Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute Settlement Act of 1996
PL 104-301 (S.1973), enacted 10/11/1996

PUBLIC LAW 104-301—OCT. 11, 1996 
110 STAT. 3649 
Public Law 104-301 
104th Congress 
An Act 
To provide for the settlement of the Navsgo-Hopi land dispute, and for other purposes. 
Oct. 11, 1996 
[S. 1973] 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 
of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
Navsoo-Hopi 
Land Dispute 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
Settlement Act of 
This Act may be cited as the "Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute Settle- 25 USC 640d 
ment Act of 1996". 
note. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
25 USC 640d 
The Congress finds that— 
(1) it is in the pubUc interest for the Tribe, Navajos residing 
on the Hopi Partitioned Lands, and the United States to reach 
a peacefiil resolution of the longstanding 
disagreements 
between the parties under the Act commonly known as the 
"Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act of 1974" (PubUc Law 93-
531; 25 U.S.C. 640d et seq.); 
(2) it is in the best interest of the Tribe and the United 
States that there be a fair and final settlement of certain 
issues remaining in connection with the Navajo-Hopi Land 
Settlement Act of 1974, including the full and final settlement 
of the multiple claims that the Tribe has against the United 
States; 
(3) this Act, together with the Settlement Agreement 
executed on December 14, 1995, and the Accommodation Agree-
ment (as incorporated by the Settlement Agreement), provide 
the authority for the Tribe to enter agreements with eligible 
Navajo families in order for those families to remain residents 
of the Hopi Partitioned Lands for a period of 75 years, subject 
to the terms and conditions of the Accommodation Agreement; 
(4) the United States acknowledges and respects— 
(A) the sincerity of the traditional beliefs of the mem-
bers of the Tribe and the Navajo families residing on the 
Hopi Partitioned Leuids; and 
(B) the importance that the respective traditional 
beliefs of the members of the Tribe and Navajo families 
have with respect to the culture and way of life of those 
members £ind famiUes; 
(5) this Act, the Settlement Agreement, and the Accommo-
dation Agreement provide for the mutual respect and protection 
of the traditional religious behefs and practices of the Tribe 
and the Navajo families residing on the Hopi Partitioned Lands; 
(6) the Tribe is encouraged to work with the Navajo families 
residing on the Hopi Partitioned Lands to address their con-
cerns regarding the estabUshment of family or individual burial 
110 STAT. 3650 
PUBLIC LAW 104-301—OCT. 11, 1996 
plots for deceased family members who have resided on the 
Hopi Partitioned Lands; and 
(7) neither the Navajo Nation nor the Navajo families 
residing upon Hopi Partitioned Lands were parties to or signers 
of the Settlement Agreement between the United States and 
the Hopi Tribe. 
25 use 640d 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
Except as otherwise provided in this Act, for purposes of this 
Act, the following definitions shall apply: 
(1) ACCOMMODATION.—The term "Accommodation" has the 
meaning provided that term under the Settlement Agreement. 
(2) HOPI PARTITIONED LANDS.—The term "Hopi Partitioned 
Lands" means lands located in the Hopi Partitioned Area, as 
defined in section 168.1(g) of title 25, Code of Federal Regula-
tions (as in effect on the date of enactment of this Act). 
(3) NAVAJO PARTITIONED LANDS.—The term "Navajo Parti-
tioned Lands" has the meaning provided that term in the 
proposed regulations issued on November 1, 1995, at 60 Fed. 
Reg. 55506. 
(4) NEW LANDS.—The term "New Lands" has the meaning 
provided that term in section 700.701(b) of title 25, Code of 
Federal Regulations. 
(5) SECRETARY.—The term "Secretary" means the Secretary 
of the Interior. 
(6) SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT.—The term "Settlement Agree-
ment" means the agreement between the United States and 
the Hopi Tribe executed on December 14,1995. 
(7) TRIBE.—The term "Tribe" means the Hopi Tribe. 
(8) NEWLY ACQUIRED TRUST LANDS.—The term "newly 
acquired trust lands" means lands taken into trust for the 
Tribe within the State of Arizona pursuant to this Act or 
the Settlement Agreement. 
25 use 640d 
SEC. 4. RATIFICATION OF SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT. 
The United States approves, ratifies, and confirms the Settle-
ment Agreement, 
Arizona. 
SEC. 5. CONDITIONS FOR LANDS TAKEN INTO TRUST. 
note. 
