TITLE VII MICCOSUKEE SETTLEMENT

SEC. 701. ^{SHORT TITLE.} This title may be cited as the

"Miccosukee Settlement Act of 1997".

•

SEC. 702. CONGRES IONAL FINDINGS.-Congress finds that:

(1) There is pending before

the

United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida a lawsuit by the Miccosukee

Tribe that involves the taking of certain tribal lands in connec- tion with the construction of highway Interstate 75 by the Flor-

ida

Department of Transportation.

(2) The pendency of the lawsuit referred to

in

paragraph ⁽¹⁾ clouds title of certain lands used

in

the maintenance and oper- ation of the highway and hinders proper planning for future

maintenance and operations.

(3) The Florida Department of Transportation, with the concurrence of the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improve- ments Tru

t

^{Fund of}

the

^State of Florida, and the Miccosukee Tribe have executed an agreement for the purpose of resolving the di pute and settling the lawsuit.

( 4) The agreement referred to r,n paragraph ⁽³⁾ requtres the con ent of Congress

in

connection with contemplated land tran fer .

(5)

The

ettlement Agreement is

in

the interest of

the

Miccosukee Tribe a the Tribe will receive certain monetary payment , new reservation lands

to

be held

in

trust by the

United tate and other benefit

(6) L nd re eived by the United States pursuant to the Set- tlement reement ^LS in con ideration of Miccosukee Indian

e er ation land lost by the Miccosukee Tribe by virtue of tran fe to the lorida Department of Transportatton under the

ettlement reement

(7)

The

land referred

o in

^{paragraph (6)}

a

received by he n ted tate will be held in tru ^t by the UnLted State for th ^u e and benefit of the icco ukee ribe as Miccosukee In- d a R ervat ·on land ·n compen ation for the consideration

i en b the rib tn the ettlement reement

0

~ o re hare ith the partie to the ettlement r eme ^t a d zre to r ol e the di pute and ettle the law uit.

70 ^{Fl I 10 .} I hi title:

( B O ,

^{0 T E T I TER} IM ROVEME ~

TR T he term Boa d of Tru tee of the Internal Im- p o e nt ru

t

u d ' mean the agency of the tate of Flor-

. a holdi le al itl to and re p ns · ble for tru ^t ad mini tra- . of cer a land of the tate of lorida consz ^ting of the

o er o or e neral omm · sz,oner of r£culture Com- o r of d cat ·on ontroller ecre ary of tate, and

of he - at of ^ZorLda who are ru tee of the

0 •

-nd

47

(2) FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRAlV PORTATIO ^1• The term ((Florida Department of Transportationn means the executive branch department and agency of the State of Florida that.-

( A) is responsible for the construction and maintenance of surface vehicle roads, existing pursuant to section 20.23 Florida Statutes; and

(B) has the authority to execute the Settlement Agree- ment pursuant to section ^334.044, Florida tatutes.

(3) LAw ^UIT. The term ((lawsuit" means th.e action in th.e United States District Court for the Southern District of Flor- ida, entitled Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida v. tate of Florida and Florida Department of Transportation, et al. dock-

et No. 6285-Civ - Paine.

(4) MICCO UKEE LAND . The term ((Miccosukee land m.eans lands that are-

(A) held in trust by the United tates for th.e ^lLSe and benefit of the Miccosukee Tribe as Micco ukee Indian Re - eruation lan.ds; an.d

(B) identified pursuant to the ettlement Agreement for ,tran fer to the Florid~a Department of Transportation.

(5) ^MICCO UKEE TRIBE; TRIBE. The terms (Micco u.k e Trib and Tribe n2.ean the 1iccosukee Tribe of ln.dz:an of Florida

a

trib of 111ericart Indians recognized b:y

the Un. ited

,

tat. , and organized under ection 16 of the ct of Jun 1 1934 (4 tat. 9 7 chapter ,576· 25 U. . . 476) and r cooniz d b.Y t}z ⁷ tat.., of Florida pzLr ^uant to chapter ^2, 5

Florida

tat-

lJ. t '.

