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[Senate Report 115-222]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                      Calendar No. 370
115th Congress     }                                     {      Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session        }                                     {     115-222

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                 PASCUA YAQUI TRIBE LAND CONVEYANCE ACT

                                _______
                                

                 April 10, 2018.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

  Ms. Murkowski, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 1404]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (H.R. 1404) to provide for the conveyance of 
certain land inholdings owned by the United States to the 
Tucson Unified School District and to the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of 
Arizona, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon 
without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

                                PURPOSE

    The purpose of H.R. 1404 is to provide for the conveyance 
of certain land inholdings owned by the United States to the 
Tucson Unified School District (District) and to the Pascua 
Yaqui Tribe of Arizona.

                          BACKGROUND AND NEED

    The Pascua Yaqui Reservation is located in southern 
Arizona, 15 miles southwest of Tucson. In 1952, the original 
40-acre Pascua Village was annexed by the City of Tucson. In 
1964, Congressman Morris K. Udall introduced a bill to transfer 
202 acres of desert land southwest of Tucson to the Yaquis. The 
bill was later signed into law (Private Law 88-350) and the 
deed to the land was transferred to the recently formed Pascua 
Yaqui Association, a nonprofit Arizona corporation.
    The reservation was formally established in 1978 under 
Public Law 95-375, which also federally recognized the members 
of the Pascua Yaqui Association as the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. In 
1982, the reservation added an additional 690 acres for 
improving the socio-economic environment of tribal members with 
the enactment of Public Law 97-386. In the 113th Congress, 
Public Law 113-134 placed two 10-acre parcels into trust for 
the Tribe.
    The Tribe is interested in acquiring 40 acres of land from 
the Tucson Unified School District through a land exchange with 
the District. The tribe intends to use the land for flood 
control development. The bill is needed because some lands 
exchanged under H.R. 1404 were patented to the District in 1981 
pursuant to the Recreation and Public Purposes Act (RPPA, 43 
U.S.C. 869 et seq.) and are restricted only for a school site. 
A change in land use for RPPA-patented land requires an Act of 
Congress.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    H.R. 1404 was introduced in the House of Representatives by 
Representative Grijalva on March 7, 2017. The Committee on 
Natural Resources ordered H.R. 1404 favorably reported by voice 
vote on June 27, 2017. The House of Representatives passed H.R. 
1404 by voice vote on July 11, 2017.
    The Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and 
Mining held a hearing on the bill on February 7, 2018.
    In the 114th Congress, similar legislation, H.R. 2009, was 
introduced by Representative Grijalva in the House of 
Representatives on April 23, 2015, and referred to the Natural 
Resources Committee. The Subcommittee on Indian, Insular, and 
Alaska Native Affairs held a hearing on November 4, 2015. On 
March 15, 2016, the Natural Resources Committee ordered the 
bill favorably reported, with amendments, by voice vote. H.R. 
2009 was agreed to by voice vote in the House of 
Representatives on June 7, 2016. The Senate Committee on Energy 
and Natural Resources held a hearing on H.R. 2009 on September 
22, 2016.
    The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources met in 
open business session on March 8, 2018, and ordered H.R. 1404 
favorably reported.

                        COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

    The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in an 
open business session on March 8, 2018, by a majority voice 
vote of a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass H.R. 
1404.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Short title

    Section 1 provides the short title.

Section 2. Definitions

    Section 2 provides definitions.

Section 3. Land to be held in trust

    Section 3 declares 39.65 acres of Federal lands (Parcel A) 
to be held in trust by the United States for the benefit of the 
Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona, one day after which the District 
relinquishes all right, title, and interest to the Parcel.

Section 4. Lands to be conveyed to the District

    Section 4(a) conveys 13.24 acres of Federal lands (Parcel 
B) from the United States to the District, subject to valid 
existing rights and payment to the United States of the fair 
market value. Fair market value must be determined by the 
Secretary in accordance with certain appraisal standards, and 
all conveyance-related costs must be paid by the District.
    Subsection (b) also directs the Secretary to convey the 
reversionary 27.5 acres of Federal lands (Parcel C) to the 
District, subject to a survey and appraisal by the Secretary, 
and payment by the District of the appraised value and other 
conveyance-related costs.

Section 5. Gaming prohibition

    Section 5 prohibits gaming activities on lands taken into 
trust pursuant to this Act.

Section 6. Water rights

    Section 6 states that the Federal government shall reserve 
no rights to surface or groundwater rights for lands taken into 
trust for the benefit of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. The Tribe may 
retain any right or claim to water under Arizona State law for 
any land taken into trust for the benefit of the Tribe. Any 
water rights that are appurtenant to land taken into trust by 
the United States for the benefit of the Tribe under this Act 
may not be forfeited or abandoned. In addition, nothing in this 
Act affects or modifies any right of the Tribe or any 
obligation of the United States under Public Law 95-375.

                   COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

    The following estimate of the costs of this measure has 
been provided by the Congressional Budget Office:
    H.R. 1404 would authorize exchanges of land and related 
interests among the Pascua Yaqui Indian Tribe in Pima County, 
Arizona, the Tucson Unified School District, and the federal 
government. The proposed transactions involve three parcels of 
land and would be contingent on the school district 
relinquishing its interest in nearly 40 acres of land, which 
the Department of the Interior (DOI) would take into trust on 
behalf of the tribe. In exchange, DOI would convey to the 
school district roughly 13 acres of other land and, if 
requested by the district, the federal government's 
reversionary interest in nearly 28 acres of additional land, 
provided that the school district pays DOI the fair market 
value of such lands and interests.
    CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 1404 would have no 
significant effect on the federal budget. Information from DOI 
indicates that any administrative costs incurred under the bill 
(which would be subject to appropriation) would not exceed 
$500,000 in any year. According to DOI, the affected lands 
currently generate no significant receipts and are not expected 
to do so over the next 10 years. Using information from the 
Pima County Assessor's Office about the estimated market value 
of lands and interests that would be conveyed to the school 
district under the bill, CBO estimates that any proceeds to the 
federal government would total less than $500,000. Any such 
amounts would be recorded as offsetting receipts (or a 
reduction in direct spending); therefore, pay-as-you-go 
procedures apply. Enacting H.R. 1404 would not affect revenues.
    CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 1404 would not increase 
net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four 
consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028.
    H.R. 1404 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
    On July 5, 2017, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R. 
1404, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe Land Conveyance Act, as ordered 
reported by the House Committee on Natural Resources on June 
27, 2017. The two versions of H.R. 1404 are similar and CBO's 
estimates of their costs are the same.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Robert Reese. 
The estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy 
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

                      REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION

    In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following 
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in 
carrying out H.R. 1404. The bill is not a regulatory measure in 
the sense of imposing Government-established standards or 
significant economic responsibilities on private individuals 
and businesses.
    No personal information would be collected in administering 
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal 
privacy.
    Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the 
enactment of H.R. 1404, as ordered reported.

                    CONGRESSIONAL DIRECTED SPENDING

    H.R. 1404, as ordered reported, does not contain any 
congressionally directed spending items, limited tax benefits, 
or limited tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate.

                        EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

    The testimony provided on by the Bureau of Land Management 
at the hearing before the Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests 
and Mining on February 7, 2018, follows:

Statement of Brian Steed, Deputy Director for Policy & Programs, Bureau 
          of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior

    Thank you for the opportunity to present the views of the 
Department of the Interior (Department) on H.R. 1404, the 
Pascua Yaqui Tribe Land Conveyance Act. Under H.R. 1404, the 
United States shall hold in trust approximately 40 acres of 
land in the Tucson, Arizona area for the benefit of the Pascua 
Yaqui Tribe (Tribe). The bill also authorizes the United States 
to convey approximately 13 acres of currently unencumbered 
public lands and a reversionary interest of approximately 27 
acres to the Tucson Unified School District (District) at fair 
market value.
    It should be generally noted that Secretary Zinke is 
opposed to the wide-scale sale or transfer of Federal lands; 
however, there are unique situations of this nature where 
limited land transfers may be appropriate. In this case, the 
Department supports H.R. 1404 because we recognize the Tribal 
and local community benefits that may result from the bill. We 
would, however, like the opportunity to work further with the 
sponsor and the Subcommittee regarding the survey provision.

                               Background

    The Pascua Yaqui Tribe's lands are located in Pima County, 
near Tucson, Arizona, and include a combination of lands held 
in trust by the United States and lands purchased and held in 
fee by the Tribe. The District has historically operated the 
Hohokam School on lands nearby and adjacent to the tribal 
lands. The District currently holds two parcels of land under 
separate Recreation and Public Purposes Act (R&PP) patents 
totaling approximately 67 acres, in which the United States 
holds reversionary interests enforceable under the R&PP Act. 
This land consists of a tract of approximately 27 acres on 
which the Hohokam School currently sits and another tract of 
approximately 40 acres that is currently undeveloped. The 
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) also manages an unencumbered 
tract of approximately 13 acres located between the two parcels 
patented to the District that have been identified as 
potentially suitable for disposal in the current Phoenix 
District Resource Management Plan.

                               H.R. 1404

    H.R. 1404 declares that approximately 40 acres of land, 
designated in the bill as ``Parcel A'' will be held in trust 
for the benefit of the Tribe, on the day after the District 
relinquishes all right, title, and interest in the 40 acres 
where the United States holds a reversionary interest. In 
addition, the bill authorizes the United States to convey to 
the District, at fair market value, approximately 13 
unencumbered acres designated in the legislation as ``Parcel 
B.'' The bill also authorizes the United States to convey to 
the District, at fair market value, its reversionary interest 
in approximately 27 acres of land currently patented to the 
District under the R&PP Act and identified as ``Parcel C.'' The 
United States could convey the reversionary interest in Parcel 
C if the District submits an offer to the Department to acquire 
it within a year after the Department completes its appraisal. 
Both conveyances to the District are subject to valid existing 
rights.
    Under the bill, the United States will determine fair 
market value of Parcel B and the Federal reversionary interest 
in Parcel C in accordance with the Uniform Appraisal Standards 
for Federal Land Acquisitions and the Uniform Standards of 
Professional Appraisal Practice. The District would pay for all 
costs associated with the conveyances. The Department supports 
holding Parcel A in trust for the benefit of the Tribe, and 
does not object to the two conveyances authorized by the bill 
at fair market value. The Department recommends that the Office 
of Valuation Services manage the appraisal process. The Office 
of Valuation Services provides credible, timely, and efficient 
valuation services to ensure public trust in Federal real 
property transactions.
    Finally, the Department notes that Parcel B and C would 
require surveys prior to conveyance, and would like to work 
with the Subcommittee on the survey language.

                               Conclusion

    H.R. 1404 provides an opportunity to improve land use for 
both the Tribe and the District on three tracts of land. Thank 
you for the opportunity to testify. I will be glad to answer 
any questions.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no 
changes in existing law are made by the bill as ordered 
reported.

                                  [all]
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