Red River Gradient Boundary Survey Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 41 To survey the gradient boundary along the Red River in the States of Oklahoma and Texas, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 8, 2019 Mr. CORNYN (for himself and Mr. CRUZ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To survey the gradient boundary along the Red River in the States of Oklahoma and Texas, 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 ‘‘Red River Gradient 4 Boundary Survey Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) AFFECTED AREA.— 8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘affected 9 area’’ means land along the approximately 116- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:56 Jan 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S41.IS S41 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 41 IS mile stretch of the Red River, from its con- 1 fluence with the north fork of the Red River on 2 the West to the 98th meridian on the east. 3 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘affected 4 area’’ does not include the portion of the Red 5 River within the boundary depicted on the sur- 6 vey prepared by the Bureau of Land Manage- 7 ment entitled ‘‘Township 5 South, Range 14 8 West, of the Indian Meridian, Oklahoma, De- 9 pendent Resurvey and Survey’’ and dated Feb- 10 ruary 28, 2006. 11 (2) GRADIENT BOUNDARY SURVEY METHOD.— 12 The term ‘‘gradient boundary survey method’’ 13 means the measurement technique used to locate the 14 South Bank boundary line in accordance with the 15 methodology established in Oklahoma v. Texas, 261 16 U.S. 340 (1923) (recognizing that the boundary line 17 along the Red River is subject to change due to ero- 18 sion and accretion). 19 (3) LANDOWNER.—The term ‘‘landowner’’ 20 means any individual, group, association, corpora- 21 tion, federally recognized Indian tribe or member of 22 such an Indian tribe, or other private or govern- 23 mental legal entity that owns an interest in land in 24 the affected area. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:56 Jan 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S41.IS S41 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 41 IS (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 1 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di- 2 rector of the Bureau of Land Management. 3 (5) SOUTH BANK.—The term ‘‘South Bank’’ 4 means the water-washed and relatively permanent 5 elevation or acclivity (commonly known as a ‘‘cut 6 bank’’) along the southerly or right side of the Red 7 River that— 8 (A) separates the bed of that river from 9 the adjacent upland, whether valley or hill; and 10 (B) usually serves, as specified in the fifth 11 paragraph of Oklahoma v. Texas, 261 U.S. 340 12 (1923)— 13 (i) to confine the waters within the 14 bed; and 15 (ii) to preserve the course of the river. 16 (6) SOUTH BANK BOUNDARY LINE.—The term 17 ‘‘South Bank boundary line’’ means the boundary, 18 with respect to title and ownership, between the 19 States of Oklahoma and Texas identified through 20 the gradient boundary survey method that does not 21 impact or alter the permanent political boundary line 22 between the States along the Red River, as outlined 23 under article II, section B of the Red River Bound- 24 ary Compact enacted by the States and consented to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:56 Jan 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S41.IS S41 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 41 IS by Congress pursuant to Public Law 106–288 (114 1 Stat. 919). 2 SEC. 3. SURVEY OF SOUTH BANK BOUNDARY LINE. 3 (a) SURVEY REQUIRED.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall commis- 5 sion a survey to identify the South Bank boundary 6 line in the affected area. 7 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The survey shall— 8 (A) adhere to the gradient boundary sur- 9 vey method; 10 (B) span the length of the affected area; 11 (C) be conducted by 1 or more independent 12 third-party surveyors that are— 13 (i) licensed and qualified to conduct 14 official gradient boundary surveys; and 15 (ii) selected by the Secretary, in con- 16 sultation with— 17 (I) the Texas General Land Of- 18 fice; 19 (II) the Oklahoma Commis- 20 sioners of the Land Office, in con- 21 sultation with the attorney general of 22 the State of Oklahoma; and 23 (III) each affected federally rec- 24 ognized Indian Tribe; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:56 Jan 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S41.IS S41 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 41 IS (D) subject to the availability of appropria- 1 tions, be completed not later than 2 years after 2 the date of enactment of this Act. 3 (b) APPROVAL OF THE BOUNDARY SURVEY.