(6) , .~ RE1"i\R}'. TJ~e t r1:n. ~ecr ta1 ' 112.ean. th.e cr f.a1J'

of t.lz ^:1 l1z terior.

(7) ET1LE 1E ¹'1 GREE E

r·

^{rlGREE E 1T.} 1'h t ¹⁷¹¹ ttl ^{Jn. nt} ar ^{1n nt} and

E\gre

¹¹²

n . t

^{rn. a11.}

t}z

^{a 1nbla ·} of do ^u112 nt ntl:tl ^~d · ttl ¹¹¹ n.t re ^{111 Ttt} (with in.cor- porat d :r}zibit ) t.llat.-

C· ) addr

(B )(i) a i (, ,., tal}' of th

a1zd Bill, 'Pr ^~ hair1na1z of t}z

(ii) aft r b in

OTzcur · d in b , t.h oard of Tru

t.

]Jro ¹¹¹ nt ru ^t 1 und oftJz

(t ) 7, 1 OF l,ORJIJ . ~l of lorida

111 an ^~-

or d JJart.T1l nt of th tat of lori a

l rida

part112

nt. of r n

port.atiorz

a z

~·~.. of tit l1z t rnal l1npro ^{112 2 t.}

1

ru

t.

tat

f

lorida ^a a o ^r12111 nt.al ^{ntit '·}

• ~z nit t.at ap ro ratifi

n.t

•

48

(B) to accomplish the fulfillment of the Settlement Agree- ment in accordance with subparagraph ^(A), cooperate with ^and assist the Miccosukee Tribe;

(2) upon finding that the Settleme.nt Agreement is legally sufficient and that the State of Florida has the necessary au-

thority to fulfill the Agreement-

(A) ign the Settlement Agreement on behalf of the United States; and

(B) ensure that an individual other than the Secretary who is ^a representative of the Bureau of Indian Affairs also signs the Settlement Agreement;

(3) upon finding that all necessary conditions precedent to the transfer of Miccosukee land to the Florida Department of

Transportation a provided in the Settlement Agreement have been or will be met so that the Agreement ha been or will be fulfilled, but for the execution of that land transfer and related land tran fer ·-

(A) transfer ownership of the Miccosukee land to the Florida Department of Tran portation in accordance with the Settlement Agreement, including in the transfer solely and exclusively that Micco ukee land identified in the Set- tlement Agreement for tran fer to the Florida Department of Tran portation · and

(B) in conjunction with he land tran fer referred to in ubparagraph

C )

transfer no land other than the land re- ferred to in that ubparagraph to the Florida Department of Tran ^p rtation and

( 4) upon finding that all ⁿ ce ary conditions precedent to the tran fer of lorida land from the tate of Florida to the

ited tate ha e b en or will be met o that the Agreement ha been or £ll be fulfilled but

fi

^r the e ecution of that land tran

fi

r and related land tran

fi

^{r receive} and accept in trust fo the u e and b fi of the M 'cco uk Tribe owner hip of all la d identified in th ettl m nt re ment for tran fer t the

n ^'t d tat .

. 706. ^{I 0} 1 ^{DI R TIO D} The

la d t a fi rr d and _ld in ru ^t for th i c uke Tribe under ti 70 ) all b icco u e Indr,an r ation land .

. 707. _{--r a) OF 0} TRU TIO . -

i

thi or h lemen r ement hall-

( ffi.

^t

· zi f

he ·cc uke ribe or it mem-

ral

r b n fit under a program of the

pa ment made pur u- ent ll r ult in any re- or ic und r an pr ram of

e ribe r it member e m ber of the rr,be ar enti-

f -

r

a rall rec nized Indian

49

(2) any member of the Miccosukee Tribe as a member of the Tribe.

