II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1857

To provide for a conveyance of certain Navajo Nation lands located in northwestern New Mexico and to resolve conflicts among the members of

such Nation who hold interests in allotments on such lands.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

NOVEMBER 4, 1999

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

to the Committee on Indian Affairs

A BILL

To provide for a conveyance of certain Navajo Nation lands

located in northwestern New Mexico and to resolve conflicts among the members of such Nation who hold interests in allotments on such lands.

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 ‘‘Bisti PRLA Dispute

5 Resolution Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

7 It is the purpose of this Act to—
2

•S 1857 IS

1 (1) resolve a conflict among the Navajo Nation,

2 the Bureau of Land Management and a coal pref3 erence right lease applicant that is preventing the

4 conveyance of certain public land selected by the

5 Navajo Nation in 1981 in northwestern New Mexico

6 under section 11 of Public Law 93–531 (25 U.S.C.

7 640d–10);

8 (2) permit the Navajo Nation to use the se9 lected lands described in paragraph (1) in the man10 ner provided for in subsection (h) of such section 11

11 (25 U.S.C. 640d–10(h)), either as the site of reloca12 tion of Navajo families residing on Hopi-partitioned

13 lands in Arizona, or as the site of commercial use

14 and development to generate revenue for the benefit

15 of those relocatees;

16 (3) resolve a conflict among members of the

17 Navajo Nation who hold interests in allotments on

18 such lands, the Bureau of Land Management and a

19 coal preference right lease applicant that was the

20 subject of litigation in the United States District

21 Court for the District of New Mexico in Mescal. et

22 al. v. United States et al. (Civil No. 83–1408 LH/

23 WWH), consistent with the provisions of the settle24 ment agreement of October 1, 1996 among the par25 ties by which the case was resolved;
3

•S 1857 IS

1 (4) resolve conflicts over the management of

2 public lands that have evaded resolution since short3 ly after coal prospecting permits were first issued in

4 1967; and

5 (5) resolve such conflicts in a manner that—

6 (A) does not violate a coal lease applicant’s

7 valid existing rights as protected by section 2(b)

8 of the Act of February 25, 1920 (commonly

9 known as the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C.

10 201(b))) and related laws; and

11 (B) recognizes the reasonable value of such

12 rights as established by discounted cash flow

13 appraisal methods during the adjudication of

14 the coal preference right lease applications.

15 SEC. 3. EXCHANGE AUTHORIZATION AND DIRECTION.

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi17 sion of law, the Secretary of the Interior, acting through

18 the Bureau of Land Management, shall, upon the relin19 quishment by the holder or holders thereof of coal pref20 erence right lease applications captioned NMNM 3752,

21 NMNM 3753, NMNM 3754, NMNM 3755, NMNM 3835,

22 NMNM 3837, NMNM 3918, NMNM 3919, NMNM 6802,

23 NMNM 7235 and NMNM 8745, issue to each such holder

24 or holders a Certificate of Bidding Rights (in such form

25 and manner as provided for under regulations promul-
4

•S 1857 IS

1 gated by the Secretary under the coal leasing provisions

2 of the Act of February 25, 1920 (commonly known as the

3 Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.))) that con4 stitutes the fair market value, as determined under section

5 4, of the relinquished coal preference right lease applica6 tion involved. Such relinquishment shall be effective upon

7 issuance of the Certificate of Bidding Rights.

8 (b) NO ADJUDICATION.—The relinquishments and

9 issuances required under subsection (a) shall occur with10 out any further adjudication of the coal preference right

11 lease applications by the Secretary of the Interior.

12 SEC. 4. METHOD FOR DETERMINING FAIR MARKET VALUE.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi14 sion of law, the provisions of this section shall apply to

15 the issuance of a Certificate of Bidding Rights under sec16 tion 3.

17 (b) ISSUANCE.—Not later than 90 days after the date

18 on which fair market value is determined under subsection

19 (c) with respect to a preference right lease application to

20 which this section applies, the Secretary of the Interior

21 shall issue a Certificate of Bidding Rights for such appli22 cation and notify Congress of such action.

23 (c) FAIR MARKET VALUE.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The fair market value of a

25 preference right lease application to which this sec-
5

•S 1857 IS

1 tion applies shall be determined by the Secretary of

2 the Interior based on the recommendations of a

3 panel appointed under paragraph (2).

