[House Report 110-91]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



110th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session                                                     110-91

======================================================================
 
         COPPER VALLEY NATIVE ALLOTMENT RESOLUTION ACT OF 2007

                                _______
                                

 April 17, 2007.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

  Mr. Rahall, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 865]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 
bill (H.R. 865) to grant rights-of-way for electric 
transmission lines over certain Native allotments in the State 
of Alaska, 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. 865 is to grant rights of way for 
electric transmission lines over certain Native allotments in 
the State of Alaska.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    H.R. 865 seeks to resolve a conflict in 14 cases between 
land titles issued under the Alaska Native Allotment Act of 
1906 and rights-of-way granted by the Department of the 
Interior to the Copper Valley Electric Association, a rural 
non-profit electrical cooperative that provides electricity to 
about 4,000 members in Alaska's Valdez and Copper River Basin 
areas. Extensive background on the subject may be found in the 
U.S. Government Accountability Office report: ``Alaska Native 
Allotments: Conflicts with Utility Rights-of-way Have Not Been 
Resolved through Existing Remedies'' (GAO-04-923, September 7, 
2004).
    Under the Alaska Native Allotment Act of 1906, the 
Secretary of the Interior was authorized to grant individual 
Alaska Natives a homestead of up to 160 acres of land. The 
Alaska Native Allotment Act was repealed by the Alaska Native 
Claims Settlement Act (Pub. L. 92-203) in 1971, and many 
allotment applications were filed shortly prior to the repeal. 
In 1980, Congress legislatively approved, subject to valid 
existing rights, pending Native Allotment claims in the Alaska 
National Interest Lands Conservation Act (Pub. L. 96-487).
    Although Copper Valley Electric Association holds right-of-
ways granted in the 1950's and 1960's, and built electric lines 
prior to the filing of Alaska Native Allotment claims, the 
Interior Board of Land Appeals determined in 1987 that the 
Alaska Native allotees have priority under the ``relation back 
doctrine.'' Since then, efforts to resolve the conflicts 
between the federal laws have been largely unsuccessful.
    H.R. 865 ratifies existing rights-of-way across the 14 
specified Native Allotments for electric transmission lines 
owned by the Copper Valley Electric Association. H.R. 865 also 
requires the Secretary of the Interior to appraise the fair 
market value of the rights-of-way and provides that 
compensation will be paid to the owners of the Native 
Allotments from the Treasury's permanent Judgment Fund (31 
U.S.C. Section 1304).

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 865 was introduced on February 6, 2007 by 
Representative Don Young (R-Alaska). The bill was referred to 
the Committee on Natural Resources. In the 109th Congress, the 
Committee held a hearing on a similar bill, H.R. 5781, on 
September 13, 2006.
    On March 7, 2007, the full Committee on Natural Resources 
met to consider H.R. 865. The bill was ordered favorably 
reported to the House of Representatives by voice vote.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Short title

    Section 1 entitles the bill the ``Copper Valley Native 
Allotment Resolution Act of 2007.''

Section 2. Definitions

    Section 2 defines the terms used in the Act.

Section 3. Electrical transmission line rights-of-way

    Section 3(a) grants rights-of-way across the Native 
allotments for an electrical transmission line owned by the 
Copper Valley Electric Association. Section 3(b) requires that 
the Secretary of the Interior shall determine an accurate legal 
description of the rights-of-way, the nature of the rights 
granted, and the widths of the right-of-way. Subsection 3(c) 
clarifies that the Act does not apply to land owned by Ahtna, 
Inc. Section 3(d)(1) and (2) establishes a procedure for the 
Secretary to appraise the rights-of-way, provide notice, 
calculate payments and compensate Native allotment owners. 
Section 3(d)(3) provides that compensation to the Native 
allotment owners shall be paid from the permanent judgment 
appropriation under 31 U.S.C. Section 1304. Section 3(d)(4) 
limits judicial review to the determination of the Secretary 
regarding compensation.

Section 4. Authorization of appropriations

    Section 4 authorizes such sums as may be necessary to carry 
out this Act.

            COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATION

    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 of the Constitution of the United 
States grants 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. According to the Congressional Budget Office, 
compensation paid to Native allotment holders from the 
Treasury's permanent Judgment Fund pursuant to H.R. 865 would 
result in an increase in direct spending of as much as 
$150,000.
    3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or 
objective of this bill is to grant rights-of-way for electric 
transmission lines over certain Native allotments in the State 
of Alaska.
    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. 865--Copper Valley Native Allotment Resolution Act of 2007

    H.R. 865 would grant rights-of-way to the Copper Valley 
Electric association across certain Alaskan Native allotments 
for electric transmission lines owned by the association. The 
Secretary of the Interior would be required to appraise the 
allotments for fair market value, and would compensate the 
landholders.
    Based on information from the Department of the Interior, 
CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 865 would not have a 
significant effect on the federal budget. We estimate that 
granting rights-of-way would increase the Bureau of Land 
Management's administrative costs to prepare assessments of the 
value of the rights-of-way by less than $500,000, assuming the 
availability of appropriated funds. Compensation paid to 
allotment holders would be paid from the Treasury's permanent 
Judgment Fund, and would be considered an increase in direct 
spending of as much as $150,000, CBO estimates. Enacting H.R. 
865 would not affect revenues.
    H.R. 865 contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined 
in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no 
costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
    H.R. 865 would impose a private-sector mandate as defined 
in UMRA on certain owners of Native allotments in Alaska. It 
would grant the Copper Valley Electric Association rights-of-
way across 14 allotments. Based on information from government 
sources, CBO estimates the direct cost of complying with that 
mandate would be minimal compared to the annual threshold for 
private-sector mandates established in UMRA ($131 million in 
2007, adjusted annually for inflation).
    The staff contact for this estimate is Tyler Kruzich. 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.

                           EARMARK STATEMENT

    H.R. 865 does not contain any congressional earmarks, 
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in 
clause 9(d), 9(e) or 9(f) of rule XXI.

                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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