[Senate Report 114-202]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                      Calendar No. 346
114th Congress    }                                     {       Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session       }                                     {      114-202

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

 
TO TAKE CERTAIN FEDERAL LAND LOCATED IN LASSEN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, INTO 
TRUST FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE SUSANVILLE INDIAN RANCHERIA, AND FOR OTHER 
                                PURPOSES

                                _______
                                

                January 12, 2016.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

          Mr. Barrasso, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 1761]

    The Committee on Indian Affairs, to which was referred the 
bill (S. 1761) to take certain land located in Lassen County, 
California, into trust for the benefit of the Susanville Indian 
Rancheria, having considered the same, reports favorably 
thereon without amendment, and recommends that the bill do 
pass.

                                PURPOSE

    The purpose of S. 1761 is to take approximately 301 acres 
of Federal land in California into trust for the benefit of the 
Susanville Indian Rancheria, California (Tribe).

                          NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    The bill, S. 1761, is needed to transfer Federal land under 
the administration of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to 
the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to be held in trust for the 
Tribe. After the land is taken into trust, the Tribe's future 
development plans include building a recreation center, powwow 
grounds, and a cultural center.

                               BACKGROUND

    On August 15, 1923, the United States purchased 30 acres\1\ 
under the Congressional appropriations for homeless Indians in 
California,\2\ for the benefit of the Susanville Indian 
Rancheria community. The tribal government organized under the 
Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of 1934, and in 1969, the 
Secretary of the Interior approved the initial tribal 
constitution and bylaws.\3\ On October 14, 1978, Congress 
transferred 120 acres of BLM land to add to the Tribe's base of 
trust land.\4\
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    \1\Testimony of the Susanville Indian Rancheria, Secretary and 
Treasurer Aaron Dixon. House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Indian, 
Insular, and Alaska Native Affairs. Legislative Hearing. June 10, 2015.
    \2\Public Law 67-224, 42 Stat. 552 and Public Law 67-395, 42 Stat. 
1174.
    \3\H.R. Rep. No. 95-1631, at 1 (1978).
    \4\Public Law 95-459, 92 Stat. 1262.
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    Currently the Susanville Rancheria has approximately 1,100 
acres held in trust.\5\ The BLM has identified the land parcel 
in S. 1761 for disposal under the Eagle Lake Regional Office 
Resource Management Plan.\6\
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    \5\Testimony of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Deputy Director Mike 
Smith. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Legislative Hearing. October 
7, 2015.
    \6\Letter from Kenneth R. Collum, Field Manager, Department of the 
Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Eagle Lake Field Office, to Stacy 
Dixon, Chairman, Susanville Indian Rancheria, (October 3, 2014) (on 
file with the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs).
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                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    On July 14, 2015, Senator Boxer introduced S. 1761 with 
original cosponsor Senator Feinstein. On October 7, 2015, the 
Committee held a legislative hearing on the bill at which BIA 
Deputy Director Michael Smith testified in support of S. 1761. 
On October 21, 2015, the bill, S. 1761, was ordered reported 
favorably without amendment.
    A companion bill, H.R. 2212, was introduced in the House of 
Representatives on May 1, 2015, by Representative LaMalfa with 
one cosponsor. On May 26, 2015, the bill was referred to the 
Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs of 
the House Natural Resources Committee. On June 10, 2015, the 
Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill at which BIA Director 
Michael Black testified in support of H.R. 2212. On October 8, 
2015, the Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native 
Affairs held a business meeting on the bill, which was 
reported, as amended, by unanimous consent.

        SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF BILL AS ORDERED REPORTED

Section 1--Land into Trust for the Susanville Indian Rancheria

    Section 1(a) states that the land described in subsection 
(b) is taken into trust for the benefit of the Tribe.
    Section 1(b) describes the parcel of land to be taken into 
trust as approximately 301 acres under Federal administrative 
jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management. The parcel of 
land is identified as `Conveyance Boundary' on a map titled, 
`Susanville Indian Rancheria Land Conveyance' that is dated 
December 31, 2014.
    Section 1(c) prohibits Class II or Class III gaming under 
the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act\7\ from being conducted on the 
parcel to be taken into trust under this bill.
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    \7\25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.
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                   COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

    The following cost estimate, as provided by the 
Congressional Budget Office, dated November 5, 2015, was 
prepared for S. 1761:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                  Washington, DC, November 5, 2015.
Hon. John Barrasso,
Chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 1761, a bill to take 
certain federal land located in Lassen County, California, into 
trust for the benefit of the Susanville Indian Rancheria, and 
for other purposes.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Megan 
Carroll.
            Sincerely,
                                                        Keith Hall.
    Enclosure.

S. 1761--To take certain Federal land located in Lassen County, 
        California, into trust for the benefit of the Susanville Indian 
        Rancheria, and for other purposes

    S. 1761 would take into trust, for the benefit of the 
Susanville Indian Rancheria, approximately 301 acres of land 
located in Lassen County, California, and administered by the 
Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The bill would prohibit 
certain types of gaming on those lands.
    CBO estimates that enacting S. 1761 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. Taking the affected lands into trust could 
affect federal receipts (which are treated as reductions in 
direct spending) related to existing rights of way currently 
administered by BLM; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. 
Based on information from BLM, CBO estimates that any such 
effects would be negligible. Enacting S. 1761 would not affect 
revenues.
    CBO estimates that enacting S. 1761 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 2026.
    S. 1761 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Megan Carroll. 
The estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy 
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

                        EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

    The Committee has received no communications from the 
Executive Branch regarding S. 1761.

               REGULATORY AND PAPERWORK IMPACT STATEMENT

    Paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the 
Senate requires each report accompanying a bill to evaluate the 
regulatory and paperwork impact that would be incurred in 
carrying out the bill. The Committee believes that S. 1761 will 
have a minimal impact on regulatory or paperwork requirements.

                 CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW (CORDON RULE)

    In compliance with subsection 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, there are no changes to existing 
law made by S. 1761, as ordered reported.

                                  [all]