguous tracts of 
National Forest System land just outside of the City of Los 
Alamos which, according to the agreement, contain existing 
infrastructure improvements belonging to or used by the 
County.\12\ Additionally, this agreement provides for the 
maintenance and availability of certain public access roads 
that are part of the Forest Road Development System; amendments 
relating to the term of certain easements for State Highway 4; 
pavement widening of a portion of that highway; access to the 
COPAR Mine; an emergency evacuation route for the Los Alamos 
community through Pueblo lands; and other matters.
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    \12\ The 6 tracts of the Los Alamos Townsite Lands have a combined 
total of about 422 acres.
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                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    S. 1773 was introduced on September 26, 2005, by Senator 
Pete Domenici for himself and Senator Bingaman and referred to 
the Committee on Indian Affairs. On March 29, 2006, the 
Committee ordered S. 1773 reported favorably with two 
amendments offered by Senator Domenici: one in section 7(c)(1), 
by adding ``and for associated administrative costs'' to 
clarify that the Secretary of Agriculture would be authorized 
to use receipts from the sale of National Forest System lands 
under the Act for administrative costs associated with the 
purchase of lands authorized by the Act, and the other in 
section 17, by adding ``(except the conveyances and adjustments 
relating to the Los Alamos Townsite Land)'' which would except 
the conveyances and adjustments authorized in connection with 
the Los Alamos Townsite Land from the 180-day time line in 
section 17 for completion of conveyances and adjustments 
contemplated by the Act.

            COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION AND TABULATION OF VOTE

    In an open business session on March 29, 2006, the 
Committee, by voice vote, ordered the bill reported favorably 
to the Senate with the two amendments described above.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

