[DOCID: f:hr271.110]
From the House Reports Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
110th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session 110-271
======================================================================
COCOPAH LANDS ACT
_______
July 30, 2007.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Rahall, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 673]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 673) to direct the Secretary of the Interior to
take lands in Yuma County, Arizona, into trust as part of the
reservation of the Cocopah Indian Tribe, and for other
purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon
with amendments and recommend that the bill as amended do pass.
The amendments are as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Cocopah Lands Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The reservation of the Cocopah Tribe of Arizona is
located in Yuma County, Arizona.
(2) That reservation was created by an Executive order signed
by President Woodrow Wilson in 1917.
(3) The Tribe's land holdings are located within 3
noncontiguous reservations comprising a total of approximately
6,226.3 acres of trust land.
(4) The Tribe purchased the additional lands to provide
infrastructure to housing areas, water, and economic
development to tribal members.
(5) The current trust land base of the reservation is
insufficient to provide such needs.
(6) The Tribe acquired 7 parcels of land contiguous to its
present reservation lands in 1986, 1993, 1997, and 2005, and
these parcels are currently classified as ``Tribal fee lands''
under Federal law.
(7) The acquired parcels shall not be taken into trust for
gaming purposes.
(8) The best means of solving the Tribe's land and economic
needs to its tribal members is to require the Secretary to take
lands in Yuma County, Arizona, that are acquired by the Tribe
into trust for the Tribe subject to the provisions of this Act.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
For the purpose of this Act, the following definitions apply:
(1) Tribe.--The term ``Tribe'' means the Cocopah Tribe of
Arizona.
(2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of
the Interior.
SEC. 4. LANDS TO BE TAKEN INTO TRUST.
(a) Lands To Be Taken Into Trust.--If the Tribe transfers title to
the land described in subsection (b) to the Secretary, the Secretary
shall take that land into trust for the benefit of the Tribe, if at the
time of such transfer there are no recognized environmental conditions
or contamination related concerns and no adverse legal claims to such
land, including outstanding liens, mortgages, or taxes owed.
(b) Land Described.--The land referred to in subsection (a) is
described as follows:
(1) Parcel 1 (sibley purchase 1986).--Lot 4 and the SW\1/4\
of the NW\1/4\, of Sec. 1, T. 10 S., R. 25 W., of the Gila and
Salt River Base and Meridian, Yuma County, Arizona, except that
portion of the SW\1/4\ of the NW\1/4\, of said Sec. 1, T. 10
S., R. 25 W., lying southeasterly of the north right-of-way
line of the Bureau of Reclamation levee.
(2) Parcel 2 (sibley purchase 1986).--Lot 1 and the SE\1/4\
of the NE\1/4\, of Sec. 2, T. 10 S., R. 25 W., of the Gila and
Salt River Base and Meridian, Yuma County, Arizona.
(3) Parcel 3 (mcdaniel purchase 1993).--That part of the E\1/
2\ of the SE\1/4\, lying south of the East Main Bureau of
Reclamation Canal right of way in Sec. 30, T. 9 S., R. 23 W.,
of the Gila and Salt River Base and Meridian, Yuma County,
Arizona.
(4) Parcel 4 (holland purchase 1997).--That portion of the
NW\1/4\ of the NE\1/4\, of Sec. 31, T. 16 S., R 22 E., of the
San Bernardino Base and Meridian, Yuma County, Arizona, lying
north of the levee and Salinity Canal; except the north 220
feet.
(5) Parcel 5 (holland purchase 1997).--An easement over the
easterly 15 feet of the north 220 feet of that portion of the
NW\1/4\ of the NE\1/4\, of Sec. 31, T. 16 S., R. 22 E., of the
San Bernardino Base and Meridian, Yuma County, Arizona, lying
north of the levee and Salinity Canal for irrigation purposes.
(6) Parcel 6 (powers purchase 1997).--Lots 21, 24, and 25,
Sec. 29, and Lots 16 and 17 and the N\1/2\ of the SW\1/4\ of
the SE\1/4\, of Sec. 30, T. 16 S., R. 22 E., of the San
Bernardino Meridian, Yuma County, Arizona, according to the
dependent resurvey of the Bureau of Land Management, accepted
December 9, 1960.
(7) Parcel 7 (speed way purchase 2005).--That portion of the
W\1/2\ of the SE\1/4\ of Sec. 30, T. 9 S., R. 23 W., of the
Gila and Salt River Base and Meridian, Yuma County, Arizona,
lying south and east of the East Main Canal; except the south
33 feet thereof; except one-third interest in and to all
mineral rights, as reserved in the deed recorded in Docket
1461, page 600, records of Yuma County, Arizona.
(c) Lands To Be Made Part of the Reservation.--Land taken into trust
pursuant to subsection (a) shall be considered to be part of the
Tribe's initial reservation.
(d) Service Area.--For the purposes of the delivery of Federal
services to enrolled members of the Tribe, the Tribe's service area
shall be Yuma County, Arizona.
(e) Gaming Prohibited.--Land taken into trust for the benefit of the
Tribe under this Act shall not be used for gaming under the Indian
Gaming Regulatory Act.
Amend the title so as to read:
A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior to take
lands in Yuma County, Arizona, into trust as part of the
reservation of the Cocopah Tribe of Arizona, and for other
purposes.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 673, as ordered reported, is to direct
the Secretary of the Interior to take lands in Yuma County,
Arizona, into trust as part of the reservation of the Cocopah
Tribe of Arizona, and for other purposes.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
The Cocopah (Kwapa) Indians, also known as the river
people, are descendants of the greater Yuman language-speaking
people. They have lived along the Colorado River since before
recorded history. According to historical documents, the
Tribe's domain once included portions of Arizona, Southern
California and Sonora, Mexico. After the Treaty of Guadalupe
Hildalgo was signed in 1848 the Tribe's lands were divided
between the United States and Mexico.
