I
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 5584
To protect certain lands held in fee by the Pechanga Band of Luiseno
Mission Indians from condemnation until a final decision is made regard-
ing a pending fee to trust application for that land, to provide an
environmentally sound process for the expeditious consideration and ap-
proval of an electricity transmission line right-of-way through the
Trabuco Ranger District of the Cleveland National Forest and adjacent
Federal lands, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 9, 2002
Mr. ISSA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Resources
A BILL
To protect certain lands held in fee by the Pechanga Band
of Luiseno Mission Indians from condemnation until a
final decision is made regarding a pending fee to trust
application for that land, to provide an environmentally
sound process for the expeditious consideration and ap-
proval of an electricity transmission line right-of-way
through the Trabuco Ranger District of the Cleveland
National Forest and adjacent Federal lands, 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. LAND OF PECHANGA BAND OF LUISENO MIS-
SION INDIANS.
(a) LIMITATION ON CONVEYANCE.—Land described
in subsection (b) (or any interest in that land) shall not
be voluntarily or involuntarily transferred or otherwise
made available for condemnation until the date on
which—
(1)(A) the Secretary of the Interior renders a
final decision on the fee to trust application pending
on the date of the enactment of this Act concerning
the land; and
(B) final decisions have been rendered regard-
ing all appeals relating to that application decision;
or
(2) the fee to trust application described in
paragraph (1)(A) is withdrawn.
(b) DESCRIPTION OF LAND.—The land referred to in
subsection (a) is land located in Riverside County, Cali-
fornia, that is held in fee by the Pechanga Band of
Luiseno Mission Indians, as described in Document No.
211130 of the Office of the Recorder, Riverside County,
California, and recorded on May 15, 2001.
(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-
tion designates, or shall be used to construe, any land de-
scribed in subsection (b) (or any interest in that land) as
an Indian reservation, Indian country, Indian land, or res-
ervation land (as those terms are defined under any Fed-
eral law (including a regulation)) for any purpose under
any Federal law.
SEC. 2. ELECTRICITY TRANSMISSION LINE RIGHT-OF-WAY,
CLEVELAND NATIONAL FOREST.
(a) ISSUANCE.—The Secretary of the Interior and the
Secretary of Agriculture shall issue all necessary grants,
easements, permits, plan revisions or amendments, and
other approvals to allow for the siting and construction
of a high-voltage electricity transmission line right-of-way
running approximately north to south through the
Trabuco Ranger District of the Cleveland National Forest
in the State of California and adjacent lands under the
jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management and the
Forest Service. The right-of-way approvals shall provide
all necessary Federal authorization from the Secretaries
of Agriculture and the Interior for the routing, construc-
tion, operation, and maintenance of a 500 KV trans-
mission line capable of meeting the region’s long-term
electricity transmission needs between the existing Valley-
Serrano transmission line to the north and the Telega-
Escondido transmission line to the south, and for con-
necting to future generating capacity that may be devel-
oped in the region.
(b) PROTECTION OF WILDERNESS AREAS.—The Sec-
retary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture
shall not allow any portion of a transmission line right-
of-way corridor identified in subsection (a) to enter any
identified wilderness area in existence as of the date of
the enactment of this Act.
(c) ENVIRONMENTAL
AND
ADMINISTRATIVE
RE-
VIEW.—Nothing in this section shall affect the applica-
bility of any environmental or administrative review re-
quired under other provision of laws, including the Na-
tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321
note) or the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C.
1531 et seq.). The Secretary of the Interior, acting
through the Bureau of Land Management, shall be the
lead Federal agency with overall responsibility to ensure
completion of required environmental and other reviews of
the approvals to be issued under subsection (a). For the
portions of the corridor on Forest Service land, the Sec-
retary of Agriculture shall complete all required environ-
mental reviews and administrative actions, in coordination
with the Secretary of the Interior. It is anticipated that
the right-of-way route through the Trabuco Ranger Dis-
trict of the Cleveland National Forest will make it unnec-
essary to construct regional transmission lines through
heavily populated lands in the Temecula Valley.
(d) TIME FOR REVIEW AND ISSUANCE.—Any Federal
agency that conducts or participates in any environmental
or administrative review of the approvals to be issued
under subsection (a) shall work expeditiously, and com-
plete such review as soon as possible, taking full advantage
of any ongoing governmental review processes for any
similar or associated projects and proposals, and using all
existing or ongoing studies, reports, and assessments to
satisfy review requirements. The necessary grants, ease-
ments, permits, plan amendments and other approvals for
the transmission line right-of-way shall be issued not later
than 60 days after the completion of the administrative
and environmental review under subsection (c) or March
31, 2004, whichever occurs first.
(e) PRESERVING STATE AUTHORITY.—Nothing in
this section shall affect the authority of the State of Cali-
fornia in making any decision regarding the siting or pub-
lic need for the transmission line described in subsection
(a).
(f) OTHER TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The trans-
mission line right-of-way shall be subject to such terms
and conditions as the Secretary of the Interior and the
Secretary of Agriculture consider necessary, as a result
of the environmental review under subsection (c), to pro-
tect the value of historic, cultural, tribal, and natural re-
sources under the jurisdiction of the Department of the
Interior or the Department of Agriculture.
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