    Section 1 cites the short title of S. 1773 as the ``Pueblo 
de San Ildefonso Claims Settlement Act of 2005.''
    Section 2(a) sets forth the definitions of 12 terms: 
``Administrative Access,'' ``County,'' ``Los Alamos 
Agreement,'' Los Alamos Townsite Land,'' Northern Tier Land,'' 
``Pending Litigation,'' ``Pueblo,'' ``Settlement Agreement,'' 
``Settlement Area Land,'' ``Settlement Fund,'' ``Sisk Act,'' 
and ``Water System Land.''
    Section 2(b) sets forth the purposes of the bill: to 
finally dispose, as set forth in sections 4 and 5, of the 
Pueblo's rights, claims, or demands that were asserted or could 
have been asserted in the ``Pending Litigation'' (i.e., Docket 
354 in the United States Court of Federal Claims); extinguish 
claims based on aboriginal, Indian, or recognized title, or any 
other title claims under section 5 of the bill; authorize the 
Pueblo to acquire the Settlement Area Land and the Secretary of 
Agriculture to convey the Water System Land, the Northern Tier 
Land, and the Los Alamos Townsite Land for market value 
consideration and for such consideration to be used to acquire 
replacement National Forest land in New Mexico; provide for the 
trust status of the Settlement Area Land acquired by the 
Pueblo; to facilitate the government-to-government relations 
between the United States and the Pueblo regarding the 
management of certain lands administered by the National Park 
Service and the Bureau of Land Management as described in the 
Settlement Agreement; and to ratify the Settlement Agreement 
and the Los Alamos Agreement.
    Section 3 ratifies the Settlement Agreement and Los Alamos 
Agreement and authorizes the parties to the agreements to carry 
out their provisions and, by mutual agreement, to correct 
errors in legal descriptions and make minor modifications.
    Section 4 requires the United States and the Pueblo to file 
a motion for entry of final judgment in the Pending Litigation 
in accordance with section 5 of the Settlement Agreement and 
provides that upon entry of such judgment, as compensation to 
the Pueblo the sum of $6,900,000 shall be paid into the 
Settlement Fund established under the Act.
    Section 5(a) provides for the extinguishment, subject to 
exceptions described in subsection (b), of certain specified 
claims of the Pueblo against the United States, including 
claims based on aboriginal, Indian, or recognized title; claims 
for damages or other judicial relief or administrative remedies 
that were brought or were knowable and could have been brought 
before the date of the Settlement Agreement; claims relating to 
federally-administered land or land owned by, or held for the 
benefit of, any other Indian tribe; and any other claim that 
was or could have been asserted in the pending litigation in 
the United States Court of Federal Claims.
    Section 5(b) sets forth the exceptions to the 
relinquishments and extinguishments of claims of subsection 
(a), including the Pueblo's title of record to certain lands 
identified in Appendix D to the Settlement Agreement, the 
Pueblo's title to the Pueblo de San Ildefonso Grant, the water 
rights of the Pueblo appurtenant to such identified lands and 
the Grant, and the rights of the Pueblo and its members under 
Federal law relating to religious or cultural access to and use 
of Federal land.
    Section 5(c) provides that the Act does not affect any 
prior extinguishments of rights or claims of the Pueblo which 
may have occurred by operation of law.
    Section 5(d) provides that nothing in the Act affects the 
boundaries of the Pueblo de San Ildefonso Grant and that 
nothing in the Act affects, ratifies, or confirms the Pueblo's 
right, title, or interest in land held by or for the benefit of 
the Pueblo, including the land described in Appendix D of the 
Settlement Agreement.
    Section 6 establishes the ``Pueblo de San Ildefonso Land 
Claims Settlement Fund'' and sets forth 6 conditions applicable 
to monies deposited into the Fund relating to maintenance and 
investment of the fund by the Secretary of Interior; the 
purposes for which such monies may be used; the effect on the 
liability and oversight of the Secretaries of the Interior and 
Treasury with respect to monies withdrawn by the Pueblo from 
the Fund; a prohibition against per capita payments to members 
of the Pueblo; a requirement that the acquisition of land with 
funds from the Fund shall be on a willing-seller, willing-buyer 
basis, with no eminent domain authority; and the non-
applicability of Pub. L. No. 93-134 and section 203 of the 
American Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act of 1994 (25 
U.S.C. 4023) to the Settlement Fund.
    Section 7(a) authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to 
sell the Settlement Area Land, Water System Land, and Los 
Alamos Townsite Land on such terms and conditions as are agreed 
upon and described in the Settlement Agreement and the Los 
Alamos Agreement, including reservations for administrative and 
other access, and provides that consideration for any such land 
shall not be offset or reduced by any claim or cause of action 
by any party to whom the land is conveyed.
    Section 7(b) provides that the consideration for the 
Settlement Area Land and Water System Land shall be as agreed 
upon in the Settlement Agreement and that for the Los Alamos 
Townsite Land shall be current market value based on an 
appraisal approved by the Forest Service.
    Section 7(c) provides that the funds received by the 
Secretary of Agriculture from the sale of National Forest 
System land under the Act shall be deposited in a fund 
established pursuant to the Sisk Act and shall be available 
without further appropriation, authorization or administrative 
apportionment for purchase of land for National Forest System 
purposes,\13\ and restricts the transfer, reprogramming and use 
of the funds for certain other purposes. This subsection also 
states the Pueblo must use only the funds in the Settlement 
Fund for acquiring lands from the Forest Service under the Act.
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    \13\ The amendment approved by the Committee clarifies that these 
