[Senate Report 113-148]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                       Calendar No. 359
113th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session                                                     113-148

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



 
                   PASCUA YAQUI TRIBE TRUST LAND ACT

                                _______
                                

                 April 10, 2014.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

   Ms. Landrieu, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 507]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (H.R. 507) to provide for the conveyance of 
certain land inholdings owned by the United States to the 
Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona, and for other purposes, having 
considered the same, reports favorably thereon without 
amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

                                PURPOSE

    The purpose of H.R. 507 is to provide for two parcels of 
land totaling approximately 20 acres in southern Arizona to be 
held in trust by the United States for the benefit of the 
Pascua Yaqui Tribe.

                          BACKGROUND AND NEED

    The Pascua Yaqui Indian Reservation is located near Tucson, 
Arizona. H.R. 507 would provide for two small parcels, together 
totaling approximately 20 acres, to be held in trust by the 
United States for the benefit of the Tribe, and added to the 
approximately 1,200-acre reservation.
    One of the parcels to be conveyed to the Tribe is a 10-acre 
parcel that was conveyed to the Tucson Unified School District 
by the Bureau of Land Management in 1981 under the Recreation 
and Public Purposes Act (43 U.S.C. 869 et seq.), to be used for 
a school site. However, the property was never developed and 
remains unused. The school district supports relinquishing its 
patent so that the lands can be conveyed to the Tribe.
    The second parcel to be conveyed is a 10-acre parcel of 
undeveloped Federal land administered by the Bureau of Land 
Management that is surrounded by reservation lands. The 
Department of the Interior supports both parcels being held in 
trust for the benefit of the Tribe.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    H.R. 507, sponsored by Representative Grijalva, was ordered 
reported by the Committee on Natural Resources on March 20, 
2013 (H. Rept. 113-27), and passed the House of Representatives 
by a vote of 401-2 on May 6, 2013.
    The Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining held 
a hearing on H.R. 507 on July 30, 2013. The bill was ordered 
reported at its business meeting on November 21, 2013.
    Representative Grijalva sponsored similar legislation, H.R. 
4222, during the 112th Congress, which passed the House of 
Representatives by a voice vote on June 5, 2012.

                        COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

    The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in 
open business session on November 21, 2013 by a voice vote of a 
quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass H.R. 507.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

    Section 1 provides the short title, the ``Pascua Yaqui 
Tribe Trust Land Act.''
    Section 2 defines key terms used in the bill.
    Section 3(a) directs the Secretary of the Interior 
(Secretary) to take a 10-acre parcel of land depicted on the 
referenced map as Parcel (A) into trust for the benefit of the 
Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona (Tribe), subject to valid 
existing rights.
    Subsection (b) provides identical authority for the 
Secretary to take a separate 10-acre parcel into trust for the 
benefit of the Tribe.
    Subsection (c) provides that the provisions in subsections 
(a) and (b) shall take effect on the day after the date the 
Tucson Unified School District relinquishes all right, title, 
and interest in the parcel described in subsection (b), and 
upon the approval by the Secretary of the Interior of the lease 
agreement between the Tribe and the Tucson Unified School 
District for the construction and operation of a regional 
transportation facility located on restricted Indian Land of 
the Tribe.
    Section 4 prohibits the Tribe from conducting gaming 
activities on the lands held in trust under this Act.
    Section 5(a) provides that there shall not be Federal 
reserved rights to surface water or groundwater for land taken 
into trust under this Act.
    Subsection (b) provides that the Tribe retain any right or 
claim to water under State law for land taken into trust by 
this Act.
    Subsection (c) states that any water rights that are 
appurtenant to land taken into trust under this Act for the 
benefit of the Tribe may not be forfeited or abandoned.
    Subsection (d) provides that nothing in this Act affects or 
modifies any right of the Tribe or obligation of the United 
States under Public Law 95-375 (25 U.S.C. 1300f et seq.; ``An 
Act to provide for the extension of certain Federal benefits, 
services, and assistance to the Pascua Yaqui Indians of 
Arizona, and for other purposes.'')

