[House Report 114-173]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
114th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session } { 114-173
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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT THROUGH TRIBAL LAND EXCHANGE ACT
_______
June 23, 2015.--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. 387]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 387) to provide for certain land to be taken
into trust for the benefit of Morongo Band of Mission Indians,
and for other purposes, having considered the same, report
favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill
do pass.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 387 is to provide for certain land to
be taken into trust for the benefit of the Morongo Band of
Mission Indians.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
The reservation for the Morongo Band of Mission Indians is
situated on Interstate 10, 80 miles east of Los Angeles,
California, and 22 miles northwest of Palm Springs, California.
Initially established by Executive Orders in 1876 and 1881,
certain lands were also patented to the Tribe pursuant to an
Act of March 1, 1907. Totaling more than 30,000 acres in size,
the reservation is adjacent to the City of Banning, California,
with several checker-boarded sections (alternating parcels
owned by the Tribe and different persons/entities).
In 1995, a private landowner, a businessman from Beverly
Hills, Lloyd Fields, acquired a 41-acre parcel of land from
other non-Indian private landowners near Interstate 10. The
Tribe subsequently acquired the lands surrounding the Fields
property and added it to the existing reservation. When Mr.
Fields planned to develop his property, a sharp dispute broke
out between him, the Tribe, and the City of Banning. The Tribe
erected a guard shack on the only road providing access to the
Fields property. According to Fields, the Tribe then refused
reasonable access necessary for him to build on the land.
Fields sued the City of Banning over its refusal to remove what
he alleged was an illegal tribal guard shack on a public road.
The City of Banning contended that it could not immediately
remove the shack because it was unclear whether the City's
public road easement covered the portion of the road on which
the shack had been built. Mr. Fields, the Tribe, and the City
of Banning resolved their dispute by agreeing to an exchange of
land and interests. Because tribal lands are held trust by the
federal government for the benefit of the Morongo Tribe, the
Tribe needs Congressional authorization. The exchange is
authorized by H.R. 387. To ensure the exchange is executed
under the terms and conditions agreed to by the parties, the
bill provides that an escrow holder shall accept and convey the
deeds to the exchange lands currently owned by the Morongo
Tribe and Lloyd Fields.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 387 was introduced on January 14, 2015, by Congressman
Raul Ruiz (D-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 June 10, 2015,
the Natural Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The
Subcommittee was discharged by unanimous consent. No amendments
were offered and the bill was ordered favorably reported to the
House of Representatives by unanimous consent on June 11, 2015.
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
1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(1) 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)(2)(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. 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. 387--Economic Development Through Tribal Land Exchange Act
H.R. 387 would authorize the exchange of interests in lands
among the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, a private land
owner, and the city of Banning, California. Because the tribal
lands are held in trust by the federal government for the
benefit of the tribe, the tribe needs Congressional
authorization to enter into the land exchange. CBO estimates
that implementing the bill would have no significant effect on
the federal budget. Enacting H.R. 387 would not affect direct
spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do
not apply.
H.R. 387 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Martin von
Gnechten. The estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss,
Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
2. Section 308(a) of 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. The Congressional
Budget Office concludes that enactment of this bill ``would
have no significant effect on the federal budget.''
3. 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 provide for certain land to be
taken into trust for the benefit of the Morongo band of 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. The Chairman does not believe that
this bill directs any executive branch official to conduct any
specific rule-making proceedings.
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 in existing
law.
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