funds may also be used for administrative costs associated with the 
authorized land purchases.
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    Section 7(d) provides that the Settlement Area Land 
acquired by the Pueblo and the Water System Land and Los Alamos 
Townsite Land acquired by the County of Los Alamos shall be 
subject to valid existing rights, and describes the 
reservations of rights, including administrative and private 
rights of access, applicable to the Settlement Area Land, the 
Water System Land and Los Alamos Townsite Land. This section 
states that no water rights shall be conveyed by the United 
States, and provides that the Act does not affect the validity 
of any special use authorizations issued by the Forest Service 
within theSettlement Area Land except that the authorizations 
shall not be renewed upon expiration, and it requires the Secretary of 
the Interior to execute easements for private landowners upon the 
Pueblo's acquisition of the Settlement Area Land.
    Section 7(e) provides that, subject to certain conditions 
and limitations, the United States shall reserve and have 
unrestricted rights to use, operate, maintain, and reconstruct 
those sections of certain Forest Development Roads referenced 
in the Settlement Agreement for public and administrative 
access and other Federal governmental purposes. This section 
also allows the United States to improve Forest Development 
Road 416v beyond its existing condition and to have 
unrestricted administrative access and non-motorized trail 
access to a portion of Forest Road 442.
    Section 7(f) provides for the continued operation of the 
COPAR Pumice Mine under the Contract for Sale of Mineral 
Materials dated May 4, 1994, and for COPAR to continue using 
portions of certain roads for the period of the contract and 
thereafter for a period necessary to reclaim the site. This 
section also states that the Secretary of the Interior shall 
administer the continuing jurisdiction of the United States 
over the contract and, upon expiration of the contract, assume 
jurisdiction over reclamation, and that nothing in the Act 
limits or enhances the rights of COPAR under the contract.
    Section 8(a) requires the Secretary of Agriculture, upon 
receipt of the consideration from the Pueblo for the Settlement 
Area Land and the Water System Land, to execute and deliver a 
quitclaim deed to the Pueblo for the Settlement Area Land, and 
to execute and deliver another such deed to the County of Los 
Alamos, subject to the contingent remainder in trust for the 
Pueblo and a right of access for the Pueblo for ceremonial and 
other cultural purposes, for the Water System Land. This 
section also requires the Secretary of Agriculture, upon 
receipt of the consideration from the County for all or a 
portion of the Los Alamos Townsite Land, to execute and deliver 
a quitclaim deed to all or a portion of such land, as 
appropriate.
    Section 8(b) allows the Pueblo to quitclaim the Settlement 
Area Land back to the United States in trust for the Pueblo.
    Section 8(c) states that no instrument other than a 
quitclaim deed shall be required to convey the Settlement Area 
Land, the Water System Land, the Northern Tier Land, or the Los 
Alamos Townsite Land under the Act.
    Section 8(d) authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to 
perform and approve any required cadastral survey.
    Section 8(e) authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture, 
notwithstanding 31 U.S.C. 3302 or any other provision of law, 
to accept and use contributions of cash or services from the 
Pueblo, other governmental entities or other persons to perform 
and complete required cadastral surveys of the lands as 
described in the Settlement Agreement or the Los Alamos 
Agreement and to carry out any other project or activity under 
the Act, the Settlement Agreement or the Los Alamos Agreement.
    Section 9(a) states that without any additional 
administrative action by the Secretary of Agriculture or the 
Secretary of the Interior, on recording the quitclaim deed or 
deeds from the Pueblo under section 8(b) in the regional Land 
Titles and Records Office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the 
Settlement Area Land shall be held in trust by the United 
States for the benefit of the Pueblo and the Forest boundaries 
shall be deemed to be modified to exclude the Settlement Area 
Land from the National Forest System. This section also states 
that upon filing in the county land records of the quitclaim 
deed or deeds to the Water System Land, the Forest boundaries 
shall be deemed to be modified to exclude the Water System Land 
from the National Forest System.
    Section 9(b) states that if fee title to the Water System 
Land vests in the Pueblo by conveyance or operation of law, the 
Water System Land shall be deemed to be held in trust by the 
United States for the benefit of the Pueblo without further 
administrative procedures or environmental or other analysis.
    Section 9(c) states that any land conveyed to the Secretary 
of the Interior in trust for the Pueblo under the Act shall be 
subject to 25 U.S.C. 177 and treated as reservation land.
    Section 10 sets forth requirements and limitations for the 
interim management of the Settlement Area Land, the Water 
System Land, the Northern Tier Land, and the Los Alamos 
Townsite Land prior to the conveyance of those lands under 
section 9 of the Act.
    Section 11 withdraws the lands available for sale to the 
Pueblo and the Northern Tier Land, as identified in certain 
specified notices of withdrawal published in the Federal 
Register, from all location, entry, and patent under the public 
land, mining and mineral leasing (including geothermal leasing) 
laws of the United States.
    Section 12(a) requires the Secretary of Agriculture to sell 
the Northern Tier Land, subject to valid existing rights and 
reservations of the United States, on such terms as the 
Secretary may prescribe as being in the public interest and in 
accordance with the provisions of this section. The section 
also provides that the purpose for the authorization to convey 
these lands is consolidation of Federal and non-Federal lands 
