II
118THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 277
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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
FEBRUARY7, 2023
Mr. P
ADILLAintroduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
to the Committee on Indian Affairs
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 INTO TRUST FOR THE PALA 6
BAND OF MISSION INDIANS. 7
(a) D
EFINITIONS.—In this section: 8
(1) S
ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 9
the Secretary of the Interior. 10
VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:31 Feb 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S277.IS S277
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2
•S 277 IS
(2) TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Tribe’’ means the Pala 1
Band of Mission Indians. 2
(b) T
RANSFER ANDADMINISTRATION.— 3
(1) T
RANSFER OF LAND INTO TRUST .—If, not 4
later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 5
this Act, the Tribe transfers title to the land re-6
ferred to in subsection (c) to the United States, the 7
Secretary, not later than 180 days after the date of 8
that transfer, shall take that land into trust for the 9
benefit of the Tribe. 10
(2) A
DMINISTRATION.—The land taken into 11
trust under paragraph (1) shall be part of the Pala 12
Indian Reservation and administered in accordance 13
with the laws and regulations generally applicable to 14
land held in trust by the United States for an Indian 15
Tribe. 16
(c) L
ANDDESCRIPTION.—The land referred to in 17
subsection (b)(1) is the approximately 721.12 acres of 18
land located in San Diego County, California, generally 19
depicted as ‘‘Gregory Canyon Property Boundary’’ on the 20
map entitled ‘‘Pala Gregory Canyon Property Boundary 21
and Parcels’’ and dated May 12, 2020. 22
(d) R
ULES OFCONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-23
tion— 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:31 Feb 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S277.IS S277
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3
•S 277 IS
(1) enlarges, impairs, or otherwise affects any 1
right or claim of the Tribe to any land or interest 2
in land that is in existence before the date of enact-3
ment of this Act; 4
(2) affects any water right of the Tribe in exist-5
ence before the date of enactment of this Act; or 6
(3) terminates or limits any access in any way 7
to any right-of-way or right-of-use issued, granted, 8
or permitted before the date of enactment of this 9
Act. 10
(e) R
ESTRICTEDUSE OFTRANSFERREDLANDS.— 11
The Tribe may not conduct, on the land taken into trust 12
under subsection (b)(1), gaming activities— 13
(1) as a matter of claimed inherent authority; 14
or 15
(2) under any Federal law, including the Indian 16
Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.) 17
and regulations promulgated by the Secretary or the 18
National Indian Gaming Commission under that 19
Act. 20
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:31 Feb 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S277.IS S277
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS