I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4119

To declare that certain public domain lands are held in trust for the

Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 23, 1994

Mr. KOPETSKI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Natural Resources

A BILL

To declare that certain public domain lands are held in

trust for the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of

Oregon, 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. DEFINITIONS.

4 For purposes of this Act:

5 (1) The term ‘‘Tribe’’ means the Confederated

6 Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon.

7 (2) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

8 of the Interior.
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1 SEC. 2. ADDITION TO RESERVATION.

2 (a) TRUST STATUS.—All right, title, and interest of

3 the United States in and to the surface and mineral es4 tates of certain lands located in Lincoln County, Oregon,

5 that are public domain lands other than—

6 (1) National Forest lands,

7 (2) the lands of the Oregon and California Rail8 road, and

9 (3) the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural

10 Area,

11 are held in trust by the United States for the benefit of

12 the Tribe.

13 (b) RESERVATION.—Lands held in trust under sub14 section (a) shall be part of the reservation of the Confed15 erated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon.

16 (c) LEGAL DESCRIPTION.—The Secretary shall pub17 lish in the Federal Register a legal description of the lands

18 that are held in trust under subsection (a).

19 SEC. 3. MANAGEMENT OF RESOURCES.

20 (a) GENERAL AUTHORIZATION.—(1) Notwithstand21 ing the Act of September 4, 1980 (94 Stat. 1072; 25

22 U.S.C. 711e note); sections 2116 and 2118 of the Revised

23 Statutes (25 U.S.C. 177, 180); the Act of February 16,

24 1889 (25 Stat. 673; 25 U.S.C. 196); sections 5, 7, and

25 8 of the Act of June 25, 1910 (36 Stat. 857; 25 U.S.C.

26 202, 407, 406); section 6 of the Act of June 18, 1934
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1 (48 Stat. 986; 25 U.S.C. 466); or any other provision of

2 law, the Tribe is authorized to—

3 (A) manage, harvest, remove, sell, or otherwise

4 alienate any timber, any interests in timber, or any

5 other surface or subsurface resources on any lands

6 held by, or in trust for, the Tribe; and

7 (B) perform any other activities on such lands

8 incidental to the activities described in subparagraph

9 (A), including forest presale activities and road con10 struction and maintenance.

11 (2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law—

12 (A) the United States shall not be responsible

13 for the care or management of any lands for which

14 the Tribe has assumed responsibility under para15 graph (1); and

16 (B) the United States shall not be liable for any

17 action or omission of the Tribe that arises in connec18 tion with the activities the Tribe is authorized to

19 conduct under paragraph (1).

20 (b) ELECTION TO ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY.—The

21 Tribe may make an election to assume responsibility under

22 subsection (a)(1) for the care and management of lands

23 held by, or in trust for, the Tribe.

24 (c) OREGON FOREST PRACTICES ACT.—(1) If the or25 dinances of the Tribe do not include an ordinance that
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1 is substantially in accord with the Oregon Forest Practices

2 Act (Or. Rev. Stat. 527.610, et seq.) and the rules promul3 gated under such Act, as determined by the Secretary in

4 consultation with the Oregon State Forester, the Tribe

5 shall enforce such Act and rules with respect to lands held

6 by, or in trust for, the Tribe as though such Act and rules

7 were ordinances of the Tribe. The Secretary shall publish

8 in the Federal Register any ordinance of the Tribe that

9 is substantially in accord with such Act and rules and any

10 amendments.

11 (2)(A) Notwithstanding the sovereign immunity of

12 the Tribe, the State of Oregon or any person who is dam13 aged by any action or omission of the Tribe that con14 stitutes a violation of—

15 (i) an ordinance of the Tribe that is substan16 tially in accord with the Oregon Forest Practices Act

17 and the rules promulgated under such Act, or

18 (ii) if such an ordinance is not in effect, the Or19 egon Forest Practices Act or any rule promulgated

20 under such Act made applicable to the Tribe by

21 paragraph (1),

22 may bring a civil action in the tribal court of the Tribe

23 to compel compliance, to seek compensation for such dam24 ages, or to obtain both compliance and compensation.
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1 (B) If the Tribe does not have a tribal court with

2 jurisdiction to hear the actions described in subparagraph

3 (A), the State of Oregon or any person described in sub4 paragraph (A) may bring a civil action in the United

5 States District Court for the District of Oregon to obtain

6 the relief described in subparagraph (A), and the United

7 States District Court is authorized to provide that relief.

8 (C) The Tribe may be held liable for damages in any

9 civil action brought under subparagraphs (A) or (B) only

10 to the extent that the United States would have been held

11 liable for damages if the Secretary were responsible for

12 the action or omission upon which the civil action is based.

13 (D) The courts of the State of Oregon shall not have

14 jurisdiction over any civil action described in subpara15 graph (A) and shall not have the authority to provide the

16 relief described in subparagraph (A).

17 (d) TERMINATION OF RESPONSIBILITIES.—(1) If the

18 Tribe assumes responsibility under subsection (a)(1) for

19 any of the activities described in subsection (a)(1), the

20 Tribe may terminate such responsibility by providing writ21 ten notice of such termination that shall take effect on

22 either—

23 (A) the date that is one year after the date on

24 which notice of the termination is submitted to the

25 Secretary, or
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1 (B) a date upon which the Secretary and the

2 Tribe have agreed.

3 The Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register ad4 vance notice of the date on which such termination is to

5 take effect.

