San Juan Southern Paiute Tribal Homelands Act of 2022
This bill approves, ratifies, and confirms a specified treaty entered into by the Navajo Nation and the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, thus settling land claims and other disputes. It also proclaims approximately 5,400 acres of land as the San Juan Southern Paiute Reservation to be held in trust as a reservation for the exclusive benefit of the tribe.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9480 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9480
To ratify a Treaty between the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe and the
Navajo Nation, to provide for the creation of a reservation for the San
Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 8, 2022
Mr. O'Halleran introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To ratify a Treaty between the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe and the
Navajo Nation, to provide for the creation of a reservation for the San
Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, 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 ``San Juan Southern Paiute Tribal
Homelands Act of 2022''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) The San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe is a federally
recognized Indian Tribe that has occupied its ancestral
homelands in northern Arizona and southern Utah since time
immemorial.
(2) The San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe was federally
recognized on December 11, 1989, though the United States did
not create a reservation for its exclusive benefit at that
time.
(3) The Navajo Indian Reservation was originally
established by the 1868 Navajo Treaty (15 Stat. 667) and
expanded in Arizona and Utah by various Executive orders and
Acts of Congress, including, but not limited to, Executive
order of May 17, 1884; Executive order of January 8, 1900;
Public Law 72-403, 47 Stat. 1418 (1933); and Public Law 73-352,
48 Stat. 960 (1934).
(4) The Navajo Indian Reservation presently encompasses
lands of the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe as described in the
Treaty between the Navajo Nation and the San Juan Southern
Paiute Tribe.
(5) While the Dine people of the Navajo Nation and the
Paiute people of the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe have a long
history as neighboring communities, the San Juan Southern
Paiute people are a separate and culturally distinct Tribe
residing within their ancestral lands.
(6) The existence of the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe
within the exterior boundaries of the Navajo Indian Reservation
and the lack of an exclusive reservation land base causes
particular hardship for the people of the San Juan Southern
Paiute Tribe, preventing the Tribe from providing adequate
housing, infrastructure, healthcare, community services, and
public safety for its people.
(7) The San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe and the Navajo
Nation entered into a Treaty on March 18, 2000 to resolve and
clarify the sovereign authority of both Tribal nations, to
provide a permanent homeland for the San Juan Southern Paiute
Tribe, and to resolve other matters of mutual concern.
(8) Ratification and approval of the Treaty by Congress and
the execution of the Treaty by the Secretary is necessary for
the Treaty to become effective under its terms.
(9) The establishment and proclamation of the San Juan
Southern Paiute Reservation as authorized in this Act only
includes lands within the existing boundaries of the Navajo
Indian Reservation.
(10) Once effective, the Treaty will--
(A) resolve and cause the dismissal of long-running
litigation concerning certain land rights of the Navajo
Nation and San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe currently
pending before the United States Court of Appeals for
the Ninth Circuit (Masayesva v. Zah et al., No. 93-
15216 (9th Cir.); and
(B) promote cooperation and harmony between the
Dine and Paiute people, serving as an example of
friendship and partnership between two sovereign Tribal
nations.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
For the purpose of this Act, the following definitions apply:
(1) San juan paiute northern area.--The term ``San Juan
Paiute Northern Area'' means the area of land located within
the San Juan Southern Paiute Reservation as depicted on Map B
of the Treaty.
(2) San juan paiute southern area.--The term ``San Juan
Paiute Southern Area'' means the area of land within the San
Juan Southern Paiute Reservation depicted on Map A of the
Treaty.
(3) San juan southern paiute reservation.--The term ``San
Juan Southern Paiute Reservation'' means the approximately
5,400 acres of lands described in the Treaty as the ``San Juan
Paiute Northern Area'' and the ``San Juan Paiute Southern
Area'' located wholly within the exterior boundaries of the
Navajo Indian Reservation.
(4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Interior.
(5) Treaty.--The term ``Treaty'' means the Articles of
Treaty and Agreement entered into by the Navajo Nation and the
San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe to settle land claims and other
disputes, as executed on March 18, 2000, and modified by
addendum on May 7th, 2004, including all exhibits and maps
incorporated therein by reference.
SEC. 4. RATIFICATION AND APPROVAL OF THE TREATY.
The Treaty is hereby approved, ratified and confirmed by the
Congress of the United States.
SEC. 5. APPROVAL OF THE SECRETARY.
(a) In General.--The Secretary is authorized and directed--
(1) to approve and execute the Treaty as set forth therein,
except that the specific findings stated under the heading
``APPROVAL,'' following the Treaty, shall not be binding on the
Secretary; and
(2) to take all steps necessary to implement and carry out
the intent of the Treaty and this Act.
(b) Approval of Amendments.--The Secretary is delegated the
authority, without further act of Congress, to approve and execute
amendments to the Treaty agreed to by the Navajo Nation and the San
Juan Southern Paiute Tribe.
SEC. 6. LANDS PROCLAIMED A RESERVATION FOR THE SAN JUAN SOUTHERN PAIUTE
TRIBE.
(a) In General.--All right, title and interest, including water
rights, to the approximately 5,400 acres of land within the Navajo
Indian Reservation that are described in the Treaty as the San Juan
Paiute Northern Area and the San Juan Paiute Southern Area, are hereby
proclaimed as the San Juan Southern Paiute Reservation and such lands
shall be held by the United States in trust as a reservation for the
exclusive benefit of the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, subject to the
rights of access under section 7 of this Act.
