§ 941j. — Establishment of Expanded Reservation.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 25USC941j]
TITLE 25--INDIANS
CHAPTER 14--MISCELLANEOUS
SUBCHAPTER XLIII-A--CATAWBA INDIAN TRIBE OF SOUTH CAROLINA; RESTORATION
OF FEDERAL TRUST RELATIONSHIP
Sec. 941j. Establishment of Expanded Reservation
(a) Existing Reservation
The Secretary is authorized to receive from the State, by such
transfer document as the Secretary and the State shall approve, all
rights, title, and interests of the State in and to the Existing
Reservation to be held by the United States as trustee for the Tribe,
and, effective on the date of such transfer, the obligation of the State
as trustee for the Tribe with respect to such land shall cease.
(b) Expanded Reservation
(1) The Existing Reservation shall be expanded in the manner
prescribed by the Settlement Agreement.
(2) Within 180 days following October 27, 1993, the Secretary, after
consulting with the Tribe, shall ascertain the boundaries and area of
the existing reservation.\1\ In addition, the Secretary, after
consulting with the Tribe, shall engage a professional land planning
firm as provided in the Settlement Agreement. The Secretary shall bear
the cost of all services rendered pursuant to this section.
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\1\ So in original. Probably should be capitalized.
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(3) The Tribe may identify, purchase and request that the Secretary
place into reservation status, tracts of lands in the manner prescribed
by the Settlement Agreement. The Tribe may not request that any land be
placed in reservation status, unless those lands were acquired by the
Tribe and qualify for reservation status in full compliance with the
Settlement Agreement, including section 14 thereof.
(4) The Secretary shall bear the cost of all title examinations,
preliminary subsurface soil investigations, and level one environmental
audits to be performed on each parcel contemplated for purchase by the
Tribe or the Secretary for the Expanded Reservation, and shall report
the results to the Tribe. The Secretary's or the Tribe's payment of any
option fee and the purchase price may be drawn from the Catawba Land
Acquisition Trust Fund.
(5) The total area of the Expanded Reservation shall be limited to
3,000 acres, including the Existing Reservation, but the Tribe may
exclude from this limit up to 600 acres of additional land under the
conditions set forth in the Settlement Agreement. The Tribe may seek to
have the permissible area of the Expanded Reservation enlarged by an
additional 600 acres as set forth in the Settlement Agreement.
(6) All lands acquired for the Expanded Reservation may be held in
trust together with the Existing Reservation which the State is to
convey to the United States.
(7) Nothing in this subchapter shall prohibit the Secretary from
providing technical and financial assistance to the Tribe to fulfill the
purposes of this section.
(c) Expansion zones
(1) Subject to the conditions, criteria, and procedures set forth in
the Settlement Agreement, the Tribe shall endeavor at the outset to
acquire contiguous tracts for the Expanded Reservation in the ``Catawba
Reservation Primary Expansion Zone'', as defined in the Settlement
Agreement.
(2) Subject to the conditions, criteria, and procedures set forth in
the Settlement Agreement, the Tribe may elect to purchase contiguous
tracts in an alternative area, the ``Catawba Reservation Secondary
Expansion Zone'', as defined in the Settlement Agreement.
(3) The Tribe may propose different or additional expansion zones
subject to the authorizations required in the Settlement Agreement and
the State Act.
(d) Non-contiguous tracts
The Tribe, in consultation with the Secretary, shall take such
actions as are reasonable to expand the Existing Reservation by
assembling a composite tract of contiguous parcels that border and
surround the Existing Reservation. Before requesting that any non-
contiguous tract be placed in Reservation status, the Tribe shall comply
with section 14 of the Settlement Agreement. Upon the approval of the
Tribe's application under and in accordance with section 14 of the
Settlement Agreement, the Secretary, in consultation with the Tribe, may
proceed to place non-contiguous tracts in Reservation status. No
purchases of non-contiguous tracts shall be made for the Reservation
except as set forth in the Settlement Agreement and the State Act.
(e) Voluntary land purchases
(1) The power of eminent domain shall not be used by the Secretary
or any governmental authority in acquiring parcels of land for the
benefit of the Tribe, whether or not the parcels are to be part of the
Reservation. All such purchases shall be made only from willing sellers
by voluntary conveyances subject to the terms of the Settlement
Agreement.
