[House Report 115-319]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


115th Congress }                                            { Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session   }                                            { 115-319

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

 
    SANTA YNEZ BAND OF CHUMASH INDIANS LAND AFFIRMATION ACT OF 2017

                                _______
                                

 September 21, 2017.--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. 1491]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 1491) to reaffirm the action of the Secretary of 
the Interior to take land into trust for the benefit of the 
Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission 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. SHORT TITLE.

  This Act may be cited as the ``Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians 
Land Affirmation Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. REAFFIRMATION OF STATUS AND ACTIONS.

  (a) Ratification of Trust Status.--The action taken by the Secretary 
on January 20, 2017, to place approximately 1,427.28 acres of land 
located in Santa Barbara County, California, into trust for the benefit 
of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians is hereby ratified and 
confirmed as if that action had been taken under a Federal law 
specifically authorizing or directing that action.
  (b) Ratification of Actions of the Secretary.--The actions taken by 
the Secretary to assume jurisdiction over the appeals relating to the 
fee-to-trust acquisition of approximately 1,427.28 acres in Santa 
Barbara County, California, on January 30, 2015, is hereby ratified and 
confirmed as if that action had been taken under a Federal law 
specifically authorizing or directing that action.
  (c) Ratification of Actions of the Secretary.--The actions taken by 
the Secretary to dismiss the appeals relating to the fee-to-trust 
acquisition of approximately 1,427.28 acres in Santa Barbara County, 
California, on January 19, 2017, is hereby ratified and confirmed as if 
that action had been taken under a Federal law specifically authorizing 
or directing that action.
  (d) Administration.--
          (1) Administration.--The land placed into trust for the 
        benefit of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians by the 
        Secretary of the Interior on January 20, 2017, shall be a part 
        of the Santa Ynez Indian Reservation and administered in 
        accordance with the laws and regulations generally applicable 
        to the land held in trust by the United States for an Indian 
        tribe.
          (2) Effect.--For purposes of certain California State laws 
        (including the California Land Conservation Act of 1965, 
        Government Code Section 51200, et seq.), placing the land 
        described in subsection (b) into trust shall remove any 
        restrictions on the property pursuant to California Government 
        Code Section 51295 or any other provision of such Act.
  (e) Legal Description of Lands Transferred.--The lands to be 
transferred pursuant to this Act are described as follows:
          Legal Land Description/Site Location:Real property in the 
        unincorporated area of the County of Santa Barbara, State of 
        California, described as follows: PARCEL 1: (APN: 141-121-51 
        AND PORTION OF APN 141-140-10)LOTS 9 THROUGH 18, INCLUSIVE, OF 
        TRACT 18, IN THE COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA, STATE OF CALIFORNIA, 
        AS SHOWN ON THE MAP SHOWING THE SUBDIVISIONS OF THE CANADA DE 
        LOS PINOS OR COLLEGE RANCHO, FILED IN RACK 3, AS MAP 4 IN THE 
        OFFICE OF THE COUNTY RECORDER OF SAID COUNTY. THIS LEGAL IS 
        MADE PURSUANT TO THAT CERTAIN CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE 
        RECORDED DECEMBER 5, 2001 AS INSTRUMENT NO. 01-105580 OF 
        OFFICIAL RECORDS. PARCEL 2: (PORTION OF APN: 141-140-10)LOTS 1 
        THROUGH 12, INCLUSIVE, OF TRACT 24, IN THE COUNTY OF SANTA 
        BARBARA, STATE OF CALIFORNIA, AS SHOWN ON THE MAP SHOWING THE 
