I
118THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 423
To take certain land located in San Diego County, California, into trust
for the benefit of the Pala Band of Mission Indians, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY20, 2023
Mr. I
SSA(for himself and Mr. VARGAS) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources
A BILL
To take certain land located in San Diego County, California,
into trust for the benefit of the Pala Band of Mission
Indians, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pala Band of Mission 4
Indians Land Transfer Act of 2023’’. 5
SEC. 2. TRANSFER OF LAND IN TRUST FOR THE PALA BAND 6
OF MISSION INDIANS. 7
(a) T
RANSFER ANDADMINISTRATION.— 8
(1) T
RANSFER OF LANDS INTO TRUST .—If, not 9
later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 10
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of this Act, the Tribe transfers title to the land re-1
ferred to in subsection (b) to the United States, the 2
Secretary, not later than 180 days after such trans-3
fer, shall take that land into trust for the benefit of 4
the Tribe. 5
(2) A
DMINISTRATION.—The land transferred 6
under paragraph (1) shall be part of the Pala Indian 7
Reservation and administered in accordance with the 8
laws and regulations generally applicable to land 9
held in trust by the United States for an Indian 10
Tribe. 11
(b) L
ANDDESCRIPTION.—The land referred to in 12
subsection (a)(1) is the approximately 721.12 acres of 13
land located in San Diego County, California, generally 14
depicted as ‘‘Gregory Canyon Property Boundary’’ on the 15
map titled ‘‘Pala Gregory Canyon Property Boundary and 16
Parcels’’. 17
(c) R
ULES OFCONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 18
shall— 19
(1) enlarge, impair, or otherwise affect any 20
right or claim of the Tribe to any land or interest 21
in land that is in existence before the date of the en-22
actment of this Act; 23
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(2) affect any water right of the Tribe in exist-1
ence before the date of the enactment of this Act; 2
or 3
(3) terminate or limit any access in any way to 4
any right-of-way or right-of-use issued, granted, or 5
permitted before the date of the enactment of this 6
Act. 7
(d) R
ESTRICTEDUSE OFTRANSFERREDLANDS.— 8
The Tribe may not conduct, on the land taken into trust 9
for the Tribe pursuant to this Act, gaming activities— 10
(1) as a matter of claimed inherent authority; 11
or 12
(2) under any Federal law, including the Indian 13
Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.) 14
and regulations promulgated by the Secretary or the 15
National Indian Gaming Commission under that 16
Act. 17
(e) D
EFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section: 18
(1) S
ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 19
the Secretary of the Interior. 20
(2) T
RIBE.—The term ‘‘Tribe’’ means the Pala 21
Band of Mission Indians. 22
Æ
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