II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 647 

To authorize the conveyance of mineral rights by the Secretary of the Interior 

in the State of Montana, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 17, 2011 

Mr. BAUCUS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To authorize the conveyance of mineral rights by the Secretary of the Interior in the State of Montana, 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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Montana Mineral Con5 veyance Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) under section 503(a)(2) of the Department 

9 of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations 

10 Act, 1998 (Public Law 105–83; 111 Stat. 1617), the 


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1 Secretary of the Interior has conveyed mineral rights 

2 in certain very large tracts of coal to the State of 

3 Montana, the tracts of which lie as near as 3 or 4 

4 miles east of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Res5 ervation; 

6 (2) development of the coal tracts and other ex7 isting and proposed major developments of Federal, 

8 State, and private energy resources in areas sur9 rounding the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation 

10 yield substantial public revenues to the State (in11 cluding political subdivisions of the State), thereby 

12 assisting the State (including political subdivisions 

13 of the State) in addressing the impacts of the devel14 opment; 

15 (3) although the Northern Cheyenne tribal com16 munity chronically suffers harsh economic conditions 

17 and severe deficits in public services and facilities, 

18 the community does not share in any significant por19 tion of the public revenues generated by surrounding 

20 energy development; 

21 (4) the Northern Cheyenne Tribe has few, if 

22 any, sources of revenue available to address develop23 ment impacts; 

24 (5) in 2002, the Tribe brought suit against the 

25 Secretary, asserting that the proposed conveyances 


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1 of the extensive Federal coal tracts to the State 

2 under the Department of the Interior and Related 

3 Agencies Appropriations Act, 1998 (Public Law 

4 105–83; 111 Stat. 1543) would violate— 

5 (A) several Federal laws (including regula6 tions); and 

7 (B) the Federal trust responsibility to the 

8 Tribe; 

9 (6) subsequently, the Tribe withdrew the suit 

10 described in paragraph (5) with prejudice, based in 

11 substantial part on commitments that legislation 

12 substantially in the form of this Act (and further 

13 legislation providing funding to the Tribe to address 

14 the impacts of coal development in areas adjoining 

15 the Reservation) would be introduced and pursued 

16 with support from the State, Great Northern Prop17 erties, and others; 

18 (7) the Tribe asserts that the Tribe retains 

19 claims against the United States arising from the 

20 failure of the United States to acquire mineral 

21 rights underlying approximately 5,000 acres of Res22 ervation land when the Reservation, at the direction 

23 of Congress, was expanded eastward to the Tongue 

24 River in 1900, the mineral rights of which, as of the 


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1 date of enactment of this Act, are owned by Great 

2 Northern Properties; and 

3 (8) if the conveyances of mineral rights are car4 ried out under this Act, the Tribe will waive all legal 

5 claims against the United States arising from the 

6 longstanding and continuing loss of the Tribe of 

7 mineral rights relating to the Reservation land. 

8 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) CHEYENNE TRACTS.—The term ‘‘Cheyenne 

11 tracts’’ means the aggregate tract of land that— 

12 (A) is located in the eastern portion of the 

13 State within the boundaries of the Reservation; 

14 (B) comprises approximately 5,000 acres; 

15 (C) is generally depicted on the map enti16 tled ‘‘Cheyenne Coal Land Conveyance’’ and 

17 dated April 7, 2010; and 

18 (D) is comprised of land located in— 

19 (i) T. 2 S., R. 44 E., sec. 17; 

(ii) T. 2 S., R. 44 E., sec. 19, E1 20 ⁄2

and E1⁄2W1 21 ⁄2, Lots 1–4; 

(iii) T. 3 S., R. 44 E., sec. 5, S1 22 ⁄2 and 

S1⁄2N1 23 ⁄2, Lots 1–4; 

(iv) T. 3 S., R. 44 E., sec. 7, E 1 24 ⁄2

and E1⁄2W1 25 ⁄2, Lots 1–4; 


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(v) T. 3 S., R. 44 E., sec. 9, N1 1 ⁄2, 

SW1⁄4, and W1⁄2SE1 2 ⁄4, Lots 2–4; 

3 (vi) T. 3 S., R. 44 E., sec. 17; 

(vii) T. 3 S., R. 44 E., sec. 19, E1 4 ⁄2

and E1⁄2W1 5 ⁄2, Lots 1–4; and 

(viii) T. 3 S., R. 44 E., sec. 21, N1 6 ⁄2, 

SW1⁄4, and SW1⁄4 SE1 7 ⁄4, Lots 1 and 2. 

