[House Report 119-287]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
119th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session } { 119-287
=======================================================================
LOWER ELWHA KLALLAM TRIBE PROJECT LANDS
RESTORATION ACT
----------------
September 15, 2025.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on
the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
----------------
Mr. Westerman, from the Committee on Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 2388]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 2388) to take certain Federal land in the State
of Washington into trust for the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, and
for other purposes, having considered the same, reports
favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the
bill do pass.
PURPOSE OF THE LEGISLATION
The purpose of H.R. 2388 is to take certain Federal land in
the State of Washington into trust for the Lower Elwha Klallam
Tribe, and for other purposes.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe is located within the Olympic
Peninsula in northwest Washington and has approximately 984
enrolled members.\1\ Today, the tribe's land encompasses around
1,000 acres near the Elwha River.\2\ The tribe signed the
Treaty of Point No Point in 1855, which entitled them to share
a small reservation with their rival tribe that was not on
their traditional lands of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and
Discovery Bay.\3\ After signing the treaty, most tribal members
opted not to live on their reservation, but rather by the
rivers, shorelines, and sites of their ancestral burial
grounds.\4\ Through the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, the
Federal Government acquired 372 acres of land and assigned it
to fourteen families in the tribe. In 1968, the tribe received
federal recognition, which included the acres given to the
families.\5\ As a result of federal recognition, the Lower
Elwha Reservation was formally established for the tribe.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\Tiller, Veronica E. Velarde. Tiller's Guide to Indian Country:
Economic Profiles of American Indian Reservations. 3rd ed. Pg. 744.
\2\Elwha Klallam Tribe. The Strong People. https://www.elwha.org/.
\3\Tiller, Veronica E. Velarde. Tiller's Guide to Indian Country:
Economic Profiles of American Indian Reservations. 3rd ed. Pg. 744.
\4\Id.
\5\Id.
\6\Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
H.R. 2388, sponsored by Rep. Emily Randall (D-WA), would
take approximately 1,083 acres of National Park Service (NPS)
land into trust for the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe. The NPS
acquired most of the land in the 1990s through the Elwha River
Ecosystems and Fisheries Restoration Act (Elwha Act).\7\ Under
the Elwha Act, the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams were to be
removed in an effort to restore the Elwha River and the native
Anadromous fisheries (i.e. species of salmon and trout). The
Elwha Dam removal began in 2011 and ended in 2014. The Elwha
Act also required the NPS to identify lands to transfer to the
Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe for housing, cultural, or economic
development purposes and place them into trust.\8\ The
remaining land was acquired by the Department of the Interior
to construct a surface water pipeline for the tribe's fish
hatchery.\9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\P.L. 102-495.
\8\P.L. 102-495 Sec. 3(c)(3).
\9\Senator Maria Cantwell. Cantwell, Murray, Randall Introduce
Legislation to Place Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and Quinault Indian
Nation Lands into Trust. April 18, 2025. https://
www.cantwell.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cantwell-murray-randall-
introduce-legislation-to-place-lower-elwha-klallam-tribe-and-quinault-
indian-nation-lands-into-trust.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 2388 was introduced on March 26, 2025, by
Representative Emily Randall (D-WA). The bill was referred to
the Committee on Natural Resources, and within the Committee to
the Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs. On May 20,
2025, the Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs held a
hearing on the bill. On June 25, 2025, the Committee on Natural
Resources met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee on Indian
and Insular Affairs was discharged from further consideration
of H.R. 2388 by unanimous consent. The bill was ordered
favorably reported to the House of Representatives by unanimous
consent.
HEARINGS
For the purposes of clause 3(c)(6) of House rule XIII, the
following hearing was used to develop or consider this measure:
hearing by the Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs held
on May 20, 2025.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1. Short title
Section 1 names the Act the ``Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe
Project Lands Restoration Act''.
Section 2. Land taken into trust for the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe
Section 2 places 1,082.63 acres of federal land into trust
for the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe. Pursuant to the Indian
Gaming Regulatory Act, this section also prohibits gaming on
the land placed into trust.
Section. 3. No impact on treaty rights
Section 3 stipulates that nothing in this Act will affect
treaty rights under the Treaty between the United States of
America and the S'Klallams Indians, concluded at Point no
Point, Washington Territory, January 26, 1855 (12 Stat. 933)
(commonly known as the ``Treaty of Point No Point'').
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.
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(2) of House rule XIII and section
308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, and pursuant to
clause 3(c)(3) of House rule XIII and section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has requested
but not received from the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office a budgetary analysis and a cost estimate of this bill.
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 take certain Federal land in the
State of Washington into trust for the Lower Elwha Klallam
Tribe, and for other purposes.
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.
UNFUNDED MANDATES REFORM ACT STATEMENT
An estimate of federal mandates prepared by the Director of
the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 423 of the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act was not made available to the
Committee in time for the filing of this report. The Chair of
the Committee shall cause such estimate to be printed in the
Congressional Record upon its receipt by the Committee, if such
estimate is not publicly available on the Congressional Budget
Office website.
EXISTING PROGRAMS
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.
APPLICABILITY TO LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public
services or accommodations within the meaning of section
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act.
PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW
Any preemptive effect of this bill over state, local, or
tribal law is intended to be consistent with the bill's
purposes and text and the Supremacy Clause of Article VI of the
U.S. Constitution.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
As ordered reported by the Committee on Natural Resources,
H.R. 2388 would make no changes in existing law.
[all]