19–010

Calendar No. 636

107TH CONGRESS REPORT " SENATE ! 2d Session 107–299

PROTECTING CERTAIN LANDS HELD IN FEE BY THE PECHANGA BAND OF 

LUISENO MISSION INDIANS FROM CONDEMNATION UNTIL A FINAL DECISION IS MADE BY THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR REGARDING A 

PENDING FEE TO TRUST APPLICATION FOR THAT LAND

OCTOBER 4, 2002.—Ordered to be printed 

Mr. INOUYE, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany S. 2989]

The Committee on Indian Affairs, to which was referred the bill 

(S. 2989) to protect certain lands, held in fee by the Pechanga Band 

of Luiseno Mission Indians from condemnation until a final decision is made by the Secretary of the Interior regarding a pending 

fee to trust application for that land, having considered the same, 

reports favorably thereon without amendment and recommends 

that the bill do pass. 

PURPOSE

The purpose of S. 2989 is to protect certain lands held in fee by 

the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians from condemnation 

until a final decision is made by the Secretary of the Interior regarding a fee to trust application for those lands. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED

The Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians has a pending 

fee-to-trust application for certain land. On March 21, 2002, the 

Secretary of the Interior issued a Notice of Decision to accept such 

land into trust for the Band. A local private utility seeks to have 

the land condemned so that a transmission line can be constructed 

on lands on which sites sacred to the Band are located. Section 208 

prohibits the transfer or other conveyance of the land for condemnation until the Secretary of the Interior renders a final decision on the pending fee-to-trust application and final decisions have 

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been rendered on all appeals relating on that decision. The bill 

does not place the land into trust for the Band. 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

S. 2989 was introduced by Senator Boxer on September 23, 2002, 

and was referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs. On October 

1, 2002, the Committee favorably reported S. 2989 to the full Senate.

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Land of Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians 

Subsection (a) prohibits the transfer of the land until the Secretary of the Interior renders a final decision on the pending fee 

to trust application and final decisions are rendered on all appeals 

relating to that fee to trust application or until the fee to trust application is withdrawn. 

Subsection (b) describes the land that is the subject of this bill. 

Subsection (c) provides that this section does not designate, nor 

shall it be used to construe, the land as an Indian reservation, Indian country, Indian land, or reservation land for any purpose 

under any Federal law. 

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION AND TABULATION OF VOTE

The Committee on Indian Affairs, in an open business session on 

October 1, 2002, ordered S. 2989 to be reported favorably to the 

Senate. 

COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

The cost estimate for S. 2989 as provided by the Congressional 

Budget Office is set forth below: 

U.S. CONGRESS, 

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, 

Washington, DC, October 3, 2002. 

Hon. DANIEL K. INOUYE, 

Chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs, 

U.S. Senate, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 2989, a bill to protect certain lands held in fee by the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians from condemnation until a final decision is made by the Secretary of the Interior regarding a pending fee to trust application 

for that land, and for other purposes. 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contacts are Lanette J. Walker (for 

federal costs), Marjorie Miller (for the state and local impact), and 

Cecil McPherson (for the private-sector impact). 

Sincerely, 

BARRY B. ANDERSON

(For Dan L. Crippen, Director). 

Enclosure.

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S. 2989—A bill to protect certain lands held in fee by the Pechanga 

Band of Luiseno Mission Indians from Condemnation until a 

final decision is made by the Secretary of the Interior regarding 

a pending fee to trust application for that land, and for other 

purposes 

S. 2989 would prohibit the transfer or condemnation of certain 

lands held in fee by the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians 

until the Secretary of the Interior renders a final decision on the 

pending application to designate such fee lands as held in trust and 

until final decisions have been made regarding all appeals to that 

application. 

In March 2002 the Secretary decided to take the land into trust 

for the Band, but the Sempra Energy company has appealed that 

decision. San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E), a subsidiary of 

Sempra Energy, has proposed a new corridor for an electric transmission line that would cross this property and has indicated its 

intention to condemn the property. (Electric utilities in California 

have the power of eminent domain.) 

Under current law, these fee lands may be taken for public use 

upon just compensation paid to the owners of the land. Such compensation would be paid directly to the Pechanga Band of Luiseno 

Mission Indian Tribe. Enacting S. 2989 could delay or prevent a 

taking of the land by SDG&E, but that transaction would not affect 

the federal budget. In addition, we estimate that enactment of S. 

2989 would not affect direct spending or receipts of the federal government. 

S. 2989 contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined in 

the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no 

costs on state, local, or tribal governments. Enacting this legislation would benefit the Peachanga Band because it would protect 

tribal land from condemnation until its application to have that 

land taken into trust is resolved. 

S. 2989 contains a private-sector mandate as defined by UMRA. 

The costs of the mandate, if any, would be the expected incremental costs to SDG&E of choosing among several alternative 

properties as routes for the new transmission line. CBO expects 

that the direct cost of the mandate would be below the annual 

threshold for the private sector established by UMRA ($115 million 

in 2002, adjusted annually for inflation). 

On July 29, 2002, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R. 

3476, as ordered reported by the House Committee on Resources on 

July 10, 2002. The two bills and our cost estimates are identical. 

The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Lanette J. Walker 

(for federal costs), Marjorie Miller (for the state and local impact), 

and Cecil McPherson (for the private-sector impact). This estimate 

was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for 

Budget Analysis. 

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

The position of the Administration on S. 2989 has not been received. 

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REGULATORY AND PAPERWORK IMPACT

Paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate requires each report accompanying a bill to evaluate the regulatory and paperwork impact that would be incurred in carry out 

the bill. The Committee finds that S. 2989 will not require the promulgation of regulations so the regulatory and paperwork impact 

should be minimal, if any. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

In compliance with subsection 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by a bill are required to be set forth in the accompanying Committee report. S. 

2989 effects no changes in existing law.

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