IB 

Union Calendar No. 531 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4979 

[Report No. 113–700] 

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

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 26, 2014 

Mr. THORNBERRY (for himself, Mr. FLORES, Mr. MARCHANT, Mr. BURGESS, 

and Mr. NEUGEBAUER) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Natural Resources 

DECEMBER 22, 2014 

Additional sponsors: Mr. STOCKMAN, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. 

FARENTHOLD, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. OLSON, Mr. LANKFORD, Mr. CARTER, 

and Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas 

DECEMBER 22, 2014 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on June 26, 2014] 


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•HR 4979 RH

A BILL 

To provide legal certainty to property owners along the Red 

River in Texas, and for other purposes. 


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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 Prop5 erty Protection Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DISCLAIMER OF INTEREST. 

7 The Secretary hereby disclaims any right, title, and 

8 interest to all Red River lands located south of the South 

9 Bank of the Red River. This Act does not change or affect 

10 in any manner the sovereignty rights of federally recognized 

11 Indian tribes over lands located to the north of the South 

12 Bank of the Red River. Tribal sovereignty rights continue 

13 to be established and defined by controlling Federal law. 

14 SEC. 3. CLAIMS PROCESS AND ISSUANCE OF DEEDS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall relinquish, dis16 claim, and shall transfer by special warranty deed all right, 

17 title, and interest of the United States in and to Red River 

18 lands to any claimant who demonstrates to the satisfaction 

19 of the Secretary that the claimant— 

20 (1) holds all right, title, and interest under a 

21 chain of title for at least 30 years from the time of 

22 submission; 

23 (2) has a deed recorded in the appropriate coun24 ty; and 


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1 (3) has paid all taxes assessed on the land and 

2 any interest and penalties associated with any period 

3 of tax delinquency. 

4 (b) PUBLIC NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall pub5 lish in the Federal Register and on official and appropriate 

6 Web sites the process to receive written and/or electronic 

7 submissions of the documents required under subsection (a). 

8 The Secretary shall treat all proper notifications received 

9 from the claimant as fulfilling the satisfaction requirements 

10 under subsection (a). 

11 (c) STANDARD OF APPROVAL.—The Secretary shall ac12 cept all official county and State records as filed in the 

13 county on the date of submission proving right, title, and 

14 interest, including all land accreted to those lands identified 

15 by such records by the processes of erosion and accretion. 

16 (d) TIME PERIOD FOR APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL OF

17 REQUEST.—The Secretary shall approve or disapprove a 

18 request for a special warranty deed under subsection (a) 

19 not later than 180 days after the date on which the written 

20 request is received by the Secretary. If the Secretary fails 

21 to approve or disapprove such a request by the end of such 

22 180-day period, the request shall be deemed to be approved. 

23 (e) REQUIREMENTS FOR DECISION.—Any final deci24 sion by the Secretary must contain— 


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1 (1) a field note description used to determine the 

2 property claim, which must be— 

3 (A) sufficient to locate the land on the 

4 ground; 

5 (B) consistent with the claimant’s deed; and 

6 (C) include all land accreted to the claim7 ant by the processes of erosion and accretion; 

8 (2) an accurate plat of the land that is— 

9 (A) consistent with the field notes; and 

10 (B) prepared by a Texas licensed State land 

11 surveyor; and 

12 (3) any other matters required by law or as the 

13 Secretary considers appropriate consistent with the 

14 provisions and intent of this Act. 

15 SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish proce17 dures for an administrative hearing— 

18 (1) for a claimant to appeal the final decision 

19 made pursuant to section 3 regarding a claim by Sec20 retary to the claimant’s property; and 

21 (2) to adjudicate disputes between two or more 

22 private property owners who have interest claims that 

23 overlap pursuant to documents submitted under sec24 tion 3. 


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1 (b) JUDICIAL RESOLUTION.—If after the final deter2 mination has been issued under subsection (a) and the pri3 vate property owner disputes the decision, the private prop4 erty owner may pursue a claim in a Federal district court 

5 within the State of Texas. 