to increase management efficiency and not in settlement or 
compromise of any claim of title by any Pueblo, Indian tribe, 
or other entity.
    Section 12(b)(1) provides the Pueblo of Santa Clara with an 
exclusive option to purchase the Northern Tier Land beginning 
on the enactment date and ending 90 days thereafter, sets forth 
the requirements for exercising the option, and states that if 
the Santa Clara Pueblo fails to exercise the option or close on 
the purchase of the land within 1 year after exercising its 
option, the Secretary of Agriculture must offer the Northern 
Tier Land for sale to the Pueblo.
    Section 12(b)(2) provides the Pueblo with a 90-day option 
to purchase the Norther Tier Land in the event that the Pueblo 
of Santa Clara fails to exercise its option to purchase or 
close on the purchase as provided in paragraph (1), and sets 
forth the requirements for the Pueblo to exercise its option. 
In the event that the Pueblo fails toexercise its option or 
close within 1 year after exercising its option, the Secretary of 
Agriculture is authorized to sell the Northern Tier lands to any third 
party on such terms and conditions as the Secretary determines to be in 
the public interest.
    Section 12(b)(3) authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to 
extend the 1-year period for closing the sale of the lands 
under certain circumstances.
    Section 12(c) sets forth the terms and conditions for the 
sale of the Northern Tier Land. Section 12(c)(1) sets the 
purchase price at the amount agreed to by the Pueblo of Santa 
Clara in its Tribal Council Resolution No. 05-01.\14\ Section 
12(c)(2) reserves the right of the United States to operate, 
maintain, reconstruct, replace, use and have access to a 
certain stream gauge. Section 12(c)(3) provides that the 
Northern Tier Land shall be conveyed by quitclaim deed executed 
by the Director of Lands and Minerals, Forest Service, 
Southwest Region, Department of Agriculture.
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    \14\ The price identified in that Tribal Council resolution is 
$310,000.
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    Section 12(d) states that if the Northern Tier Land is 
purchased by an Indian tribe, the land may be reconveyed by 
quitclaim deed back to the United States to be held in trust by 
the Secretary of the Interior for the benefit of the tribe, and 
requires the Secretary of the Interior to accept the conveyance 
without additional administrative action by the Secretary of 
Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior. This section also 
states that the land shall be deemed to be held in trust for 
the benefit of the tribe on recording of the deed in the 
regional Land Titles and Records Office of the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs, and that effective on the date of a deed described in 
paragraph (1), the Forest boundaries shall be deemed to be 
modified to exclude the land conveyed by the deed from the 
National Forest System.
    Section 12(e)(1) provides for inholder and public access, 
by deed reservations or grants of land, across the Northern 
Tier Land in order to provide reasonable ingress and egress to 
private and Federal land as shown in Appendix B of the 
Settlement Agreement, in the event the Pueblo of Santa Clara 
does not exercise its option to purchase the land.
    Section 12(e)(2) is applicable if the Pueblo of Santa Clara 
does exercise its option to purchase the Northern Tier Land, 
and requires the Pueblo of Santa Clara to grant easements to 
(1) the United States over certain existing roads for specified 
administrative access purposes, with a condition that the 
United States must contribute to the maintenance of the roadway 
commensurate with actual use; and (2) private landowners within 
the Northern Tier Land for private access over certain 
specified roads.
    Section 12(e)(3) requires the Secretary of the Interior to 
approve the easements described in paragraph (2) upon approval 
of the terms of the easement by the Secretary of Agriculture, 
and section 12(e)(4) authorizes the Secretary of the Interior 
to vacate inholder access over a certain Forest Development 
Road if the administrative and inholder access under paragraph 
(2) is adequate.
    Section 13 authorizes the Pueblo of Santa Clara and the 
Pueblo de San Ildefonso to demarcate, by agreement, a boundary 
between their respective tribal land within a certain township 
specified by the section, and to exchange or otherwise convey 
land between them in that township. Section 13 also requires 
the Secretary of the Interior to recognize and provide a survey 
for any such agreed-to boundary, approve any such agreed-upon 
exchanges and conveyances, and accept conveyances of exchanged 
lands into trust for the benefit of the grantee tribe.
    Section 14 requires the Secretary of the Interior, not 
later than 2 years after the enactment date, to act in 
accordance with the Indian Tribal Judgment Funds Use or 
Distribution Act (25 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.) with respect to the 
award entered in the compromise and settlement of claims under 
the case styled Pueblo of San Ildefonso v. United States, No. 
660-87L, United States Court of Federal Claims.
    Section 15 provides that, notwithstanding any provision of 
State law, the Settlement Agreement and the Los Alamos 
Agreement (including real property conveyances under the 
agreements) shall be interpreted and implemented as matters of 
Federal law.
    Section 16 states that the Act shall take effect on the 
date of its enactment.
    Section 17 states the Congressional intent that the land 
conveyances and adjustments contemplated by the Act shall be 
completed not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 
of the Act.\15\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \15\ The amendment approved by the Committee excepts from this 
requirement the conveyances and adjustments relating to the Los Alamos 
Townsite Land.
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    Section 18 authorizes to be appropriated such funds as are 
necessary to carry out the Act.

