25 U.S.C. § 1724 : US Code - Section 1724: Maine Indian Claims Settlement and Land Acquisition Funds in the United States Treasury

Search 25 U.S.C. § 1724 : US Code - Section 1724: Maine Indian Claims Settlement and Land Acquisition Funds in the United States Treasury

(a) Establishment of Maine Indian Claims Settlement Fund; amount
There is hereby established in the United States Treasury a fund
to be known as the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Fund in which
$27,000,000 shall be deposited following the appropriation of sums
authorized by section 1733 of this title.
(b) Apportionment of settlement fund; administration; investments;
limitation on distributions; quarterly investment income
payments; expenditures for aged members; cessation of trust
responsibility following Federal payments
(1) One-half of the principal of the settlement fund shall be
held in trust by the Secretary for the benefit of the Passamaquoddy
Tribe, and the other half of the settlement fund shall be held in
trust for the benefit of the Penobscot Nation. Each portion of the
settlement fund shall be administered by the Secretary in
accordance with reasonable terms established by the Passamaquoddy
Tribe or the Penobscot Nation, respectively, and agreed to by the
Secretary: Provided, That the Secretary may not agree to terms
which provide for investment of the settlement fund in a manner not
in accordance with section 162a of this title, unless the
respective tribe or nation first submits a specific waiver of
liability on the part of the United States for any loss which may
result from such an investment: Provided, further, That until such
terms have been agreed upon, the Secretary shall fix the terms for
the administration of the portion of the settlement fund as to
which there is no agreement.
(2) Under no circumstances shall any part of the principal of the
settlement fund be distributed to either the Passamaquoddy Tribe or
the Penobscot Nation, or to any member of either tribe or nation:
Provided, however, That nothing herein shall prevent the Secretary
from investing the principal of said fund in accordance with
paragraph (1) of this subsection.
(3) The Secretary shall make available to the Passamaquoddy Tribe
and the Penobscot Nation in quarterly payments, without any
deductions except as expressly provided in section 1725(d)(2) of
this title and without liability to or on the part of the United
States, any income received from the investment of that portion of
the settlement fund allocated to the respective tribe or nation,
the use of which shall be free of regulation by the Secretary. The
Passamaquoddy Tribe and the Penobscot Nation annually shall each
expend the income from $1,000,000 of their portion of the
settlement fund for the benefit of their respective members who are
over the age of sixty. Once payments under this paragraph have been
made to the tribe or nation, the United States shall have no
further trust responsibility to the tribe or nation or their
members with respect to the sums paid, any subsequent distribution
of these sums, or any property or services purchased therewith.
(c) Establishment of Maine Indian Claims Land Acquisition Fund;
amount
There is hereby established in the United States Treasury a fund
to be known as the Maine Indian Claims Land Acquisition Fund in
which $54,500,000 shall be deposited following the appropriation of
sums authorized by section 1733 of this title.
(d) Apportionment of land acquisition fund; expenditures for
acquisition of land or natural resources; trust acreage; fee
holdings; interests in corpus of trust for Houlton Band following
termination of Band's interest in trust; agreement for
acquisitions for benefit of Houlton Band: scope, report to
Congress
The principal of the land acquisition fund shall be apportioned
as follows:
(1) $900,000 to be held in trust for the Houlton Band of
Maliseet Indians;
(2) $26,800,000 to be held in trust for the Passamaquoddy
Tribe; and
(3) $26,800,000 to be held in trust for the Penobscot Nation.
The Secretary is authorized and directed to expend, at the request
of the affected tribe, nation or band, the principal and any income
accruing to the respective portions of the land acquisition fund
for the purpose of acquiring land or natural resources for the
Passamaquoddy Tribe, the Penobscot Nation, and the Houlton Band of
Maliseet Indians and for no other purpose. The first 150,000 acres
of land or natural resources acquired for the Passamaquoddy Tribe
and the first 150,000 acres acquired for the Penobscot Nation
within the area described in the Maine Implementing Act as eligible
to be included within the Passamaquoddy Indian Territory and the
Penobscot Indian Territory shall be held in trust by the United
States for the benefit of the respective tribe or nation. The
Secretary is also authorized to take in trust for the Passamaquoddy
Tribe or the Penobscot Nation any land or natural resources
acquired within the aforesaid area by purchase, gift, or exchange
by such tribe or nation. Land or natural resources acquired outside
the boundaries of the aforesaid areas shall be held in fee by the
respective tribe or nation, and the United States shall have no
further trust responsibility with respect thereto. Land or natural
resources acquired within the State of Maine for the Houlton Band
of Maliseet Indians shall be held in trust by the United States for
the benefit of the band: Provided, That no land or natural
resources shall be so acquired for or on behalf of the Houlton Band
of Maliseet Indians without the prior enactment of appropriate
legislation by the State of Maine approving such acquisition:
Provided further, That the Passamaquoddy Tribe and the Penobscot
Nation shall each have a one-half undivided interest in the corpus
of the trust, which shall consist of any such property or
subsequently acquired exchange property, in the event the Houlton
Band of Maliseet Indians should terminate its interest in the
trust.