(c) TAXATION.-

(1)

IN

^GENERAL.-

(A) MONIES. None of the monies paid to the Miccosukee Tribe under

this

Act or the ,Settlement Agree-

ment shall be taxable under Federal or State law.

(B) LANDS. None of the lands conveyed to the Miccosukee Tribe under this Act or the Settlement ^Ag~ee­

ment shall be taxable under Federal or State law.

(2) PAYMENTS AND CONVEYANCES NOT TAXABLE EVE TS.-

No payment or conveyance referred to in paragraph ⁽¹⁾ shall be considered to be a taxable event.

And the Senate agree to the same.

4 -6 _{- 4}

RALPH REGULA,

JosEPH M.

McDADE,

JIM KOLBE, · JOE SKEEN,

CHARLES H. ^TAYLOR

GEORGE

R.

NETHERCUTI'

Jr.

DAN MILLER, ZACH WAMP,

BOB LIVINGSTON, SIDNEY R. ^YATES,

JOHN

P.

^MURTHA,

NORM DICKS,

DAVID E. SKAGGS, JAMES

P.

^MORAN

DAVID 0BE ,

Man~gers

on the Part

of

the Rous .

SLADE GoR 0 ~

TED ST ^VE

THAD

^{COOl _ ,}

PETE V. Do ^ICI

Co

^RAD

Bu

ROBE T .

B

^{~ ETT} J G ^cJ

BE

^{~ I 1 B LL}

OBE

P

^{RI K}

LE

D B

E

....

JOINT EXPLANATORY STATEMENT OF THE COMMITTEE ^~OF CONFERENCE

The managers on the part of the House and the Senate at the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the

amendments of the ^~Senate to the bill (H.R. 2107), making appro- priations for the Department of the Interior and Related ^Ag~encies for

the fiscal year ending September 30, 1998, and

for

other pur-

poses, submit the following joint statement to the House and the enate in explanation of the effect of the action agreed upon by the managers and recommended in the accompanying conference re-

port. .

The conference agreement on H.R. 2107 incorporates some of

the

provision of

both

the House and the Senate versions of

the

bill. Report language and allocations set forth in either House Re- port 05- 63

or

Senate Report ^1~05-56 which ^ar~e not changed b

the

conference are ^approve~d by

the

comm "ttee of conference.

Th

sta · ~ement of "he managers \vhile repeating some repo ·t languag

fo mphasis does not negate he language referenced above unl

pr~ ssly provided herein.

TITLE I DEPART E .. T OF THE I . T R 0

BURE

u

^{0 .}

^L

T 0 D . D RE 0 C

n n~dm~ ^I o. : pp opria s 5 270 000 for rna ag

of l d and · so· ·c i ^·e d of · 5 59 000 as p opo ^I b h ou and ⁷ 5 000 a p ^~opo d b h a . l1a11g o h nou ^1t p ^*Opos d b ¹ ·h ou i clud inc s of 00 000 for

11

k Go d Rush ⁱ I ·a k fo ·c 500 000 fo tl1 jo ·

t

, p · ^{·m 1} of

£

1d co ¹¹ ppin proj c ^I in ka

00 000

fo l1 a

^{1 ·} d ^{g ·} d ^p

ci :Co ..

h · · 00 000 ^I or · c a io o c

a

io I rol tn

·b r i o m ⁰¹

a k ' 000 000 ⁰

• C' d b--. ....

00

fo

ar

•

-

h n-

•

52

ez Perce, Oregon, and Pony Express National Historic Trails, and the Pacific Crest and Continental Divide National Scenic Trails, and $100,000 is provided as a general increase.

The managers have reduced the Bureau's oil and ^gas manage- ment program by a net $450,000, consistent with the Administra- tion's requested program decrease. This decrease is made up of a

$50,000 increase for Grand Staircase activities and a $500,000 de- crease related to efficiencies in lease processing in Alaska, Arizona, and Idaho. In agree"ng to the requested dget reduction, the man- agers direct the Bureau no to delay the processing of any lease ap- plication in these States in 998. The managers expect the Bureau to request funding sufficient to meet the B reau's responsibilities for oil and gas management activities on Federal lands · n each of these State as war anted.