        SUBDIVISIONS OF THE CANADA DE LOS PINOS OR COLLEGE RANCHO, 
        FILED IN RACK 3, AS MAP 4 IN THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY RECORDER 
        OF SAID COUNTY.THIS LEGAL IS MADE PURSUANT TO THAT CERTAIN 
        CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE RECORDED DECEMBER 5, 2001 AS 
        INSTRUMENT NO. 01-105581 OF OFFICIAL RECORDS. PARCEL 3: 
        (PORTIONS OF APNS: 141-230-23 AND 141-140-10)LOTS 19 AND 20 OF 
        TRACT 18 AND THAT PORTION OF LOTS 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 10, AND 15 
        THROUGH 20, INCLUSIVE, OF TRACT 16, IN THE COUNTY OF SANTA 
        BARBARA, STATE OF CALIFORNIA, AS SHOWN ON THE MAP SHOWING THE 
        SUBDIVISIONS OF THE CANADA DE LOS PINOS OR COLLEGE RANCHO, 
        FILED IN RACK 3, AS MAP 4 IN THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY RECORDER 
        OF SAID COUNTY, THAT LIES NORTHEASTERLY OF THE NORTHEASTERLY 
        LINE OF THE LAND GRANTED TO THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA BY AN 
        EXECUTOR'S DEED RECORDED APRIL 2, 1968 IN BOOK 2227, PAGE 136 
        OF OFFICIAL RECORDS OF SAID COUNTY.THIS LEGAL IS MADE PURSUANT 
        TO THAT CERTAIN CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE RECORDED DECEMBER 5, 
        2001 AS INSTRUMENT NO. 01-105582 OF OFFICIAL RECORDS. PARCEL 4: 
        (APN: 141-240-02 AND PORTION OF APN: 141-140-10)LOTS 1 THROUGH 
        12, INCLUSIVE, OF TRACT 25, IN THE COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA, 
        STATE OF CALIFORNIA, AS SHOWN ON THE MAP SHOWING THE 
        SUBDIVISIONS OF THE CANADA DE LOS PINOS OR COLLEGE RANCHO, 
        FILED IN RACK 3, AS MAP 4 IN THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY RECORDER 
        OF SAID COUNTY.THIS LEGAL IS MADE PURSUANT TO THAT CERTAIN 
        CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE RECORDED DECEMBER 5, 2001 AS 
        INSTRUMENT NO. 01-105583 OF OFFICIAL RECORDS. PARCEL 5: 
        (PORTION OF APN: 141-230-23)THAT PORTION OF LOTS 3 AND 6 OF 
        TRACT 16, IN THE COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA, STATE OF CALIFORNIA, 
        AS SHOWN ON THE MAP SHOWING THE SUBDIVISIONS OF THE CANADA DE 
        LOS PINOS OR COLLEGE RANCHO, FILED IN RACK 3, AS MAP 4 IN THE 
        OFFICE OF THE COUNTY RECORDER OF SAID COUNTY, THAT LIES 
        NORTHEASTERLY OF THE NORTHEASTERLY LINE OF THE LAND GRANTED TO 
        THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA BY AN EXECUTOR'S DEED RECORDED APRIL 2, 
        1968 IN BOOK 2227, PAGE 136 OF OFFICIAL RECORDS OF SAID 
        COUNTY.THIS LEGAL IS MADE PURSUANT TO THAT CERTAIN CERTIFICATE 
        OF COMPLIANCE RECORDED DECEMBER 5, 2001 AS INSTRUMENT NO. 01-
        105584 OF OFFICIAL RECORDS.
  (f) Rules of Construction.--Nothing in this Act shall--
          (1) enlarge, impair, or otherwise affect any right or claim 
        of the Tribe to any land or interest in land that is in 
        existence before the date of the enactment of this Act;
          (2) affect any water right of the Tribe in existence before 
        the date of the enactment of this Act; or
          (3) terminate or limit any access in any way to any right-of-
        way or right-of-use issued, granted, or permitted before the 
        date of the enactment of this Act.
  (g) Restricted Use of Transferred Lands.--The Tribe may not conduct, 
on the land described in subsection (b) taken into trust for the Tribe 
pursuant to this Act, gaming activities--
          (1) as a matter of claimed inherent authority; or
          (2) under any Federal law, including the Indian Gaming 
        Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.) and regulations 
        promulgated by the Secretary or the National Indian Gaming 
        Commission under that Act.
  (h) Definitions.--For the purposes of this section:
          (1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of 
        the Interior.
          (2) Tribe.--The term ``Tribe'' means the Santa Ynez Band of 
        Chumash Mission Indians.

