[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 428 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
115th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 428
To survey the gradient boundary along the Red River in the States of
Oklahoma and Texas, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 10, 2017
Mr. Thornberry (for himself and Mr. Cole) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To survey the gradient boundary along the Red River in the States of
Oklahoma and Texas, 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 ``Red River Gradient Boundary Survey
Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Affected area.--
(A) In general.--The term ``affected area'' means
land along the approximately 116-mile stretch of the
Red River, from its confluence with the north fork of
the Red River on the West to the 98th meridian on the
east.
(B) Exclusions.--The term ``affected area'' does
not include the portion of the Red River within the
boundary depicted on the survey prepared by the Bureau
of Land Management entitled ``Township 5 South, Range
14 West, of the Indian Meridian, Oklahoma, Dependent
Resurvey and Survey'' and dated February 28, 2006.
(2) Gradient boundary survey method.--The term ``gradient
boundary survey method'' means the measurement technique used
to locate the South Bank boundary line in accordance with the
methodology established in Oklahoma v. Texas, 261 U.S. 340
(1923) (recognizing that the boundary line along the Red River
is subject to change due to erosion and accretion).
(3) Landowner.--The term ``landowner'' means any
individual, group, association, corporation, federally
recognized Indian tribe or member of such an Indian tribe, or
other private or governmental legal entity that owns an
interest in land in the affected area.
(4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Interior, acting through the Director of the Bureau of
Land Management.
(5) South bank.--The term ``South Bank'' means the water-
washed and relatively permanent elevation or acclivity
(commonly known as a ``cut bank'') along the southerly or right
side of the Red River that--
(A) separates the bed of that river from the
adjacent upland, whether valley or hill; and
(B) usually serves, as specified in the fifth
paragraph of Oklahoma v. Texas, 261 U.S. 340 (1923)--
(i) to confine the waters within the bed;
and
(ii) to preserve the course of the river.
(6) South bank boundary line.--The term ``South Bank
boundary line'' means the boundary, with respect to title and
ownership, between the States of Oklahoma and Texas identified
through the gradient boundary survey method that does not
impact or alter the permanent political boundary line between
the States along the Red River, as outlined under article II,
section B of the Red River Boundary Compact enacted by the
States and consented to by Congress pursuant to Public Law 106-
288 (114 Stat. 919).
SEC. 3. SURVEY OF SOUTH BANK BOUNDARY LINE.
(a) Survey Required.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall commission a survey to
identify the South Bank boundary line in the affected area.
(2) Requirements.--The survey shall--
(A) adhere to the gradient boundary survey method;
(B) span the length of the affected area;
(C) be conducted by surveyors that are--
(i) licensed and qualified to conduct
official gradient boundary surveys; and
(ii) selected jointly by and operating
under the direction of--
(I) the Texas General Land Office,
in consultation with each affected
federally recognized Indian tribe; and
(II) the Oklahoma Commissioners of
the Land Office, in consultation with
the attorney general of the State of
Oklahoma and each affected federally
recognized Indian tribe; and
(D) be completed not later than 2 years after the
date of enactment of this Act.
(b) Approval.--
(1) State approval.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 60 days after the
date on which the survey under subsection (a)(1) is
completed, the Secretary shall submit the survey for
approval to--
(i) the Texas General Land Office, in
consultation with each affected federally
recognized Indian tribe; and
(ii) the Oklahoma Commissioners of the Land
Office, in consultation with the attorney
general of the State of Oklahoma and each
affected federally recognized Indian tribe.
(B) Timing of approval.--Not later than 60 days
after the date of receipt of the survey under
subparagraph (A), the Texas General Land Office, in
consultation with each affected federally recognized
Indian tribe, and the Oklahoma Commissioners of the
Land Office, in consultation with the attorney general
of the State of Oklahoma and each affected federally
recognized Indian tribe, shall determine whether to
approve the survey.
(C) Surveys of individual parcels.--
(i) In general.--Surveys of individual
parcels in the affected area shall be conducted
in accordance with this section.
(ii) Approval or disapproval.--A survey of
an individual parcel conducted under clause (i)
shall be approved or disapproved, on an
individual basis, by the Texas General Land
Office, in consultation with each affected
federally recognized Indian tribe, and the
Oklahoma Commissioners of the Land Office, in
consultation with the attorney general of the
State of Oklahoma and each affected federally
recognized Indian tribe, by not later than 60
days after the date of receipt of the survey.
(2) No federal approval required.--The survey conducted
under subsection (a)(1), and any survey of an individual parcel
described in paragraph (1)(C), shall not be submitted to the
Secretary for approval.
(c) Notices.--
(1) Secretary.--Not later than 60 days after the date on
which a survey for an individual parcel is approved by the
Texas General Land Office and the Oklahoma Commissioners of the
Land Office, in consultation with the attorney general of the
State of Oklahoma, under subsection (b)(1)(C), the heads of
those offices shall submit to the Secretary--
(A) a notice of the approval of the survey; and
(B) a copy of--
(i) the survey; and
(ii) any field notes relating to the
individual parcel.
(2) Adjacent landowners.--Not later than 30 days after the
date on which the Secretary receives a notice relating to an
individual parcel under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall
provide to each landowner of land adjacent to the individual
parcel--
(A) a notice of the approval of the survey; and
(B) a copy of--
(i) the survey; and
(ii) any field notes relating to the
individual parcel.
SEC. 4. EFFECT OF ACT.
Nothing in this Act--
(1) modifies any interest of the State of Oklahoma or
Texas, or the sovereignty, property, or trust rights of any
federally recognized Indian tribe, relating to land located
north of the South Bank boundary line, as established by the
survey;
(2) modifies any land patented under the Act of December
22, 1928 (45 Stat. 1069, chapter 47; 43 U.S.C. 1068) (commonly
known as the ``Color of Title Act''), before the date of
enactment of this Act;
(3) modifies or supersedes the Red River Boundary Compact
enacted by the States of Oklahoma and Texas and consented to by
Congress pursuant to Public Law 106-288 (114 Stat. 919);
(4) creates or reinstates any Indian reservation or any
portion of such a reservation; or
(5) alters any valid right of the State of Oklahoma or the
Kiowa, Comanche, or Apache Indian tribes to the mineral
interest trust fund established under the Act of June 12, 1926
(44 Stat. 740, chapter 572).
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry
out this Act $1,000,000.
<all>