The Secretary shall teike such action as may be necessary 
to ensure that the following conditions are met prior to taking 
lands into trust for the benefit of the Tribe pursuant to the Settle-
ment Agreement: 
(1) SELECTION OF LANDS TAKEN INTO TRUST.— 
(A) PRIMARY AREA.—In accordance with section 7(a) 
of the Settlement Agreement, the primary area within 
which lands acquired by the Tribe may be taken into trust 
by the Secretary for the benefit of the Tribe under the 
Settlement Agreement shall be located in northern Arizona. 
(B) REQUIREMENTS FOR LANDS TAKEN INTO TRUST IN 
THE PRIMARY AREA.—Lands taken into trust in the primary 
area referred to in subparagraph (A) shall be— 
(i) land that is used substantially for ranching, 
agriculture, or another similar use; and 
(ii) to the extent feasible, in contiguous parcels. 
(2) ACQUISITION OF LANDS.—Before taking any land into 
trust for the benefit of the Tribe under this section, the Sec-
retary shall ensure that— 
PUBLIC LAW 104-301—OCT. 11, 1996 
110 STAT. 3651 
(A) at least 85 percent of the eligible Navajo heads 
of household (as determined under the Settlement Agree-
ment) have entered into an accommodation or have chosen 
to relocate and are eligible for relocation assistance (as 
determined under the Settlement Agreement); and 
(B) the Tribe has consulted with the State of Arizona 
concerning the lands proposed to be placed in trust, includ-
ing consulting with the State concerning the impact of 
placing those lands into trust on the State and political 
subdivisions thereof resulting from the removal of land 
from the tax rolls in a manner consistent with the provi-
sions of part 151 of title 25, Code of Federal Regulations. 
(3) PROHIBITION.—^The Secretary may not, pursuant to the 
f
)rovisions of this Act and the Settlement Agreement, place 
ands, any portion of which are located within or contiguous 
to a 5-mile radius of an incorporated town or city (as those 
terms are defined by the Secretary) in northern Arizona, into 
trust for benefit of the Tribe without specific statutory author-
ity. 
(4) EXPEDITIOUS ACTION BY THE SECRETARY.—Consistent 
with all other provisions of this Act, the Secretary is directed 
to take lands into trust under this Act expeditiously and with-
out undue delay. 
SEC. 6. ACQUISITION THROUGH CONDEMNATION OF CERTAIN INTER- 
25 USC 640d 
SPERSED LANDS. 
note. 
(a) IN GENERAL.— 
Arizona. 
(1) ACTION BY THE SECRETARY.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—^The Secretary shall take action as 
specified in subparagraph (B), to the extent that the Tribe, 
in accordsince with section 7(b) of the Settlement Agree-
ment— 
(i) acquires private lands; and 
(ii) requests the Secretary to acquire through con-
demnation interspersed lands that are owned by the 
State of Arizona and eire located within the exterior 
boundaries of those private lands in order to have 
both the private lands and the State Isuids taken into 
trust by the Secretary for the benefit of the Tribe. 
(B) 
ACQUISITION 
THROUGH 
CONDEMNATION.—With 
respect to a request for an acquisition of lands through 
condemnation made imder subparagraph (A), the Secretary 
shall, upon the recommendation of the Tribe, take such 
action as may be necessary to acquire the lands through 
condemnation and, with ftmds provided by the Tribe, pay 
the State of Arizona fair market value for those lands 
in accordance with applicable Federal law, if the conditions 
described in paragraph (2) are met. 
(2) 
CONDITIONS FOR ACQUISITION THROUGH 
CONDEMNA-
TION.—The Secretary may acquire lands through condemnation 
under this subsection if— 
(A) that acquisition is consistent with the purpose of 
obtaining not more than 500,000 acres of land to be taken 
into trust for the Tribe; 
(B) the State of Arizona concurs with the United States 
that the acquisition is consistent with the interests of the 
State; and 
29-194 O - 96 - 19 : QL 3 Part 5 
110 STAT. 3652 
PUBLIC LAW 104-301—OCT. 11, 1996 
(C) the Tribe pays for the land acquired through con-
demnation xinder this subsection. 
(b) DISPOSITION OF LANDS.—If the Secretary acquires lands 
through condemnation imder subsection (a), the Secretsiry shall 
take those lands into trust for the Tribe in accordance with this 
Act and the Settlement Agreement. 
(c) PRIVATE LANDS.—^The Secretary may not acquire private 
lands through condemnation for the purpose specified in subsection 
(a)(2)(A). 
25 use 640d 
SEC. 7. ACTION TO QUIET POSSESSION. 