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of H.R. 1491 is to reaffirm the action of the 
Secretary of the Interior to take land into trust for the 
benefit of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    The 99-acre Santa Ynez Reservation was formally established 
in 1901 under the authority of the Act of January 12, 1891, for 
members of the Chumash Tribe. The Chumash people, however, have 
resided along California's Central Coast prior to contact with 
European settlers in 1769 where approximately 22,000 Chumash 
lived in villages between Malibu and Monterey, California.
    Like many California Indians, European diseases took a 
large toll on the original population of the Chumash people, 
falling to approximately 2,788 by 1831.\1\ Today, the Tribe has 
approximately 140 enrolled members and more than a thousand 
descendants (i.e., individuals of Chumash ancestry who do not 
qualify for membership in the Tribe), and the Tribe's 
reservation of about 138 acres is located in Santa Ynez (Santa 
Barbara County).\2\ The Tribe constructed a casino and hotel 
resort on its reservation pursuant to the Indian Gaming 
Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.), which has lifted the 
Tribe from historic poverty to economic success. With other 
private investments in the region, the Tribe has become one of 
the largest employers in Santa Barbara County.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\Tiller's Guide to Indian Country, 3rd Edition, at 340 (2015).
    \2\Written statement of Vincent Armenta, Chairman, Santa Ynez Band 
of Chumash Indians, Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs 
oversight hearing on ``Indian lands: Exploring resolutions to disputes 
concerning Indian tribes, state, and local governments, and private 
landowners over land use and development,'' August 2, 2012.
    \3\Tiller's Guide to Indian Country 3rd Edition. Veronica E. 
Valarde Tiller at 340 (2015).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The current reservation also hosts dense tribal housing 
that was originally built through Department of Housing and 
Urban Development low income grant programs (grants obtained 
prior to the Tribe's successful operation of gaming). The Tribe 
reports that relatively few of its members reside on the 
reservation.
    In 2010, the Tribe purchased a 1,400-acre tract of land 
known as Camp 4, located about two miles from the reservation 
in an unincorporated area of Santa Barbara County, from the 
Fess Parker estate.\4\ At present, the landscape of Camp 4 is 
mainly agricultural. Under California state law and Santa 
Barbara County zoning rules--including the Williamson Act--the 
property may not be easily converted to the kind of developed 
status the Tribe says it desires to pursue. The Williamson Act 
provides certain property tax relief for California landowners 
who agree to maintain their property for open space or 
agriculture.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\http://www.chumashea.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/site-and-
vicinity.pdf
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In 2011, to divest the State and county of its regulatory, 
zoning and tax jurisdiction over Camp 4, the Chumash Tribe 
delivered a proposed cooperative agreement to the County of 
Santa Barbara as an initial offer to mitigate any potential 
impacts of taking the land into trust.
    In June 2013, after waiting more than two years for a 
response from Santa Barbara County to the Tribe's proposed 
mitigation agreement, the tribe submitted a fee-to-trust 
application for the Camp 4 property. The Tribe has testified it 
intends to use Camp 4 for suitable tribal housing for its 
current and future members. The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) 
published a Notice of Availability for the initial 
Environmental Assessment (EA), prepared under the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et 
seq.), and invited comments through an extended comment period 
ending on November 18, 2013.
    In response to comments and changes in the plan for 
development of Camp 4, the BIA conducted another EA. A revised 
EA was published in May 2014, and comments on the revised EA 
were accepted through an extended comment period ending July 
14, 2014. Based on the comments submitted to the revised EA for 
the proposed federal action to accept the fee-to-trust transfer 
for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, the BIA issued a 
``Finding of No Significant Impact'' on October 23, 2014.
    In December 2014, the Pacific Region Director for the BIA 
approved an application by the Tribe to accept title to the 
Camp 4 property in trust after making a Finding of No 
Significant Impact under the revised EA.\5\ The revised EA 
describes the reasonably foreseeable consequence of the trust 
acquisition as being for ``tribal housing on five or one-acre 
lots and associated facilities. The housing project would 
include up to 143 residential units, as well as supporting 
infrastructure including on-site wastewater treatment and reuse 
of recycled water and development of groundwater to meet 
potable water demands.''\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\http://www.chumashea.com/
    \6\http://www.chumashea.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/FONSI.pdf at 
5.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Under the Interior Department's rules, a decision by a 
Regional Director of the BIA to acquire land in trust for non-
gaming purposes may be appealed administratively.\7\ When an 
administrative appeal is pending, title to the land does not 
yet transfer to the U.S. in trust.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \7\Once BIA acquires land in trust, however, a tribe may convert 
the land to another purpose than that stated on its trust application, 
as long as the actual use is not otherwise restricted under federal 
law.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Following the BIA's approval of the Tribe's application to 
acquire Camp 4 in trust, Santa Barbara County voted 3-2 to file 
an administrative appeal and to file litigation against the BIA 
action.\8\ Additionally, other individuals and nearby property 
owners also filed an administrative appeal, which argues among 
other things that the BIA violated NEPA.\9\ Subsequently, the 
Tribe requested legislation from Congress to have title to the 
land placed in trust.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \8\http://www.independent.com/news/2015/jan/26/county-appeals-
federal-camp-4-approval/.
    \9\See Opening Brief of Appellant Santa Ynez Valley Concerned 
Citizens, U.S. Department of the Interior, Assistant Secretary of the 
Interior--Indian Appeals, December 31, 2015.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    On January 19, 2017, the Principal Deputy Assistant 
Secretary-Indian Affairs dismissed these appeals and affirmed 
the December 2014 BIA Pacific Region decision to place the land 
into trust. On January 28, 2017, Santa Barbara County filed a 
lawsuit in federal court, while certain private individuals 
sought additional administrative review of the BIA action. This 
last administrative appeal was dismissed by the Acting 
Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs. H.R. 1491 therefore affirms 
the BIA's action to place title to Camp 4 in trust. It is 
expected that upon enactment of H.R. 1491, the County's suit 
will be dismissed by the court.
    The Committee on Natural Resources considered similar 
legislation, H.R. 1157 (Congressman Doug LaMalfa), in the 114th 
Congress. On June 17, 2015, the Subcommittee on Indian, Insular 
and Alaska Native Affairs held a hearing on H.R. 1157, after 
which the County of Santa Barbara and the tribe held a number 
of meetings in an effort to resolve their differences 
concerning the status and proposed uses of Camp 4. The County 
formed an ad hoc Subcommittee to facilitate these 
discussions.\10\ The Natural Resources Committee favorably 
reported H.R. 1157 on September 6, 2016 (H. Rept. 114-715).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \10\https://www.countyofsb.org/tribal-matters.sbc.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 1491 was introduced on March 10, 2017, by Congressman 
Doug LaMalfa (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 July 25, 2017, 
the Natural Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The 
Subcommittee was discharged by unanimous consent. Congressman 
LaMalfa offered an amendment designated #1; it was adopted by 
unanimous consent. No further amendments were offered, and the 
bill, as amended, was ordered favorably reported to the House 
of Representatives by unanimous consent on July 26, 2017.

