[Senate Report 118-247]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 562
118th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 118-247
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A BILL TO TAKE CERTAIN LAND IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA INTO TRUST FOR
THE BENEFIT OF THE JAMUL INDIAN VILLAGE OF CALIFORNIA, AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES
_______
November 18, 2024.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Schatz, from the Committee on Indian Affairs,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 3857]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Indian Affairs, to which was referred the
bill, S. 3857, to take certain land in the State of California
into trust for the benefit of the Jamul Indian Village of
California, and for other purposes, having considered the same,
reports favorably thereon, with an amendment in the nature of a
substitute, and recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass.
PURPOSE
S. 3857 would transfer approximately 172 acres of fee
simple land owned by the Jamul Indian Village into trust status
for its benefit. These lands would be made part of the Tribe's
reservation and administered as trust property to provide
Tribal member housing, space for essential government services
and community resources, and secure access to the Jamul Indian
Village's reservation and cultural landmarks.
BACKGROUND AND NEED
The Jamul Indian Village (JIV) is a federally recognized
Indian Tribe located east of San Diego, California. The JIV is
one of 12 federally recognized Tribes in Southern California
that historically and collectively refer to themselves as the
Kumeyaay. The JIV's reservation is comprised of approximately
six acres of land deeded from the San Diego Diocesan Ministry
in 1912 and from the Daley Family in 1978.\1\ Since its federal
recognition in 1981, the JIV has engaged in a number of
economic development and self-governance activities, including
gaming and maintenance of a transportation department.\2\
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\1\The Jamul Indian Village Timeline, Jamul Indian Village A
Kumeyaay Nation, https://jamulindianvillage.com/timeline (last visited
Oct. 15, 2024).
\2\See Tribal Departments, Jamul Indian Village A Kumeyaay Nation,
https://jamulindianvillage.com/tribal-departments (last visited Oct.
15, 2024) (displaying JIV's various tribal government departments).
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In 2012, the JIV's members voluntarily vacated the
reservation to support development of the Tribe's gaming
enterprise. For similar reasons, the JIV's government
administrative offices and community center were relocated off-
reservation.\3\ The Tribe now seeks to place its fee simple
land into trust status to provide housing for its members,
space for essential government services and community
resources, secure access to cultural landmarks, and expand its
ancestral cemetery.\4\
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\3\Jamul Indian Village Land Transfer Act: Hearing on H.R. 6443
Before the H. Nat. Res. Subcomm. on Indian & Insular Affs., 118th Cong.
4 (2023) (statement of the Honorable Erica M. Pinto, Chairwoman, Jamul
Indian Vill.).
\4\Jamul Indian Village Fee-to-Trust Legislation Presentation,
Jamul Indian Village (Feb. 22, 2024) (unpublished PowerPoint
presentation) (one file with the Committee). The Tribe has submitted
fee-to-trust applications to the Department of the Interior for the
parcels identified in this legislation, including a submission made in
2015. 170 Cong. Rec. H2154-55 (daily ed. Apr. 9, 2024) (statement of
Rep. Harriet Hageman).
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SUMMARY OF S. 3857 AS ORDERED REPORTED
S. 3857 transfers approximately 167.23 acres of land
currently owned in fee simple status by the JIV into trust for
its benefit by the United States. The bill also authorizes
placement of an additional 1.1 acres owned by the State of
California into trust status by the United States for the
benefit of the Tribe if those acres are conveyed or otherwise
transferred to the United States by or on behalf of the JIV;
reaffirms the trust status of 4.87 acres of land previously
taken into trust for the JIV since introduction of the bill;
clarifies the applicability of federal law and regulation to
these lands taken into trust for JIV; and prohibits class II or
class III gaming activities on those lands taken into trust for
JIV.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF S. 3857 AS ORDERED REPORTED
Section 1--Short title
This section sets forth the short title as the ``Jamul
Indian Village Land Transfer Act.''
Section 2--Land to be taken into trust for the Jamul Indian Village of
California
Section 2(a) places into trust two parcels comprising
167.23 acres of land in San Diego County, California and owned
in fee by the JIV for the benefit of the Tribe.
Section 2(b) provides a description of the two land parcels
to be taken into trust for the JIV under subsection 2(a).
Section 2(c) reaffirms the trust status of two additional
parcels totaling approximately 4.87 acres of land located in
San Diego, California that were taken into trust by the United
States for the JIV since introduction of the bill, and
describes the two additional parcels previously taken into
trust in paragraph 2(c)(2).
Section 2(d) authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to
accept title to and place into trust an additional 1.1 acres
upon transfer to the United States by, or on behalf of, the
JIV.
Section 2(e) clarifies that lands taken into trust under
sections 2(a) and 2(d) shall be part of the JIV's reservation
and administered in accordance with laws and regulations
applicable to lands held in trust by the United States for the
benefit of an Indian Tribe.
Section 2(f) prohibits Class II and Class III gaming
activities under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act from being
carried out on the 173.2 acres of land to be taken into trust,
or previously taken into trust since introduction of the bill,
for the JIV under subsections 2(b), 2(c)(2), and 2(d).
