[House Report 114-271]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


114th Congress   }                                       {      Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session     }                                       {     114-271

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



 
              ALBUQUERQUE INDIAN SCHOOL LAND TRANSFER ACT

                                _______
                                

 September 30, 2015.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

Mr. Bishop of Utah, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted 
                             the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 1880]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 1880) to require the Secretary of the Interior 
to take into trust 4 parcels of Federal land for the benefit of 
certain Indian Pueblos in the State of New Mexico, 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. 1880 is to require the Secretary of the 
Interior to take into trust four parcels of Federal land for 
the benefit of certain Indian Pueblos in the State of New 
Mexico.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    Beginning in the late 19th century, many American Indian 
children found themselves thrust into boarding schools during 
the federal ``allotment and assimilation'' policy period which 
lasted from 1871 to 1928. In 1881, the Federal Government 
established the Albuquerque Indian School in New Mexico. The 
subsequent century saw several shifts in Federal Indian policy, 
up to the present policy period of self-determination and self-
governance. As the nation and tribes moved into a new era, so, 
too, did the former Indian school. In 1969, the Bureau of 
Indian Affairs conveyed 11 acres of the former school to the 19 
Pueblos by quitclaim deed.\1\ The 19 Pueblos are the New Mexico 
Indian Pueblos of Acoma, Cochiti, Isleta, Jemez, Laguna, Nambe, 
Ohkay Owingeh (San Juan), Picuris, Pojoaque, San Felipe, San 
Ildefonso, Sandia, Santa Ana, Santa Clara, Santo Domingo, Taos, 
Tesuque, Zia, and Zuni.
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    \1\See Senate Report 95-445 at 2.
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    Since 1969, the United States has engaged in the process of 
converting in piecemeal fashion the Albuquerque Indian School 
Reserve. H.R. 1880 is needed to transfer 11 acres of federal 
land at this site into trust for the benefit of the 19 Pueblos 
to expand economic development for the 19 Pueblos and the 
Albuquerque community.
    By 1976, the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center had been 
completed on 11 acres of the former school site by the 19 
Pueblos.\2\ In 1978, these 11 acres were placed into trust 
under legislation sponsored by members of the New Mexico 
Congressional delegation, Senator Pete Domenici and Congressman 
Manuel Lujan in the 95th Congress (S. 1509, Public Law 95-232). 
In 1981, the All Indian Pueblo Council\3\ (AIPC) petitioned the 
Bureau of Indian Affairs to transfer 44 acres of the former 
Indian School site into trust. In 1984, the Assistant Secretary 
for Indian Affairs approved the land into trust application for 
the 19 Pueblos.
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    \2\Senate Hearing 113-419 at 57.
    \3\The AIPC is composed of the Governors of the 19 Pueblos, which 
serves to administer social service programs for the benefit of the 19 
Pueblos. Until 2013, AIPC was an IRS 501(c)(3) organization.
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    In 2003, the AIPC again petitioned the Interior Department 
to place into trust approximately 8.5 acres of the former 
Indian School site, but the Interior Department was unable to 
proceed. Its land-in-trust regulations\4\ had been revised in 
1995 in a manner that did not contemplate the placement of land 
into trust for the benefit of multiple tribes collectively. In 
2008, the Albuquerque Indian School Act was enacted to place 
the lands in trust for the benefit of the Pueblos collectively 
(S. 1193, Public Law 110-453).
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    \4\25 CFR Part 151.
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    As noted above, the 95th and 110th Congresses enacted 
legislation like H.R. 1880 for the same purpose and intent at 
the former Albuquerque Indian School site. More recently, both 
Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham and Senator Tom Udall 
introduced legislation nearly identical to H.R. 1880 in the 
113th Congress (H.R. 5625 and S. 2465). The Senate bill did 
receive a hearing and was reported favorably out of Committee 
(Senate Report 113-267) but saw no further action before the 
end of the l13th Congress.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Short title

    The short title of the bill is the ``Albuquerque Indian 
School Land Transfer Act''.

Section 2. Definitions

    As defined, the ``19 Pueblos'' means the New Mexico Indian 
Pueblos of Acoma, Cochiti, Isleta, Jemez, Laguna, Nambe, Ohkay 
Owingeh (San Juan), Picuris, Pojoaque, San Felipe, San 
Ildefonso, Sandia, Santa Ana, Santa Clara, Santo Domingo, Taos, 
Tesuque, Zia, and Zuni. The map reference for the lands to be 
taken into trust is dated August 12, 2011. Secretary is defined 
as Secretary of the Interior.

