I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2803
To amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to allow shareholder
common stock to be transferred to adopted Alaska Native children and
their descendants, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AUGUST 5, 1999
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Resources
A BILL
To amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to allow
shareholder common stock to be transferred to adopted
Alaska Native children and their descendants, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCE.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Alaska Native Claims Technical Amendments Act of
1999’’.
(b) REFERENCE.—Whenever in this Act a section or
other provision is amended or repealed, such amendment
vacant, unappropriated, and unreserved during
the time that the person eligible for the allot-
ment used and occupied those lands.’’.
(5) In subsection (a)(3)(E), insert ‘‘Federal’’
after ‘‘acquired’’.
(6) In subsection (a)(3)(I), strike ‘‘, including
but not limited to the following’’ and all that follows
through ‘‘Cemetery sites’’.
(7) In subsection (a)(4), insert ‘‘described in
subsection (b)(1) or (b)(2)’’ after ‘‘A person’’.
(8) In subsection (a)(4)(B), strike ’’Park; and’’
and insert ‘‘Park; or’’.
(9) In subsection (b)(1), strike ‘‘A person’’ and
insert ‘‘Except as provided in paragraph (3), a per-
son’’.
(10) In subsection (b)(1)(B), strike ‘‘January
1, 1969 and December 31, 1971’’ and all that fol-
lows through ‘‘December 3, 1971’’, and insert ‘‘Au-
gust 5, 1964, and May 7, 1975’’.
(11) In subsection (b)(2), insert ‘‘(as defined
pursuant to State law)’’ after ‘‘estate of a dece-
dent’’.
(12) In subsection (b)(2), strike ‘‘who was’’ and
insert ‘‘which decedent would have been’’.
(13) In subsection (b)(2), strike ‘‘subsection
(b)(1)’’ and insert ‘‘paragraph (1),’’.
(14) In subsection (b)(2), strike ‘‘if, during’’
and all that follows through ‘‘prisoner of war.’’ and
insert ‘‘under this section.’’.
(15) In subsection (b)(3)—
(A) insert ‘‘previously applied for the same
allotment,’’ after ‘‘No person who received an
allotment,’’; and
(B) insert before the period ‘‘, unless that
person is the personal representative of an es-
tate selecting an allotment pursuant to para-
graph (2)’’.
(16) Add at the end the following new sub-
section:
‘‘(f) APPROVAL OF ALLOTMENTS.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to valid existing
rights, and except as otherwise provided in this sub-
section, within 1 year after the Secretary receives an
allotment application made pursuant to this section,
the Secretary shall approve said application and in-
terim convey the selected lands, pursuant to section
22(j) of this Act (43 U.S.C. 1621(j)(1)).
‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION.—Upon receipt of an allot-
ment application, the Secretary shall immediately
notify the State and all interested parties of the land
description, and any such party shall have 90 days
following notification in which to file with the Sec-
retary a protest as provided in paragraph (3).
‘‘(3) EFFECT
OF
PROTEST.—Paragraph (1)
shall not apply and the Native allotment application
shall be adjudicated pursuant to the requirements of
the Act of May 17, 1906 (Chapter 2469; 34 Stat.
197, as amended), this Act, and other applicable
law, if, pursuant to paragraph (2)—
‘‘(A) a Native Corporation files a protest
with the Secretary stating that the applicant is
not entitled to the land described in the allot-
ment application, and said land is withdrawn
for selection by or has been conveyed to the Na-
tive Corporation pursuant to this Act;
‘‘(B) the State files a protest with the Sec-
retary stating that the land described in the al-
lotment application is necessary for access to
lands owned by the United States, the State of
Alaska, or a political subdivision of the State of
Alaska, to resources located thereon, or to a
public body of water regularly employed for
transportation purposes, and the protest states
with specificity the facts upon which the conclu-
sions concerning access are based and that no
reasonable alternative for access exists; or
‘‘(C) a person or entity files a protest with
the Secretary stating that the applicant is not
entitled to the land described in the allotment
application and that said land is the situs of
improvements claimed by the person or entity.
‘‘(4) APPROVAL PROCEDURE.—Upon expiration
of the 90-day period following notification pursuant
to paragraph (2), the Secretary shall—
‘‘(A) if no protest is timely filed, approve
the application pursuant to paragraph (1); or
‘‘(B) if a protest is timely filed, adjudicate
the legal sufficiency of any such protest, and—
‘‘(i) if the protest is legally insuffi-
cient, approve the application; or
‘‘(ii) if the protest is valid, issue a de-
cision that closes the application and that
is final for the Secretary.’’.
SEC. 6. APPLICABILITY OF NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
RESTRICTIONS.
Section 22(g) of the Act is amended by striking ‘‘Not-
withstanding’’ and all that follows through ‘‘of such Ref-
uge.’’.
SEC. 7. PARTIAL SECTION SELECTIONS AUTHORIZED.
Section 22 of the Act is amended by adding at the
end the following new subsection:
‘‘(m) Selections made under this Act after December
18, 1974, may be in partial sections, but each selection
shall be not less than 160 contiguous acres.’’.
SEC. 8. ELIM NATIVE CORPORATION LAND RESTORATION.
The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C.
1601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new section:
‘‘ELIM NATIVE CORPORATION LAND RESTORATION
‘‘SEC. 42. (a) FINDINGS.— The Congress finds
that—
‘‘(1) approximately 350,000 acres of land were
withdrawn by Executive Orders in 1917 for the use
of the United States Bureau of Education and of
the Natives of Indigenous Alaskan race;
‘‘(2) these lands comprised the Norton Bay
Reservation (later referred to as Norton Bay Native
Reserve) and were set aside for the benefit of the
Native inhabitants of the Eskimo Village of Elim,
Alaska;
‘‘(3) in 1929, an Executive Order deleted
50,000 acres of land from the Norton Bay Reserva-
tion, without the informed consent of the Native
residents living on the Reservation, and the people
of Elim believe this deletion violated the Act of
March 3, 1927 (44 Stat. 1347);
‘‘(4) there appears to have been only minimal
consultation conducted by the United States Govern-
ment with the inhabitants of Elim prior to this dele-
tion of lands;
‘‘(5) the lands were deleted from the Reserva-
tion for the benefit of others;
‘‘(6) the deleted lands were not offered to be re-
stored to the original Reservation when lands com-
prising the Reservation were made available to the
Native inhabitants of Elim under section 19(b) of
this Act at the time of passage of this Act;
‘‘(7) the failure to replace these lands has been
and continues to be a source of deep concern to the
indigenous people of Elim;
‘‘(8) until this matter is dealt with equitably, it
will continue to be a source of great frustration and
sense of loss among the shareholders of the Elim
Native Corporation and their descendants; and
‘‘(9) in light of the above, to replace the lands
deleted in 1929 from the Norton Bay Reservation,
which was established for the benefit of the inhab-
itants of the Village of Elim, 50,000 acres of land
should be conveyed to the Elim Native Corporation.
Liability Act of 1980, or any other provision of law, no
person acquiring any interest in land under this Act shall
be liable for the costs of removal or remedial action, any
damages, or any third party liability arising out of or as
a result of any contamination on that land at the time
that such land was acquired under this Act unless such
person was directly responsible for such contamination.’’.
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