6 (2) The termination under paragraph (1) of any re7 sponsibility assumed under subsection (a)(1) shall not—

8 (A) affect the liability of the Tribe arising out

9 of any action or omission of the Tribe that occurred

10 on or before the effective date of the termination;

11 (B) transfer any liability to the United States

12 for such actions or omissions;

13 (C) obligate the United States to reforest any

14 area, or otherwise remedy any condition, by reason

15 of such actions or omissions; or

16 (D) affect the eligibility of the Tribe for any

17 services or assistance that are provided by the Sec18 retary to Indian tribes because of their status as In19 dian tribes.

20 (e) FUNDS.—(1) For each fiscal year for which the

21 Tribe assumes responsibility under subsection (a)(1) for

22 any of the activities described in subsection (a)(1), the

23 Secretary shall pay to the Tribe, out of funds appropriated

24 for such fiscal year under the authority of the Act of No25 vember 2, 1921 (42 Stat. 208; 25 U.S.C. 13), popularly
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1 known as the Snyder Act, or under the authority of any

2 other law which authorizes funds to be appropriated for

3 tribal timber management, an amount that equals or ex4 ceeds the amount of funds the Tribe would have received

5 for such fiscal years for carrying out such activities under

6 a contract entered into with the Secretary for such fiscal

7 year under the Indian Self-Determination Act if the Tribe

8 had not assumed responsibility for such activities under

9 subsection (a)(1).

10 (2) If the Tribe receives funds under paragraph (1)

11 for any fiscal year—

12 (A) the Tribe shall submit to the Secretary a

13 report which provides an accounting of how the

14 funds were expended, and

15 (B) the Comptroller General of the United

16 States is authorized to conduct, at the discretion of

17 the Comptroller General, an audit of the Tribe with

18 respect to the expenditure of such funds.

19 SEC. 4. PROCEEDS FROM RESOURCES.

20 (a) PAYABLE TO TRIBE.—Notwithstanding any other

21 provision of law, the proceeds from the sale of timber on,

22 or the sale of any other surface or subsurface resource

23 of, lands held by, or in trust for, the Tribe that occur after

24 the date of enactment of this Act (including sales occur25 ring after such date under a contract that was entered
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1 into by the United States prior to the date of enactment

2 of this Act) shall be paid to the Tribe.

3 (b) TREATMENT.—None of the proceeds described in

4 subsection (a) that are paid to the Tribe shall be subject

5 to Federal or State income taxes or be considered as in6 come or resources of the members of the Tribe in deter7 mining eligibility for, or the amount of assistance under,

8 the Social Security Act or any other program assisted by

9 the Federal Government.

10 SEC. 5. PAYMENTS IN LIEU OF TAXES.

11 In order to offset the loss of revenue caused by the

12 other provisions of this Act, the Tribe shall pay the County

13 of Lincoln, Oregon, for the 25-year period beginning on

14 the date of enactment of this Act, 1.5 percent of the net

15 revenues from timber harvested from the lands that are

16 declared to be held in trust for the Tribe under section

17 2(a).

18 SEC. 6. CONSTRUCTION OF THIS ACT.

19 Nothing in this Act, and no actions taken by reason

20 of this Act shall—

21 (1) affect any rights any person (other than the

22 United States) has on the day before the date of en23 actment of this Act in the lands that are declared

24 to be held in trust for the Tribe under section 2(a);
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1 (2) be construed to authorize the taxation of

2 timber on such lands or of any interest in, or re3 sources located on, such lands;

4 (3) be construed to authorize the alienation of

5 any such interest of the Tribe in any real property

6 other than timber or other surface or subsurface re7 sources or such lands;

8 (4) affect the responsibility of the United States

9 to protect the lands held in trust for the benefit of

10 the Tribe, and lands otherwise subject to restrictions

11 imposed by the United States on alienation, from

12 taxation and from alienation of any interest in such

13 lands, other than in the timber, surface resources, or

14 subsurface resources on such lands;

15 (5) preclude the Secretary from approving

16 under part 151 of title 25 of the Code of Federal

17 Regulations applications for trust status for any ad18 ditional lands acquired by the Tribe;

19 (6) except as provided in section 3(b) and para20 graph (7), affect the regulatory authority of the

21 Tribe over lands held by, or in trust for the Tribe;

22 (7) grant or restore any hunting, fishing, or

23 trapping rights of any nature, including any indirect

24 or procedural right or advantage to the Tribe or any

25 member of the Tribe; or
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1 (8) diminish any hunting, fishing, or trapping

2 rights that existed before the date of enactment of

3 this Act.

4 SEC. 7. PUBLIC ACCESS.

5 The Tribe may restrict access to the lands that are

6 declared to be held in trust for the Tribe under section

7 2(a) to the extent that the Secretary is allowed to impose

8 or enforce restrictions on access to public domain lands

9 under Federal law.

10 SEC. 8. PRODUCTION OF WOOD PRODUCTS IN UNITED

11 STATES.

12 (a) MANDATORY OFFERING OF 50 PERCENT OF AN13 NUAL SALES.—The Tribe shall offer not less than 50 per14 cent of the total sales volume for each year of timber har15 vested from the lands declared to be held in trust for the

16 Tribe under section 2(a) for sale to United States entities

17 that agree to use the timber purchased for production in

18 the United States of wood products.

19 (b) APPLICATION OF SECTION.—Nothing in this Act

20 may be construed to impose any restrictions on the export

21 of timber harvested from, or other surface or subsurface

22 resources removed from, any lands held by, or in trust

23 for, the Tribe other than the lands declared to be held

24 in trust for the Tribe under section 2(a).

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