EXTENSION OF THE TERM OF THE JOINT FEDERAL-STATE LAND USE PLANNING COMMISSION FOR ALASKA AND OTHER AMENDMENTS TO, AND PROVISIONS CONCERNING, THE ALASKA NATIVE CLAIMS SETTLEMENT ACT AUGUST 1 (legislative day, JULY 31), 1975.-Ordered to be printed Mr. HASKELL, from the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 1469] The Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 1469) to amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to continue the authority of the Joint Federal-State Land Use Planning Commission for Alaska until June 30, 1979, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon with amendments and recommends that the bill as amended do pass. The amendments are as follows: (1) Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof the following: That (a) The Secretary of the Interior (hereinafter referered to as the "Secretary") is directed to review those applications previously submitted or hereafter submitted within one year from the date of enactment of this Act by applicants who failed to meet the March 30, 1973, deadline for enrollment established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, 85 Stat. 688 (hereinafter referred to as the "Settlement Act") and to enroll those Natives under the provisions of that Act who would have been qualified if the March 30, 1973, deadline had been met. (b) In those instances where, on the roll prepared under section 5 of the Settlement Act, there were enrolled as residents of a place on April 1, 1970, a sufficient number of Natives required for a Native village or a Native group, as the case may be, and it is subsequently and finally determined that such place is not eligible for land benefits under said Act on grounds which include a lack of sufficient number of residents, the Secretary shall, in accordance with the criteria for residence applied in the final determination of eligibility, redetermine the place of residence on April 1, 1970, of each Native enrolled to such place, and the place of residence as so redetermined shall be such Native's place of residence on April 1, 1970, for all purposes under the Settlement Act. Each Native whose place of residence is subject to redetermination as provided in this subsection shall be given notice and an opportunity for hearing in connection with such redetermination of residence as shall any Native Corporation which it appears may gain or lose stockholders by reason of such redetermination. (c) Each Native who is enrolled, or whose place of residence has been redetermined, pursuant to this Act shall be issued stock in the Native corporation or corporations in which such enrollment or redetermination of residence entitles him to membership and, in the case of redetermination of residence, all stock issued to such Native by any Native corporation in which he or she is no longer eligible for membership shall be deemed canceled. No prior distribution of funds made by any Native corporation shall be affected by any such enrollment or redetermination of residence and future distributions by such corporations shall be adjusted to insure that cumulative distributions to individual Natives so enrolled or affected by redetermination of residence will be equal to distributions to Natives previously enrolled in such corporation. The land entitlement of any Native village, Native group, Village Corporation, Regional Corporation, or corporation organized by Natives residing in Sitka, Kenai, Juneau, or Kodiak, all as defined in the Settlement Act, shall not be affected by any enrollment or redetermination of residence pursuant to this Act. No tribe, band, clan, group, village, community, or association not otherwise eligible for land or other benefits as a Native village or Native group, as defined in said Act, shall become eligible for land or other benefits as a Native village or Native group because of any enrollment or redetermination of residence pursuant to this Act, and no Native village or Native group, as defined in said Act, shall lose its status as a Native village or Native group because of any enrollment or redetermination of residence pursuant to this Act. (d) No distribution of funds from the Alaska Native Fund pursuant to section 6(c) of the Settlement Act made by the Secretary or his delegate prior to enactment of this Act shall be affected by the provisions of this Act. The Secretary shall make any necessary adjustments in future distributions of funds pursuant to said section 6(c) to accommodate the changes in the roll made pursuant to this Act. SEC. 2. (a) Any and all proceeds received by any agency or instrumentality of the Federal Government derived from contracts, leases, permits, rights-of-way, or easements pertaining to lands or resources of lands withdrawn for Native selection pursuant to the Settlement Act on and after the date of its enactment shall be deposited in an escrow account which shall be held by the Secretary until lands selected pursuant to said Act have been conveyed to the selecting corporation or individual entitled to receive benefits under said Act. As such withdrawn or formerly reserved lands are conveyed the Secretary shall pay from such account the proceeds pertaining to the lands or resources of such lands, together with interest, to the appropriate corporation or individual entitled to receive benefits under the Settlement Act. The proceeds pertaining to lands withdrawn or reserved, but not selected or elected, pursuant to said Act, shall, upon