6 SEC. 5. RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN. 

7 The Secretary shall ensure that no parcels of Red River 

8 lands are treated as Federal land for the purpose of any 

9 resource management plan until the Secretary has ensured 

10 that such parcels are not subject to transfer under section 

11 3. 

12 SEC. 6. CONSTRUCTION. 

13 Nothing in this Act shall alter— 

14 (1) any present or future rights and interests of 

15 the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache Tribes and their 

16 members or Indian successors-in interest; 

17 (2) any tribal trust lands; 

18 (3) allotted lands that may be held in trust or 

19 lands subject to a Federal restriction against alien20 ation; 

21 (4) any boundaries of lands owned by the tribes 

22 referred to in paragraph (1), including lands referred 

23 to in paragraphs (2) and (3), pursuant to the gra24 dient boundary survey method; and 


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1 (5) the sovereign rights, jurisdiction, or other 

2 governmental interests of the Kiowa, Comanche, and 

3 Apache Tribes and their members or Indian succes4 sors-in interest existing or which may be acknowl5 edged by Federal and tribal law. 

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

7 (a) COMPETITIVE SALE OF IDENTIFIED FEDERAL

8 LANDS.—After the Secretary has ensured that Red River 

9 lands parcels are not subject to transfer under section 3, 

10 the Secretary shall offer any and all such remaining identi11 fied Federal lands for disposal by competitive sale for not 

12 less than fair market value as determined by an appraisal 

13 conducted in accordance with nationally recognized ap14 praisal standards, including the Uniform Appraisal Stand15 ards for Federal Land Acquisitions; and the Uniform 

16 Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice. 

17 (b) EXISTING RIGHTS.—The sale of identified Federal 

18 lands under this section shall be subject to valid existing 

19 tribal, State, and local rights. 

20 (c) PROCEEDS OF SALE OF LANDS.—Net proceeds from 

21 the sale of identified Federal lands under this section shall 

22 be used to offset any costs associated with this Act. 

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

24 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to 

25 the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of RepVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Dec 24, 2014 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4979.RH H4979

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1 resentatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Re2 sources of the Senate a list of any identified Federal lands 

3 that have not been sold under subsection (a) and the reasons 

4 such lands were not sold. 

5 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

6 For the purposes of this Act— 

7 (1) the term ‘‘Red River lands’’ means lands 

8 along the approximately 116-mile stretch of the Red 

9 River from its confluence with the North Fork of the 

10 Red River on the west to the 98th meridian on the 

11 east between the States of Texas and Oklahoma; 

12 (2) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of 

13 the Interior, acting through the Director of Bureau of 

14 Land Management; 

15 (3) the term ‘‘South Bank’’ means the water16 washed and relatively permanent elevation or accliv17 ity, commonly called a cut bank, along the southerly 

18 or right side of the Red River which separates its bed 

19 from the adjacent upland, whether valley or hill, and 

20 usually serves to confine the waters within the bed 

21 and to preserve the course of the river; as specified in 

22 the fifth paragraph of the decree rendered March 12, 

23 1923, in Oklahoma v. Texas, 261 U. S. 340, 43 S. Ct. 

24 376, 67 L. Ed. 687; and 


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1 (4) the term ‘‘gradient boundary survey’’ means 

2 the measurement technique used to demarcate a divi3 sion of ownership or jurisdiction along the South 

4 Bank under the methodology established by the United 

5 States Supreme Court which recognizes that the 

6 boundary line between the States of Texas and Okla7 homa along the Red River is subject to such changes 

8 as have been or may be wrought by the natural and 

9 gradual processes known as erosion and accretion as 

10 specified in the second, third, and fourth paragraphs 

11 of the decree rendered March 12, 1923, in Oklahoma 

12 v. Texas, 261 U. S. 340, 43 S. Ct. 376, 67 L. Ed. 687. 


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Union Calendar No. 531 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4979 

[Report No. 113–700] 

A BILL 

To provide legal certainty to property owners along 

the Red River in Texas, and for other purposes. 

DECEMBER 22, 2014 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS