§1522 — Title 43 Public Lands | U.S. Code

Summary

The Secretary must pick the Salt River Pima‑Maricopa and Fort McDowell‑Apache lands, and any allotted lands there, that are needed for building, running, and keeping Orme Dam and Reservoir (or an alternative). The Secretary will offer to pay the fair market value for those lands, including any buildings. The United States will also pay up to $500,000 total to move or replace those improvements. For moving a house, the payment for actual relocation cannot be more than the difference between the house’s fair market value and $8,000. Each community and each affected allottee has six months to accept or reject the offer. If an offer is rejected, the United States may take the land by eminent domain in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona under sections 3113 and 3114(a)–(d) of title 40. Once the offer is accepted in writing or a declaration of taking is filed, the United States gets title and possession. If the Secretary later decides the land is no longer needed, title goes back to the proper community after the government is repaid what it paid. Land or easements acquired will let the former owner keep using or leasing the land for things that do not conflict with the project, under terms the Secretary sets. That right includes removing and selling minerals, and fair market value must account for those rights. The Secretary must also add 2,500 acres of suitable land in specified nearby townships and ranges to the Fort McDowell Reservation; the United States will hold those lands in trust for the community. Each community may, under Secretary‑approved plans and rules, build and run recreation along its part of the reservoir shoreline, including the added land, and the whole reservoir’s recreation must follow a master plan approved by the Secretary. Community members may hunt and fish on or in the reservoir without charge as they may now, but communities may not exclude others from the reservoir except by controlling access through their reservation, nor charge the public except for use of community lands or facilities. All money paid under this part, and any per‑person distributions, are exempt from State and Federal income taxes.

Title 43, §1522

Public Lands — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary shall designate the lands of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, Arizona, and the Fort McDowell-Apache Indian Community, Arizona, or interests therein, and any allotted lands or interests therein within said communities which he determines are necessary for use and occupancy by the United States for the construction, operation, and maintenance of Orme Dam and Reservoir, or alternative. The Secretary shall offer to pay the fair market value of the lands and interests designated, inclusive of improvements. In addition, the Secretary shall offer to pay toward the cost of relocating or replacing such improvements not to exceed $500,000 in the aggregate, and the amount offered for the actual relocation or replacement of a residence shall not exceed the difference between the fair market value of the residence and $8,000. Each community and each affected allottee shall have six months in which to accept or reject the Secretary’s offer. If the Secretary’s offer is rejected, the United States may proceed to acquire the property interests involved through eminent domain proceedings in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona under section 3113 and 3114(a) to (d) of title 40. Upon acceptance in writing of the Secretary’s offer, or upon the filing of a declaration of taking in eminent domain proceedings, title to the lands or interests involved, and the right to possession thereof, shall vest in the United States. Upon a determination by the Secretary that all or any part of such lands or interests are no longer necessary for the purpose for which acquired, title to such lands or interests shall be restored to the appropriate community upon repayment to the Federal Government of the amounts paid by it for such lands.

(b)Title to any land or easement acquired pursuant to this section shall be subject to the right of the former owner to use or lease the land for purposes not inconsistent with the construction, operation, and maintenance of the project, as determined by, and under terms and conditions prescribed by, the Secretary. Such right shall include the right to extract and dispose of minerals. The determination of fair market value under subsection (a) shall reflect the right to extract and dispose of minerals and all other uses permitted by this section.

(c)In view of the fact that a substantial portion of the lands of the Fort McDowell Mohave-Apache Indian Community will be required for Orme Dam and Reservoir, or alternative, the Secretary shall, in addition to the compensation provided for in subsection (a) of this section, designate and add to the Fort McDowell Indian Reservation twenty-five hundred acres of suitable lands in the vicinity of the reservation that are under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior in township 4 north, range 7 east; township 5 north, range 7 east; and township 3 north, range 7 east, Gila and Salt River base meridian, Arizona. Title to lands so added to the reservation shall be held by the United States in trust for the Fort McDowell Mohave-Apache Indian Community.

(d)Each community shall have a right, in accordance with plans approved by the Secretary, to develop and operate recreational facilities along the part of the shoreline of the Orme Reservoir located on or adjacent to its reservation, including land added to the Fort McDowell Reservation as provided in subsection (b) of this section, subject to rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary governing the recreation development of the reservoir. Recreation development of the entire reservoir and federally owned lands under the jurisdiction of the Secretary adjacent thereto shall be in accordance with a master recreation plan approved by the Secretary. The members of each community shall have nonexclusive personal rights to hunt and fish on or in the reservoir without charge to the same extent they are now authorized to hunt and fish, but no community shall have the right to exclude others from the reservoir except by control of access through its reservation or any right to require payment by members of the public except for the use of community lands or facilities.

(e)All funds paid pursuant to this section, and any per capita distribution thereof, shall be exempt from all forms of State and Federal income taxes.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification In subsec. (a), “section 3113 and 3114(a) to (d) of title 40” substituted for “40 U.S.C., section 257 and 258a” on authority of Pub. L. 107–217, § 5(c), Aug. 21, 2002, 116 Stat. 1303, the first section of which enacted Title 40, Public Buildings, Property, and Works.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Inapplicability of Subsection (a) to Fort McDowell Indian Community Pub. L. 101–628, title IV, § 411(e), Nov. 28, 1990, 104 Stat. 4491, provided that: “As of the date the authorizations contained in section 409(b) of this Act become effective [see section 412 of Pub. L. 101–628, 104 Stat. 4491], section 302(a) of the Colorado River Basin Project Act (43 U.S.C. 1522(a)) shall no longer apply to the Community [Fort McDowell Indian Community].” Inapplicability to Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community Pub. L. 100–512, § 11(c), Oct. 20, 1988, 102 Stat. 2558, provided that: “Upon the

Effective Date

of this Act as set forth in section 12 [102 Stat. 2559], section 302 of the Colorado River Basin Project Act (43 U.S.C. 1522) shall no longer apply to the Community [Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community].”

§1522 Orme Dam and Reservoir