[House Report 114-487]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
114th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session } { 114-487
======================================================================
NEVADA NATIVE NATIONS LAND ACT
_______
April 12, 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. 2733]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 2733) to require the Secretary of the Interior
to take land into trust for certain Indian tribes, 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. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Nevada Native Nations Land Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF SECRETARY.
In this Act, the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the
Interior.
SEC. 3. CONVEYANCE OF LAND TO BE HELD IN TRUST FOR CERTAIN INDIAN
TRIBES.
(a) Conveyance of Land to Be Held in Trust for the Fort Mcdermitt
Paiute and Shoshone Tribe.--
(1) Definition of map.--In this subsection, the term ``map''
means the map entitled ``Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation
Expansion Act'', dated February 21, 2013, and on file and
available for public inspection in the appropriate offices of
the Bureau of Land Management.
(2) Conveyance of land.--Subject to valid existing rights,
all right, title, and interest of the United States in and to
the land described in paragraph (3)--
(A) is held in trust by the United States for the
benefit of the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone
Tribe; and
(B) shall be part of the reservation of the Fort
McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe.
(3) Description of land.--The land referred to in paragraph
(2) is the approximately 19,094 acres of land administered by
the Bureau of Land Management as generally depicted on the map
as ``Reservation Expansion Lands''.
(b) Conveyance of Land to Be Held in Trust for the Shoshone Paiute
Tribes.--
(1) Definition of map.--In this subsection, the term ``map''
means the map entitled ``Mountain City Administrative Site
Proposed Acquisition'', dated July 29, 2013, and on file and
available for public inspection in the appropriate offices of
the Forest Service.
(2) Conveyance of land.--Subject to valid existing rights and
paragraph (4), all right, title, and interest of the United
States in and to the land described in paragraph (3)--
(A) is held in trust by the United States for the
benefit of the Shoshone Paiute Tribes of the Duck
Valley Indian Reservation; and
(B) shall be part of the reservation of the Shoshone
Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Indian Reservation.
(3) Description of land.--The land referred to in paragraph
(2) is the approximately 82 acres of land administered by the
Forest Service as generally depicted on the map as ``Proposed
Acquisition Site''.
(4) Condition on conveyance.--The conveyance under paragraph
(2) shall be subject to the reservation of an easement on the
conveyed land for a road to provide access to adjacent National
Forest System land for use by the Forest Service for
administrative purposes.
(5) Facilities and improvements.--The Secretary of
Agriculture (acting through the Chief of the Forest Service)
shall convey to the Shoshone Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley
Indian Reservation any existing facilities or improvements to
the land described in paragraph (3).
(c) Conveyance of Land to Be Held in Trust for the Summit Lake Paiute
Tribe.--
(1) Definition of map.--In this section, the term ``map''
means the map entitled ``Summit Lake Indian Reservation
Conveyance'', dated February 28, 2013, and on file and
available for public inspection in the appropriate offices of
the Bureau of Land Management.
(2) Conveyance of land.--Subject to valid existing rights,
all right, title, and interest of the United States in and to
the land described in paragraph (3)--
(A) is held in trust by the United States for the
benefit of the Summit Lake Paiute Tribe; and
(B) shall be part of the reservation of the Summit
Lake Paiute Tribe.
(3) Description of land.--The land referred to in paragraph
(2) is the approximately 941 acres of land administered by the
Bureau of Land Management as generally depicted on the map as
``Reservation Conveyance Lands''.
(d) Conveyance of Land to Be Held in Trust for the Reno-sparks Indian
Colony.--
(1) Definition of map.--In this subsection, the term ``map''
means the map entitled ``Reno-Sparks Indian Colony Expansion'',
dated June 11, 2014, and on file and available for public
inspection in the appropriate offices of the Bureau of Land
Management.
(2) Conveyance of land.--Subject to valid existing rights,
all right, title, and interest of the United States in and to
the land described in paragraph (3)--
(A) is held in trust by the United States for the
benefit of the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony; and
(B) shall be part of the reservation of the Reno-
Sparks Indian Colony.
