[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 673 Engrossed in House (EH)]
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 673
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To direct the Secretary of the Interior to take lands in Yuma County,
Arizona, into trust as part of the reservation of the Cocopah Tribe of
Arizona, 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 ``Cocopah Lands Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The reservation of the Cocopah Tribe of Arizona is
located in Yuma County, Arizona.
(2) That reservation was created by an Executive order
signed by President Woodrow Wilson in 1917.
(3) The Tribe's land holdings are located within 3
noncontiguous reservations comprising a total of approximately
6,226.3 acres of trust land.
(4) The Tribe purchased the additional lands to provide
infrastructure to housing areas, water, and economic
development to tribal members.
(5) The current trust land base of the reservation is
insufficient to provide such needs.
(6) The Tribe acquired 7 parcels of land contiguous to its
present reservation lands in 1986, 1993, 1997, and 2005, and
these parcels are currently classified as ``Tribal fee lands''
under Federal law.
(7) The acquired parcels shall not be taken into trust for
gaming purposes.
(8) The best means of solving the Tribe's land and economic
needs to its tribal members is to require the Secretary to take
lands in Yuma County, Arizona, that are acquired by the Tribe
into trust for the Tribe subject to the provisions of this Act.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
For the purpose of this Act, the following definitions apply:
(1) Tribe.--The term ``Tribe'' means the Cocopah Tribe of
Arizona.
(2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Interior.
SEC. 4. LANDS TO BE TAKEN INTO TRUST.
(a) Lands To Be Taken Into Trust.--If the Tribe transfers title to
the land described in subsection (b) to the Secretary, the Secretary
shall take that land into trust for the benefit of the Tribe, if at the
time of such transfer there are no recognized environmental conditions
or contamination related concerns and no adverse legal claims to such
land, including outstanding liens, mortgages, or taxes owed.
(b) Land Described.--The land referred to in subsection (a) is
described as follows:
(1) Parcel 1 (sibley purchase 1986).--Lot 4 and the SW\1/4\
of the NW\1/4\, of Sec. 1, T. 10 S., R. 25 W., of the Gila and
Salt River Base and Meridian, Yuma County, Arizona, except that
portion of the SW\1/4\ of the NW\1/4\, of said Sec. 1, T. 10
S., R. 25 W., lying southeasterly of the north right-of-way
line of the Bureau of Reclamation levee.
(2) Parcel 2 (sibley purchase 1986).--Lot 1 and the SE\1/4\
of the NE\1/4\, of Sec. 2, T. 10 S., R. 25 W., of the Gila and
Salt River Base and Meridian, Yuma County, Arizona.
(3) Parcel 3 (mcdaniel purchase 1993).--That part of the
E\1/2\ of the SE\1/4\, lying south of the East Main Bureau of
Reclamation Canal right of way in Sec. 30, T. 9 S., R. 23 W.,
of the Gila and Salt River Base and Meridian, Yuma County,
Arizona.
(4) Parcel 4 (holland purchase 1997).--That portion of the
NW\1/4\ of the NE\1/4\, of Sec. 31, T. 16 S., R 22 E., of the
San Bernardino Base and Meridian, Yuma County, Arizona, lying
north of the levee and Salinity Canal; except the north 220
feet.
(5) Parcel 5 (holland purchase 1997).--An easement over the
easterly 15 feet of the north 220 feet of that portion of the
NW\1/4\ of the NE\1/4\, of Sec. 31, T. 16 S., R. 22 E., of the
San Bernardino Base and Meridian, Yuma County, Arizona, lying
north of the levee and Salinity Canal for irrigation purposes.
(6) Parcel 6 (powers purchase 1997).--Lots 21, 24, and 25,
Sec. 29, and Lots 16 and 17 and the N\1/2\ of the SW\1/4\ of
the SE\1/4\, of Sec. 30, T. 16 S., R. 22 E., of the San
Bernardino Meridian, Yuma County, Arizona, according to the
dependent resurvey of the Bureau of Land Management, accepted
December 9, 1960.
(7) Parcel 7 (speed way purchase 2005).--That portion of
the W\1/2\ of the SE\1/4\ of Sec. 30, T. 9 S., R. 23 W., of the
Gila and Salt River Base and Meridian, Yuma County, Arizona,
lying south and east of the East Main Canal; except the south
33 feet thereof; except one-third interest in and to all
mineral rights, as reserved in the deed recorded in Docket
1461, page 600, records of Yuma County, Arizona.
(c) Lands To Be Made Part of the Reservation.--Land taken into
trust pursuant to subsection (a) shall be considered to be part of the
Tribe's initial reservation.
(d) Service Area.--For the purposes of the delivery of Federal
services to enrolled members of the Tribe, the Tribe's service area
shall be Yuma County, Arizona.
(e) Gaming Prohibited.--Land taken into trust for the benefit of
the Tribe under this Act shall not be used for gaming under the Indian
Gaming Regulatory Act.
Passed the House of Representatives July 30, 2007.
Attest:
Clerk.
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 673
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To direct the Secretary of the Interior to take lands in Yuma County,
Arizona, into trust as part of the reservation of the Cocopah Tribe of
Arizona, and for other purposes.