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
On February 29, 2024, Senator Padilla (D-CA) and Senator
Butler (D-CA) introduced S. 3857, the Jamul Indian Village Land
Transfer Act. On the same day, the Senate referred the bill to
the Committee on Indian Affairs. On July 10, 2024, the
Committee held a legislative hearing to receive testimony on S.
3857. On September 18, 2024, the Committee met at a duly
convened business meeting to consider the bill. Senator Schatz,
on behalf of Senator Padilla, offered an amendment in the
nature of a substitute. The amendment revised the introduced
bill to account for parcels that had, since introduction, been
taken into trust by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and reaffirms
their trust status. The amendment also authorized an additional
trust acquisition of 1.1 acres of state land, subject to a
pending land swap between the JIV and the California Department
of Fish and Wildlife. The Committee ordered S. 3857, as
amended, favorably reported.
On November 17, 2023, Representatives Issa (R-CA)
introduced H.R. 6443, the Jamul Indian Village Land Transfer
Act. Representative Vargas (D-CA) later joined as a cosponsor.
On November 17, 2023, the House of Representatives referred the
bill to the Committee on Natural Resources. The bill was
further referred to the Subcommittee on Indian and Insular
Affairs. On December 5, 2023, the Subcommittee held a hearing
to receive testimony on the bill. On January 17, 2024, the
Subcommittee discharged the bill, and the full Committee on
Natural Resources held a mark-up session and ordered the bill
reported by unanimous consent without amendment. On April 5,
2024, H.R. 6443 was reported and placed on the House Union
Calendar.\5\ On April 9, 2024, Representative Hageman (R-WY)
successfully moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill. On
April 10, 2024, H.R. 6443 was received in the Senate and
referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs.
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\5\H.R. Rep. No. 118-440, at 2 (2024).
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COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS
The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 requires the
Congressional Budget Office, to the extent practicable, to
prepare estimates of the budgetary effects of legislation
ordered reported by Congressional authorizing committees. In
order to provide the Congress with as much information as
possible, the attached table summarizes information about the
estimated direct spending and revenue effects of some of the
legislation that has been ordered reported by the Senate
Committee on Indian Affairs during the 118th Congress. The
legislation listed in this table generally would have small
effects, if any, on direct spending or revenues, CBO estimates.
Where possible, the table also provides information about the
legislation's estimated effects on spending subject to
appropriation and on intergovernmental and private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
ESTIMATED BUDGETARY EFFECTS AND MANDATES INFORMATION
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Spending subject Pay-As-You-Go Budgetary
Bill Title Status Last action Budget function Direct spending, Revenues, 2025- to appropriation, procedures effects Mandates Contact
number 2025-2034 2034 2025-2034 apply? after 2034
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S. 3857 Jamul OrderedPrep 09/1824 450 0 0 Between 0 and No No Yes Julia Aman
IndianPVillag orted $500,000
e
LandPTransfer
Act
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S. 3857 would direct the Department of the Interior to take into trust 167 acres of land and reaffirm the trust status of 5 acres of land already held in trust by the department. The parcels
are in San Diego County, California, and are owned by the Jamul Indian Village. The bill also would authorize the trust to acquire 1.1 acres of land owned by the California Department of
Fish and Wildlife, subject to a pending land transfer with the Jamul Indian Village. CBO estimates that enacting S. 3857 would not affect direct spending or revenues. Based on the costs of
similar activities, CBO estimates that implementing the bill would cost less than $500,000 over the 2025-2029 period; any related spending would be subject to the availability of
appropriated funds. The bill would impose intergovernmental mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA). CBO estimates that the cost of the mandates would not exceed the
annual threshold established in UMRA ($100 million in 2024, adjusted annually for inflation). The bill contains no private-sector mandates as defined by UMRA.
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. 3857, as
reported, will have minimal impact on regulatory or paperwork
requirements.
EXECUTIVE TESTIMONY
The written statement of Jason Freihage, Deputy Assistant
Secretary of Management, Office of the Assistant Secretary--
Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior, before the
Committee on Indian Affairs, delivered on July 25, 2024 follows
below:
Good afternoon, Chairman Schatz, Vice Chairman Murkowski,
and members of the Committee. My name is Jason Freihage, and I
am the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Management for Indian
Affairs at the Department of the Interior (Department). Thank
you for the opportunity to present testimony on . . . S. 3857,
``Jamul Indian Village Land Transfer Act.''
S. 3857, Jamul Indian Village Land Transfer Act
S. 3857 would place approximately 172.1 acres of land
located in San Diego, California, and owned in fee by the Jamul
Indian Village into trust for the benefit of the Jamul Indian
Village. The bill makes the lands part of the reservation for
the Jamul Indian Village and includes a prohibition against
class II and class III gaming under the Indian Gaming
Regulatory Act.
The parcels to be transferred into trust are comprised of:
a parcel with Daisy Drive, which is the main access road into
the Jamul Indian Village's existing trust land; a parcel that
contains a culturally significant church and cemetery; and two
parcels that the Jamul Indian Village plans to use for housing
development, a clinic, and an administration building.
The Department supports S. 3857. The restoration of Tribal
homelands is a priority for the Department and Biden
Administration.
EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS
The Committee has received no communications from the
Executive Branch regarding S. 3857.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
On February 9, 2023, 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.