If the United States fails to discharge the obligations specified 
in section 9(c) of the Settlement Agreement with respect to vol-
untary relocation of Navaios residing on Hopi Partitioned Lsinds, 
or section 9(d) of the Settlement Agreement, relating to the 
implementation of sections 700.137 through 700.139 of title 25, 
Code of Federal Regulations, on the New Lands, including failure 
for reason of insufficient funds made available by appropriations 
or otherwise, the Tribe may bring an action to quiet possession 
that relates to the use of the Hopi Partitioned Lands after February 
1, 2000, by a Navajo family that is eligible for an accommodation, 
but fails to enter into an accommodation. 
25USC640d 
SEC. 8. PAYMENT TO STATE OF ARIZONA. 
^°^' 
(a) AUTHORIZATION OP APPROPRIATIONS.—Subject to subsection 
(b), there are authorized to be appropriated to the Department 
of the Interior $250,000 for fiscal year 1998, to be used by the 
Secretary of the Interior for making a payment to the State of 
Arizona. 
(b) PAYMENT.—^The Secretary shall make a pa5nnent in the 
amoimt specified in subsection (a) to the State of Arizona after 
an initial acquisition of land from the State has been made by 
the Secretary pursuant to section 6. 
25 use 640d 
SEC. 9. 75-YEAR LEASING AUTHORITY. 
''°^' 
The first section of the Act of August 9, 1955 (69 Stat. 539, 
chapter 615; 25 U.S.C. 415) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new subsections: 
"(c) LEASES INVOLVING THE HOPI TRIBE AND THE HOPI PARTI-
TIONED 
LANDS 
ACCOMMODATION 
AGREEMENT.—Notwithstanding 
subsection (a), a lease of land by the Hopi Tribe to Navajo Indieins 
on the Hopi Partitioned Lands may be for a term of 75 years, 
£ind may be extended at the conclusion of the term of the lease. 
"(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 
"(1) the term 'Hopi Partitioned Lands' means lands located 
in the Hopi Partitioned Area, as defined in section 168.1(g) 
of title 25, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the 
date of enactment of this subsection); and 
"(2) the term 'Navajo Indians' means members of the Nav-
ajo Tribe.". 
25USC640d 
SEC. 10. REAUTHORIZATION OF THE NAVAJO-HOPI RELOCATION 
note. 
HOUSING PROGRAM. 
Section 25(a)(8) of Public Law 93-531 (25 U.S.C. 640d-24(a)(8)) 
is amended by striking "1996, and 1997" and inserting "1996, 1997, 
1998,1999, and 2000". 
PUBLIC LAW 104-301—OCT. 11, 1996 
110 STAT. 3653 
SEC. 11. EFFECT OF TfflS ACT ON CASES INVOLVING THE NAVAJO 
25USC640d 
NATION AND THE HOPI TRIBE. 
note. 
Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act 
shall be interpreted or deemed to preclude, limit, or endorse, in 
any msinner, actions by the Navajo Nation that seek, in court, 
an offset from judgments for pajrments received by the Hopi Tribe 
under the Settlement Agreement. 
SEC. 12. WATER RIGHTS. 
25USC640d 
(a) IN GENERAL.— 
(1) WATER RIGHTS.—Subject to the other provisions of this 
section, newly acquired trust lands shall have only the following 
water rights: 
(A) The right to the reasonable use of groimdwater 
pumped from such lands. 
(B) All rights to the use of surface water on such 
lands existing under State law on the date of acquisition, 
with the priority date of such right imder State law. 
(C) The right to make any fiirther beneficial use on 
such lands which is imappropriated on the date each parcel 
of newly acquired trust lands is taken into trust. The 
priority date for the right shall be the date the lands 
are taken into trust. 
(2) RIGHTS NOT SUBJECT TO FORFEITURE OR ABANDON-
MENT.—^The Tribe's water rights for newly acquired trust lands 
shedl not be subject to forfeiture or abandonment arising from 
events occurring after the date the lands are taken into trust. 
(b) RECOGNITION AS VALID USES.— 
(1) GROUNDWATER.—^With respect to water rights associated 
with newly acquired trust lands, the Tribe, and the United 
States on the Tribe's behsdf, shall recognize as valid all uses 
of groundwater which may be made from wells (or their subse-
quent replacements) in existence on the date each parcel of 
newly acquired trust land is acquired and shall not object 
to such groimdwater uses on the basis of water rights associated 
with the newly acquired trust lands. The Tribe, and the United 
States on the Tribe's behalf, may object only to the impact 
of groundwater uses on newly acquired trust lands which are 
initiated after the date the lands affected are taken into trust 
and only on grounds allowed by the State law as it exists 
when the objection is made. The Tribe, and the United States 
on the Tribe's behalf, shall not object to the impact of ground-
water uses on the Tribe's right to surface water established 
pursuant to subsection (a)(3) when those groundwater uses 
are initiated before the Tribe initiates its beneficial use of 
surface water pursuant to subsection (a)(3). 
