[House Report 115-205]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
115th Congress } { REPORT
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session } { 115-205
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PASCUA YAQUI TRIBE LAND CONVEYANCE ACT
_______
July 11, 2017.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Bishop of Utah, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted
the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 1404]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 1404) to provide for the conveyance of certain
land inholdings owned by the United States to the Tucson
Unified School District and to the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of
Arizona, having considered the same, report favorably thereon
without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 1404 is to provide for the conveyance
of certain land inholdings owned by the United States to the
Tucson Unified School District and to the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of
Arizona.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
The Pascua Yaqui Reservation is located in southern
Arizona, 15 miles southwest of Tucson. In 1952, the original
40-acre Pascua Village was annexed by the City of Tucson. In
1964, Congressman Morris K. Udall introduced a bill to transfer
202 acres of desert land southwest of Tucson to the Yaquis. The
bill was later signed into law and the deed to the land was
transferred to the recently formed Pascua Yaqui Association, a
nonprofit Arizona corporation.
The reservation was formally established in 1978 under
Public Law 95-375, which also federally recognized the members
of the Pascua Yaqui Association as the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. In
1982, the reservation added an additional 690 acres for
improving the socio-economic environment of tribal members with
the enactment of Public Law 97-386. In the 113th Congress,
Public Law 113-134 placed two 10-acre parcels into trust for
the Tribe.
The Tribe is interested in acquiring 40 acres of Tucson
Unified School District land for flood control development
through a land exchange with the District. The bill is needed
because some lands exchanged under H.R. 1404 were patented to
the District in 1981 pursuant to the Recreation and Public
Purposes Act (RPPA, 43 U.S.C. 869 et seq.) and are intended
only for a school site. A change in land use for RPPA-patented
land requires an Act of Congress.
While no hearing has been held on H.R. 1404 this Congress,
the Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs
held a hearing on a substantively identical bill, H.R. 2009, on
November 4, 2015. That bill passed the House of Representatives
by voice vote on June 7, 2016.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 1404 was introduced on March 7, 2017, by Congressman
Raul M. Grijalva (D-AZ). The bill was referred to the Committee
on Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the
Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs and
the Subcommittee on Federal Lands. On June 22, 2017, the Full
Natural Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The
Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs and
the Subcommittee on Federal Lands were discharged by unanimous
consent. No amendments were offered and the bill was ordered
favorably reported to the House of Representatives by voice
vote on June 27, 2017.
COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Natural Resources' oversight findings and
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.
COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII AND CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET ACT
1. Cost of Legislation and the Congressional Budget Act.
With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) and (3) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and
sections 308(a) and 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of
1974, the Committee has received the following estimate for the
bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, July 5, 2017.
Hon. Rob Bishop,
Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1404, the Pascua
Yaqui Tribe Land Conveyance Act.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Megan
Carroll.
Sincerely,
Keith Hall.
Enclosure.
H.R. 1404--Pascua Yaqui Tribe Land Conveyance Act
H.R. 1404 would authorize exchanges of land and related
interests among the Pascua Yaqui Indian Tribe in Pima County,
Arizona, the Tucson Unified School District, and the federal
government. The proposed transactions involve three parcels of
land and would be contingent on the school district
relinquishing its interest in nearly 40 acres of land, which
the Department of the Interior (DOI) would take into trust on
behalf of the tribe. In exchange, DOI would convey to the
school district roughly 13 acres of other land and, if
requested by the district, the federal government's
reversionary interest in nearly 28 acres of additional land,
provided that the school district pays DOI the fair market
value of such lands and interests.
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 1404 would have no
significant effect on the federal budget. Information from DOI
indicates that any administrative costs incurred under the bill
(which would be subject to appropriation), would not exceed
$500,000 in any year. According to DOI, the affected lands
currently generate no significant receipts and are not expected
to do so over the next 10 years. And based on information from
the Pima County Assessor's Office about the estimated market
value of lands and interests that would be conveyed to the
school district under the bill, CBO estimates that any proceeds
to the federal government would total less than $500,000. Any
such amounts would be recorded as offsetting receipts (which
have the effect of decreasing direct spending); therefore, pay-
as-you-go procedures apply. Enacting H.R. 1404 would not affect
revenues.
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 1404 would not increase
net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four
consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028.
H.R. 1404 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Meghan
Shrewsbury and Megan Carroll. The estimate was approved by
Theresa Gullo, Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
2. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or
objective of this bill is to provide for the conveyance of
certain land inholdings owned by the United States to the
Tucson Unified School District and to the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of
Arizona.
EARMARK STATEMENT
This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks,
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined
under clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of
the House of Representatives.
COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
COMPLIANCE WITH H. RES. 5
Directed Rule Making. This bill does not contain any
directed rule makings.
Duplication of Existing Programs. This bill does not
establish or reauthorize a program of the federal government
known to be duplicative of another program. Such program was
not included in any report from the Government Accountability
Office to Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139
or identified in the most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program
Information Act (Public Law 95-220, as amended by Public Law
98-169) as relating to other programs.
PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW
This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or
tribal law.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing
law.
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