“A bill to provide for the withdrawal and protection of certain Federal land in the State of New Mexico, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section revises congressional findings under 16 U.S.C. 410ii(a) related to Chaco Culture National Historical Park—a National Park System unit and UNESCO World Heritage Site preserving Chacoan Anasazi sites—to expand their scope to the Greater Chaco region spanning New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. The findings recognize the area's archeological, sacred, and historic resources (including 39 Chaco Culture Archeological Protection Sites designated in 1995); Tribal cultural affiliations and ceremonial uses; night sky protections since 1991; over 110 years of Federal protections (e.g., Chaco Canyon as a national monument since 1907); impacts of natural gas development and potential oil production in the Mancos/Gallup Shale on health, safety, communities, and park resources; the benefits of mineral withdrawals around the park; and the need for Tribal consultation per E.O. 13175 and additional studies.
This section defines key terms for purposes of the Act, including "(1) covered lease," meaning an oil or gas lease on federal land on which drilling has not commenced by the end of the primary lease term, that is not producing in paying quantities, and that is not subject to a valid unit plan of development; "(2) Federal land," meaning land or interests within the Chaco Cultural Heritage Withdrawal Area (as depicted on the specified Withdrawal Map), including any such land acquired by the federal government after enactment, but excluding trust land as defined in 38 U.S.C. 3765; "(3) Secretary," meaning the Secretary of the Interior; and "(4) Withdrawal Map," meaning the Bureau of Land Management map entitled “Proposed Withdrawal Chaco Culture National Historic Park Surrounding Area” dated January 6, 2022.
This section withdraws certain Federal land in New Mexico, as depicted on the Withdrawal Map available at Bureau of Land Management offices, from all forms of entry, appropriation, and disposal under the public land laws; location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and operation of the mineral leasing, mineral materials, and geothermal leasing laws, subject to valid existing rights. It authorizes the Secretary to convey or exchange the land with an Indian Tribe pursuant to an approved, amended, or revised resource management plan under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976. For oil and gas leases on the land, the section (1) automatically terminates non-producing covered leases pursuant to section 17(e) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(e)) and related regulations and prohibits their extension by the Secretary; and (2) withdraws any portions subject to such terminated leases or leases relinquished or acquired by the United States on or after enactment from the same public land, mining, and mineral leasing laws. The section does not affect mineral rights of an Indian Tribe or members of the Navajo Nation or other tribes to trust or allotment land and does not preclude rights-of-way or improvements for water, power, utility, or road development to assist adjacent communities.