§ 640d-10. Resettlement lands for Navajo Tribe

(a) Transfer of lands under jurisdiction of Bureau of Land Management; State and private land exchanges; valuation; acquired private lands; lands to be held in trust

The Secretary is authorized and directed to—

(1) transfer not to exceed two hundred and fifty thousand acres of lands under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management within the State ^[1] of Arizona and New Mexico to the Navajo Tribe: Provided, That, in order to facilitate such transfer, the Secretary is authorized to exchange such lands for State or private lands of equal value or, if they are not equal, the values shall be equalized by the payment of money to the grantor or to the Secretary as the circumstances require so long as payment does not exceed 25 per centum of the total value of the lands transferred out of Federal ownership. The Secretary shall try to reduce the payment to as small an amount as possible.

(2) ^[2] on behalf of the United States, accept title to not to exceed one hundred and fifty thousand acres of private lands acquired by the Navajo Tribe. Title thereto shall be taken in the name of the United States in trust for the benefit of the Navajo Tribe as a part of the Navajo Reservation.

Subject to the provisions of the following sentences of this subsection, all rights, title and interests of the United States in the lands described in paragraph (1), including such interests the United States as lessor has in such lands under the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, as amended [30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.], will, subject to existing leasehold interests, be transferred without cost to the Navajo Tribe and title thereto shall be taken by the United States in trust for the benefit of the Navajo Tribe as a part of the Navajo Reservation. So long as selected lands coincide with pending noncompetitive coal lease applications under the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, as amended, the Secretary may not transfer any United States interests in such lands until the noncompetitive coal lease applications have been fully adjudicated. If such adjudication results in issuance of Federal coal leases to the applicants, such transfer shall be subject to such leases. The leaseholders rights and interests in such coal leases will in no way be diminished by the transfer of the rights, title and interests of the United States in such lands to the Navajo Tribe. If any selected lands are subject to valid claims located under the Mining Law of 1872 the transfer of the selected lands may be made subject to those claims.

(2) ^[2] Those interests in lands acquired in the State of New Mexico by the Navajo Tribe pursuant to subsection 2 ^[3] of this section shall be subject to the right of the State of New Mexico to receive the same value from any sales, bonuses, rentals, royalties and interest charges from the conveyance, sale, lease, development, and production of coal as would have been received had the subsurface interest in such lands remained with the United States and been leased pursuant to the Mineral Lands Leasing Act of 1920, as amended [30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.], or any successor Act; or otherwise developed. The State’s interest shall be accounted for in the same manner as it would have been if a lease had issued pursuant to the Mineral Lands Leasing Act of 1920, as amended.

(b) Proximity of lands to be transferred or acquired to Navajo Reservation; lands to be used for exchanges

A border of any parcel of land so transferred or acquired shall be within eighteen miles of the present boundary of the Navajo Reservation: Provided, That, except as limited by subsection (g) of this section, Bureau of Land Management lands anywhere within the States of Arizona and New Mexico may be used for the purpose of exchanging for lands within eighteen miles of the present boundary of the reservation.

Lands to be so transferred or acquired shall, for a period of three years after July 8, 1980, be selected by the Navajo Tribe after consultation with the Commissioner: Provided, That, at the end of such period, the Commissioner shall have the authority to select such lands after consultation with the Navajo Tribe: Provided further, That not to exceed thirty-five thousand acres of lands so transferred or acquired shall be selected within the State of New Mexico.

(d) Progress and status of land transfer program; reports to Congressional committees

The Commissioner, in consultation with the Secretary, shall within sixty days following the first year of enactment of this subsection report to the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs and the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs, on the progress of the land transfer program authorized in subsection (a) of this section. Sixty days following the second year of enactment of this subsection the Commissioner, in consultation with the Secretary, shall submit a report to the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs and the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs giving the status of the land transfer program authorized in subsection (a) of this section, making any recommendations that the Commissioner deems necessary to complete the land transfer program.

(e) Entitlement lands payments

Payments being made to any State or local government pursuant to the provisions of chapter 69 of title 31, on any lands transferred pursuant to subsection (a)(1) of this section shall continue to be paid as if such transfer had not occurred.

(f) Acquisition of title to surface and subsurface interest; time period; public notice; report to Congressional committees; rights of subsurface owner

(1) For a period of three years after July 8, 1980, the Secretary shall not accept title to lands acquired pursuant to subsection (a)(2) ^[4] of this section unless fee title to both surface and subsurface has been acquired or the owner of the subsurface interest consents to the acceptance of the surface interest in trust by the Secretary.

(2) If, ninety days prior to the expiration of such three year period, the full entitlement of private lands has not been acquired by the Navajo Tribe and accepted by the Secretary in trust for the Navajo Tribe under the restrictions of paragraph (1) of this subsection, the Commissioner, after public notice, shall, within thirty days, make a report thereon to the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs and the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs.

(3) In any case where the Secretary accepts, in trust, title to the surface of lands acquired pursuant to subsection (a)(2) ^[4] of this section where the subsurface interest is owned by third parties, the trust status of such surface ownership and the inclusion of the land within the Navajo Reservation shall not impair any existing right of the subsurface owner to develop the subsurface interest and to have access to the surface for the purpose of such development.

(g) Lands not available for transfer

No public lands lying north and west of the Colorado River in the State of Arizona shall be available for transfer under this section.

(h) Administration of lands transferred or acquired

The lands transferred or acquired pursuant to this section shall be administered by the Commissioner until relocation under the Commission’s ^[5] plan is complete and such lands shall be used solely for the benefit of Navajo families residing on Hopi-partitioned lands as of December 22, 1974: Provided, That the sole authority for final planning decisions regarding the development of lands acquired pursuant to this subchapter shall rest with the Commissioner until such time as the Commissioner has discharged his statutory responsibility under this subchapter.

(i) Negotiations regarding land exchanges or leases

The Commissioner shall have authority to enter into negotiations with the Navajo and Hopi Tribes with a view to arranging and carrying out land exchanges or leases, or both, between such tribes; and lands which may be acquired or transferred pursuant to this section may, with the approval of the Commissioner, be included in any land exchange between the tribes authorized under section 640d–22 of this title.

[1] So in original. Probably should be “States”.

[2] So in original. Two pars. designated (2) have been enacted.

[3] So in original. Probably should be “paragraph (1)”.

[4] See References in Text note below.

[5] So in original. Probably should be “Commissioner’s”.

U.S. Code

§ 640d-10. Resettlement lands for Navajo Tribe