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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 941j. Establishment of Expanded Reservation
(a) Existing Reservation
The Secretary is authorized to receive from the State, by such
transfer document as the Secretary and the State shall approve, all
rights, title, and interests of the State in and to the Existing
Reservation to be held by the United States as trustee for the
Tribe, and, effective on the date of such transfer, the obligation
of the State as trustee for the Tribe with respect to such land
shall cease.
(b) Expanded Reservation
(1) The Existing Reservation shall be expanded in the manner
prescribed by the Settlement Agreement.
(2) Within 180 days following October 27, 1993, the Secretary,
after consulting with the Tribe, shall ascertain the boundaries and
area of the existing reservation.(!1) In addition, the Secretary,
after consulting with the Tribe, shall engage a professional land
planning firm as provided in the Settlement Agreement. The
Secretary shall bear the cost of all services rendered pursuant to
this section.
(3) The Tribe may identify, purchase and request that the
Secretary place into reservation status, tracts of lands in the
manner prescribed by the Settlement Agreement. The Tribe may not
request that any land be placed in reservation status, unless those
lands were acquired by the Tribe and qualify for reservation status
in full compliance with the Settlement Agreement, including section
14 thereof.
(4) The Secretary shall bear the cost of all title examinations,
preliminary subsurface soil investigations, and level one
environmental audits to be performed on each parcel contemplated
for purchase by the Tribe or the Secretary for the Expanded
Reservation, and shall report the results to the Tribe. The
Secretary's or the Tribe's payment of any option fee and the
purchase price may be drawn from the Catawba Land Acquisition Trust
Fund.
(5) The total area of the Expanded Reservation shall be limited
to 3,000 acres, including the Existing Reservation, but the Tribe
may exclude from this limit up to 600 acres of additional land
under the conditions set forth in the Settlement Agreement. The
Tribe may seek to have the permissible area of the Expanded
Reservation enlarged by an additional 600 acres as set forth in the
Settlement Agreement.
(6) All lands acquired for the Expanded Reservation may be held
in trust together with the Existing Reservation which the State is
to convey to the United States.
(7) Nothing in this subchapter shall prohibit the Secretary from
providing technical and financial assistance to the Tribe to
fulfill the purposes of this section.
(c) Expansion zones
(1) Subject to the conditions, criteria, and procedures set forth
in the Settlement Agreement, the Tribe shall endeavor at the outset
to acquire contiguous tracts for the Expanded Reservation in the
"Catawba Reservation Primary Expansion Zone", as defined in the
Settlement Agreement.
(2) Subject to the conditions, criteria, and procedures set forth
in the Settlement Agreement, the Tribe may elect to purchase
contiguous tracts in an alternative area, the "Catawba Reservation
Secondary Expansion Zone", as defined in the Settlement Agreement.
(3) The Tribe may propose different or additional expansion zones
subject to the authorizations required in the Settlement Agreement
and the State Act.
(d) Non-contiguous tracts
The Tribe, in consultation with the Secretary, shall take such
actions as are reasonable to expand the Existing Reservation by
assembling a composite tract of contiguous parcels that border and
surround the Existing Reservation. Before requesting that any
non-contiguous tract be placed in Reservation status, the Tribe
shall comply with section 14 of the Settlement Agreement. Upon the
approval of the Tribe's application under and in accordance with
section 14 of the Settlement Agreement, the Secretary, in
consultation with the Tribe, may proceed to place non-contiguous
tracts in Reservation status. No purchases of non-contiguous tracts
shall be made for the Reservation except as set forth in the
Settlement Agreement and the State Act.
(e) Voluntary land purchases
(1) The power of eminent domain shall not be used by the
Secretary or any governmental authority in acquiring parcels of
land for the benefit of the Tribe, whether or not the parcels are
to be part of the Reservation. All such purchases shall be made
only from willing sellers by voluntary conveyances subject to the
terms of the Settlement Agreement.
