Title: Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Land Affirmation Act of 2017
Policy area: Native Americans

Summary:
Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Land Affirmation Act of 2017
This bill ratifies and confirms the actions of the Department of the Interior to: (1) take approximately 1,427 acres of land in Santa Barbara County, California, into trust for the benefit of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, (2) assume jurisdiction over the appeals relating to the acquisition of this land, and (3) dismiss those appeals. The land is made part of the Santa Ynez Indian Reservation.
The bill removes restrictions on the land pursuant to certain state laws.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1491 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1491

 To reaffirm the action of the Secretary of the Interior to take land 
 into trust for the benefit of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission 
                    Indians, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 10, 2017

 Mr. LaMalfa introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To reaffirm the action of the Secretary of the Interior to take land 
 into trust for the benefit of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission 
                    Indians, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians 
Land Affirmation Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds as follows:
            (1) The Chumash People have resided along California's 
        Central Coast since time immemorial. Prior to contact with 
        European settlers in 1769, an estimated 22,000 Chumash lived in 
        villages between Malibu and Monterey, California.
            (2) Like many California Indians, many of the Chumash 
        people were forced to live on Spanish Missions. Mission life 
        was cruel and resulted in the decimation of the Chumash people 
        so that by 1831, the number of mission registered Chumash had 
        fallen to 2,788.
            (3) After the dissolution of Mission Santa Ines, in current 
        day Santa Ynez, California, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash 
        Indian was able to begin to reassemble its government and 
        culture. Tribal leaders and members continued to be 
        marginalized until the United States granted the tribe 99 acres 
        to establish its reservation in 1901.
            (4) More than 100 years later, the tribe finally secured 
        the resources to expand its reservation and purchased roughly 
        1,400 acres only a few miles away from its current lands. This 
        land is more accurately described in section 3(e) of this 
        legislation.
            (5) On June 1, 2011, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians 
        deliver a proposed cooperative agreement to the County of Santa 
        Barbara as an initial offer to mitigate any potential impacts 
        of taking the land into trust.
            (6) On June 27, 2013, after waiting more than two years for 
        a response from Santa Barbara County to the tribe's proposed 
        mitigation agreement, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians 
        submitted a fee-to-trust application for the Camp 4 property.
            (7) The BIA published a Notice of Availability for the 
        initial Environmental Assessment and invited comments through 
        an extended comment period ending on November 18, 2013. In 
        response to comments and changes in the plan for development of 
        Camp 4, the BIA conducted another Environmental Assessment. A 
        final, revised EA was published in May 2014 through a Notice of 
        Availability, and comments on the revised Environmental 
        Assessment were accepted through and extended comment period 
        ending July 14, 2014.
            (8) Based on the comments submitted to the revised 
        Environmental Assessment for the proposed Federal action to 
        accept the fee-to-trust transfer for the Santa Ynez Band of 
        Chumash Indians, the Bureau of Indian Affairs issued a Finding 
        of No Significant Impact on October 23, 2014.
            (9) On December 24, 2014, the Bureau of Indian Affairs 
        Pacific Region issued a Notice of Decision indicating its 
        intent to accept the fee-to-trust transfer of the Camp 4 land.
            (10) Throughout 2015, a number of parties appealed the 
        Bureau of Indian Affairs' proposed decision to take the Camp 4 
        land into trust on behalf of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash 
        Indians.
            (11) On January 19, 2017, Department of the Interior 
        Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Lawrence S. 
        Roberts dismissed the appeals and affirmed the December 24, 
        2014, Bureau of Indian Affairs Pacific Region decision to place 
        the Camp 4 land into trust on behalf of the Santa Ynez Band of 
        Chumash Indians.

SEC. 3. REAFFIRMATION OF STATUS AND ACTIONS.

