[House Report 114-448]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
114th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session } { 114-448
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TO TAKE CERTAIN FEDERAL LAND LOCATED IN TUOLUMNE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA,
INTO TRUST FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE TUOLUMNE BAND OF ME-WUK INDIANS, AND
FOR OTHER PURPOSES
_______
March 10, 2016.--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. 3079]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 3079) to take certain Federal land located in
Tuolumne County, California, into trust for the benefit of the
Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians, 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. LAND INTO TRUST.
(a) Federal Land.--Subject to valid existing rights, all right,
title, and interest (including improvements and appurtenances) of the
United States in and to the Federal land described in subsection (b)
shall be held in trust by the United States for the benefit of the
Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians for nongaming purposes.
(b) Land Description.--The land taken into trust under subsection (a)
is the approximately 80 acres of Federal land under the administrative
jurisdiction of the United States Forest Service, located in Tuolumne
County, California, and described as follows:
(1) Southwest 1/4 of Southwest 1/4 of Section 2, Township 1
North, Range 16 East.
(2) Northeast 1/4 of Northwest 1/4 of Section 11, Township 1
North, Range 16 East of the Mount Diablo Meridian.
(c) Gaming.--Class II and class III gaming (as those terms are
defined in section 4 of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C.
2703)) shall not be permitted at any time on the land taken into trust
under subsection (a).
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 3079 is to make certain Federal land
located in Tuolumne County, California, into trust for the
benefit of the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
The Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians and Tuolumne Rancheria
is a small California tribe located in east-central California,
in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada in Tuolumne
County. According to the Tribe, there are currently around 400
members, with about half of its tribal members residing on the
Rancheria.
The original Rancheria of 289.52 acres was purchased on
October 25, 1910, under authority of the Acts of June 21, 1906
(34 Stat. 345) and April 30, 1908 (35 Stat. 71). In 1912,
President Taft issued an Executive Order to add an additional
33 acres to the Rancheria. In the 111th Congress, H.R. 146 was
enacted, which placed 423 acres into trust for the tribe
(Public Law 111-11, the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of
2009).
Today the tribal land consists of over 1,700 acres of fee
and trust land. As part of the 1,700 acres, the Tribe owns in
fee simple the ``Murphy Ranch''. The Ranch was purchased by the
Tribe to protect and preserve its traditional ancestral lands,
and to ensure that the environment and wildlife of the area is
protected. In 2013, the Tribe designated the Ranch as a
permanent conservation area, and the Tribe is currently in the
process of requesting that the Ranch be taken into federal
trust and incorporated into the Reservation.
To the north of the Ranch is another private ranch, owned
by the Edward Ingalls Trust. Situated between both ranches are
two 40-acre landlocked Forest Service parcels. These two
parcels are contiguous to the Ranch and the Ingalls Trust
Ranch. Additionally, the two 40 acre parcels are a small part
of two larger grazing permits. Many grazing permits cover
private land due to checkerboard ownership.
If the Tribe successfully acquires the two parcels the land
will be incorporated into the Ranch and designated as part of
the 2013 permanent conservation area. The parcels will be
inventoried by the Tribe for cultural and natural resources and
native wildlife habitat. According to the tribe, laid out in
the ``Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians of the Tuolumne Rancheria
Proposal for Federal Land Transfer'' published on Aug. 25,
2015, once the findings of the inventory are complete, the
Tribe will determine which conservation activities are
appropriate for the two parcels. H.R. 3079 would take these
parcels into trust for the Tribe, and prohibit gaming
activities on the land.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 3079 was introduced on July 15, 2015, by Congressman
Tom McClintock (R-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
November 4, 2015, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill.
On February 2, 2016, the Natural Resources Committee met to
consider the bill. The Subcommittee was discharged by unanimous
consent. Congressman Tom McClintock offered amendment
designated .071, it was adopted by unanimous consent. No
further amendments were offered, and the bill was ordered
favorably reported to the House of Representatives by unanimous
consent on February 3, 2016.
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. 3079--A bill to take certain Federal land located in Tuolumne
County, California, into trust for the benefit of the Tuolumne
Band of Me-Wuk Indians, and for other purposes
H.R. 3079 would take into trust, for the benefit of the
Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians, approximately 80 acres of land
located in Tuolumne County, California, that is administered by
the United States Forest Service. The bill would prohibit
certain types of gaming on those lands.
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 3079 would have no
significant effect on the federal budget. We estimate that any
change in federal costs to manage lands affected by the bill
(which would be subject to appropriation) would be
insignificant. Under current law, CBO expects that the affected
lands could generate income from grazing permits; thus, CBO
estimates that taking those lands into trust could reduce
offsetting receipts which are certain collections that are
treated as reductions in direct spending. Because the bill
could increase direct spending, pay-as-you-go procedures apply;
however, based on information from the Forest Service, CBO
estimates that any such effects would be negligible. Enacting
H.R. 3079 would not affect revenues.
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 3079 would not increase
net direct spending or on-budget deficits by more than $5
billion in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods
beginning in 2027.
H.R. 3079 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
On November 4, 2015, CBO transmitted an estimate for S.
1822, which has the same title, as ordered reported by the
Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on October 21, 2015. The two
bills are similar, and the CBO's estimate of the budgetary
effects are the same.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Megan Carroll.
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 estimates that enactment of this bill ``would
have no significant effect on the federal budget.'' Any effect
on offsetting receipts from grazing activities would be
``negligible''.
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 make certain Federal land located
in Tuolumne County, California, into trust for the benefit of
the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk 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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