I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4582 

To amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to provide that Alexander 

Creek, Alaska, is and shall be recognized as an eligible Native village 

under that Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 27, 2019 

Mr. YOUNG introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to provide that Alexander Creek, Alaska, is and shall be recognized as an eligible Native village under that Act, 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. ALEXANDER CREEK VILLAGE RECOGNITION. 

4 The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 

5 1601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 43. ALEXANDER CREEK VILLAGE RECOGNITION. 

2 ‘‘(a) RECOGNITION OF THE VILLAGE OF ALEXANDER

3 CREEK.—Subject to the limitations of this section and 

4 notwithstanding section 1432(d) of the Alaska National 

5 Interest Lands Conservation Act (Public Law 96–487) 

6 and any conveyance or agreement in furtherance thereof 

7 or thereto, to the contrary, Alexander Creek, located with8 in Township 15N, Range 7W, Seward Meridian, Alaska, 

9 is and shall be recognized as an eligible Native village 

10 under section 11(b)(3) of this Act. 

11 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section, 

12 the following terms apply: 

13 ‘‘(1) The term ‘agency’ includes— 

14 ‘‘(A) any instrumentality of the United 

15 States; 

16 ‘‘(B) any element of an agency; and 

17 ‘‘(C) any wholly owned or mixed-owned 

18 corporation of the United States Government 

19 identified in chapter 91 of title 31, United 

20 States Code. 

21 ‘‘(2) The term ‘Alexander Creek’ means Alex22 ander Creek, Incorporated, an Alaska Native Group 

23 corporation organized pursuant to this Act prior to 

24 the enactment of this section, but subsequent to en25 actment of this section means Alexander Creek, InVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:39 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4582.IH H4582

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1 corporated, an Alaska Native Village corporation 

2 recognized and organized pursuant to section (a). 

3 ‘‘(3) The term ‘Region’ means Cook Inlet Re4 gion Incorporated, an Alaska Native Regional Cor5 poration, which is the appropriate Regional Corpora6 tion for Alexander Creek under section 1613(h) of 

7 this Act. 

8 ‘‘(c) ORGANIZATION OF ALEXANDER CREEK.—As 

9 soon as practicable after enactment of this section, Alex10 ander Creek shall cause to be filed— 

11 ‘‘(1) any amendments to its corporate charter 

12 in the State of Alaska necessary to convert from a 

13 Native group to a Native Village corporation; and 

14 ‘‘(2) if necessary, any amendments to its cor15 porate charter and governing business documents 

16 that fulfill the terms of the agreement authorized 

17 under this Act. 

18 ‘‘(d) NEGOTIATIONS.—Not later than 30 days after 

19 the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary 

20 shall open negotiations with Alexander Creek and, not 

21 later than 13 months after the date of the enactment of 

22 this section, reach an agreement with Alexander Creek to 

23 fairly and equitably settle Alexander Creek’s aboriginal 

24 land claims and any other claims of Alexander Creek 

25 against the United States. An agreement under this secVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:39 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4582.IH H4582

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1 tion shall be in approximate value parity with those of 

2 other Alaska Native Village Corporations, notwithstanding 

3 Alexander Creek’s prior status as a Group Corporation. 

4 The Secretary shall effectuate such agreement under the 

5 authority in this section, other existing authorities, and 

6 in coordination with the Administrator with respect to sur7 plus property to be transferred to Alexander Creek pursu8 ant to such agreement. Notwithstanding paragraphs (2) 

9 and (3) of section 549(a) of title 40, United States Code, 

10 Alexander Creek is hereby considered both a ‘State’ and 

11 a ‘State agency’ under that section for the sole purpose 

12 of the Secretary effectuating an agreement under this sec13 tion. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, Alex14 ander Creek is hereby considered eligible to receive real 

15 property declared to be surplus under section 1303 of title 

16 40, United States Code, for the sole purpose of the Sec17 retary effectuating an agreement under this section. 

18 ‘‘(e) SHAREHOLDER PARTICIPATION.—Alexander 

19 Creek shall notify each member of the Native village rec20 ognized under this section that, upon the effective date 

21 of this section, such members shall cease to receive bene22 fits from the Region as at-large shareholders pursuant to 

23 section 7(m), and that all future resource payments from 

24 the Region shall be made to the Village Corporation pur25 suant to section 7(j). The Region shall not be liable under 


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1 any State, Federal, or local law, or under State or Federal 

2 common law, for damages arising out of or related to the 

3 cessation of payments to such individuals under section 

4 7(m) pursuant to this section. 

5 ‘‘(f) CONSTRUCTION.—Except as provided in this sec6 tion with respect to Alexander Creek, nothing in this sec7 tion shall be construed to modify or amend land convey8 ance entitlements or conveyance agreements between the 

9 Region and village corporations other than Alexander 

10 Creek in such region, nor between the Region and the 

11 Federal Government, nor between any such parties and 

12 the State of Alaska. 

13 ‘‘(g) CONSTRUCTION REGARDING CURRENT ALEX14 ANDER CREEK LAND.—Nothing in this section shall be 

15 construed to reduce the land entitlement to which Alex16 ander Creek became entitled as a Group Corporation, in17 cluding the land selected by and conveyed to Alexander 

18 Creek at the time of enactment of this section.’’. 

Æ 


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