4 (2) PANEL.—A panel under this paragraph

5 shall be composed of 4 representatives—

6 (A) one representative to be appointed by

7 the Secretary of the Interior;

8 (B) one representative to be appointed by

9 the holder of the preference right lease applica10 tion involved;

11 (C) one representative to be appointed by

12 the chief executive officer of Wyoming; and

13 (D) one representative to be appointed by

14 the chief executive officer of New Mexico.

15 (3) EVIDENCE.—Evidence of the fair market

16 value of a preference right lease application that

17 may be considered by a panel under this subsection

18 shall be evidence of the same nature as the evidence

19 that is considered by the Bureau of Land Manage20 ment in determining whether a holder of a pref21 erence right lease application has met the legal test

22 established in regulations promulgated by the Sec23 retary of the Interior for determining whether the

24 holder has made a valuable discovery of coal in com25 mercial quantities.
6

•S 1857 IS

1 (4) SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION.—In deter2 mining the fair market value of a coal reserve for

3 purposes of paragraph (3), the panel may supple4 ment information derived under such paragraph with

5 testimony from witnesses or by affidavit, as the

6 panel determines appropriate.

7 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF PATENTS TO RELINQUISHED PREF8 ERENCE RIGHT LEASE APPLICATIONS.

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi10 sion of law, the Secretary of the Interior, acting through

11 the Bureau of Land Management, shall—

12 (1) not later than July 15, 2000, verify the se13 lections of lands made by the Navajo Nation pursu14 ant to section 11 of Public Law 93–531 (25 U.S.C.

15 640d–10); and

16 (2) not later than 30 days after the relinquish17 ment and issuance of bidding rights under section 3,

18 issue patents to the Navajo Nation as provided for

19 by law.

20 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—The duties imposed on the Sec21 retary of the Interior under this section shall be considered

22 nondiscretionary and enforceable in a mandamus pro23 ceeding brought under section 1361 of title 28, United

24 States Code.
7

•S 1857 IS

1 SEC. 6. USE OF EXCHANGE BIDDING RIGHTS.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi3 sion of law—

4 (1) a Certificate of Bidding Rights issued by

5 the Secretary of the Interior under section 3 shall,

6 subject to such procedures as the Secretary may es7 tablish pertaining to notice of transfer and account8 ings of holders and their balances, be transferable by

9 the holder or holders thereof in whole or in part;

10 (2) a Certificate of Bidding Rights issued by

11 the Secretary of the Interior under section 3 shall

12 constitute a monetary credit that, subject to para13 graph (3), may be applied, at the election of the

14 holder or holders thereof, against rentals, advance

15 royalties, or production royalties payable to the Sec16 retary under Federal coal leases, as well as against

17 bonus payments payable to the Secretary in the

18 issuance of a Federal coal lease or Federal coal lease

19 modification under the coal leasing provisions of the

20 Act of February 25, 1920 (commonly known as the

21 Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.)); and

22 (3) whenever any Certificate of Bidding Rights

23 issued by the Secretary of the Interior under section

24 3 is applied by the holder or holders thereof as a

25 monetary credit against a payment obligation under

26 a Federal coal lease, the holder or holders may apply
8

•S 1857 IS

1 such bidding rights only against 50 percent of the

2 amount payable under such lease, and shall pay the

3 remaining 50 percent as provided for under the lease

4 in cash or its equivalent.

5 (b) PAYMENT UNDER LEASE OBLIGATIONS.—Any

6 payment of a Federal coal lease obligation by the holder

7 or holders of a Certificate of Bidding Rights issued by the

8 Secretary of the Interior under section 3 shall be treated

9 as money received under section 35 of the Act of February

10 25, 1920 (commonly known as the Mineral Leasing Act

11 (30 U.S.C. 191)), but shall only be credited and redistrib12 uted by the Secretary as follows:

13 (1) Fifty percent of the amount paid in cash or

14 its equivalent shall be fully redistributed to the State

15 in which the lease is located and be treated as a 50

16 percent redistribution under such section 35.

17 (2) Fifty percent of the amount paid through a

18 crediting of the bidding rights involved shall be

19 treated as a payment that is subject to redistribu20 tion under such section 35 to the Reclamation and

21 Miscellaneous Receipts accounts in the Treasury.

Æ