H.R. 1461 (112th): Mescalero Apache Tribe Leasing Authorization Act

Introduced:
Apr 08, 2011 (112th Congress, 2011–2013)
Sponsor:
Rep. Stevan “Steve” Pearce [R-NM2]
Status:
Died (Passed House)
See Instead:
This bill was re-introduced as H.R. 1377 on Mar 21, 2013. See H.R. 1377 for current action on this subject.

The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. H.R. stands for House of Representatives bill.

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Status

This bill was introduced in a previous session of Congress and was passed by the House on September 19, 2012 but was never passed by the Senate.

Progress
Introduced Apr 08, 2011
Referred to Committee Apr 08, 2011
Reported by Committee Oct 05, 2011
Passed House Sep 19, 2012
Cosponsors
2 cosponsors (2D) (show)
Committees

House Natural Resources

The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.

Full Title

To authorize the Mescalero Apache Tribe to lease adjudicated water rights.

Summary

No summaries available.

Text

Read Bill Text »

Last updated Sep 20, 2012.
4 pages

Primary Source

View on THOMAS (The Library of Congress)

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Citation

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GovTrack’s Bill Summary

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Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

9/19/2012. Authorizes the Mescalero Apache Tribe to lease or transfer water rights that were adjudicated to the Tribe in State v. Lewis, provided the lease or transfer is for no more than 99 years and complies with the laws of New Mexico. Makes this Act inapplicable to the lease or transfer of the adjudicated water rights for use on the Tribe's reservation.

House Republican Conference Summary

The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.

This summary can be found at http://www.gop.gov/bill/112/2/hr1461.

Background

According to House Report 112-307, after a long series of court cases spanning nearly twenty years the Mescalero Apache Tribe was granted “consumptive water right of 2,322.4 acre feet per year” in 1993.  Under current federal law, however, the Tribe cannot lease that right without authorization from Congress.  According to testimony given by Rep. Pearce, the water rights are not currently being used by the Tribe.  Given the current drought, allowing the Tribe to lease their water rights will help provide local communities with much needed water and provide a useful source of revenue to the reservation.

Summary

H.R. 1461 would authorize the Mescalero Apache Tribe in New Mexico to lease water rights that were adjudicated to them in 1993. The bill limits any lease to a maximum term of 99 years (including renewals), provided the lease conforms to state law and does not allow the Tribe to alienate their water rights.

Cost

According to CBO, H.R. 1461 would have no impact on administrative costs or revenues.  Any revenues gained would be paid directly to the Mescalero Apache Tribe.

House Democratic Caucus Summary

The House Democratic Caucus does not provide summaries of bills.

So, yes, we display the House Republican Conference’s summaries when available even if we do not have a Democratic summary available. That’s because we feel it is better to give you as much information as possible, even if we cannot provide every viewpoint.

We’ll be looking for a source of summaries from the other side in the meanwhile.

The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:

United States Code

The United States Code is the compilation of permanent laws enacted by Congress. Temporary and other non-permanent laws do not appear in the United States Code. (About half of the United States Code is the law itself, called positive law. The other half is merely a compilation of the laws but has no legal significance.)