(3) Description of land.--The land referred to in paragraph
(2) is the approximately 13,434 acres of land administered by
the Bureau of Land Management as generally depicted on the map
as ``RSIC Amended Boundary''.
(e) Conveyance of Land to Be Held in Trust for the Pyramid Lake
Paiute Tribe.--
(1) Map.--In this subsection, the term ``map'' means the map
entitled ``Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation Expansion'', dated
April 13, 2015, and on file and available for public inspection
in the appropriate offices of the Bureau of Land Management.
(2) Conveyance of land.--Subject to valid existing rights,
all right, title, and interest of the United States in and to
the land described in paragraph (3)--
(A) is held in trust by the United States for the
benefit of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe; and
(B) shall be part of the reservation of the Pyramid
Lake Paiute Tribe.
(3) Description of land.--The land referred to in paragraph
(2) is the approximately 6,357 acres of land administered by
the Bureau of Land Management as generally depicted on the map
as ``Reservation Expansion Lands''.
(f) Conveyance of Land to Be Held in Trust for the Duckwater Shoshone
Tribe.--
(1) Map.--In this subsection, the term ``map'' means the map
entitled ``Duckwater Reservation Expansion'', dated October 15,
2015, and on file and available for public inspection in the
appropriate offices of the Bureau of Land Management.
(2) Conveyance of land.--Subject to valid existing rights,
all right, title, and interest of the United States in and to
the land described in paragraph (3)--
(A) is held in trust by the United States for the
benefit of the Duckwater Shoshone Tribe; and
(B) shall be part of the reservation of the Duckwater
Shoshone Tribe.
(3) Description of land.--The land referred to in paragraph
(2) is the approximately 31,229 acres of land administered by
the Bureau of Land Management as generally depicted on the map
as ``Reservation Expansion Lands''.
(g) Revocation of Public Land Orders.--Any public land order that
withdraws any portion of land conveyed to an Indian tribe under this
section shall be revoked to the extent necessary to permit the
conveyance of the land.
SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATION.
(a) Survey.--Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Secretary shall complete a survey of the boundary lines
to establish the boundaries of the land taken into trust for each
Indian tribe under section 3.
(b) Use of Trust Land.--
(1) Gaming.--Land taken into trust under section 3 shall not
be eligible, or considered to have been taken into trust, for
class II gaming or class III gaming (as those terms are defined
in section 4 of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C.
2703)).
(2) Thinning; landscape restoration.--With respect to the
land taken into trust under section 3, the Secretary, in
consultation and coordination with the applicable Indian tribe,
may carry out any fuel reduction and other landscape
restoration activities, including restoration of sage grouse
habitat, on the land that is beneficial to the Indian tribe and
the Bureau of Land Management.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 2733 is to require the Secretary of the
Interior to take land into trust for certain Indian tribes.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
The Fort McDermitt Paiute Tribe and Shoshone Tribe both
share the Fort McDermitt Reservation, located in Humboldt
County, Nevada and Malheur County, Oregon. The reservation,
originally established by Executive Order in 1867, is
approximately 32,000 acres in size and is 75 miles north of
Winnemucca, Nevada. The land was allotted under the General
Allotment Act of 1887 (24 Stat. 388) and it was further opened
to homesteading by non-Indians. A number of Acts of Congress
have authorized the reacquisition of some of these lands by the
tribes. According to the Nevada Indian Commission, the tribes
currently have approximately 16,000 acres of trust land in
Nevada and approximately 18,000 acres in Oregon. The tribes
plan to use the land transferred under the bill for the
development of natural resources.
