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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A BILL 
To provide legal certainty to property owners along the Red 
River in Texas, and for other purposes. 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Red River Private Prop-
erty Protection Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DISCLAIMER OF INTEREST. 
The Secretary hereby disclaims any right, title, and 
interest to all Red River lands located south of the South 
Bank of the Red River. This Act does not change or affect 
in any manner the sovereignty rights of federally recognized 
Indian tribes over lands located to the north of the South 
Bank of the Red River. Tribal sovereignty rights continue 
to be established and defined by controlling Federal law. 
SEC. 3. CLAIMS PROCESS AND ISSUANCE OF DEEDS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall relinquish, dis-
claim, and shall transfer by special warranty deed all right, 
title, and interest of the United States in and to Red River 
lands to any claimant who demonstrates to the satisfaction 
of the Secretary that the claimant— 
(1) holds all right, title, and interest under a 
chain of title for at least 30 years from the time of 
submission; 
(2) has a deed recorded in the appropriate coun-
ty; and 
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(3) has paid all taxes assessed on the land and 
any interest and penalties associated with any period 
of tax delinquency. 
(b) PUBLIC NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall pub-
lish in the Federal Register and on official and appropriate 
Web sites the process to receive written and/or electronic 
submissions of the documents required under subsection (a). 
The Secretary shall treat all proper notifications received 
from the claimant as fulfilling the satisfaction requirements 
under subsection (a). 
(c) STANDARD OF APPROVAL.—The Secretary shall ac-
cept all official county and State records as filed in the 
county on the date of submission proving right, title, and 
interest, including all land accreted to those lands identified 
by such records by the processes of erosion and accretion. 
(d) TIME PERIOD FOR APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL OF 
REQUEST.—The Secretary shall approve or disapprove a 
request for a special warranty deed under subsection (a) 
not later than 180 days after the date on which the written 
request is received by the Secretary. If the Secretary fails 
to approve or disapprove such a request by the end of such 
180-day period, the request shall be deemed to be approved. 
(e) REQUIREMENTS FOR DECISION.—Any final deci-
sion by the Secretary must contain— 
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(1) a field note description used to determine the 
property claim, which must be— 
(A) sufficient to locate the land on the 
ground; 
(B) consistent with the claimant’s deed; and 
(C) include all land accreted to the claim-
ant by the processes of erosion and accretion; 
(2) an accurate plat of the land that is— 
(A) consistent with the field notes; and 
(B) prepared by a Texas licensed State land 
surveyor; and 
(3) any other matters required by law or as the 
Secretary considers appropriate consistent with the 
provisions and intent of this Act. 
SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish proce-
dures for an administrative hearing— 
(1) for a claimant to appeal the final decision 
made pursuant to section 3 regarding a claim by Sec-
retary to the claimant’s property; and 
(2) to adjudicate disputes between two or more 
private property owners who have interest claims that 
overlap pursuant to documents submitted under sec-
tion 3. 
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(b) JUDICIAL RESOLUTION.—If after the final deter-
mination has been issued under subsection (a) and the pri-
vate property owner disputes the decision, the private prop-
erty owner may pursue a claim in a Federal district court 
within the State of Texas. 
SEC. 5. RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN. 
The Secretary shall ensure that no parcels of Red River 
lands are treated as Federal land for the purpose of any 
resource management plan until the Secretary has ensured 
that such parcels are not subject to transfer under section 
3. 
SEC. 6. CONSTRUCTION. 
Nothing in this Act shall alter— 
(1) any present or future rights and interests of 
the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache Tribes and their 
members or Indian successors-in interest; 
(2) any tribal trust lands; 
(3) allotted lands that may be held in trust or 
lands subject to a Federal restriction against alien-
ation; 
(4) any boundaries of lands owned by the tribes 
referred to in paragraph (1), including lands referred 
to in paragraphs (2) and (3), pursuant to the gra-
dient boundary survey method; and 
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(5) the sovereign rights, jurisdiction, or other 
governmental interests of the Kiowa, Comanche, and 
Apache Tribes and their members or Indian succes-
sors-in interest existing or which may be acknowl-
edged by Federal and tribal law. 
SEC. 7. SALE OF REMAINING RED RIVER SURFACE RIGHTS. 
(a) COMPETITIVE SALE
OF IDENTIFIED FEDERAL 
LANDS.—After the Secretary has ensured that Red River 
lands parcels are not subject to transfer under section 3, 
the Secretary shall offer any and all such remaining identi-
fied Federal lands for disposal by competitive sale for not 
less than fair market value as determined by an appraisal 
conducted in accordance with nationally recognized ap-
praisal standards, including the Uniform Appraisal Stand-
ards for Federal Land Acquisitions; and the Uniform 
Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice. 
(b) EXISTING RIGHTS.—The sale of identified Federal 
lands under this section shall be subject to valid existing 
tribal, State, and local rights. 
(c) PROCEEDS OF SALE OF LANDS.—Net proceeds from 
the sale of identified Federal lands under this section shall 
be used to offset any costs associated with this Act. 
(d) REPORT.—Not later than 5 years after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to 
the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Rep-
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resentatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Re-
sources of the Senate a list of any identified Federal lands 
that have not been sold under subsection (a) and the reasons 
such lands were not sold. 
SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 
For the purposes of this Act— 
(1) the term ‘‘Red River lands’’ means lands 
along the approximately 116-mile stretch of the Red 
River from its confluence with the North Fork of the 
Red River on the west to the 98th meridian on the 
east between the States of Texas and Oklahoma; 
(2) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of 
the Interior, acting through the Director of Bureau of 
Land Management; 
(3) the term ‘‘South Bank’’ means the water- 
washed and relatively permanent elevation or accliv-
ity, commonly called a cut bank, along the southerly 
or right side of the Red River which separates its bed 
from the adjacent upland, whether valley or hill, and 
usually serves to confine the waters within the bed 
and to preserve the course of the river; as specified in 
the fifth paragraph of the decree rendered March 12, 
1923, in Oklahoma v. Texas, 261 U. S. 340, 43 S. Ct. 
376, 67 L. Ed. 687; and 
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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 Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 
and ordered to be printed 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:12 Dec 24, 2014
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