(b) No Major Federal Action; Undertaking.--No action taken pursuant
to this section shall be considered--
(1) a major Federal action under the National Environmental
Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); or
(2) an undertaking under the National Historic Preservation
Act (54 U.S.C. 300101 et seq.)
(c) No Appraisal or Valuation.--Notwithstanding any other law, no
appraisal or other valuation shall be required to carry out the
provisions of this section.
SEC. 7. RIGHTS OF ACCESS AND EASEMENTS.
The Navajo Indian Reservation and the San Juan Southern Paiute
Reservation shall be subject to the rights of access and easements as
identified in the Treaty.
SEC. 8. SURVEYING AND FENCING OF LAND.
(a) Requirement.--The Secretary is directed to--
(1) complete a survey and legal description of the boundary
lines to establish the boundaries of the San Juan Southern
Paiute Reservation, not later than 18 months after the date of
the enactment of this Act;
(2) officially file the survey plat in the appropriate
office of the Department of the Interior;
(3) mark and fence the lands as described in Article V of
the Treaty, where feasible; and
(4) study the feasibility of an access road to the San Juan
Paiute Southern Area from U.S. Route 89, as described in
Article XI of the Treaty.
(b) Legal Descriptions.--
(1) In general.--The legal descriptions published in
accordance with subsection (b) shall be considered the official
legal description of the San Juan Southern Paiute Reservation
and shall have the same force and effect as if included in this
Act.
(2) Publication.--Upon completion of the surveys under
subsection (a), the Secretary shall publish in the Federal
Register a legal description of the lands comprising the San
Juan Southern Paiute Reservation.
(3) Corrections.--The Secretary may make minor corrections
to correct technical and clerical errors in the legal
descriptions.
SEC. 9. REPEAL OF PAIUTE ALLOTMENT PROCEDURES.
Section 9 of Public Law 93-531 (88 Stat. 1716, formerly codified at
25 U.S.C. 640d-8) is repealed.
SEC. 10. WATER RIGHTS.
(a) In General.--Except as provided in the Treaty, nothing in this
Act shall affect any water rights, in existence on the date of the
enactment of this Act, appurtenant to the lands of the San Juan Paiute
Northern Area and the San Juan Paiute Southern Area.
(b) Transfer of Water Rights.--As authorized by Article XV of the
Treaty, the establishment of the San Juan Southern Paiute Reservation
from lands within the Navajo Indian Reservation shall include the
transfer of any water rights appurtenant to those lands, including the
priority dates associated with such rights.
(c) Rights Held in Trust.--The water rights for the San Juan
Southern Paiute Reservation shall be held by the United States in trust
for the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe.
(d) Claims by the United States.--The United States, as trustee for
the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, shall take all necessary steps to
quantify the water rights appurtenant to the San Juan Southern Paiute
Reservation for the benefit of the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe.
(e) Water Rights for the San Juan Paiute Northern Area.--
(1) Right to water service.--The San Juan Southern Paiute
Tribe shall have the right to water service for the San Juan
Paiute Northern Area for domestic uses on a pro rata and non-
discriminatory basis as described in Article XIV of the Treaty.
(2) No objection by the navajo nation.--The Navajo Nation
shall not object to the quantification of water rights
appurtenant to the San Juan Paiute Northern Area consistent
with and limited to the following:
(A) The San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe shall have
the right to divert all surface waters arising on or
flowing across the San Juan Paiute Northern Area for
any purpose consistent with this Act or the Treaty.
(B) The San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe shall have
the right to pump groundwater beneath the San Juan
Paiute Northern Area for domestic or stock-watering
uses.
(f) Lawful Uses.--The San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe and the Navajo
Nation shall not object to uses of water consistent with the rights
decreed to either Tribe.
(g) Accounting.--The United States, on behalf of the San Juan
Southern Paiute Tribe, shall provide the Navajo Nation with an annual
accounting of the depletions associated with the use of water on the
San Juan Paiute Northern Area, and the depletions associated with those
uses shall be accounted for as a depletion by the Navajo Nation for
purposes of depletion accounting.
(h) Water Rights for the San Juan Paiute Southern Area.--Until the
water rights to the San Juan Paiute Southern Area are adjudicated, the
San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe shall limit its water use on the San
Juan Paiute Southern Area to no more than 300 acre-feet annually from a
combination of groundwater and water from springs and washes.
SEC. 11. PUBLICATION; JURISDICTION.
(a) Publication.--In accordance with Article VI of the Treaty, the
Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register separate notices of
completion of fencing or boundary marking upon completion of fencing or
boundary marking of --
(1) the San Juan Northern Area; and
(2) the San Juan Southern Area.
(b) Jurisdiction.--Upon publication in the Federal Register under
either subsection (a)(1) or subsection (a)(2)--
(1) the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe shall have full
jurisdiction over all matters within that area of the San Juan
Southern Paiute Reservation to the fullest extent permitted by
Federal law; and
(2) the Navajo Nation shall no longer have jurisdiction
over matters occurring within that area of the San Juan
Southern Paiute Reservation except as agreed to by the Navajo
Nation and the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe.
SEC. 12. CONSTRUCTION OF LAW.
The San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe shall--
(1) be recognized as a Tribe of Indians within the purview
of the Act of June 18, 1934, as amended (25 U.S.C. 5101 et
seq.); and
(2) be subject to all of the provisions thereof.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line