The Duck Valley Reservation, on the Nevada-Idaho border
(Elko County, Nevada, and Owyhee County, Idaho), encompassing
close to 290,000 acres, was established by several Executive
Orders beginning with one by President Rutherford B. Hayes in
1877 and expanded by Executive Orders in 1886 and 1910, by
President Grover Cleveland and President William Taft,
respectively. The Shoshone and Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley
Reservation plan to use the lands transferred under Section
3(b) of the bill to address a tribal housing shortage.
The Summit Lake Paiute Reservation is located in
northwestern Nevada (Humboldt County), was established by
Executive Order in 1913, also by President William Taft, and
was later expanded by Congress in 1928 (45 Stat. 160) and 1959
(73 Stat. 64). Today, the reservation is approximately 12,500
acres. The Summit Lake Paiute Tribe is a part of the greater
Paiute tribe, a large group of Indian people who occupied a
large part of the eastern slopes of the Sierra and Cascades
ranges until encroachment by non-Indians led to the creation of
a reservation for their use and occupation. The reservation
includes a small part of Summit Lake. The Tribe plans to use
the lands transferred under the bill for protection and
management of Summit Lake, including natural resources and a
once-abundant Lahontan cutthroat trout population.
The Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, in western Nevada near the
California border, comprises approximately 70 acres in Reno,
Nevada, 40 acres south of Reno, and nearly 2,000 acres in
Hungry Valley. In 1916, Congress authorized (39 Stat. 143) the
purchase of approximately 20 acres as a site for the colony
(similar to the manner in which Congress authorized the
Department of the Interior to purchase land for Rancherias).
Congress authorized the purchase of additional lands in 1926
(44. Stat. 496) and 1986 (100 Stat. 828). Though Congress did
not designate these lands as a reservation or as a federal
trust, in subsequent years, the Secretary of the Interior
nonetheless treated the lands and the Indians living on it as
an Indian reservation. The Reno-Sparks Indian Colony tribe
plans to use the lands transferred under the bill to alleviate
a housing strain, and for cultural preservation and
development.
The Pyramid Lake Reservation is approximately a half-
million acres in a remote part of western Nevada, in Washoe,
Lyon, and Stoney Counties, 40 miles away from Reno. Several
Indian communities are within the reservation, including Nixon,
Sutcliffe, and Wadsworth. The reservation was formally
established by an Executive Order from President Ulysses S.
Grant in 1874 after earlier orders by the government began to
reserve this area for Paiute Indians after tensions arose with
non-Indian settlers. About 112,000 acres of the reservation
include Summit Lake, the State's largest lake, while the rest
of the lands are high desert. Through receiving additional
lands under the bill, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe plans to
incorporate the watershed of Pyramid Lake. Other uses include
potential economic development and management efficiency.
The Duckwater Indian Reservation is composed of
approximately 3,800 acres located in east-central Nevada,
approximately 200 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Due to the
small land base, the Duckwater Shoshone Tribe has only 94
enrolled members living on the reservation. The Tribe would use
additional land to support additional grazing and agricultural
activities, promote renewable energy, economic development, and
housing.
SECTION-BY-SECTION
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the ``Nevada Native Nations Land
Act.''
Section 2. Definition of Secretary
Under the bill, the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Interior.
Section 3. Conveyance of land to be held in trust for certain indian
tribes
Subsection (a) places approximately 19,094 acres of Bureau
of Land Management (BLM)-administered public land in trust for
the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe, subject to valid
existing rights. Lands are depicted on a map dated February 21,
2013, titled ``Reservation Expansion Lands'' on file at the
local BLM office.
Subsection (b) places approximately 82 acres of National
Forest System land in trust for the benefit of the Shoshone-
Paiute Tribe, subject to valid existing rights. Lands are
depicted on a map dated July 29, 2013, titled ``Mountain City
Administrative Site Proposed Acquisition'' on file at the local
U.S. Forest Service office.
Subsection (c) places approximately 941 acres of BLM-
administered public land in trust for the benefit of the Summit
Lake Paiute Tribe, subject to valid existing rights. Lands are
depicted on a map dated February 28, 2013, titled ``Summit Lake
Indian Reservation Conveyance'' on file at the local BLM
office.
