Unrecognized Southeast Alaska Native Communities Recognition and Compensation Act

II Calendar No. 500 118TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 1889 [Report No. 118–221] To provide for the recognition of certain Alaska Native communities and the settlement of certain claims under the Alaska Native Claims Settle- ment Act, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 8, 2023 Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself and Mr. SULLIVAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Nat- ural Resources SEPTEMBER 10, 2024 Reported by Mr. MANCHIN, with an amendment [Omit the part struck through] A BILL To provide for the recognition of certain Alaska Native com- munities and the settlement of certain claims under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, and for other pur- poses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:51 Sep 11, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1889.RS S1889 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1889 RS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Unrecognized South- 2 east Alaska Native Communities Recognition and Com- 3 pensation Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 5 The purpose of this Act is to redress the omission 6 of the southeastern Alaska communities of Haines, Ketch- 7 ikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell from eligibility 8 under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 9 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) by authorizing the Alaska Natives 10 enrolled in the communities— 11 (1) to form Urban Corporations for the commu- 12 nities of Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, 13 and Wrangell under the Alaska Native Claims Set- 14 tlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.); and 15 (2) to receive certain settlement land pursuant 16 to that Act. 17 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF ADDITIONAL NATIVE COR- 18 PORATIONS. 19 Section 16 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement 20 Act (43 U.S.C. 1615) is amended by adding at the end 21 the following: 22 ‘‘(e) NATIVE VILLAGES OF HAINES, KETCHIKAN, PE- 23 TERSBURG, TENAKEE, AND WRANGELL, ALASKA.— 24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Native residents of 25 each of the Native Villages of Haines, Ketchikan, 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:51 Sep 11, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1889.RS S1889 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1889 RS Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell, Alaska, may or- 1 ganize as Urban Corporations. 2 ‘‘(2) EFFECT ON ENTITLEMENT TO LAND.— 3 Nothing in this subsection affects any entitlement to 4 land of any Native Corporation established before 5 the date of enactment of this subsection pursuant to 6 this Act or any other provision of law.’’. 7 SEC. 4. SHAREHOLDER ELIGIBILITY. 8 Section 8 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act 9 (43 U.S.C. 1607) is amended by adding at the end the 10 following: 11 ‘‘(d) NATIVE VILLAGES OF HAINES, KETCHIKAN, 12 PETERSBURG, TENAKEE, AND WRANGELL.— 13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall enroll 14 to each of the Urban Corporations for Haines, 15 Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, or Wrangell those 16 individual Natives who enrolled under this Act to the 17 Native Villages of Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, 18 Tenakee, or Wrangell, respectively. 19 ‘‘(2) NUMBER OF SHARES.—Each Native who 20 is enrolled to an Urban Corporation for Haines, 21 Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, or Wrangell pursu- 22 ant to paragraph (1) and who was enrolled as a 23 shareholder of the Regional Corporation for South- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:51 Sep 11, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1889.RS S1889 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1889 RS east Alaska shall receive 100 shares of Settlement 1 Common Stock in the respective Urban Corporation. 2 ‘‘(3) NATIVES RECEIVING SHARES THROUGH IN- 3 HERITANCE.—If a Native received shares of stock in 4 the Regional Corporation for Southeast Alaska 5 through inheritance from a decedent Native who 6 originally enrolled to the Native Village of Haines, 7 Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, or Wrangell and 8 the decedent Native was not a shareholder in a Vil- 9 lage Corporation or Urban Corporation, the Native 10 shall receive the identical number of shares of Settle- 11 ment Common Stock in the Urban Corporation for 12 Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, or 13 Wrangell as the number of shares inherited by that 14 Native from the decedent Native who would have 15 been eligible to be enrolled to the respective Urban 16 Corporation. 17 ‘‘(4) EFFECT ON ENTITLEMENT TO LAND.— 18 Nothing in this subsection affects any previous or 19 future allocation of acreage to any Regional Cor- 20 poration pursuant to section 12(b) or 14(h)(8).’’. 21 SEC. 5. DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS. 22 Section 7 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act 23 (43 U.S.C. 1606) is amended— 24 (1) in subsection (j)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:51 Sep 11, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1889.RS S1889 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1889 RS (A) in the third sentence, by striking ‘‘In 1 the case’’ and inserting the following: 2 ‘‘(3) THIRTEENTH REGIONAL CORPORATION.— 3 In the case’’; 4 (B) in the second sentence, by striking 5 ‘‘Not less’’ and inserting the following: 6 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM ALLOCATION.—Not less’’; 7 (C) by striking ‘‘(j) During’’ and inserting 8 the following: 9 ‘‘(j) DISTRIBUTION OF CORPORATE FUNDS AND 10 OTHER NET INCOME.— 11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—During’’; and 12 (D) by adding at the end the following: 13 ‘‘(4) NATIVE VILLAGES OF HAINES, KETCH- 14 IKAN, PETERSBURG, TENAKEE, AND WRANGELL.— 15 Native members of the Native Villages of Haines, 16 Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell who 17 become shareholders in an Urban Corporation for 18 such a Native Village shall continue to be eligible to 19 receive distributions under this subsection as at- 20 large shareholders of the Regional Corporation for 21 Southeast Alaska.’’; and 22 (2) by adding at the end the following: 23 ‘‘(s) EFFECT OF AMENDATORY ACT.—The Unrecog- 24 nized Southeast Alaska Native Communities Recognition 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:51 Sep 11, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1889.RS S1889 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1889 RS and Compensation Act and the amendments made by that 1 Act shall not affect— 2 ‘‘(1) the ratio for determination of revenue dis- 3 tribution among Native Corporations under this sec- 4 tion; or 5 ‘‘(2) the settlement agreement among Regional 6 Corporations or Village Corporations or other provi- 7 sions of subsection (i) or (j).’’. 8 SEC. 6. COMPENSATION. 9 The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 10 1601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 11 lowing: 12 ‘‘SEC. 43. URBAN CORPORATIONS FOR HAINES, KETCHIKAN, 13 PETERSBURG, TENAKEE, AND WRANGELL. 14 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF URBAN CORPORATION.—In this 15 section, the term ‘Urban Corporation’ means each of the 16 Urban Corporations for Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, 17 Tenakee, and Wrangell. 18 ‘‘(b) CONVEYANCES OF LAND.— 19 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION.— 20 ‘‘(A) CONVEYANCES TO URBAN CORPORA- 21 TIONS.—Subject to valid existing rights and 22 paragraphs (3), (4), (5), and (6), the Secretary 23 shall convey— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:51 Sep 11, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1889.RS S1889 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1889 RS ‘‘(i) to the Urban Corporation for 1 Haines, the surface estate in 12 parcels of 2 Federal land comprising approximately 3 23,040 acres, as generally depicted on the 4 maps entitled ‘Haines Selections’, num- 5 bered 1 and 2, and dated April 19, 2023; 6 ‘‘(ii) to the Urban Corporation for 7 Ketchikan, the surface estate in 8 parcels 8 of Federal land comprising approximately 9 23,040 acres, as generally depicted on the 10 maps entitled ‘Ketchikan Selections’, num- 11 bered 1 through 4, and dated April 19, 12 2023; 13 ‘‘(iii) to the Urban Corporation for 14 Petersburg, the surface estate in 12 par- 15 cels of Federal land comprising approxi- 16 mately 23,040 acres, as generally depicted 17 on the maps entitled ‘Petersburg Selec- 18 tions’, numbered 1 through 3, and dated 19 April 19, 2023; 20 ‘‘(iv) to the Urban Corporation for 21 Tenakee, the surface estate in 15 parcels 22 of Federal land comprising approximately 23 23,040 acres, as generally depicted on the 24 maps entitled ‘Tenakee Selections’, num- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:51 Sep 11, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1889.RS S1889 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1889 RS bered 1 through 3, and dated April 19, 1 2023; and 2 ‘‘(v) to the Urban Corporation for 3 Wrangell, the surface estate in 13 parcels 4 of Federal land comprising approximately 5 23,040 acres, as generally depicted on the 6 maps entitled ‘Wrangell Selections’, num- 7 bered 1 through 5, and dated April 19, 8 2023. 9 ‘‘(B) CONVEYANCES TO REGIONAL COR- 10 PORATION FOR SOUTHEAST ALASKA.—Subject 11 to valid existing rights, on the applicable date 12 on which the surface estate in land is conveyed 13 to an Urban Corporation under subparagraph 14 (A), the Secretary shall convey to the Regional 15 Corporation for Southeast Alaska the sub- 16 surface estate for that land. 17 ‘‘(C) CONGRESSIONAL INTENT.— 18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 19 (ii), it is the intent of Congress that the 20 Secretary complete the interim conveyance 21 of the surface estate in land to an Urban 22 Corporation under subparagraph (A) not 23 later than the date that is 2 years after 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:51 Sep 11, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1889.RS S1889 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1889 RS the applicable date of incorporation of the 1 Urban Corporation under section 16(e)(1). 