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S. 1514 · Senate bill · 119th Congress
This bill administratively transfers approximately 72 acres of specified lands in Washington from the U.S. Forest Service to the Department of the Interior. Interior must take this land into trust for the benefit of the Quinault Indian Nation. Land taken into trust shall be part of the tribe's reservation.
The bill prohibits gaming on the land taken into trust.
The bill requires Interior, for purposes of taking the land into trust, to meet the disclosure requirements for hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants, without otherwise being required to remediate or abate those hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants.
This Act may be cited as the “Quinault Indian Nation Land Transfer Act”.
(a) Land to be taken into trust.—
(1) In general.— Subject to valid existing rights, the approximately 72 acres of land located in the State of Washington and generally depicted as “Allotment 1157” on the map entitled “Quinault Indian Nation Land Transfer Act” and dated February 2, 2024, shall be administratively transferred from the Forest Service to the Department of the Interior and taken into trust for the benefit of the Quinault Indian Nation.
(2) Valid existing rights.— Any valid existing rights, including easements, rights-of-way, permits, utility corridors, access rights, and any other recorded or legally recognized interests in the land taken into trust under paragraph (1), shall remain in effect following the transfer and trust acquisition under that paragraph unless modified, relinquished, or terminated in accordance with applicable Federal law.
(b) Land part of reservation; Administration.— The land taken into trust under subsection (a)(1) shall be—
(1) part of the Quinault Indian Reservation; and
(2) administered by the Secretary of the Interior in accordance with the laws and regulations generally applicable to property held in trust by the United States for an Indian Tribe.
(c) Gaming prohibited.— The land taken into trust under subsection (a)(1) shall not be eligible for gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.).
(d) No impact on treaty rights.— Nothing in this Act affects treaty rights under the Treaty between the United States and the Qui-nai-elt and Quil-leh-ute Indians, done at the Qui-nai-elt River July 1, 1855, and Olympia January 25, 1856 (12 Stat. 971) (commonly known as the “Treaty of Olympia”).
(e) Hazardous materials.— For purposes of the taking of land into trust under subsection (a)(1), the Secretary of the Interior—
(1) shall meet disclosure requirements for hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants under section 120(h) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9620(h)); and
(2) shall not otherwise be required to remediate or abate those hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants.