I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4027 

To clarify authority granted under the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to define the 

exterior boundary of the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation in the 

State of Utah, and for other purposes’’. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2012 

Mr. MATHESON (for himself and Mr. BISHOP of Utah) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To clarify authority granted under the Act entitled ‘‘An 

Act to define the exterior boundary of the Uintah and 

Ouray Indian Reservation in the State of Utah, and 

for other purposes’’. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. CLARIFICATION OF AUTHORITY. 

4 The Act entitled ‘‘An Act to define the exterior 

5 boundary of the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation in 

6 the State of Utah, and for other purposes’’, approved 

7 March 11, 1948 (62 Stat. 72), as amended by the Act 

8 entitled ‘‘An Act to amend the Act extending the exterior 


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1 boundary of the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation in 

2 the State of Utah so as to authorize such State to ex3 change certain mineral lands for other lands mineral in 

4 character’’ approved August 9, 1955, (69 Stat. 544), is 

5 further amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 5. In order to further clarify authorizations 

7 under this Act, the State of Utah is hereby authorized to 

8 relinquish to the United States, for the benefit of the Ute 

9 Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, State 

10 school trust or other State-owned subsurface mineral 

11 lands located beneath the surface estate delineated in Pub12 lic Law 440 (approved March 11, 1948) and south of the 

13 border between Grand County, Utah, and Uintah County, 

14 Utah, and select in lieu of such relinquished lands, on an 

15 acre-for-acre basis, any subsurface mineral lands of the 

16 United States located beneath the surface estate delin17 eated in Public Law 440 (approved March 11, 1948) and 

18 north of the border between Grand County, Utah, and 

19 Uintah County, Utah, subject to the following conditions: 

20 ‘‘(1) RESERVATION BY UNITED STATES.—The 

21 Secretary of the Interior shall reserve an overriding 

22 interest in that portion of the mineral estate com23 prised of minerals subject to leasing under the Min24 eral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 171 et seq) in any min25 eral lands conveyed to the State. 


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1 ‘‘(2) EXTENT OF OVERRIDING INTEREST.—The 

2 overriding interest reserved by the United States 

3 under paragraph (1) shall consist of— 

4 ‘‘(A) 50 percent of any bonus bid or other 

5 payment received by the State as consideration 

6 for securing any lease or authorization to de7 velop such mineral resources; 

8 ‘‘(B) 50 percent of any rental or other 

9 payments received by the State as consideration 

10 for the lease or authorization to develop such 

11 mineral resources; 

12 ‘‘(C) a 6.25 percent overriding royalty on 

13 the gross proceeds of oil and gas production 

14 under any lease or authorization to develop 

15 such oil and gas resources; and 

16 ‘‘(D) an overriding royalty on the gross 

17 proceeds of production of such minerals other 

18 than oil and gas, equal to 50 percent of the roy19 alty rate established by the Secretary of the In20 terior by regulation as of October 1, 2011. 

21 ‘‘(3) RESERVATION BY STATE OF UTAH.—The 

22 State of Utah shall reserve, for the benefit of its 

23 State school trust, an overriding interest in that por24 tion of the mineral estate comprised of minerals sub25 ject to leasing under the Mineral Leasing Act (30 


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1 U.S.C. 181 et seq) in any mineral lands relinquished 

2 by the State to the United States. 

3 ‘‘(4) EXTENT OF OVERRIDING INTEREST.—The 

4 overriding interest reserved by the State under para5 graph (3) shall consist of— 

6 ‘‘(A) 50 percent of any bonus bid or other 

7 payment received by the United States as con8 sideration for securing any lease or authoriza9 tion to develop such mineral resources on the 

10 relinquished lands; 

11 ‘‘(B) 50 percent of any rental or other 

12 payments received by the United States as con13 sideration for the lease or authorization to de14 velop such mineral resources; 

15 ‘‘(C) a 6.25 percent overriding royalty on 

16 the gross proceeds of oil and gas production 

17 under any lease or authorization to develop 

18 such oil and gas resources; and 

19 ‘‘(D) an overriding royalty on the gross 

20 proceeds of production of such minerals other 

21 than oil and gas, equal to 50 percent of the roy22 alty rate established by the Secretary of the In23 terior by regulation as of October 1, 2011. 

24 ‘‘(5) NO OBLIGATION TO LEASE.—Neither the 

25 United States nor the State shall be obligated to 


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1 lease or otherwise develop oil and gas resources in 

2 which the other party retains an overriding interest 

3 under this section. 

4 ‘‘(6) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—The Sec5 retary of the Interior is authorized to enter into co6 operative agreements with the State and the Ute In7 dian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation to 

8 facilitate the relinquishment and selection of lands 

9 to be conveyed under this section, and the adminis10 tration of the overriding interests reserved here11 under. 

12 ‘‘(7) TERMINATION.—The overriding interest 

13 reserved by the Secretary of the Interior under para14 graph (1), and the overriding interest reserved by 

15 the State under paragraph (3), shall automatically 

16 terminate 30 years after the date of enactment of 

17 this section.’’. 

Æ 


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