(4) The Secretary is authorized to, and at the request of
either party shall, participate in negotiations between the State
of Maine and the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians for the purpose
of assisting in securing agreement as to the land or natural
resources to be acquired by the United States to be held in trust
for the benefit of the Houlton Band. Such agreement shall be
embodied in the legislation enacted by the State of Maine
approving the acquisition of such lands as required by paragraph
(3). The agreement and the legislation shall be limited to:
(A) provisions providing restrictions against alienation or
taxation of land or natural resources held in trust for the
Houlton Band no less restrictive than those provided by this
subchapter and the Maine Implementing Act for land or natural
resources to be held in trust for the Passamaquoddy Tribe or
Penobscot Nation;
(B) provisions limiting the power of the State of Maine to
condemn such lands that are no less restrictive than the
provisions of this subchapter and the Maine Implementing Act
that apply to the Passamaquoddy Indian Territory and the
Penobscot Indian Territory but not within either the
Passamaquoddy Indian Reservation or the Penobscot Indian
Reservation;
(C) consistent with the trust and restricted character of the
lands, provisions satisfactory to the State and the Houlton
Band concerning:
(i) payments by the Houlton Band in lieu of payment of
property taxes on land or natural resources held in trust for
the band, except that the band shall not be deemed to own or
use any property for governmental purposes under the Maine
Implementing Act;
(ii) payments of other fees and taxes to the extent imposed
on the Passamaquoddy Tribe and the Penobscot Nation under the
Maine Implementing Act, except that the band shall not be
deemed to be a governmental entity under the Maine
Implementing Act or to have the powers of a municipality
under the Maine Implementing Act;
(iii) securing performance of obligations of the Houlton
Band arising after the effective date of agreement between
the State and the band.
(D) provisions on the location of these lands.
Except as set forth in this subsection, such agreement shall not
include any other provisions regarding the enforcement or
application of the laws of the State of Maine. Within one year of
October 10, 1980, the Secretary is directed to submit to the
appropriate committees of the House of Representatives and the
Senate having jurisdiction over Indian affairs a report on the
status of these negotiations.
(e) Acquisitions contingent upon agreement as to identity of land
or natural resources to be sold, purchase price and other terms
of sale; condemnation proceedings by Secretary; other acquisition
authority barred for benefit of Indians in State of Maine
Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 3113 and 3114(a) to
(d) of title 40, the Secretary may acquire land or natural
resources under this section from the ostensible owner of the land
or natural resources only if the Secretary and the ostensible owner
of the land or natural resources have agreed upon the identity of
the land or natural resources to be sold and upon the purchase
price and other terms of sale. Subject to the agreement required by
the preceding sentence, the Secretary may institute condemnation
proceedings in order to perfect title, satisfactory to the Attorney
General, in the United States and condemn interests adverse to the
ostensible owner. Except for the provisions of this subchapter, the
United States shall have no other authority to acquire lands or
natural resources in trust for the benefit of Indians or Indian
nations, or tribes, or bands of Indians in the State of Maine.
(f) Expenditures for Tribe, Nation, or Band contingent upon
documentary relinquishment of claims
The Secretary may not expend on behalf of the Passamaquoddy
Tribe, the Penobscot Nation, or the Houlton Band of Maliseet
Indians any sums deposited in the funds established pursuant to the
subsections (a) and (c) of this section unless and until he finds
that authorized officials of the respective tribe, nation, or band
have executed appropriate documents relinquishing all claims to the
extent provided by sections 1723, 1730, and 1731 of this title and
by section 6213 of the Maine Implementing Act, including
stipulations to the final judicial dismissal with prejudice of
their claims.
(g) Transfer limitations of section 177 of this title inapplicable
to Indians in State of Maine; restraints on alienation as
provided in section; transfers invalid ab initio except for:
State and Federal condemnations, assignments, leases, sales,
rights-of-way, and exchanges
(1) The provisions of section 177 of this title shall not be
applicable to (A) the Passamaquoddy Tribe, the Penobscot Nation, or
the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians or any other Indian, Indian
nation, or tribe or band of Indians in the State of Maine, or (B)
any land or natural resources owned by or held in trust for the
Passamaquoddy Tribe, the Penobscot Nation, or the Houlton Band of
Maliseet Indians or any other Indian, Indian nation or tribe or
band of Indians in the State of Maine. Except as provided in
subsections (d)(4) and (g)(2) of this section, such land or natural
resources shall not otherwise be subject to any restraint on
alienation by virtue of being held in trust by the United States or
the Secretary.
