[House Report 107-285]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
107th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session 107-285
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PUEBLO OF ACOMA LAND AND MINERAL CONSOLIDATION
_______
November 13, 2001.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on
the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Hansen, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 1913]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 1913) to require the valuation of nontribal interest
ownership of subsurface rights within the boundaries of the
Acoma Indian Reservation, and for other purposes, having
considered the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment
and recommend that the bill as amended do pass.
The amendment is as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. PUEBLO OF ACOMA LAND AND MINERAL CONSOLIDATION.
(a) Valuation.--Not later than 6 months after the date of the
enactment of this section, the Secretary of the Interior shall
determine the extent and the value of the nontribal interest ownership
of the subsurface rights, including mineral rights, within the
boundaries of the Acoma Indian Reservation.
(b) Land Exchanges.--Upon completion of the valuation required by
subsection (a), the Secretary shall, unless the Secretary exercises an
option under subsection (c), negotiate an exchange with any willing
sellers of interests in nontribal land (including interests in mineral
or other surface or subsurface rights) within the boundaries of the
Acoma Indian Reservation for interests in Federal land that is--
(1) located within the boundaries of the State of New Mexico;
(2) identified by the Bureau of Land Management as available
for disposal; and
(3) of approximately the same value as the interest in land
for which it is being exchanged.
(c) Purchase Option.--At the discretion of the Secretary, instead of
a land exchange under subsection (b), the Secretary may acquire
interests in nontribal land (including interests in mineral or other
surface or subsurface rights) within the boundaries of the Acoma Indian
Reservation through--
(1) direct cash purchase of the interests in nontribal land
for the fair market value determined under subsection (a);
(2) issuance to any owner of the interests in nontribal land
of a Certificate of Bidding Rights in such form and manner as
provided for under regulations promulgated by the Secretary
under provisions of the Act of February 25, 1920 (commonly
known as the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.)) or
the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.)
for mineral leasing and bidding rights equal to the fair market
value determined under subsection (a).
(d) Cost Sharing.--The costs of the valuation required under
subsection (a) and any land exchange under subsection (b) shall be
equally shared between the owners of the interests in nontribal land
and the Secretary. This subsection shall apply to the cost of the
valuation under subsection (a) even if the Secretary elects to exercise
the options for acquisition under subsection (c).
(e) Timeline; Land Taken Into Trust.--The Secretary shall complete
such negotiations and exchanges not later than 3 years after the date
of the enactment of this section and shall place interests in land
within the boundaries of the Acoma Indian Reservation that are acquired
under this section into trust for the Pueblo of Acoma.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 1913 is to require the valuation of
nontribal interest ownership of subsurface rights within the
boundaries of the Acoma Indian Reservation, and for other
purposes.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
H.R. 1913 would effect an exchange of approximately 67,000
acres of privately-owned subsurface rights (mineral rights)
beneath lands within the Acoma Indian Reservation in New Mexico
for lands or interests in lands to be identified by the
Secretary of the Interior.
When the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed in 1848,
the territory which includes New Mexico was ceded by Mexico to
the United States, and the federal government agreed that the
Pueblo Indian tribes, and other land owners, would retain their
property rights. In 1858, Congress recognized specific land
claims of the Pueblo of Acoma. However, in 1866 a federal
charter to the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad provided for a
land grant from the public domain as an incentive to build a
railroad and telegraph line along the 35th parallel that
included a large portion of what is now the Acoma Indian
Reservation. Under the law, Indian title lands could not be
granted without ``voluntary session'' by the tribe. Regardless,
U.S. land surveyors in 1876 and 1877 designated large amounts
of tribal land as public domain. Thus, the improperly
designated lands were available to the railroad company in
alternating sections along the railroad right-of-way, despite
the claims of the Pueblo of Acoma leaders. The New Mexico and
Arizona Land Company (the NZ Corporation) owns 67,710 acres of
mineral rights beneath the Acoma Indian Reservation, as
successor in interest to part of the railroad grants lands
which passed to the NZ's parent corporation.
Under the National Recovery Act of June 16, 1933 (48 Stat.
200), the United States purchased 11 townships of land from NZ,
a recognition of sorts that the Pueblo of Acoma had a
legitimate claim to the lands granted to the railroad, either
by mistake or by design. At the time of the purchase, it was
NZ's policy (and common practice everywhere) to reserve all
oil, gas and minerals, together with right of access for
prospecting and developing mineral resources in the future.
However, NZ now believed that the Pueblo of Acoma's ``sacred
connection and continuity with their land'' would mean that
NZ's split-estate mineral interests likely could never be
sufficiently explored or developed.
For a decade or more, NZ and the Pueblo of Acoma have
worked closely to remove private mineral rights, but are unable
to proceed without the assistance of the federal government.
The Acoma Tribal Council passed Resolution TC-May-30-90-2,
titled: ``Authorizing the Administration to Negotiate with the
New Mexico and Arizona Land Company and the Department of the
Interior to Acquire Mineral Rights Inside 11 Townships.'' The
original intent of the resolution was for the Department of the
Interior (DOI) to acquire the mineral estates with the purpose
of reuniting the surface and mineral estates for the benefit of
the Pueblo of Acoma. On March 3, 1994, Ada E. Deer, then
Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs of the Department of the
Interior, wrote to the Acoma Governor that she was aware of the
situation and would request the Secretary of Interior to direct
the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to begin a three party land
exchange between the BLM, NZ Company, and Acoma Pueblo. To
date, all efforts have failed to even initiate the process.