                   COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

    The following cost estimate dated April 19, 2006, was 
prepared for S. 1773:

S. 1773--Pueblo de San Ildefonso Claims Settlement Act of 2005

    S. 1773 would ratify a settlement agreement entered into by 
the Departments of Justice, the Interior, and Agriculture with 
the Pueblo de San Ildefonso. Under the agreement, the tribe 
would receive about $7 million from the federal government in 
exchange for extinguishing certain claims against the 
government. Funds from the settlement would be used by the 
tribe to acquire land, including about 7,600 acres of national 
forest land. The legislation also would allow the sales of 
about 425 acres of federal land to the county of Los Alamos, 
New Mexico, with an estimated value of about $500,000 and about 
740 acres to the Pueblo of Santa Clara for about $350,000. All 
proceeds from the land sales would be available to the U.S. 
Forest Service to spend, without further appropriation, to 
purchase nonfederal lands within or adjacent to national 
forests in New Mexico.
    CBO estimates that implementing S. 1773 would increase 
direct spending from the Judgment Fund of the U.S. Treasury by 
about $7 million in fiscal year 2006. That payment could be 
offset by a reduction in possible future payments from the 
Judgment Fund to settle the tribe's claims, but CBO cannot 
estimate the likelihood, magnitude, or timing of such an 
offset. According to the Forest Service, the lands to be sold 
currently generate no significant receipts and are not expected 
to do so during the next 10 years. Hence, CBO estimates that 
selling the land would not significantly affect offsetting 
receipts (a credit against direct spending). As noted above, 
the Forest Service would spend roughly $850,000 of such 
proceeds, so there would be no net budget impact from those 
sales.
    The legislation also would allow the Forest Service to 
accept gifts of cash or services for surveys related to the 
land sales. CBO estimates that the total value of the gifts 
would not be significant. In addition, based on information 
from the Forest Service, we estimate that the administrative 
costs of implementing this legislation, including the required 
surveys, would be negligible.
    S. 1773 contains an intergovernmental mandate as defined in 
the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) because it would 
preempt state law and require that the settlement agreement be 
interpreted under federal law. CBO estimates, however, that 
this mandate would impose no costs on any state, local, or 
tribal government, and so would not exceed the threshold 
established in UMRA ($64 million in 2006, adjusted annually for 
inflation). Enacting this bill would benefit the Pueblo de San 
Ildefonso because it is a necessary step towards implementing 
the settlement agreement between the Pueblo and the United 
States resolving the Pueblo's land claims. Any costs or duties 
that the bill might impose on the Pueblo would be those it has 
assumed voluntarily as a party to the agreement. The bill would 
impose no other significant costs on any state, local, or 
tribal government.
    The legislation contains no new private-sector mandates as 
defined in UMRA.
    The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Matthew 
Pickford (for federal costs), and Marjorie Miller (for the 
impact on state, local, and tribal governments). The estimate 
was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director 
for Budget Analysis.

                      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 to be incurred in carrying out 
the bill. The Committee believes that S. 1773 will have minimal 
regulatory or paperwork impact.

                        EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

    The Committee has received no official executive 
communications on S. 1773.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    In compliance with subsection 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee states that the 
enactment of H.R. 797 will result in no changes in existing 
law.


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