(2) SURFACE WATER.—^With respect to water rights associ-
ated with newly acquired trust lands, the Tribe, and the United 
States on the Tribe's behalf, shall recognize as vaHd aU uses 
of surface water in existence on or prior to the date each 
parcel of newly acquired trust land is acquired and shall not 
object to such surface water uses on the basis of water rights 
associated with the newly acquired trust lands, but shall have 
the right to enforce the priority of its rights against all junior 
water rights the exercise of which interfere with the actual 
use of the Tribe's senior surface water rights. 
110 STAT. 3654 
PUBLIC LAW 104-301—OCT. 11, 1996 
(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in paragraph (1) or 
(2) shall preclude the Tribe, or the United States on the Tribe's 
behalf, from asserting objections to water rights and uses on 
the basis of the Tribe's water rights on its currently existing 
trust lands. 
(c) APPLICABILITY OF STATE LAW ON LANDS OTHER THAN NEWLY 
ACQUIRED LANDS.—The Tribe, and the United States on the Tribe's 
behalf, further recognize that State law applies to water uses on 
lands, including subsurface estates, that exist within the exterior 
boundaries of newly acquired trust lands and that £ire owned by 
any party other thsin the Tribe. 
(d) ADJUDICATION OF WATER RIGHTS ON NEWLY ACQUIRED 
TRUST LANDS.—^The Tribe's water rights on newly acquired trust 
lands shall be adjudicated with the rights of all other competing 
users in the court now presiding over the Little Colorado River 
Adjudication, or if that court no longer has jurisdiction, in the 
appropriate State or Federal court. Any controversies between or 
among users arising under Federal or State law involving the 
Tribe's water rights on newly acquired trust lands shall be resolved 
in the court now presiding over the Little Colorado River Adjudica-
tion, or, if that court no longer has jurisdiction, in the appropriate 
State or Federal court. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed 
to affect any court's jurisdiction: Provided, That the Tribe shall 
administer sdl water rights established in subsection (a). 
(e) PROHIBITION.—^Water rights for newly acquired trust lands 
shall not be used, leased, sold, or transported for use off of such 
lands or the Tribe's other trust lands: Provided, That the Tribe 
may agree with other persons having junior water rights to subordi-
nate the Tribe's senior water rights. Water rights for newly acquired 
trust lands can only be used on those lands or other trust lands 
of the Tribe located within the same river basin tributary to the 
main stream of the Colorado River. 
(f) SUBSURFACE INTERESTS.—On any newly acquired trust lands 
where the subsurface interest is owned by any party other than 
the Tribe, the trust status of the surface ownership shall not impair 
any existing right of the subsurface owner to develop the subsurface 
interest and to have access to the surface for the purpose of such 
development. 
(g) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION WITH RESPECT TO WATER RIGHTS 
OF OTHER FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED INDIAN TRIBES.—Nothing in this 
section shall affect the water rights of any other federally recognized 
Indian tribe with a priority date earUer than the date the newly 
acquired trust lands are taken into trust. 
(h) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall 
be construed to determine the law applicable to water use on 
lands owned by the United States, other than on the newly acquired 
trust lands. Tlie granting of the right to make beneficial use of 
imappropriated surface water on the newly acquired trust lands 
with a priority date such lands are taken into trust shall not 
be construed to imply that such right is a Federal reserved water 
PUBLIC LAW 104-301—OCT. 11, 1996 
110 STAT. 3655 
right. Nothing in this section or any other provision of this Act 
shall be construed to establish any Federal reserved right to ground-
water. Authority for the Secretary to take land into trust for the 
Tribe pursuant to the Settlement Agreement and this Act shall 
be construed as having been provided solely by the provisions 
of this Act. 
Approved October 11, 1996. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 1973: 
SENATE REPORTS: No. 104-363 (Comm. on Indian Affairs). 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 142 (1996): 
Sept. 26, considered and passed Senate. 
Sept. 28, considered and passed House. 
WEEKLY COMPILATION OF PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS, Vol. 32 (1996): 
Oct. 11, Presidential statement.