After rev·ewing the Department's soda ash royalty study, the managers are conce ne that the Department was unresponsive to the que tion relating to he appropriate method of setting Federal royalty rates when the only comparab e rates are the product of a monopoly. The managers will watch care lly how the Department deals with these iss es in the futu ·e.

The managers s pport effort of the and management agen- c·e to con ol1date act"vities and facilities at the field level as a mea . of achie ·ng aving and rov·ding improved services to the public. T anagers s pport the joint BLM Fo e t Serv1ce trading po

t

pi ot p ogra w · ch a lo t e ecretari s of the Interior and Agri ure to make ec procal · elegat·ons o authorities, duties an po sibili es to omote cu tome ervi e and efficiency,

w· h the nderstandi g tha ot ·ng will c ange the app icability o any p b ic a o lation to land adm"ni te ed by the BLM

· r

t

^{e ore}

t

^{e ic .}

anage e

·t · e cq ⁱ a ha p o

0 •

ac ,

•

add1 o al nfo a ·o o BL ' activit·es on of a e tgh s. By o ember 30, 1998, e e

etaili g ·t ort and ong-tern1 er · ght a d ^any action deal-

e g .

o ge

t

^{e r a} to oope at f lly with

· 1

x ha ge oject gro p as a thor-

D

b 0 3 3

e

e

a e

2 650 ^~ooo fo m· i g law a - opo d

t

e ena e in tead

p o

t

o amount for 270 000

2 0 0 000 fo · dian fire ea 282, 28 000 a e ared e _{700 000} IS to

g c

at

e ho-

Ia a ^•

re

e ^• ce a 92 000 ¹ pro- c · fi e o erat1o

•

53

Amendment No. 5: Earr11arks $6,950,000 for reno\ration or con- struction of fire facilities as proposed by the Senate instead of

$5,025,000 as proposed by the House.

CE TRAL HAZARDOUS MATERIALS F D

•

Amendment No. 6: Appropriates $12,000,000 for the central hazardous materials fund as proposed by the House instead of

$14,900,000 as proposed by the Senate.

CO STRUCTIO

Amendment proposed by the Senate.

o. 7: Appropriates $3 254,000 for construction as House instead of $3,154,000 as proposed by the

PA YME TS I LIEU OF TAXES

Amendment o. 8: Appropriates $120 000,000 for payments in lieu of taxes instead of $113,500,000 as proposed by the House and

· _2 _ 000 000 as proposed by the Senate.

_ D CQUISITIO

Amendment _ o. 9: ppropriates $11 ^2~00 000 for land ^ac~quisi­

tion

instead of

$

2 ^{~0100 . 000} as proposed by the House and

$

^{600 000}

as propo

ed 'by the

enate. The

managers agre

to

t he following distribution of funds:

I roj ct

1\.rizona i1d rne

z ... "' ... "' ... .

D 1 n n en · i 1 d li fe 11 a b i ta t 0 ... . Bodi Bo'"'l ¹ ... , ... .

- ...•.•..•...•... ^, ...•....••...

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

lll ll ···

~() 1 ... . R

(R • 1 I ⁾

d ¹ o. 0: 1 g

.. hi . ₀

conp· co

10 • ^{• •}

1 ^' !0 ₁ ^!

