[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3522 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
H.R.3522
One Hundred Tenth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Thursday,
the third day of January, two thousand and eight
An Act
To ratify a conveyance of a portion of the Jicarilla Apache Reservation
to Rio Arriba County, State of New Mexico, pursuant to the settlement of
litigation between the Jicarilla Apache Nation and Rio Arriba County,
State of New Mexico, to authorize issuance of a patent for said lands,
and to change the exterior boundary of the Jicarilla Apache Reservation
accordingly, 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. DEFINITIONS.
For the purposes of this act, the following definitions apply:
(1) Jicarilla apache nation.--The term ``Jicarilla Apache
Nation'' means the Jicarilla Apache Nation, a tribe of American
Indians recognized by the United States and organized under section
16 of the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 476; popularly known as
the Indian Reorganization Act).
(2) 1988 reservation addition.--The term ``1988 Reservation
Addition'' means those lands, known locally as the Theis Ranch,
that are described in the Federal Register published on September
26, 1988 at 53 F.R. 37355-56 and were added to the Jicarilla Apache
Reservation in New Mexico in 1988.
(3) Settlement agreement.--The term ``Settlement Agreement''
means the agreement executed by the President of the Jicarilla
Apache Nation on May 6, 2003 and executed by the Chairman of the
Rio Arriba Board of County Commissioners on May 15, 2003 and
approved by the Department of the Interior on June 18, 2003 to
settle the Lawsuit.
(4) Lawsuit.--The term ``Lawsuit'' means the case identified as
Jicarilla Apache Tribe v. Board of County Commissioners, County of
Rio Arriba, No. RA 87-2225(C), State of New Mexico District Court,
First Judicial District, filed in October 1987.
(5) Rio arriba county.--The term ``Rio Arriba County'' means
the political subdivision of the state of New Mexico described in
Section 4-21-1 and Section 4-21-2, New Mexico Statutes Annotated
1978 (Original Pamphlet).
(6) Settlement lands.--The term ``Settlement Lands'' means
Tract A and Tract B as described in the plat of the ``Dependent
Resurvey and Survey of Tract within Theis Ranch'' within the Tierra
Amarilla Grant, New Mexico prepared by Leo P. Kelley, Cadastral
Surveyor, United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land
Management, dated January 7, 2004, and recorded in the office of
the Rio Arriba County Clerk on March 8, 2004, in Cabinet C-1, Page
199, Document No. 242411, consisting of 70.75 acres more or less.
Title to the Settlement Lands is held by the United States in trust
for the Jicarilla Apache Nation.
(7) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of
the Interior.
(8) Disputed county road.--The term ``Disputed County Road''
means the county road passing through the 1988 Reservation Addition
along the course identified in the judgment entered by the New
Mexico District Court in the Lawsuit on December 10, 2001 and the
decision entered on December 11, 2001, which judgment and decision
have been appealed to the New Mexico Court of Appeals.
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The Lawsuit is now pending before the Court of Appeals of
the State of New Mexico and involves a claim that a county road
passing through the 1988 Reservation Addition had been established
by prescription prior to acquisition of the land by the Jicarilla
Apache Nation in 1985.
(2) The parties to that lawsuit, the Jicarilla Apache Nation
and the County of Rio Arriba, have executed a Settlement Agreement,
approved by the Secretary of the Interior, to resolve all claims
relating to the disputed county road, which agreement requires
ratifying legislation by the Congress of the United States.
(3) The parties to the Settlement Agreement desire to settle
the claims relating to the disputed county road on the terms agreed
to by the parties, and it is in the best interests of the parties
to resolve the claims through the Settlement Agreement and this
implementing legislation.
SEC. 3. CONDITION ON EFFECT OF SECTION.
(a) In General.--Section 4 of this Act shall not take effect until
the Secretary finds the following events have occurred:
(1) The Board of Commissioners of Rio Arriba County has enacted
a resolution permanently abandoning the disputed county road and
has submitted a copy of that resolution to the Secretary.
(2) The Jicarilla Apache Nation has executed a quitclaim deed
to Rio Arriba County for the Settlement Lands subject to the
exceptions identified in the Settlement Agreement and has submitted
a copy of the quitclaim deed to the Secretary.
(b) Publication of Findings.--If the Secretary finds that the
conditions set forth in subsection (a) have occurred, the Secretary
shall publish such findings in the Federal Register.
SEC. 4. RATIFICATION OF CONVEYANCE; ISSUANCE OF PATENT.
(a) Conditional Ratification and Approval.--This Act ratifies and
approves the Jicarilla Apache Nation's quitclaim deed for the
Settlement Lands to Rio Arriba County, but such ratification and
approval shall be effective only upon satisfaction of all conditions in
section 3, and only as of the date that the Secretary's findings are
published in the Federal Register pursuant to section 3.
(b) Patent.--Following publication of the notice described in
section 3, the Secretary shall issue to Rio Arriba County a patent for
the Settlement Lands, subject to the exceptions and restrictive
covenants described subsection (c).
(c) Conditions of Patent.--The patent to be issued by the Secretary
under subsection (b) shall be subject to all valid existing rights of
third parties, including but not limited to easements of record, and
shall include the following perpetual restrictive covenant running with
the Settlement Lands for the benefit of the lands comprising the
Jicarilla Apache Reservation adjacent to the Settlement Lands: ``Tract
A shall be used only for governmental purposes and shall not be used
for a prison, jail or other facility for incarcerating persons accused
or convicted of a crime. For purposes of this restrictive covenant,''
governmental purposes ``shall include the provision of governmental
services to the public by Rio Arriba County and the development and
operation of private businesses to the extent permitted by applicable
State law.''.
SEC. 5. BOUNDARY CHANGE.
Upon issuance of the patent authorized by section 4, the lands
conveyed to Rio Arriba County in the patent shall cease to be a part of
the Jicarilla Apache Reservation and the exterior boundary of the
Jicarilla Apache Reservation shall be deemed relocated accordingly.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.