Subsection (d) places approximately 13,434 acres of BLM-
administered public land in trust for the benefit of the Reno-
Sparks Indian Colony, subject to valid existing rights. Lands
are depicted on a map dated June 11, 2014, titled ``Reno-Sparks
Indian Colony Expansion'' on file at the local BLM office.
Subsection (e) places approximately 6,357 acres of BLM-
administered public land in trust for the benefit of the
Pyramid Lake Pauite Tribe, subject to valid existing rights.
Lands are depicted on a map dated April 13, 2015, titled
``Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation Expansion'' on file at the
local BLM office.
Subsection (f) places approximately 31,229 acres of BLM-
managed lands in trust for the benefit of the Duckwater
Shoshone Tribe, subject to valid existing rights. Lands are
depicted on a map dated October 15, 2015, titled ``Duckwater
Reservation Expansion'' on file at the local BLM office.
Section 4. Administration
This section directs the Secretary of Interior, within 180
days of enactment, to complete a survey of boundary lines for
each of the sections of land to be taken into trust under
Section 3. The Secretary is also authorized to carry out fuel
reduction and other landscape restoration activities on the
lands taken into trust under Section 3 that are beneficial to
an Indian tribe and the Bureau of Land Management.
Finally, any lands taken into trust under Section 3 shall
not be eligible for certain gaming activities pursuant to the
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2703 et seq.).
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 2733 was introduced on June 11, 2015, by Congressman
Mark E. Amodei (R-NV). 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
July 15, 2015, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On
March 15, 2016, the Natural Resources Committee met to consider
the bill. The Subcommittee was discharged by unanimous consent.
Congressman Rob Bishop (R-UT) offered an Amendment in the
Nature of a Substitute; it was adopted by unanimous consent.
The bill, as amended, was ordered favorably reported to the
House of Representatives by unanimous consent on March 16,
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. 2733--Nevada Native Nations Land Act
H.R. 2733 would authorize the following land conveyances
between the federal government and various tribes in Nevada:
19,094 acres of land managed by the Bureau
of Land Management (BLM) to be held in trust for the
benefit of the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone
Tribe;
82 acres of land managed by the United
States Forest Service to be held in trust for the
benefit of the Shoshone Paiute Tribes of the Duck
Valley Indian Reservation;
941 acres of land managed by BLM to be held
in trust for the benefit of the Summit Lake Paiute
Tribe;
13,434 acres of land managed by BLM to be
held in trust for the benefit of the Reno-Sparks Indian
Colony;
6,357 acres of land managed by BLM to be
held in trust for the benefit of the Pyramid Lake
Paiute Tribe; and
31,229 acres of land managed by BLM to be
held in trust for the benefit of the Duckwater Shoshone
Tribe.
Based on information from the affected agencies, CBO
estimates that implementing the legislation would not have a
significant effect on the federal budget. Under current law,
CBO expects that programs to develop federally owned natural
resources on some of the lands to be conveyed will generate
receipts, particularly from grazing permits. The federal budget
does not recognize any such receipts from land that is held in
trust. Thus, CBO estimates that conveying those lands would
reduce offsetting receipts (which are treated as increases in
direct spending); however, we estimate that such losses would
be insignificant.
Because enacting H.R. 2733 would increase direct spending,
pay-as-you-go procedures apply. Enacting H.R. 2733 would not
affect revenues. CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 2733 would
not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits by more
than $5 billion in any of the next four consecutive 10-year
periods beginning in 2027.
H.R. 2733 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the On Rinded Mandates Reform Act.
On November 5, 2015, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S.
1436, the Nevada Native Nations Land Act, as ordered reported
by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on October 21, 2015.
H.R. 2733 and S. 1436 are similar, and the CBO cost estimates
are the same.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Megan Carroll.
The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, 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 this bill ``would not
have a 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 land into trust for certain Indian tribes.
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]