Section 3. Land taken into trust for benefit of 19 Pueblos

    Subsection (a) directs the Secretary of the Interior to 
place into trust all right, title, and interest of the United 
States in and to the Federal land described for the 19 Pueblos.
    Subsection (b) describes the land depicted on U.S. 
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management and 
Bureau of Indian Affairs map to include an abandoned Indian 
School Road, 0.83 acres; Southern part of Tract D, 6.18 acres; 
Tract 1, 0.41 acres; and Western part Tract B, 3.69 acres.
    Subsection (c) directs the Secretary to conduct a survey 
and correct any clerical, typographical, or surveying errors in 
the map.
    Under subsection (d), the lands taken into trust by the 
Secretary under this Act are only to be used for the 
educational, health, cultural, business, and economic 
development of the 19 Pueblos.
    Subsection (e) provides that the land shall remain subject 
to any private or municipal encumbrance, right-of-way, 
restriction, easement of record, or utility service agreement 
in effect on the date of enactment of this Act.
    Subsection (f) grandfathers Bureau of Indian Affairs rights 
to use the lands for facilities and purposes in existence on 
the date of enactment of this Act. The Bureau will not incur 
any rental fee.

Section 4. Effect of other laws

    Section 4 makes clear that the lands taken in trust shall 
be subject to other Federal laws relating to trust lands, 
except that gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act is 
prohibited on such lands.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 1880 was introduced on April 16, 2015, by 
Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM). The bill was 
referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and within the 
Committee to the Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska 
Native Affairs. The Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill on 
July 22, 2015. On September 9, 2015, the Natural Resources 
Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee was 
discharged by unanimous consent. No amendments were offered and 
the bill was ordered favorably reported to the House of 
Representatives by unanimous consent on September 10, 2015.

            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 Natural Resources' oversight findings and 
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.

                    COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII

    1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(1) 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)(2)(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. 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. 1880--Albuquerque Indian School Land Transfer Act

    H.R. 1880 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to 
place four parcels of federal land (totaling about 11 acres) in 
Albuquerque, New Mexico, into trust for the benefit of 19 
Indian Pueblos in New Mexico. Under the bill, those Pueblos 
would be authorized to use the land for educational, health, 
cultural, business, or economic purposes. The bill would 
prohibit gaming activities on the affected properties. 
Additionally, the bill would allow the Bureau of Indian Affairs 
(BIA) to continue to use the facilities on that land as they 
were used prior to enactment.
    CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would have 
no significant effect on the federal budget. Discretionary 
spending for the administrative costs of the transfer would be 
negligible.
    Based on information provided by BIA, the affected parcels 
of federal land currently generate no receipts and are not 
expected to do so over the 2016-2025 period. Therefore, CBO 
estimates that transferring the lands into trust for the 
Pueblos would not affect offsetting receipts, which are certain 
collections that are treated as reductions in direct spending. 
Because enacting H.R. 1880 would not affect direct spending or 
revenues, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
    H.R. 1880 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
    On May 26, 2015, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S. 
986, the Albuquerque Indian School Land Transfer Act, as 
ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on 
May 13, 2015. The two bills are similar, and the estimated 
budgetary effects are the same.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Martin von 
Gnechten. The estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, 
Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
    2. Section 308(a) of 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, spending authority, credit authority, or an increase 
or decrease in revenues or tax expenditures. The Congressional 
Budget Office estimates that implementing the legislation would 
have ``no significant effect'' on the federal budget.
    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 require the Secretary of the 
Interior to take into trust four parcels of Federal land for 
the benefit of certain Indian Pueblos in the State of New 
Mexico.

                           EARMARK STATEMENT

    This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks, 
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined 
under clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives.

                    COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4

    This bill contains no unfunded mandates.

                       COMPLIANCE WITH H. RES. 5

    Directed Rule Making. The Chairman does not believe that 
this bill directs any executive branch official to conduct any 
specific rule-making proceedings.
    Duplication of Existing Programs. This bill does not 
establish or reauthorize a program of the federal government 
known to be duplicative of another program. Such program was 
not included in any report from the Government Accountability 
Office to Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139 
or identified in the most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic 
Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program 
Information Act (Public Law 95-220, as amended by Public Law 
98-169) as relating to other programs.

                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.

                                  [all]