[Senate Report 117-127]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                     Calendar No. 432
117th Congress      }                            {           Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session         }                            {           117-127

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

 
               OLD PASCUA COMMUNITY LAND ACQUISITION ACT

                                _______
                                

                 June 23, 2022.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

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

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 4881]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Indian Affairs, to which was referred the 
bill (H.R. 4881) to direct the Secretary of the Interior to 
take into trust for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona certain 
land in Pima County, Arizona, and for other purposes, having 
considered the same, reports favorably thereon without 
amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

                                PURPOSE

    H.R. 4881 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to take 
approximately 30 acres of land within the city of Tucson, 
Arizona, into trust for the benefit of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe.

                   BACKGROUND & NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    The Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona is one of 22 federally 
recognized tribes in the state of Arizona.
    In 1920, prior to the Tribe's federal recognition, 40-acres 
of land, then located outside the City of Tucson, were donated 
to the Yaqui people for the establishment of the Yaqui Nation. 
Yaqui people then moved to this area, now known as ``Old 
Pascua.'' In 1952, these lands were annexed by the City of 
Tucson but many Yaqui families remained. In 1964, Congress 
transferred 202.76 acres, located approximately 15 miles 
southwest of Tucson, to the Pascua Yaqui Association.\1\ When 
the Pascua Yaqui Tribe gained federal acknowledgment in 
1978,\2\ the 202 acres, commonly known as ``New Pascua,'' were 
established as the Tribe's reservation. Since the 1920s ``Old 
Pascua'' has remained a ceremonial site and home to the oldest, 
among several Yaqui communities.
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    \1\Private Law 88-350.
    \2\Pub. Law 95-375.
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    The Pascua Yaqui Tribe engages in Indian gaming. On May 24, 
2021, the Department of the Interior (Department) approved the 
``Pascua Yaqui Tribe--State of Arizona Amended and Restated 
Gaming Compact'' (Compact). The amended compact identifies the 
specific areas and regions within the state of Arizona wherein 
the Tribe may conduct gaming activities. Gaming activities 
taking place in the ``Compact Designated Area'' are regulated 
under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act\3\ and Tribal law. The 
Old Pascua 40-acre parcel is located in this ``Compact 
Designated Area.'' H.R. 4881 recognizes the gaming compact 
between the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and the state of Arizona, and 
would allow for gaming activities in the Old Pascua Community 
once the land is taken into trust for the Tribe.
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    \3\Pub. Law 100-497.
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    Taking this land into trust will support the Pascua Yaqui's 
goals to improve the housing, health, education, and economic 
foundations of its citizens.

                          SUMMARY OF H.R. 4881

    H.R. 4881 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to take 
into trust approximately 30 acres, cited in the bill as the 
``Compact Designated Area,'' and also knowing as ``Old 
Pascua,'' for the benefit of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe.

      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF H.R. 4881 AS ORDERED REPORTED

Section 1. Short title

    This section sets forth the short title as the ``Old Pascua 
Community Land Acquisition Act.''

Section 2. Definitions

    This section sets forth the definitions to be used in the 
bill.

Section 3. Land to be held in trust

    This section clarifies that upon request of the Pascua 
Yaqui Tribe, the Secretary of the Interior will take into 
trust, lands known as the Compact-Designated Area, or ``Old 
Pascua.''

Section 4. Application of current law

    This section clarifies that gaming conducted within the 
Compact-Designated Area shall be subject to the Indian Gaming 
and Regulatory Act as well as 18 U.S.C. Sec. Sec. 1166-1168.

Section 5. Reaffirmation of status and actions

    This section provides for the administration of the lands 
to be taken intro trust and the scope of the bill.
    Subsection 5(a) provides that lands to be placed into trust 
will be considered part of the Pascua Yaqui reservation and 
will be deemed to have been acquired and taken into trust on 
September 18, 1978.
    Subsection 5(b) provides that nothing in the bill will 
enlarge, impair, or otherwise affect any right or claim of the 
Tribe to any land or interests in existence prior to the date 
of enactment of the act; affect any water right of the Tribe; 
terminate or limit any access to any right-of-way issued, 
granted, or permitted before enactment of the Act; or alter or 
diminish the right of the Tribe to seek to have additional land 
taken into trust.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    H.R. 4881 was introduced on July 30, 2021, by 
Representative Grijalva (D-AZ) and co-sponsored by 
Representatives Leger Fernandez (D-NM), Gosar (R-AZ), 
Schweikert (R-AZ), Lesko (R-AZ), Garcia (D-IL), Stanton (D-AZ), 
Kahele (D-HI), Gallego (D-AZ), Kirkpatrick (D-AZ), O'Halleran 
(D-AZ). The bill was referred to the House Committee on Natural 
Resources on the same day. H.R. 4881 was further referred to 
the Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States on 
August 17, 2021. The Committee on Natural Resources discharged 
the bill by unanimous consent on October 13, 2021. The House 
passed H.R. 4881 on November 2, 2021 under suspension of the 
rules.
    The bill was received in the Senate on November 3, 2021, 
and the Committee held a legislative hearing on November 17, 
2021. At the hearing the Department testified in support of 
H.R. 4881. On April 6, 2022, the Committee held a business 
meeting and ordered the bill to be reported favorably.

                   COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                    Washington, DC, April 26, 2022.
Hon. Brian Schatz,
Chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 4881, the Old 
Pascua Community Land Acquisition Act.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Madeleine 
Fox.
            Sincerely,
                                         Phillip L. Swagel,
                                                          Director.
    Enclosure.

    
    	
    	[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    

    H.R. 4881 would direct the Department of the Interior (DOI) 
to take into trust about 30 acres of tribally owned lands in 
Pima County, Arizona, for the benefit of the Pascua Yaqui 
Tribe. The legislation also would make gaming activities 
conducted on that land subject to the Indian Gaming Regulatory 
Act. Using information provided by DOI, CBO estimates that the 
administrative costs to implement H.R. 4881 would not be 
significant.
    H.R. 4881 would impose an intergovernmental mandate as 
defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) by 
prohibiting state and local governments from taxing land taken 
into trust for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. Information reported to 
the Department of the Interior about taxes associated with the 
land indicates that those foregone revenues would total less 
than $275,000 annually, which is far below the annual threshold 
established in UMRA ($85 million in 2021, adjusted annually for 
inflation).
    The bill contains no private-sector mandates as defined in 
UMRA.
    On February 22, 2022, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for 
H.R. 4881,\4\ the Old Pascua Community Land Acquisition Act, as 
passed by the House of Representatives on November 2, 2021. The 
two pieces of legislation and CBO's estimates of their 
budgetary effects are the same. The CBO staff contacts for this 
estimate are Madeleine Fox (for federal costs) and Rachel 
Austin (for mandates). The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel 
Papenfuss, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.
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    \4\Congressional Budget Office, H.R. 4881, Old Pascua Community 
Land Acquisition Act, https://www.cbo.gov/publication/57865.
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               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 H.R. 4881 
will have minimal impact on regulatory or paperwork 
requirements.

                        EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

    The Committee has received no communications from the 
Executive Branch regarding H.R. 4881.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    On February 11, 2021 the Committee unanimously approved a 
motion to waive subsection 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing 
Rules of the Senate. In the opinion of the Committee, it is 
necessary to dispense with subsection 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate to expedite the business of the 
Senate.

                                  [all]