2 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—As the Secretary 3 determines to be necessary, the Secretary 4 may extend the 2-year deadline established 5 by clause (i) by not more than 1 year for 6 any individual parcel of land to allow for 7 the conclusion of any pending appeal of a 8 public easement decision for the applicable 9 parcel pursuant to section 17(b), subject to 10 the requirement that the final conveyance 11 of the surface estate with respect to the 12 applicable parcel shall be completed as 13 soon as practicable after the date on which 14 the appeal is concluded. 15 ‘‘(D) FINALIZATION OF ENTITLEMENT.— 16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The conveyances 17 under subparagraph (A) shall be consid- 18 ered to be the full and final satisfaction of 19 the entitlement of the southeastern Alaska 20 communities of Haines, Ketchikan, Peters- 21 burg, Tenakee, and Wrangell under this 22 Act, notwithstanding whether the surveyed 23 acreage of the parcels of land described in 24 clauses (i) through (v) of that subpara- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:51 Sep 11, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1889.RS S1889 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1889 RS graph is less than or more than 23,040 1 acres in the case of each Urban Corpora- 2 tion, subject to the requirement that the 3 surveyed acreage shall be not less than 4 23,020 acres and not more than 23,060 5 acres. 6 ‘‘(ii) ADJUSTMENTS.—If the total sur- 7 veyed acreage of land conveyed to an 8 Urban Corporation under subparagraph 9 (A) is less than 23,020 acres or more than 10 23,060 acres, the Secretary, the Secretary 11 of Agriculture, and the Urban Corporation 12 shall negotiate in good faith to make a mu- 13 tually agreeable adjustment to the parcels 14 of Federal land described in clauses (i) 15 through (v) of subparagraph (A) to ensure 16 that not less than and not more than 17 23,040 acres of land is conveyed to the 18 Urban Corporation. 19 ‘‘(2) WITHDRAWAL.— 20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to valid exist- 21 ing rights, the Federal land described in para- 22 graph (1) is withdrawn from all forms of— 23 ‘‘(i) entry, appropriation, or disposal 24 under the public land laws; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:51 Sep 11, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1889.RS S1889 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1889 RS ‘‘(ii) location, entry, and patent under 1 the mining laws; and 2 ‘‘(iii) disposition under all laws per- 3 taining to mineral and geothermal leasing 4 or mineral materials. 5 ‘‘(B) TERMINATION.—The withdrawal 6 under subparagraph (A) shall remain in effect 7 until the date on which the Federal land is con- 8 veyed under paragraph (1). 9 ‘‘(3) TREATMENT OF LAND CONVEYED.—Ex- 10 cept as otherwise provided in this section, any land 11 conveyed to an Urban Corporation under paragraph 12 (1)(A) shall be— 13 ‘‘(A) considered to be land conveyed by the 14 Secretary under section 14(h)(3); and 15 ‘‘(B) subject to all laws (including regula- 16 tions) applicable to entitlements under section 17 14(h)(3), including section 907(d) of the Alaska 18 National Interest Lands Conservation Act (43 19 U.S.C. 1636(d)). 20 ‘‘(4) PUBLIC EASEMENTS.— 21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara- 22 graph (C), the conveyance and patents for the 23 land under paragraph (1)(A) shall be subject to 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:51 Sep 11, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1889.RS S1889 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1889 RS the reservation before the conveyance of public 1 easements under section 17(b). 2 ‘‘(B) TERMINATION.—No public easement 3 reserved on land conveyed under paragraph 4 (1)(A) shall be terminated by the Secretary 5 without publication of notice of the proposed 6 termination in the Federal Register. 7 ‘‘(C) RESERVATION OF EASEMENTS.—In 8 the conveyance and patent for any parcel of 9 land under paragraph (1)(A) for which the 10 easement reservation process has not been com- 11 pleted by the date that is 2 years after the ap- 12 plicable date of incorporation of the Urban Cor- 13 poration under section 16(e)(1), or, in the case 14 of an appeal of a public easement under section 15 17(b), by the date that is 3 years after the ap- 16 plicable date of incorporation, the Secretary 17 shall— 18 ‘‘(i) convey the parcel of land; and 19 ‘‘(ii) as part of the conveyance and 20 patent for the parcel of land under clause 21 (i), reserve the right of the Secretary to 22 amend the conveyance and patent to in- 23 clude reservations of public easements 24 under section 17(b) until the date of com- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:51 Sep 11, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1889.RS S1889 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1889 RS pletion of the easement reservation proc- 1 ess. 2 ‘‘(D) STATE OF ALASKA EASEMENTS.— 3 Nothing in this Act modifies, changes, or termi- 4 nates the rights-of-way granted to the State 5 under— 6 ‘‘(i) section 4407 of the SAFETEA– 7 LU (Public Law 109–59; [Text truncated for display. 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