            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 AND CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET ACT

    1. Cost of Legislation and the Congressional Budget Act. 
With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) and (3) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 
sections 308(a) and 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974, the Committee has received the following estimate for the 
bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                Washington, DC, September 20, 2017.
Hon. Rob Bishop,
Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1491, the Santa 
Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Land Affirmation Act of 2017.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Robert Reese.
            Sincerely,
                                                Keith Hall,
                                                          Director.
    Enclosure.

H.R. 1491--Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Land Affirmation Act of 
        2017

    H.R. 1491 would affirm the decision made by the Department 
of the Interior (DOI) to take into trust approximately 1,400 
acres of land owned by the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission 
Indians (Chumash Tribe) in Santa Barbara County, California. 
Under the bill, DOI would hold the title to that land for the 
benefit of the tribe. The bill would prohibit certain types of 
gaming on those lands and end any administrative appeals of 
DOT's decision about this property. CBO estimates that 
implementing the bill would have no significant budgetary 
effects related to holding the land in trust.
    Enacting H.R. 1491 would not affect direct spending or 
revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. CBO 
estimates that enacting H.R. 1491 would not increase net direct 
spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 
10-year periods beginning in 2028.
    H.R. 1491 would impose intergovernmental and private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA). 
CBO estimates that the cost of the mandates would be 
insignificant and thus would fall below the annual thresholds 
established in UMRA for intergovernmental and private-sector 
mandates ($78 million and $156 million in 2017, respectively, 
adjusted annually for inflation).
    The bill would impose an intergovernmental mandate by 
preempting the authority of state and local governments to tax 
land taken into trust for the Chumash Tribe. Information from 
Santa Barbara County about taxes and other receipts associated 
with the land indicates that such revenues total less than 
$500,000 annually.
    The bill also would impose an intergovernmental and 
private-sector mandate by eliminating the ability of public and 
private entities to appeal the federal government's decision to 
take land into trust for the benefit of the Chumash Tribe. By 
ratifying DOT's decision to take the land into trust, the bill 
would effectively extinguish any existing or future appeal of 
that decision. The costs of the mandates would be the value of 
forgone compensation and settlements associated with such 
appeals if they would have been successful under current law; 
however, because no monetary award is available for such 
challenges to the administrative procedures and decisions of 
the federal government, CBO expects that the mandate would 
impose no costs.
    The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Robert Reese 
(for federal costs), Rachel Austin (for intergovernmental 
mandates), and Amy Petz (for private-sector mandates). The 
estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.
    2. 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 reaffirm the action of the 
Secretary of the Interior to take land into trust for the 
benefit of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission 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. This bill does not contain any 
directed rule makings.
    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 to existing 
law.