I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2130 

To provide legal certainty to property owners along the Red River in Texas, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 30, 2015 

Mr. THORNBERRY (for himself, Mr. CARTER of Texas, Mr. MCCAUL, and Mr. 

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

A BILL 

To provide legal certainty to property owners along the Red 

River in Texas, 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 ‘‘Red River Private 

5 Property Protection Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DISCLAIMER AND OUTDATED SURVEYS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary hereby disclaims 

8 any right, title, and interest to all land located south of 

9 the South Bank boundary line of the Red River in the 

10 affected area. 


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1 (b) CLARIFICATION OF PRIOR SURVEYS.—Previous 

2 surveys conducted by the Bureau of Land Management 

3 shall have no force or effect in determining the current 

4 South Bank boundary line. 

5 SEC. 3. IDENTIFICATION OF CURRENT BOUNDARY. 

6 (a) BOUNDARY IDENTIFICATION.—To identify the 

7 current South Bank boundary line along the affected area, 

8 the Secretary shall commission a new survey that— 

9 (1) adheres to the gradient boundary survey 

10 method; 

11 (2) spans the entire length of the affected area; 

12 (3) is conducted by Licensed State Land Sur13 veyors chosen by the Texas General Land Office; 

14 and 

15 (4) is completed not later than 2 years after the 

16 date of the enactment of this Act. 

17 (b) APPROVAL OF THE SURVEY.—The Secretary 

18 shall submit the survey conducted under this Act to the 

19 Texas General Land Office for approval. State approval 

20 of the completed survey shall satisfy the requirements 

21 under this Act. 

22 SEC. 4. APPEAL. 

23 Not later than 1 year after the survey is completed 

24 and approved pursuant to section 3, a private property 

25 owner who holds right, title, or interest in the affected 


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1 area may appeal public domain claims by the Secretary 

2 to an Administrative Law Judge. 

3 SEC. 5. RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN. 

4 The Secretary shall ensure that no parcels of land 

5 in the affected area are treated as Federal land for the 

6 purpose of any resource management plan until the survey 

7 has been completed and approved and the Secretary en8 sures that the parcel is not subject to further appeal pur9 suant to this Act. 

10 SEC. 6. CONSTRUCTION. 

11 This Act does not change or affect in any manner 

12 the interest of the States or sovereignty rights of federally 

13 recognized Indian tribes over lands located to the north 

14 of the South Bank boundary line of the Red River as es15 tablished by this Act. 

16 SEC. 7. SALE OF REMAINING RED RIVER SURFACE RIGHTS. 

17 (a) COMPETITIVE SALE OF IDENTIFIED FEDERAL

18 LANDS.—After the survey has been completed and ap19 proved and the Secretary ensures that a parcel is not sub20 ject to further appeal under this Act, the Secretary shall 

21 offer any and all such remaining identified Federal lands 

22 for disposal by competitive sale for not less than fair mar23 ket value as determined by an appraisal conducted in ac24 cordance with nationally recognized appraisal standards, 

25 including the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal 


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1 Land Acquisitions; and the Uniform Standards of Profes2 sional Appraisal Practice. 

3 (b) EXISTING RIGHTS.—The sale of identified Fed4 eral lands under this section shall be subject to valid exist5 ing tribal, State, and local rights. 

6 (c) PROCEEDS OF SALE OF LANDS.—Net proceeds 

7 from the sale of identified Federal lands under this section 

8 shall be used to offset any costs associated with this Act. 

9 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 5 years after the date 

10 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 

11 to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of 

12 Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Nat13 ural Resources of the Senate a list of any identified Fed14 eral lands that have not been sold under subsection (a) 

15 and the reasons such lands were not sold. 

16 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

17 For the purposes of this Act: 

18 (1) AFFECTED AREA.—The term ‘‘affected 

19 area’’ means lands along the approximately 116-mile 

20 stretch of the Red River from its confluence with the 

21 North Fork of the Red River on the west to the 

22 98th meridian on the east between the States of 

23 Texas and Oklahoma. 


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1 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di3 rector of Bureau of Land Management. 

4 (3) SOUTH BANK.—The term ‘‘South Bank’’ 

5 means the water-washed and relatively permanent 

6 elevation or acclivity, commonly called a cut bank, 

7 along the southerly or right side of the Red River 

8 which separates its bed from the adjacent upland, 

9 whether valley or hill, and usually serves to confine 

10 the waters within the bed and to preserve the course 

11 of the river; as specified in the fifth paragraph of 

12 the decree rendered March 12, 1923, in Oklahoma 

13 v. Texas, 261 U.S. 340, 43 S. Ct. 376, 67 L. Ed. 

14 687. 

15 (4) SOUTH BANK BOUNDARY LINE.—The term 

16 ‘‘South Bank boundary line’’ means the boundary 

17 between Texas and Oklahoma identified through the 

18 gradient boundary survey method; as specified in the 

19 sixth and seventh paragraphs of the decree rendered 

20 March 12, 1923, in Oklahoma v. Texas, 261 U.S. 

21 340, 43 S. Ct. 376, 67 L. Ed. 687. 

22 (5) GRADIENT BOUNDARY SURVEY METHOD.— 

23 The term ‘‘gradient boundary survey method’’ 

24 means the measurement technique used to locate the 

25 South Bank boundary line under the methodology 


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1 established by the United States Supreme Court 

2 which recognizes that the boundary line between the 

3 States of Texas and Oklahoma along the Red River 

4 is subject to such changes as have been or may be 

5 wrought by the natural and gradual processes known 

6 as erosion and accretion as specified in the second, 

7 third, and fourth paragraphs of the decree rendered 

8 March 12, 1923, in Oklahoma v. Texas, 261 U.S. 

9 340, 43 S. Ct. 376, 67 L. Ed. 687. 

Æ 


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