(2) Except as provided in paragraph (3) of this subsection, any
transfer of land or natural resources within Passamaquoddy Indian
Territory or Penobscot Indian Territory, except (A) takings for
public uses consistent with the Maine Implementing Act, (B) takings
for public uses pursuant to the laws of the United States, or (C)
transfers of individual Indian use assignments from one member of
the Passamaquoddy Tribe or Penobscot Nation to another member of
the same tribe or nation, shall be void ab initio and without any
validity in law or equity.
(3) Land or natural resources within the Passamaquoddy Indian
Territory or the Penobscot Indian Territory or held in trust for
the benefit of the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians may, at the
request of the respective tribe, nation, or band, be -
(A) leased in accordance with sections 415 to 415d of this
title;
(B) leased in accordance with sections 396a to 396g of this
title;
(C) sold in accordance with section 407 of this title;
(D) subjected to rights-of-way in accordance with sections 323
to 328 of this title;
(E) exchanged for other land or natural resources of equal
value, or if they are not equal, the values shall be equalized by
the payment of money to the grantor or to the Secretary for
deposit in the land acquisition fund for the benefit of the
affected tribe, nation, or band, as the circumstances require, so
long as payment does not exceed 25 per centum of the total value
of the interests in land to be transferred by the tribe, nation,
or band, and
(F) sold, only if at the time of sale the Secretary has entered
into an option agreement or contract of sale to purchase other
lands of approximate equal value.
(h) Agreement on terms for management and administration of land or
natural resources
Land or natural resources acquired by the Secretary in trust for
the Passamaquoddy Tribe and the Penobscot Nation shall be managed
and administered in accordance with terms established by the
respective tribe or nation and agreed to by the Secretary in
accordance with section 450f of this title, or other existing law.
(i) Condemnation of trust or restricted land or natural resources
within Reservations: substitute land or monetary proceeds as
medium of compensation; condemnation of trust land without
Reservations: use of compensation for reinvestment in trust or
fee held acreage, certification of acquisitions; State
condemnation proceedings: United States as necessary party,
exhaustion of State administrative remedies, judicial review in
Federal courts, removal of action
(1) Trust or restricted land or natural resources within the
Passamaquoddy Indian Reservation or the Penobscot Indian
Reservation may be condemned for public purposes pursuant to the
Maine Implementing Act. In the event that the compensation for the
taking is in the form of substitute land to be added to the
reservation, such land shall become a part of the reservation in
accordance with the Maine Implementing Act and upon notification to
the Secretary of the location and boundaries of the substitute
land. Such substitute land shall have the same trust or restricted
status as the land taken. To the extent that the compensation is in
the form of monetary proceeds, it shall be deposited and reinvested
as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection.
(2) Trust land of the Passamaquoddy Tribe or the Penobscot Nation
not within the Passamaquoddy Reservation or Penobscot Reservation
may be condemned for public purposes pursuant to the Maine
Implementing Act. The proceeds from any such condemnation shall be
deposited in the land acquisition fund established by subsection
(c) of this section and shall be reinvested in acreage within
unorganized or unincorporated areas of the State of Maine. When the
proceeds are reinvested in land whose acreage does not exceed that
of the land taken, all the land shall be acquired in trust. When
the proceeds are invested in land whose acreage exceeds the acreage
of the land taken, the respective tribe or nation shall designate,
with the approval of the United States, and within thirty days of
such reinvestment, that portion of the land acquired by the
reinvestment, not to exceed the area taken, which shall be acquired
in trust. The land not acquired in trust shall be held in fee by
the respective tribe or nation. The Secretary shall certify, in
writing, to the Secretary of State of the State of Maine the
location, boundaries, and status of the land acquired.
(3) The State of Maine shall have initial jurisdiction over
condemnation proceedings brought under this section. The United
States shall be a necessary party to any such condemnation
proceedings. After exhaustion of all State administrative remedies,
the United States is authorized to seek judicial review of all
relevant matters in the courts of the United States and shall have
an absolute right of removal, at its discretion, over any action
commenced in the courts of the State.
(j) Federal condemnation under other laws; deposit and reinvestment
of compensatory proceeds
When trust or restricted land or natural resources of the
Passamaquoddy Tribe, the Penobscot Nation, or the Houlton Band of
Maliseet Indians are condemned pursuant to any law of the United
States other than this subchapter, the proceeds paid in
compensation for such condemnation shall be deposited and
reinvested in accordance with subsection (i)(2) of this section.