(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section and the
provisions of sections 3113 and 3114(a) to (d) of title 40, the
Secretary or the Tribe may acquire a fractional interest in land
otherwise qualifying under section 14 of the Settlement Agreement
for treatment as Reservation land for the benefit of the Tribe from
the ostensible owner of the land if the Secretary or the Tribe and
the ostensible owner have agreed upon the identity of the land to
be sold and upon the purchase price and other terms of sale. If the
ostensible owner agrees to the sale, the Secretary may use
condemnation proceedings to perfect or clear title and to acquire
any interests of putative co-tenants whose address is unknown or
the interests of unknown or unborn heirs or persons subject to
mental disability.
(f) Terms and conditions of acquisition
All properties acquired by the Tribe shall be acquired subject to
the terms and conditions set forth in the Settlement Agreement. The
Tribe and the Secretary, acting on behalf of the Tribe and with its
consent, are also authorized to acquire Reservation and
non-Reservation lands using the methods of financing described in
the Settlement Agreement.
(g) Authority to erect permanent improvements on Existing and
Expanded Reservation land and non-Reservation land held in trust
Notwithstanding any other provision of law or regulation, the
Attorney General of the United States shall approve any deed or
other instrument which conveys to the United States lands purchased
pursuant to the provisions of this section and the Settlement
Agreement. The Secretary or the Tribe may erect permanent
improvements of a substantial value, or any other improvements
authorized by law on such land after such land is conveyed to the
United States.
(h) Easements over Reservation
(1) The acquisition of lands for the Expanded Reservation shall
not extinguish any easements or rights-of-way then encumbering such
lands unless the Secretary or the Tribe enters into a written
agreement with the owners terminating such easements or
rights-of-way.
(2)(A) The Tribe, with the approval of the Secretary, shall have
the power to grant or convey easements and rights-of-way, in a
manner consistent with the Settlement Agreement.
(B) Unless the Tribe and the State agree upon a valuation formula
for pricing easements over the Reservation, the Secretary shall be
subject to proceedings for condemnation and eminent domain to
acquire easements and rights of way for public purposes through the
Reservation under the laws of the State in circumstances where no
other reasonable access is available.
(C) With the approval of the Tribe, the Secretary may grant
easements or rights-of-way over the Reservation for private
purposes, and implied easements of necessity shall apply to all
lands acquired by the Tribe, unless expressly excluded by the
parties.
(i) Jurisdictional status
Only land made part of the Reservation shall be governed by the
special jurisdictional provisions set forth in the Settlement
Agreement and the State Act.
(j) Sale and transfer of Reservation lands
With the approval of the Secretary, the Tribe may sell, exchange,
or lease lands within the Reservation, and sell timber or other
natural resources on the Reservation under circumstances and in the
manner prescribed by the Settlement Agreement and the State Act.
(k) Time limit on acquisitions
All acquisitions of contiguous land to expand the Reservation or
of non-contiguous lands to be placed in Reservation status shall be
completed or under contract of purchase within 10 years from the
date the last payment is made into the Land Acquisition Trust;
except that for a period of 20 years after the date the last
payment is made into the Catawba Land Acquisition Trust Fund, the
Tribe may, subject to the limitation on the total size of the
Reservation, continue to add parcels to up to two Reservation areas
so long as the parcels acquired are contiguous to one of those two
Reservation areas.
(l) Leases of Reservation lands
The provisions of section 415 of this title shall not apply to
the Tribe and its Reservation. The Tribe is authorized to lease its
Reservation lands for terms up to but not exceeding 99 years, with
or without the approval of the Secretary. With regard to any lease
of Reservation lands not approved by the Secretary, the Secretary
shall be exculpated by the Tribe from any liability arising out of
any loss incurred by the Tribe as a result of the unapproved lease.
(m) Non-applicability of BIA land acquisition regulations
The general land acquisition regulations of the Bureau of Indian
Affairs, contained in part 151 of title 25, Code of Federal
Regulations, shall not apply to the acquisition of lands authorized
by this section.
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