On September 27, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson signed
Executive Order No. 2711. This order established the Cocopah
Indian Reservation, now located 13 miles south of Yuma, AZ, in
Yuma County along the Colorado River. On August 17, 1961,
Public Law 87-150 was approved granting eighty-one acres of
public domain to the Tribe. In 1985, the Cocopah Land
Acquisition Act was enacted granting the Tribe an additional
4,200 acres. Today, the reservation contains over 6,500 acres,
most of which is leased as agricultural land to non-Indian
farmers.
Beginning in 1986, the Tribe began purchasing various
tracts of land. The ``Sibley Purchase,'' bought in 1986,
consists of two parcels totaling 142 acres. The ``McDaniel
Purchase,'' bought in 1993, includes 69.52 acres and was
purchased for future development purposes. The ``Holland
Purchase,'' bought in 1996, consists of two parcels totaling
7.9 acres and was purchased to provide entry into the Cocopah
Golf and RV Resort. The ``Powers Purchase,'' bought in 1997,
includes 140 acres. The ``Speedway Purchase,'' bought in 2005,
includes 63 acres purchased for economic development.
Currently, the lands are not held in trust, and therefore
the Tribe does not have jurisdiction over them. As a result,
tribal development is limited. In order for the Tribe to govern
the lands, they must be placed into trust for the Tribe by the
Secretary of the Interior. After this occurs, jurisdictional
responsibilities will be clarified, land holdings will be
consolidated and the Tribe will enjoy further economic and
social opportunities.
Land into Trust (25 C.F.R. Part 151)
Tribes may have land placed into trust in accordance with
regulations promulgated by the Department of the Interior. Over
the past several years, the Committee has received complaints
from Indian tribes about the cost and amount of time that the
land into trust process takes. Tribes have insisted that there
is an informal moratorium by the Department on processing land
into trust applications.
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act
Generally, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), 25
U.S.C. Sec. 2701 et seq., prohibits gaming on land acquired
after October 17, 1988 but an exception is made for lands
within or contiguous to existing reservation lands. This
legislation, however, prohibits gaming on these lands.
Legislative History
During the 107th Congress, similar legislation (H.R. 5000)
was introduced by Representative Ed Pastor (D-AZ) on June 21,
2002 and was referred to the House Committee on Resources. Last
Congress, H.R. 4951 was introduced by Representative Grijalva
(D-AZ) on March 14, 2006 and was referred to the House
Committee on Resources.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 673 was introduced on January 24, 2007 by
Representative Grijalva (D-AZ). The bill was referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources on January 24, 2007. A hearing
was held by the full Natural Resources Committee on June 13,
2007, at which the Department of the Interior testified in
support of the measure with some suggested changes. On July 18,
2007, the full Committee on Natural Resources met to mark up
the bill. Representative Grijalva (D-AZ) offered an en bloc
amendment to include the Department's suggested changes. The
amendment made technical changes, such as correcting
typographical errors and correcting the Tribe's name, as well
as directing the Secretary to place land into trust if there
are no recognized environmental conditions or contamination
related concerns. It was adopted by unanimous consent. The
bill, as amended, was then ordered favorably reported to the
House of Representatives by unanimous consent.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1. Short title
Section 1 provides that this Act may be cited as the
`Cocopah Lands Act'.
Section 2. Findings
Section 2 sets forth findings supporting the background and
reason for this bill, including that the Tribe purchased the
additional lands to provide infrastructure for housing areas,
water, and economic development to tribal members.
Section 3. Definitions
Section 3 defines the terms ``Tribe'' and ``Secretary'' for
purposes of this Act.
Section 4. Lands to be taken into trust
Section 4(a) provides that if the Tribe transfers title to
the land to the Secretary, the Secretary must take that land
into trust for the benefit of the Tribe, if at the time of such
transfer there are no recognized environmental conditions or
contamination related concerns and no adverse legal claims to
such land. It also sets forth the legal descriptions of the
land to be placed into trust pursuant to this Act. Once the
land is taken into trust, it shall be part of the Tribe's
initial reservation. For purposes of the delivery of federal
services to enrolled members of the Tribe, the Tribe's service
area shall be Yuma County, Arizona. Finally, gaming under the
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. Sec. 2701 et seq.) may
not be conducted on the land taken into trust for the benefit
of the Tribe under this Act.
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.
CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT
Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of the United
States grants Congress the authority to enact this bill.
COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII
1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B)
of that rule provides that this requirement does not apply when
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2)
of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this
bill does not contain any new budget authority, spending
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in
revenues or tax expenditures.
3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. This bill does
not authorize funding and therefore, clause 3(c)(4) of rule
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives does not
apply.
4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause
3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives and section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act
of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate
for this bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office:
H.R. 673--Cocopah Lands Act
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 673 would have no
significant impact on the federal budget. H.R. 673 contains no
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. It would impose no significant
costs on state, local, or tribal governments and would benefit
the Cocopah Indian Tribe.
H.R. 673 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to
take lands in Yuma County, Arizona, to hold in trust as part of
the reservation of the Cocopah Indian Tribe. The land consists
of seven parcels contiguous to the existing reservation lands
that have been acquired by the tribe over the past two decades.
Enacting this legislation would not affect direct spending or
revenues.
The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Daniel Hoople
and David Reynolds. This estimate was approved by Peter H.
Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
EARMARK STATEMENT
H.R. 673 does not contain any congressional earmarks,
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in
clause 9(d), 9(e) or 9(f) of rule XXI.
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 in existing
law.
<all>