Should NZ assert its right of access to large portions of
the Acoma Indian Reservation, including areas of great
spiritual sensitivity, the Acoma would almost certainly oppose
the effort. The result would be a federal court, not the Pueblo
of Acoma people, would decide the fate of the Acoma land.
H.R. 1913 would reunite the severed mineral estate with the
surface for the benefit of the Acoma. H.R. 1913 provides that
the federal land exchanged for the private mineral estate would
be from the BLM disposal land list and would be of the same
value. The bill would provide for the protection of Acoma
sacred sites, protect the interest of the private NZ Company,
eliminate this split estate obstacle to development by both
parties, and halt the possibility of litigation over NZ's
rights to develop their property rights.
The Committee believes that nothing in this bill creates
any precedent favoring a land exchange or purchase option for
the situation addressed in H.R. 1913. The Committee agrees that
any subsequent request for acquisition of nontribal interest
ownership of subsurface rights, including mineral rights,
within the boundaries of an Indian reservation shall be
considered on a case by case basis.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 1913 was introduced on May 17, 2001, by Congressman
Joe Skeen (R-NM). It was referred to the Committee on Resources
and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on Energy and
Mineral Resources and the Subcommittee on National Parks,
Recreation and Public Lands. On September 13, 2001, the
Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources held a hearing on
the bill. On October 17, 2001, the Resources Committee met to
consider the bill. The Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral
Resources and the Subcommittee on National Parks, Recreation
and Public Lands were discharged from further consideration of
the bill by unanimous consent. Congressman Jim Gibbons (R-NV)
offered an amendment in the nature of a substitute to allow the
Secretary of the Interior the option to directly purchase the
subsurface estate, if funds are available and this is the most
efficient manner to unify subsurface and surface estates within
the Acoma reservation. The amendment was adopted by voice vote.
The bill as amended was then ordered favorably reported to the
House of Representatives by voice vote.
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 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, credit
authority, or an increase or decrease in tax expenditures.
According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), enactment
of H.R. 1913 could increase direct spending by a maximum of
$1.7 million in 2002, but this would be offset by a
corresponding decrease in direct spending in later years.
Alternatively, CBO estimates that the bill could result in a
loss of offsetting receipts from bonus bids of up to $1.7
million in 2002.
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:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, November 7, 2001.
Hon. James V. Hansen,
Chairman, Committee on Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1913, a bill to
require the valuation of nontribal interest in ownership of
subsurface rights within the boundaries of the Acoma Indian
Reservation, and for other purposes.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Megan
Carroll.
Sincerely,
Barry B. Anderson
(For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
Enclosure.
H.R. 1913--A bill to require the valuation of nontribal interest in
ownership of subsurface rights within the boundaries of the
Acoma Indian Reservation, and for other purposes
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 1913 would increase direct
spending by as much as $1.7 million in 2002, which could be
offset by a corresponding decrease in direct spending in later
years. Because the bill would affect direct spending (including
offsetting receipts), pay-as-you-go procedures would apply.
H.R. 1913 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
H.R. 1913 would direct the Secretary of the Interior to
estimate the value of about 67,000 acres of privately owned
subsurface rights and then acquire those rights in exchange for
cash, mineral leasing or bidding credits, or interests in other
federal lands of approximately equal value. The NZ Corporation,
which specializes in the development and sale of real estate,
owns those subsurface rights, which lie beneath lands located
within the boundaries of the Acoma Indian Reservation in New
Mexico. Under the bill, once the Secretary acquires the
corporation's subsurface rights, they would be taken into trust
on behalf of the Pueblo of Acoma.
The corporation's subsurface rights are estimated to be
worth between $1 million and $1.7 million. For this estimate,
we assume that the Secretary would use cash to purchase the
subsurface rights in 2002. According to Department of Interior
(DOI), doing so would require the department to reprogram
existing funds allocated to other land acquisition projects
that are not expected to proceed this year. Hence, CBO
estimates that using such funds to implement H.R. 1913 would
increase direct spending by up to $1.7 million in 2002 as shown
in the following table. That increase might be offset in
subsequent years, but any such effects would likely depend on
future legislation.
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By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
--------------------------------------------
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
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CHANGE IN DIRECT SPENDING
Estimated Budget Authority......................................... 0 0 0 0 0
Estimated Outlays.................................................. 2 0 0 0 0
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Alternatively DOI could compensate the corporation with
mineral leasing or bidding credits, which would result in
forgone offsetting receipts from bonus bids when those credits
are used to pay a winning bid to secure a federal oil or gas
lease. CBO estimates that granting such credits as an
alternative method to acquire the subsurface rights would
result in a loss of offsetting receipts from bonus bids of up
to $1.7 million in 2002--and this cost would not be offset in
later years.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Megan Carroll.
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.
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.