    (a) Ratification of Trust Status.--The action taken by the 
Secretary on January 20, 2016, to place approximately 1,427.28 acres of 
land located in Santa Barbara County, California, into trust for the 
benefit of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians is hereby ratified 
and confirmed as if that action had been taken under a Federal law 
specifically authorizing or directing that action.
    (b) Ratification of Actions of the Secretary.--The actions taken by 
the Secretary to assume jurisdiction over the appeals relating to the 
fee-to-trust acquisition of approximately 1,427.28 acres in Santa 
Barbara County, California, on January 20, 2015, is hereby ratified and 
confirmed as if that action had been taken under a Federal law 
specifically authorizing or directing that action.
    (c) Ratification of Actions of the Secretary.--The actions taken by 
the Secretary to dismiss the appeals relating to the fee-to-trust 
acquisition of approximately 1,427.28 acres in Santa Barbara County, 
California, on January 19, 2017, is hereby ratified and confirmed as if 
that action had been taken under a Federal law specifically authorizing 
or directing that action.
    (d) Administration.--
            (1) Administration.--The land placed into trust for the 
        benefit of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians by the 
        Secretary of the Interior on January 20, 2017, shall be a part 
        of the Santa Ynez Indian Reservation and administered in 
        accordance with the laws and regulations generally applicable 
        to the land held in trust by the United States for an Indian 
        tribe.
            (2) Effect.--For purposes of certain California State laws 
        (including the California Land Conservation Act of 1965, 
        Government Code Section 51200, et seq.), placing the land 
        described in subsection (b) into trust shall remove any 
        restrictions on the property pursuant to California Government 
        Code Section 51295 or any other provision of such Act.
    (e) Legal Description of Lands Transferred.--The lands to be 
transferred pursuant to this Act are described as follows:
            Legal Land Description/Site Location:Real property in the 
        unincorporated area of the County of Santa Barbara, State of 
        California, described as follows: PARCEL 1: (APN: 141-121-51 
        AND PORTION OF APN 141-140-10)LOTS 9 THROUGH 18, INCLUSIVE, OF 
        TRACT 18, IN THE COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA, STATE OF CALIFORNIA, 
        AS SHOWN ON THE MAP SHOWING THE SUBDIVISIONS OF THE CANADA DE 
        LOS PINOS OR COLLEGE RANCHO, FILED IN RACK 3, AS MAP 4 IN THE 
        OFFICE OF THE COUNTY RECORDER OF SAID COUNTY. THIS LEGAL IS 
        MADE PURSUANT TO THAT CERTAIN CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE 
        RECORDED DECEMBER 5, 2001 AS INSTRUMENT NO. 01-105580 OF 
        OFFICIAL RECORDS. PARCEL 2: (PORTION OF APN: 141-140-10)LOTS 1 
        THROUGH 12, INCLUSIVE, OF TRACT 24, IN THE COUNTY OF SANTA 
        BARBARA, STATE OF CALIFORNIA, AS SHOWN ON THE MAP SHOWING THE 
        SUBDIVISIONS OF THE CANADA DE LOS PINOS OR COLLEGE RANCHO, 
        FILED IN RACK 3, AS MAP 4 IN THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY RECORDER 
        OF SAID COUNTY.THIS LEGAL IS MADE PURSUANT TO THAT CERTAIN 
        CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE RECORDED DECEMBER 5, 2001 AS 
        INSTRUMENT NO. 01-105581 OF OFFICIAL RECORDS. PARCEL 3: 
        (PORTIONS OF APNS: 141-230-23 AND 141-140-10)LOTS 19 AND 20 OF 
        TRACT 18 AND THAT PORTION OF LOTS 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 10, AND 15 
        THROUGH 20, INCLUSIVE, OF TRACT 16, IN THE COUNTY OF SANTA 
        BARBARA, STATE OF CALIFORNIA, AS SHOWN ON THE MAP SHOWING THE 
        SUBDIVISIONS OF THE CANADA DE LOS PINOS OR COLLEGE RANCHO, 
        FILED IN RACK 3, AS MAP 4 IN THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY RECORDER 
        OF SAID COUNTY, THAT LIES NORTHEASTERLY OF THE NORTHEASTERLY 
        LINE OF THE LAND GRANTED TO THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA BY AN 
        EXECUTOR'S DEED RECORDED APRIL 2, 1968 IN BOOK 2227, PAGE 136 
        OF OFFICIAL RECORDS OF SAID COUNTY.THIS LEGAL IS MADE PURSUANT 
        TO THAT CERTAIN CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE RECORDED DECEMBER 5, 
        2001 AS INSTRUMENT NO. 01-105582 OF OFFICIAL RECORDS. PARCEL 4: 
        (APN: 141-240-02 AND PORTION OF APN: 141-140-10)LOTS 1 THROUGH 
        12, INCLUSIVE, OF TRACT 25, IN THE COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA, 
        STATE OF CALIFORNIA, AS SHOWN ON THE MAP SHOWING THE 
        SUBDIVISIONS OF THE CANADA DE LOS PINOS OR COLLEGE RANCHO, 
        FILED IN RACK 3, AS MAP 4 IN THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY RECORDER 
        OF SAID COUNTY.THIS LEGAL IS MADE PURSUANT TO THAT CERTAIN 
        CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE RECORDED DECEMBER 5, 2001 AS 
        INSTRUMENT NO. 01-105583 OF OFFICIAL RECORDS. PARCEL 5: 
        (PORTION OF APN: 141-230-23)THAT PORTION OF LOTS 3 AND 6 OF 
        TRACT 16, IN THE COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA, STATE OF CALIFORNIA, 
        AS SHOWN ON THE MAP SHOWING THE SUBDIVISIONS OF THE CANADA DE 
        LOS PINOS OR COLLEGE RANCHO, FILED IN RACK 3, AS MAP 4 IN THE 
        OFFICE OF THE COUNTY RECORDER OF SAID COUNTY, THAT LIES 
        NORTHEASTERLY OF THE NORTHEASTERLY LINE OF THE LAND GRANTED TO 
        THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA BY AN EXECUTOR'S DEED RECORDED APRIL 2, 
        1968 IN BOOK 2227, PAGE 136 OF OFFICIAL RECORDS OF SAID 
        COUNTY.THIS LEGAL IS MADE PURSUANT TO THAT CERTAIN CERTIFICATE 
        OF COMPLIANCE RECORDED DECEMBER 5, 2001 AS INSTRUMENT NO. 01-
        105584 OF OFFICIAL RECORDS.
    (f) Rules of Construction.--Nothing in this Act shall--
            (1) enlarge, impair, or otherwise affect any right or claim 
        of the Tribe to any land or interest in land that is in 
        existence before the date of the enactment of this Act;
            (2) affect any water right of the Tribe in existence before 
        the date of the enactment of this Act; or
            (3) terminate or limit any access in any way to any right-
        of-way or right-of-use issued, granted, or permitted before the 
        date of the enactment of this Act.
    (g) Restricted Use of Transferred Lands.--The Tribe may not 
conduct, on the land described in subsection (b) taken into trust for 
the Tribe pursuant to this Act, gaming activities--
            (1) as a matter of claimed inherent authority; or
            (2) under any Federal law, including the Indian Gaming 
        Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.) and regulations 
        promulgated by the Secretary or the National Indian Gaming 
        Commission under that Act.
    (h) Definitions.--For the purposes of this section:
            (1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.
            (2) Tribe.--The term ``Tribe'' means the Santa Ynez Band of 
        Chumash Mission Indians.
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