H. R. 423
One Hundred Eighteenth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the third day of January, two thousand and twenty-three
An Act
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 Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pala Band of Mission Indians
Land Transfer Act of 2023’’.
SEC. 2. TRANSFER OF LAND IN TRUST FOR THE PALA BAND OF MIS-
SION INDIANS.
(a) TRANSFER ANDADMINISTRATION.—
(1) T
RANSFER OF LANDS INTO TRUST .—If, not later than
180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
Tribe transfers title to the land referred to in subsection (b)
to the United States, the Secretary, not later than 180 days
after such transfer, shall take that land into trust for the
benefit of the Tribe.
(2) A
DMINISTRATION.—The land transferred under para-
graph (1) shall be part of the Pala Indian Reservation and
administered in accordance with the laws and regulations gen-
erally applicable to land held in trust by the United States
for an Indian Tribe.
(b) L
ANDDESCRIPTION.—The land referred to in subsection
(a)(1) is the approximately 721.12 acres of land located in San
Diego County, California, generally depicted as ‘‘Gregory Canyon
Property Boundary’’ on the map titled ‘‘Pala Gregory Canyon Prop-
erty Boundary and Parcels’’.
(c) R
ULES OFCONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act shall—
(1) enlarge, impair, or otherwise affect any right or claim
of the Tribe to any land or interest in land that is in existence
before the date of the enactment of this Act;
(2) affect any water right of the Tribe in existence before
the date of the enactment of this Act; or
(3) terminate or limit any access in any way to any right-
of-way or right-of-use issued, granted, or permitted before the
date of the enactment of this Act.
(d) R
ESTRICTEDUSE OFTRANSFERRED LANDS.—The Tribe may
not conduct, on the land taken into trust for the Tribe pursuant
to this Act, gaming activities—
(1) as a matter of claimed inherent authority; or H. R. 423—2
(2) under any Federal law, including the Indian Gaming
Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.) and regulations promul-
gated by the Secretary or the National Indian Gaming Commis-
sion under that Act.
(e) D
EFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section:
(1) S
ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary
of the Interior.
(2) T
RIBE.—The term ‘‘Tribe’’ means the Pala Band of Mis-
sion Indians.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.