[House Report 114-448]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


114th Congress    }                                      {      Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session       }                                      {     114-448

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

 
 TO TAKE CERTAIN FEDERAL LAND LOCATED IN TUOLUMNE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, 
INTO TRUST FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE TUOLUMNE BAND OF ME-WUK INDIANS, AND 
                           FOR OTHER PURPOSES

                                _______
                                

 March 10, 2016.--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. 3079]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 3079) to take certain Federal land located in 
Tuolumne County, California, into trust for the benefit of the 
Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians, and for other purposes, having 
considered the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment 
and recommend that the bill as amended do pass.
    The amendment is as follows:
  Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. LAND INTO TRUST.

  (a) Federal Land.--Subject to valid existing rights, all right, 
title, and interest (including improvements and appurtenances) of the 
United States in and to the Federal land described in subsection (b) 
shall be held in trust by the United States for the benefit of the 
Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians for nongaming purposes.
  (b) Land Description.--The land taken into trust under subsection (a) 
is the approximately 80 acres of Federal land under the administrative 
jurisdiction of the United States Forest Service, located in Tuolumne 
County, California, and described as follows:
          (1) Southwest 1/4 of Southwest 1/4 of Section 2, Township 1 
        North, Range 16 East.
          (2) Northeast 1/4 of Northwest 1/4 of Section 11, Township 1 
        North, Range 16 East of the Mount Diablo Meridian.
  (c) Gaming.--Class II and class III gaming (as those terms are 
defined in section 4 of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 
2703)) shall not be permitted at any time on the land taken into trust 
under subsection (a).

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of H.R. 3079 is to make certain Federal land 
located in Tuolumne County, California, into trust for the 
benefit of the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    The Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians and Tuolumne Rancheria 
is a small California tribe located in east-central California, 
in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada in Tuolumne 
County. According to the Tribe, there are currently around 400 
members, with about half of its tribal members residing on the 
Rancheria.
    The original Rancheria of 289.52 acres was purchased on 
October 25, 1910, under authority of the Acts of June 21, 1906 
(34 Stat. 345) and April 30, 1908 (35 Stat. 71). In 1912, 
President Taft issued an Executive Order to add an additional 
33 acres to the Rancheria. In the 111th Congress, H.R. 146 was 
enacted, which placed 423 acres into trust for the tribe 
(Public Law 111-11, the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 
2009).
    Today the tribal land consists of over 1,700 acres of fee 
and trust land. As part of the 1,700 acres, the Tribe owns in 
fee simple the ``Murphy Ranch''. The Ranch was purchased by the 
Tribe to protect and preserve its traditional ancestral lands, 
and to ensure that the environment and wildlife of the area is 
protected. In 2013, the Tribe designated the Ranch as a 
permanent conservation area, and the Tribe is currently in the 
process of requesting that the Ranch be taken into federal 
trust and incorporated into the Reservation.
    To the north of the Ranch is another private ranch, owned 
by the Edward Ingalls Trust. Situated between both ranches are 
two 40-acre landlocked Forest Service parcels. These two 
parcels are contiguous to the Ranch and the Ingalls Trust 
Ranch. Additionally, the two 40 acre parcels are a small part 
of two larger grazing permits. Many grazing permits cover 
private land due to checkerboard ownership.
    If the Tribe successfully acquires the two parcels the land 
will be incorporated into the Ranch and designated as part of 
the 2013 permanent conservation area. The parcels will be 
inventoried by the Tribe for cultural and natural resources and 
native wildlife habitat. According to the tribe, laid out in 
the ``Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians of the Tuolumne Rancheria 
Proposal for Federal Land Transfer'' published on Aug. 25, 
2015, once the findings of the inventory are complete, the 
Tribe will determine which conservation activities are 
appropriate for the two parcels. H.R. 3079 would take these 
parcels into trust for the Tribe, and prohibit gaming 
activities on the land.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 3079 was introduced on July 15, 2015, by Congressman 
Tom McClintock (R-CA). The bill was referred to the Committee 
on Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the 
Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs. On 
November 4, 2015, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. 
On February 2, 2016, the Natural Resources Committee met to 
consider the bill. The Subcommittee was discharged by unanimous 
consent. Congressman Tom McClintock offered amendment 
designated .071, it was adopted by unanimous consent. No 
further amendments were offered, and the bill was ordered 
favorably reported to the House of Representatives by unanimous 
consent on February 3, 2016.

            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. 3079--A bill to take certain Federal land located in Tuolumne 
        County, California, into trust for the benefit of the Tuolumne 
        Band of Me-Wuk Indians, and for other purposes

    H.R. 3079 would take into trust, for the benefit of the 
Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians, approximately 80 acres of land 
located in Tuolumne County, California, that is administered by 
the United States Forest Service. The bill would prohibit 
certain types of gaming on those lands.
    CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 3079 would have no 
significant effect on the federal budget. We estimate that any 
change in federal costs to manage lands affected by the bill 
(which would be subject to appropriation) would be 
insignificant. Under current law, CBO expects that the affected 
lands could generate income from grazing permits; thus, CBO 
estimates that taking those lands into trust could reduce 
offsetting receipts which are certain collections that are 
treated as reductions in direct spending. Because the bill 
could increase direct spending, pay-as-you-go procedures apply; 
however, based on information from the Forest Service, CBO 
estimates that any such effects would be negligible. Enacting 
H.R. 3079 would not affect revenues.
    CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 3079 would not increase 
net direct spending or on-budget deficits by more than $5 
billion in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods 
beginning in 2027.
    H.R. 3079 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
    On November 4, 2015, CBO transmitted an estimate for S. 
1822, which has the same title, as ordered reported by the 
Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on October 21, 2015. The two 
bills are similar, and the CBO's estimate of the budgetary 
effects are the same.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Megan Carroll. 
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 enactment of this bill ``would 
have no significant effect on the federal budget.'' Any effect 
on offsetting receipts from grazing activities would be 
``negligible''.
    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 make certain Federal land located 
in Tuolumne County, California, into trust for the benefit of 
the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians.

                           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]