· o -

_•

I H ..

d

1 •

h

mount

700,000 650 000 000 000 900 000 000 000 000,000 300 000 000 000 000 000

750 000

3 000 000 ,200,0 0

•

54

study on the Olympic Peninsula; $1,000,000 in habitat conservation of which $50,000 is for the Middle Rio Grande/Bosque program,

$50,000 is for Platte River studies, $100,000 is to establish a Cedar City ecological services office, $750,000 is for Washington salmon enhancement

and

$50,000

is for

the

Ver1110nt partners program;

$1,000,000 for Salton Sea recovery planning and for bioremediation efforts in the New River in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey, contingent on matching funds from the State of California;

$250,000 in migratory b·rd management for the North American waterfowl management plan; $500,000 in hatchery operations and maintenance for endangered species recovery, including operation of the Mora hatchery in New Mexico; $750,000 in fish and wildlife management of which $100,000 1s for Yukon River escapement

monitor ng and researc $300,000 is for Atlantic salmon conserva- t·on, $50,000 is for the regional park processing center and

$300,000 is for w ·rling disease research; $200,000 in international affair for the Caddo Lake Institute scholars program; and

$1,000,000 fo the Nat1onal Conservat·on Training Center De- creases to the

Hou e

proposed level include $300,000 in consulta- tion for the Olym.p · c Peninsu a wolf recovery program (funded under the recov ry program); $500,000 in habitat conservation, of which $250,000 is for assist ce to private landowners and

$250 000 i for

t

e coastal program in Texas; $1,000,000 in refuge operation and maintenance· and $500,000 in fish and wildlife

anage ent

for habitat restoration

The anager agree to the follow·ng:

. Wi ·n

t

^{e co} at·on program, $560,000 should be used for

t

e ron Cou ty ab tat onserva ion pla , contingent on

a c · g on-Fe eral ng.

1 •

e

0

2. The · nc ea e fo Ia e · o ceme

t

hould be used, in

part,

to ah1

·ty

o p e ent ¹ egal bear poaching and

· ce a, but ·s not 1mited to that activity.

etl d 0

^1ce

hou d e

funded at

the same

997

e

e

•

a

co

e

•

e ^c

a e

0

e ^I a

e

a

0 1 .

e

o re uge operations and mainte- to balance comp ting efuge uses

· ef ge y ems Improvement

0

a able fun s fo he Washing- en group ¹

·t·

ative. The

program for Washington a · ia i e,. The e fund oc an o the Wa ·ng- o pport e volu teer ef-

e

t

roup program.

39 000 ¹ fo project plan

ed cor1norant depredat'on e co e pe od on the ce antic"pa ·s u·ng the

- . & , . . . age ake o a , m tions

..

55

8. The House takes no position on the issue of overgrazing of bighor11 sheep on the confederated Salish and Kootenai reserva- tions.

9. With respect to tribal management takeover of the oise Bison Range, the Service should continue to work with the Salish and Kootenai tribes on appropriate functions for compacting by the tribes.

10. With respect to hunting season extensions and the impact on waterfowl, the Service should examine existing data and consult with the States and with the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies to deter111ine what changes should be made to the existing methodology. The Service should report the results of this

effort to the Committees, including a discussion of the pros and

cons of alternatives to the current procedures.

11.

In

preparing its report on agriculture depredations caused by dusky Canada geese, the Service should consider other areas, in addition to the Pacific Northwest, where this. is kno\vn to be

a

problem.

12. Of the funds provided for whirling disease researcl1

$700 000 should be used for work with the ational Partnership on th Management of Wild and ative Cold Water Fisheries. The rvice is ~encouraged to use other funds available for fish heal h to continue and expand the ational Wild Fish Health unre '·

13. With respect to the Pacific orthwest forest plan unallocated program increases provided by the conference agree- ln nt ^I hould be applied to forest plan activities in proportion o th

incr a es for forest plan activities included in the budget r quest for that program.

1 . The alton ea recovery plan should be de eloped b h f'lice in coordination \vith the tate of alifornia the ^{1 • •} o- logical ^urve~y the Bureau of Reclamation and ^th~e · n ⁱ ·onmen al

rot ction gency. The plan should be sub· ni ed o the ommi - and hould addre s the appropr·a ~e d. rsio of r ponsibili i nd funding among all in\ ^ol,~ed agencie .