(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section and the
provisions of sections 3113 and 3114(a) to (d) of title 40, the
Secretary or the Tribe may acquire a fractional interest in land
otherwise qualifying under section 14 of the Settlement Agreement for
treatment as Reservation land for the benefit of the Tribe from the
ostensible owner of the land if the Secretary or the Tribe and the
ostensible owner have agreed upon the identity of the land to be sold
and upon the purchase price and other terms of sale. If the ostensible
owner agrees to the sale, the Secretary may use condemnation proceedings
to perfect or clear title and to acquire any interests of putative co-
tenants whose address is unknown or the interests of unknown or unborn
heirs or persons subject to mental disability.
(f) Terms and conditions of acquisition
All properties acquired by the Tribe shall be acquired subject to
the terms and conditions set forth in the Settlement Agreement. The
Tribe and the Secretary, acting on behalf of the Tribe and with its
consent, are also authorized to acquire Reservation and non-Reservation
lands using the methods of financing described in the Settlement
Agreement.
(g) Authority to erect permanent improvements on Existing and Expanded
Reservation land and non-Reservation land held in trust
Notwithstanding any other provision of law or regulation, the
Attorney General of the United States shall approve any deed or other
instrument which conveys to the United States lands purchased pursuant
to the provisions of this section and the Settlement Agreement. The
Secretary or the Tribe may erect permanent improvements of a substantial
value, or any other improvements authorized by law on such land after
such land is conveyed to the United States.
(h) Easements over Reservation
(1) The acquisition of lands for the Expanded Reservation shall not
extinguish any easements or rights-of-way then encumbering such lands
unless the Secretary or the Tribe enters into a written agreement with
the owners terminating such easements or rights-of-way.
(2)(A) The Tribe, with the approval of the Secretary, shall have the
power to grant or convey easements and rights-of-way, in a manner
consistent with the Settlement Agreement.
(B) Unless the Tribe and the State agree upon a valuation formula
for pricing easements over the Reservation, the Secretary shall be
subject to proceedings for condemnation and eminent domain to acquire
easements and rights of way for public purposes through the Reservation
under the laws of the State in circumstances where no other reasonable
access is available.
(C) With the approval of the Tribe, the Secretary may grant
easements or rights-of-way over the Reservation for private purposes,
and implied easements of necessity shall apply to all lands acquired by
the Tribe, unless expressly excluded by the parties.
(i) Jurisdictional status
Only land made part of the Reservation shall be governed by the
special jurisdictional provisions set forth in the Settlement Agreement
and the State Act.
(j) Sale and transfer of Reservation lands
With the approval of the Secretary, the Tribe may sell, exchange, or
lease lands within the Reservation, and sell timber or other natural
resources on the Reservation under circumstances and in the manner
prescribed by the Settlement Agreement and the State Act.
(k) Time limit on acquisitions
All acquisitions of contiguous land to expand the Reservation or of
non-contiguous lands to be placed in Reservation status shall be
completed or under contract of purchase within 10 years from the date
the last payment is made into the Land Acquisition Trust; except that
for a period of 20 years after the date the last payment is made into
the Catawba Land Acquisition Trust Fund, the Tribe may, subject to the
limitation on the total size of the Reservation, continue to add parcels
to up to two Reservation areas so long as the parcels acquired are
contiguous to one of those two Reservation areas.
(l) Leases of Reservation lands
The provisions of section 415 of this title shall not apply to the
Tribe and its Reservation. The Tribe is authorized to lease its
Reservation lands for terms up to but not exceeding 99 years, with or
without the approval of the Secretary. With regard to any lease of
Reservation lands not approved by the Secretary, the Secretary shall be
exculpated by the Tribe from any liability arising out of any loss
incurred by the Tribe as a result of the unapproved lease.
(m) Non-applicability of BIA land acquisition regulations
The general land acquisition regulations of the Bureau of Indian
Affairs, contained in part 151 of title 25, Code of Federal Regulations,
shall not apply to the acquisition of lands authorized by this section.
(Pub. L. 103-116, Sec. 12, Oct. 27, 1993, 107 Stat. 1133.)
Codification
``Sections 3113 and 3114(a) to (d) of title 40'' substituted in
subsec. (e)(2) for ``the first section of the Act of August 1, 1888 (ch.
728, 25 Stat. 357; 40 U.S.C. 257), and the first section of the Act of
February 26, 1931 (ch. 307, 46 Stat. 1421; 40 U.S.C. 258a)'' on
authority of Pub. L. 107-217, Sec. 5(c), Aug. 21, 2002, 116 Stat. 1303,
the first section of which enacted Title 40, Public Buildings, Property,
and Works.
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in section 941a of this title.
