An act to authorize the secretary of the Interior to reimburse certain purchases of subleases from, and creditors of, the Sangre de Cristo Development Company, Incorporated, and for other purposes.
PL 96-549 (S.1972), enacted 12/18/1980

PUBLIC LAW 96-549—DEC. 18, 1980 
94 STAT. 3219 
Public Law 96-549 
96th Congress 
An Act 
To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to reimburse certain purchsisers of sub- 
Dec. 18, 1980 
leases from, and creditors of, the Sangre de Cristo Development Company, Incor- 
[S. 1972] 
porated, and for other purposes. 
Sangre de Cristo 
Development 
Company, Inc. 
Reimbursementti. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled. That (a) the Secre-
tary of the Interior is authorized to reimburse persons who are 
determined by the Secretary to be bona fide purchasers of subleases 
from the Sangre de Cristo Development Company, Incorporated (a 
corporation incorporated under the laws of the State of New Mexico), 
for subdivision lots on the Pueblo of Tesuque Indian Reservation near 
Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Secretary is authorized to reimburse such 
persons for the amounts they have expended in the acquisition of a 
sublease or subleases and upon receipt of such compensation such 
persons must relinquish all claims or rights, if any, they may have 
arising from their sublease. 
(b) Applications for reimbursement under this Act shall be in such Applications 
form and contain such information as the Secretary of the Interior, 
by regulation, shall prescribe. No application for reimbursement 
shall be considered by the Secretary unless it is submitted on or 
before the date of expiration of the twenty-four-month period follow-
ing the date of enactment of this Act. 
(c) Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Secretary shall 
reimburse those applicants who are determined to be bona fide 
purchasers of subleases from the Sangre de Cristo Development 
Company, Incorporated, pursuant to its master lease with Tesuque 
Pueblo initially approved May 24, 1970, by the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs and subsequently disapproved on August 24,1977. As used in 
this Act, the term "bona fide purchasers" shall mean anyone who 
purchEised a sublease in an arm's-length transaction, for value and 
without notice. 
(d) Within the one-hundred-and-eighty-day period following the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall 
take such action as may be necessary to inform purchasers of such 
subleases from the Sangre de Cristo Development Company, Incorpo-
rated, of the fact that the Secretary of the Interior has authority to 
reimburse any such person determined by the Secretary to be a bona 
fide purchaser of such sublease for the amounts expended by such 
purchaser in the acquisition of such sublease. The Secretary shall 
further inform such purchasers that any application for reimburse-
ment must be submitted on or before the date of expiration of the 
twenty-four-month period following the date of the enactment of this 
Act. 
SEC. 2. (a) Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Secre-
tary of the Interior shall reimburse bona fide creditors of the Sangre 
de Cristo Development Company, Incorporated, who shall have been 
certified as such by the United States District Court for the District of 
New Mexico, Bankruptcy Division, in the action entitled "Sangre de 
Cristo Development Company, Incorporated, No. 77-1044 in Bank-
94 STAT. 3220 
PUBLIC LAW 96-549—DEC. 18, 1980 
Jurisdiction. 
Appropriation 
authorization. 
ruptcy", for the amount the court determines is owing to such 
creditors from such corporation. The United States shall have a right 
to intervene in such action as its interests may warrant in considera-
tion of the provisions of this section and shall have the rights of a 
party in interest under section 502 of title II, United States Code. No 
person or entity having or having had an equity interest in the 
Sangre de Cristo Development Company, Incorporated, shall be 
deemed to be a bona fide creditor of the corporation for purposes of 
this section. 
(b) Any creditor, who has accepted a sublease from the corporation 
for subdivision lots in compensation for services or materials pro-
vided to the corporation and who is otherwise a bona fide creditor 
under subsection (a) of this section, may be reimbursed pursuant to 
subsection (a) for the actual value of such services or materials upon 
certification by the court as provided in subsection (a) or upon proof 
satisfactory to the Secretary. 
SEC. 3. Jurisdiction is hereby conferred on the United States 
District Court for the District of New Mexico to hear, determine, and 
render judgment on any legal claim for damages, under existing law, 
that the Sangre de Cristo Development Company, Incorporated, may 
have against the United States arising from the action of the United 
States in the initial approval and subsequent disapproval of the lease 
described in section 1(c) of this Act or from the preparation of the 
environmental impact statement attendant to such lease. Such action 
must be filed within one year from the date of enactment of this Act 
and jurisdiction conferred by this section includes jurisdiction of any 
setoff, counterclaim, or other claim or demand whatever on the part 
of the United States against such corporation. 
SEC. 4. Effective October 1, 1981, there are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out the 
provisions of sections 1 and 2 of this Act. 
Approved December 18, 1980. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: 
HOUSE REPORT No. 96-1408 (Comm. on Interior and Insular Affairs). 
SENATE REPORT No. 96-798 (Comm. on Energy and Natural Resources). 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 126 (1980): 
June 20, considered and passed Senate. 
Nov. 17, considered and passed House, amended. 
Dec. 4, Senate concurred in House amendments.