                   COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

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

H.R. 507--Pascua Yaqui Tribe Trust Land Act

    H.R. 507 would require the Secretary of the Interior to 
place 20 acres of land into trust for the benefit of the Pascua 
Yaqui Tribe of Arizona. Based on information provided by the 
Department of the Interior (DOI), CBO estimates that 
implementing the act would have no significant impact on the 
federal budget. Enacting H.R. 507 would not affect direct 
spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do 
not apply.
    Under the act, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) would be 
required to place 10 acres of land that is currently 
administered by the agency into trust for the benefit of the 
Pascua Yaqui Tribe. In addition, if the Tucson Unified School 
District elects to relinquish its interest in 10 acres of land 
that it acquired from the federal government under the 
Recreation and Public Purposes Act, management of those lands 
would revert back to BLM, and the Secretary would be required 
to place them into trust for the tribe.
    Based on information provided by DOI, CBO estimates that 
any administrative costs to carry out the legislation, which 
would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds, 
would be minimal. In addition, the affected lands do not 
generate any offsetting receipts for the federal government and 
are not expected to generate such receipts over the next 10 
years.
    H.R. 507 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. 
Enacting the bill would benefit the Pascua Yaqui tribe.
    On April 3, 2013, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R. 
507 as ordered reported by the House Committee on Natural 
Resources on March 20, 2013. The two versions of the 
legislation are similar, and the CBO cost estimates are the 
same.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Martin von 
Gnechten. The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, 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 H.R. 507.
    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 H.R. 507, as ordered reported.

                   CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

    H.R. 507, as reported, does not contain any congressionally 
directed spending items, limited tax benefits, or limited 
tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the Standing Rules 
of the Senate.

                        EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

    The testimony provided by the Bureau of Land Management at 
the July 30, 2013, Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and 
Mining hearing on H.R. 507 follows:

    Statement of Ned Farquhar, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Land and 
            Minerals Management, Department of the Interior

    Thank you for the opportunity to testify on H.R. 507, which 
provides that certain public lands in the Tucson, Arizona, area 
are declared to be held in trust by the United States for the 
benefit of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe (Tribe), subject to valid 
existing rights and to additional restrictions in the 
legislation. The Department of the Interior (Department) 
supports holding the lands in trust for the Tribe, but has 
concerns that the legislation makes the trust declaration 
subject to an additional, unrelated restriction.


                               background


    The Tribe's lands are located in Pima County, near Tucson, 
Arizona, and are a combination of lands held in trust by the 
United States and lands purchased and held in fee by the Tribe. 
Some of these fee lands are the subject of pending ``fee-land-
to-trust-land'' applications with the Department. The Tucson 
Unified School District (District) operates the Hohokam School 
on private lands adjacent to the tribal lands.
    The Tribe is interested in acquiring two parcels of public 
land totaling approximately 20 acres. One parcel is an 
undeveloped, isolated 10-acre tract of land administered by the 
Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The second is a tract of 
approximately 10 acres that was patented under the Recreation 
and Public Purposes Act (R&PP) to the District, but never 
developed.


                                h.r. 507


    H.R. 507 declares that approximately 20 acres of public 
land are to be held in trust by the United States for the 
benefit of the Tribe, subject to valid existing rights, 
following the approval of a private lease agreement by the 
Secretary of the Interior (Secretary). The lands include one 
10-acre parcel of BLM-managed land (designated in the 
legislation as ``Parcel A'') and one 10-acre parcel patented to 
the District under the R&PP (designated ``Parcel B''). Parcel 
B's trust status is deferred under the bill (Sec. 3(b)) subject 
to the District relinquishing its R&PP patent. In addition, 
under the bill (Sec. 3(c)), neither Parcel A nor Parcel B can 
be declared held in trust until the Secretary or a delegate 
approves and records a private lease agreement between the 
Tribe and the District for the operation of a regional 
transportation facility serving the Hohokam School located on 
restricted Indian land of the Tribe. The lease agreement 
pertains to lands unrelated to Parcel A or Parcel B.
    H.R. 507 references a map titled: PYT Land Department and 
dated Jan. 15, 2013. The BLM would welcome the opportunity to 
work with the bill sponsor and committee on a new land status 
map to accompany the legislation.
    The Department supports holding these two tracts of public 
land in trust for the Tribe. The Department has concerns that 
the additional requirement in Sec. 3(c), that the Secretary 
approve a private lease, on Tribal lands, for the District and 
the Tribe, as a precondition to holding in trust Parcel A and 
Parcel B--unrelated lands--may have implications for the 
Secretary's exercise of trust responsibility to the Tribe.
    Finally, the Department notes that section 5 of H.R. 507 
addresses the treatment of water rights that may be associated 
with the land to be taken into trust for the benefit of the 
Tribe. The Department has concerns regarding Section 5's 
restriction on its ability to assert reserved water rights that 
the Tribe may have or claim on the two tracts of public land 
because it could restrict the ability of the Tribe and of the 
United States as trustee on behalf of the Tribe from fully 
asserting and protecting the water rights of the Tribe.


                               conclusion


    HR. 507 represents an opportunity to improve land use for 
both the Tribe and the District on two isolated tracts of 
public land. Thank you for the opportunity to testify. I will 
be glad to answer any 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 H.R. 507, as ordered 
reported.

                                  
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