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 5 the date on which the survey or a portion of the sur- 6 vey under subsection (a)(1) is completed, the Sec- 7 retary shall submit the survey for approval to— 8 (A) the Texas General Land Office; 9 (B) the Oklahoma Commissioners of the 10 Land Office, in consultation with the attorney 11 general of the State of Oklahoma; and 12 (C) each affected federally recognized In- 13 dian Tribe. 14 (2) TIMING OF APPROVAL.—Not later than 60 15 days after the date on which each of the Texas Gen- 16 eral Land Office, the Oklahoma Commissioners of 17 the Land Office, in consultation with the attorney 18 general of the State of Oklahoma, and each affected 19 federally recognized Indian Tribe notify the Sec- 20 retary of the approval of the boundary survey or a 21 portion of the survey by the applicable office or fed- 22 erally recognized Indian Tribe, the Secretary shall 23 determine whether to approve the survey or portion 24 of the survey, subject to paragraph (4). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:56 Jan 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S41.IS S41 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 41 IS (3) SUBMISSION OF PORTIONS OF SURVEY FOR 1 APPROVAL.—As portions of the survey are com- 2 pleted, the Secretary may submit the completed por- 3 tions of the survey for approval under paragraph 4 (1). 5 (4) WRITTEN APPROVAL.—The Secretary shall 6 only approve the survey, or a portion of the survey, 7 that has the written approval of each of— 8 (A) the Texas General Land Office; 9 (B) the Oklahoma Commissioners of the 10 Land Office, in consultation with the attorney 11 general of the State of Oklahoma; and 12 (C) each affected federally recognized In- 13 dian Tribe. 14 SEC. 4. SURVEY OF INDIVIDUAL PARCELS. 15 Surveys of individual parcels in the affected area 16 shall be conducted in accordance with the boundary survey 17 approved under section 3(b). 18 SEC. 5. NOTICE AND AVAILABILITY OF SURVEY. 19 Not later than 60 days after the date on which the 20 boundary survey is approved under section 3(b), the Sec- 21 retary shall— 22 (1) publish notice of the approval of the survey 23 in— 24 (A) the Federal Register; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:56 Jan 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S41.IS S41 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 41 IS (B) 1 or more local newspapers; and 1 (2) on request, furnish to any landowner a copy 2 of— 3 (A) the survey; and 4 (B) any field notes relating to— 5 (i) the individual parcel of the land- 6 owner; or 7 (ii) any individual parcel adjacent to 8 the individual parcel of the landowner. 9 SEC. 6. EFFECT OF ACT. 10 Nothing in this Act— 11 (1) modifies any interest of the State of Okla- 12 homa or Texas, or the sovereignty, property, or trust 13 rights of any federally recognized Indian Tribe, re- 14 lating to land located north of the South Bank 15 boundary line, as established by the survey; 16 (2) modifies any land patented under the Act of 17 December 22, 1928 (45 Stat. 1069, chapter 47; 43 18 U.S.C. 1068) (commonly known as the ‘‘Color of 19 Title Act’’), before the date of enactment of this Act; 20 (3) modifies or supersedes the Red River 21 Boundary Compact enacted by the States of Okla- 22 homa and Texas and consented to by Congress pur- 23 suant to Public Law 106–288 (114 Stat. 919); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:56 Jan 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S41.IS S41 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 41 IS (4) creates or reinstates any Indian reservation 1 or any portion of such a reservation; 2 (5) modifies any interest or any property or 3 trust rights of any individual Indian allottee; or 4 (6) alters any valid right of the State of Okla- 5 homa or the Kiowa, Comanche, or Apache Indian 6 tribes to the mineral interest trust fund established 7 under the Act of June 12, 1926 (44 Stat. 740, chap- 8 ter 572). 9 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 10 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec- 11 retary to carry out this Act $1,000,000. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:56 Jan 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S41.IS S41 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS