Cocopah Lands Act

Cocopah Lands Act - Requires the Secretary of the Interior to take certain land in Yuma County, Arizona, in trust for the benefit of the Tribe if the Cocopah Tribe of Arizona transfers title to such land to the Secretary. Prohibits gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5000 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5000

 To direct the Secretary of the Interior to take lands in Yuma County, 
Arizona, into trust as part of the reservation of the Cocopah Tribe of 
                    Arizona, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 21, 2002

  Mr. Pastor introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Secretary of the Interior to take lands in Yuma County, 
Arizona, into trust as part of the reservation of the Cocopah Tribe of 
                    Arizona, 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 ``Cocopah Lands Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The reservation of the Cocopah Tribe of Arizona is 
        located in Yuma County, Arizona.
            (2) That reservation was created by an Executive order 
        signed by President Woodrow Wilson in 1917.
            (3) That reservation is made up of three noncontiguous 
        tracts of land.
            (4) The Tribe inhabits that reservation.
            (5) The Tribe is in need of additional lands to provide 
        services such as adequate housing, infrastructure, water, and 
        services to its tribal members.
            (6) The current land base of the reservation is 
        insufficient to provide such needs.
            (7) The Tribe acquired six parcels of land contiguous to 
        its present reservation lands in 1986, 1993, and 1998, and 
        these parcels are currently classified as ``Indian Lands'' 
        according to Federal law.
            (8) The acquired parcels are not commercially viable for 
        gaming and shall not be taken into trust for gaming purposes.
            (9) The best means of solving the Tribe's land needs to 
        provide basic necessities to its tribal members is to require 
        the Secretary of the Interior to take lands in Yuma County, 
        Arizona, that are acquired by the Tribe into trust for the 
        Tribe subject to the provisions of this Act.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purposes of this Act, the following definitions apply:
            (1) Tribe.--The term ``Tribe'' means the Cocopah Tribe of 
        Arizona.
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.

SEC. 4. LANDS TO BE TAKEN INTO TRUST.

    (a) Lands To Be Taken Into Trust.--If the Tribe transfers title to 
the land described in subsection (b) to the Secretary, the Secretary 
shall take that land into trust for the benefit of the Tribe, if at the 
time of such transfer there are no adverse legal claims to such land, 
including outstanding liens, mortgages, or taxes owed.
    (b) Land Described.--The land referred to in subsection (a) is 
described as follows:

                                parcel 1

    Lot 4 and the southwest quarter of the northwest quarter of section 
1, Township 10 South, Range 25 West of the Gila and Salt River Base and 
Meridian, Yuma County, Arizona. Except that portion of the southwest 
quarter of the northwest quarter of said section 1, Township 10 South, 
Range 25 West, lying Southeasterly of the North Right-of-Way line of 
the United States Bureau of Reclamation Levee.

                                parcel 2

    Lot 1 and the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section 
2, Township 10 South, Range 25 West of the Gila and Salt River Base and 
Meridian, Yuma County, Arizona.

                                parcel 3

    That part of the East half of the southwest quarter lying South of 
the East Main Bureau of Reclamation Canal Right-of-Way in section 30, 
Township 9 South, Range 23 West of the Gila and Salt River Base and 
Meridian, Yuma County, Arizona.

                                parcel 4

    A parcel of approximately 0.8866 acres consisting of a portion of 
the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 30, Township 
9 South, Range 23 West of the Gila and Salt River Meridian, Yuma 
County, Arizona, lying easterly of the United States Highway 95 right-
of-way and northerly of the Arizona Department of Transportation County 
15th Street right-of-way.

                                parcel 5

    Lot 21, 24, and 25, section 29, lots 16 and 17, section 30; and 
N\1/2\SW\1/4\SE\1/4\ of section 30, T.16S.; R22E; SBM, Yuma County, 
Arizona.

                                parcel 6

    POR NW4NE4, section 31, 16S 22E lying North of United States Levee 
Exc N 220 feet subject to easement on W 40 feet. APN# 111-27-0022B
    (c) Lands To Be Made Part of the Reservation.--Land taken into 
trust pursuant to subsection (a) shall be considered to be part of the 
Tribe's initial reservation.
    (d) Service Area.--For the purposes of the delivery of Federal 
services to enrolled members of the Tribe, the Tribe's service area 
shall be Yuma County, Arizona.
    (e) Gaming Prohibited.--Land taken into trust for the benefit of 
the Tribe under this Act shall not be used for gaming under the Indian 
Gaming Regulatory Act.

SEC. 5. REGULATIONS.

    The Secretary may promulgate such regulations as may be necessary 
to carry out this Act.
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