... ' L # . Future increa in the e ic budge fo -

11

al on a

l1ottld b con id r d in the con e ^"t of

11

e · ^~ce a ·ional prio .. _

· i . he ervice hould continu o ^\'O ·k \ i h

l1

a o ⁱ ali o -

1· _ to n ur that h

t

te em a ·n an ac ^{I~ r} participan in he 1du ^t nd fu ding o ^~~ co e .- effo .

. The manage ncou ·ag h , . . ⁱ h ^a· d

· i clud the id _nd colo _.. e in h

rocr · n nd o ^{p ~_ O\} "d t ¹ n c s .. .. ou ·c o uppo _ of l1 Dep ·m f erg a ·. o h p blic a d p i a

· 1iza io 1 in o d · o ace 1e.. h o 1a · o of h

1 · l1ip for ·id d ·d

hip .

l\

d i

ll

I 1 } Il d

1 •

10 •

l

lud··]g 1-... 0

·d ^{1 · ,} d ^{) 1} a ^{'"-o.~·-- - - -} a · clttdi ^{p -}

~ m a d · d- ell ala a Ba ·

p ~ac icab h c·a poi dfo

99 . he rna -

a e _ d 1oca e

p ·o c ion ^{d ... · ........}

•

•

56

entire Atchafalaya Basin region and to report to the Committees on the results of those consultations prior to submission of the fiscal year 1999 budget.

The managers understand that the translocation of a portion of the Adak caribou herd onto privately owned islando

in

Alaska may provide long tet·tn relief for subsistence users in the Alaska Peninsula region. Since the filing

of

the Senate report, it has come to the managers' attention that at least two such islands have his- torically sustained indigenous caribou herds and therefore a suit- able habitat study is not necessary. The managers encourage the Service to enter into discussions with subsistence users of the Alas- ka Peninsula region to explore a potential partnership arrange- ment to establish new caribou herds on Deere and U

nga

Islands to provide meat sources for Native people.

Amendment No. 12: Restores language proposed by

the

House and stricken by the Senate which earmarks an amount not to ex- ceed $5,190,000 for implementing subsections (a), (b), (c), and (e) of section 4 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended, and inserts language proposed by the Senate making a technical correc- tion to the existing statutory fee authority for the National Con- servation Training Center. The House had no similar provision on the National Conservation Training Center.

As requested by

the

Department of the Interior

the

managers reluctantly have agreed to limit statutorily the funds for the endan- gered species listing program. The managers continue to believe that

a

long ter111 solution to the problems in the ESA program should be dealt with through the reauthorization process, and re- gret that another year has passed without substantial progress by the Administration.

Amendment No. 13: Deletes language proposed by the Senate prohibiting overhead charges by the Service on funds transferred from the Bureau of Reclamation for the Upper Colorado River re- covery program. The House had

no

similar provision.

The managers expect the Service to keep ^any necessary admin- istrative charges to an absolute minimum,

and

to provide

a

report to the Committees that justifies ^any overhead charges on funds t ransferred to the Upper Colorado River recovery program.

CO STRUCTIO

Amendment No. 14: Appropriates $45,006,000 for construction nstead of $40,256,000 as proposed by t he House and $42,053,000 as proposed by

the Se n ate.

The managers agree to the followi ^g di tribution of funds:

Project

Audubo In titu.te ............ . Bake Island HI (assessment/site · nvestiga ·on) ... ... . Blac water MD administrative buildtng ....... . Bozeman TC, T laboratory building planning and design ..... . rab Orch d IL rehabili ate sewage treatment facilities) .. . raig rook H E tation rehab· "tation/ nal phase ... . Cr o H T J e up ~ , · Pond Dam ... .

Gre~ wamp J disposal as essment/ ite investigation) .... . one on replace board alk) ... . John ^ay E e (rehabi · ta on .......... ..

eauhou t.rd on erva ·on Center I comp e e co truct· on ..... . o · ak ( p Is and en ova ·on . . . . ... .

Amount

$2,000,000 250 000

335 000

606,000 1,659,000 3,500,000 1500 000 250 000 425 000 1,000,000 1,000 000 50,000