8 (2) FEDERAL TRACTS.—The term ‘‘Federal 

9 tracts’’ means the unleased tracts of land that— 

10 (A) are located in the State; 

11 (B) are located outside of the boundaries 

12 of the Reservation; 

13 (C) consist of approximately 5,000 acres; 

14 (D) are generally depicted on the map en15 titled ‘‘Federal Coal Land Conveyance’’ and 

16 dated March 18, 2011; and 

17 (E) are comprised of land located in— 

(i) T. 3 S., R. 44 E., sec. 26, S1 18 ⁄2; 

19 (ii) T. 3 S., R. 44 E., sec. 34; 

20 (iii) T. 3 S., R. 45 E., sec. 30, 

E1⁄2SW1⁄4 and SE1 21 ⁄4, Lots 1–4; 

(iv) T. 4 S., R. 44 E., sec. 2, S1⁄2N1 22 ⁄2

and S1 23 ⁄2, Lots 1–4; 

(v) T. 6 N., R. 27 E., sec. 4, S1⁄2N1 24 ⁄2

and S1 25 ⁄2, Lots 1–4; 


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1 (vi) T. 6 N., R. 27 E., sec. 8; 

2 (vii) T. 6 N., R. 27 E., sec. 10; 

3 (viii) T. 6 N., R. 27 E., sec. 14; and 

4 (ix) T. 6 N., R. 27 E., sec. 22. 

5 (3) GREAT NORTHERN PROPERTIES.—The term 

6 ‘‘Great Northern Properties’’ means— 

7 (A) the Great Northern Properties Limited 

8 Partnership, which is a Delaware limited part9 nership; and 

10 (B) any successor to the ownership interest 

11 of Great Northern Properties in any coal or 

12 iron that underlies the Cheyenne tracts. 

13 (4) RESERVATION.—The term ‘‘Reservation’’ 

14 means the Northern Cheyenne Reservation. 

15 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

16 the Secretary of the Interior. 

17 (6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 

18 of Montana. 

19 (7) TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Tribe’’ means the 

20 Northern Cheyenne Tribe. 

21 SEC. 4. MINERAL RIGHTS CONVEYANCES. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other Fed23 eral law (including regulations) that otherwise applies to 

24 the conveyance of any Federal coal right, title, or interest, 

25 if Great Northern Properties conveys to the Tribe all minVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:57 Mar 24, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S647.IS S647

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1 eral interests of Great Northern Properties underlying the 

2 Cheyenne tracts in accordance with this Act, the Secretary 

3 shall convey to Great Northern Properties all right, title, 

4 and interest of the United States in and to the coal under5 lying the Federal tracts. 

6 (b) IMMUNITIES.—The mineral interests underlying 

7 the Cheyenne tracts conveyed to the Tribe under sub8 section (a) shall not be subject to taxation by the State 

9 (including any political subdivision of the State). 

10 SEC. 5. TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF MINERAL CONVEY11 ANCES. 

12 (a) WAIVER OF LEGAL CLAIMS.—In return for the 

13 mineral conveyances under section 4(a), the Tribe shall 

14 waive each claim relating to the failure of the United 

15 States to acquire in trust for the Tribe as part of the Res16 ervation the private mineral interests underlying the Chey17 enne tracts. 

18 (b) CONDITION.—As a condition of the mineral con19 veyances by the Secretary under section 4(a), the Tribe 

20 and Great Northern Properties shall jointly notify the Sec21 retary in writing that the Tribe and Great Northern Prop22 erties have agreed on a formula for the sharing of revenue 

23 from coal produced from any portion of the Federal tracts. 

24 (c) COMPLETION OF MINERAL CONVEYANCES.—Not25 withstanding any other Federal law (including regulaVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:57 Mar 24, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S647.IS S647

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1 tions) that otherwise applies to the conveyance of any Fed2 eral coal right, title, or interest, after satisfaction of the 

3 condition described in subsection (b) and not later than 

4 90 days after the date on which the Secretary receives 

5 written notification under subsection (b), the mineral con6 veyances under section 4(a) shall be completed in a single 

7 transaction. 

8 (d) RESCISSION OF MINERAL CONVEYANCES.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—If any portion of the mineral 

10 conveyances under section 4(a) is invalidated by a 

11 Federal district court, and the judgment of the Fed12 eral district court is not vacated or reversed on ap13 peal, the Secretary or Great Northern Properties 

14 may rescind completely each mineral conveyance 

15 under section 4(a). 

16 (2) EFFECT.—If the Secretary or Great North17 ern Properties carries out a rescission under para18 graph (1), the waiver of the Tribe under subsection 

19 (a) shall be considered to be rescinded. 

20 SEC. 6. ELIGIBILITY FOR OTHER FEDERAL BENEFITS. 

21 No sums or other benefits provided to the Tribe 

22 under this Act shall result in the reduction or denial of 

23 any Federal services, benefits, or programs to the Tribe 

24 or to any member of the Tribe to which the Tribe or mem25 ber is entitled or eligible because of— 


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1 (1) the status of the Tribe as a federally recog2 nized Indian tribe; or 

3 (2) the status of the member as a member of 

4 the Tribe. 

5 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

6 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

7 this Act such sums as are necessary. 

Æ 


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