the expiration of the selection or election rights of the corporations and individuals for whose benefit such lands were withdrawn or reserved, be paid as required by law were it not for the provisions of this Act. (b) The Secretary is authorized to deposit in the Treasury of the United States such escrow account proceeds referred to in subsection (a) of this section and the United States shall pay interest thereon from the date of deposit to the date of payment with simple interest at such rate as may be determined by the Secretary of the Treasury: Provided, however, That the Secretary in his discretion may withdraw from the United States Treasury such proceeds deposited by him under this Act and reinvest such proceeds in the same manner provided for by the first section of the Act of June 24, 1938 (52 Stat. 1037). SEC. 3. Any and all proceeds from public easements reserved pursuant to paragraph (3) of section 17(b) of the Settlement Act shall be paid to the holder of the land with respect to which such conveyance is made in accordance with such holder's proportionate share. SEC. 4. For purposes of the first section of the Act of February 12, 1929 (45 Stat. 1164), as amended, and the first section of the Act of June 24, 1938 (52 Stat. 1037) the Alaska Native Fund shall, pending distribution under section 6(c) of the Settlement Act, be considered to consist of funds held in trust by the Government of the United States for the benefit of Indian tribes. SEC. 5. The Settlement Act is further amended by adding a new section 28 to read as follows: "MERGER OF NATIVE CORPORATIONS "SEC. 28. (a) Notwithstanding any provision of this Act, any corporation created pursuant to section 7(d), 8(a), 14(h) (2), or 14(h) (3) within any of the twelve regions of Alaska, as established by section 7(a), may, at any time, merge or consolidate, pursuant to the applicable provisions of the laws of the State of Alaska, with any other of such corporation or corporations created within or for the same region. Any corporations resulting from said mergers or consolidations further may merge or consolidate with other such merged or consolidated corporations within the same region or with other of the corporations created in said region pursuant to section 7(d), 8(a), 14(h) (2), or 14(h) (3). "(b) Such mergers or consolidations shall be on such terms and conditions as are approved by vote of the shareholders of the corporations participating therein, including, where appropriate, terms providing for the issuance of additional shares of Regional Corporation stock to persons already owning such stock, and may take place pursuant to votes of shareholders held either before or after the enactment of this section: Provided, That the rights accorded under Alaska law to dissenting shareholders in a merger or consolidation may not be exercised in any merger or consolidation pursuant to this Act effected prior to December 19, 1991. Upon the effectiveness of any such mergers or consolidations the corporations resulting thereform and the shareholders thereof shall succeed and be entitled to all the rights, privileges, and benefits of this Act, including but not limited to the receipt of lands and moneys and exemptions from various forms of Federal, State, and local taxation, and shall be subject to all the restrictions and obligations of this Act as are applicable to the corporations and shareholders which participated in said mergers or consolidations or as would have been applicable if the mergers or consolidations and transfers of rights and titles thereto had not taken place. "(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 7 (j) or (m), in any merger or consolidation in which the class of stockholders of a Regional Corporation who are not residents of any of the villages in the region are entitled under Alaska law to vote as a class, the terms of the merger or consolidation may provide for the alteration or elimination of the right of said class to receive dividends pursuant to said section 7 (j) or (m). In the event that such dividend right is not expressly altered or eliminated by the terms of the merger or consolidation, such class of stockholders shall continue to receive such dividends pursuant to section 7 (j) or (m) as would have been applicable if the merger or consolidation had not taken place and all Village Corporations within the affected region continue to exist separately. "(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section or of any other law, no corporation referred to in this section may merge or consolidate with any other such corporations unless that corporation's shareholders have approved such merger or consolidation. "(e) The plan of merger or consolidation shall provide that the right of any affected Village Corporation pursuant to section 14(f) to withhold consent to mineral exploration, development or removal within the boundaries of the Native village shall be conveyed, as part of the merger or consolidation, to a separate entity composed of the Native residents of such Native village.". SEC. 6. The Settlement Act is amended by adding a new section 29 to read as follows: "TEMPORARY EXEMPTION FROM CERTAIN SECURITIES LAWS "SEC. 29. Any corporation organized pursuant to this Act shall be exempt from the provisions of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (54 Stat. 789), the Securities Act of 1933 (48 Stat. 74), and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (48 Stat. 881), as amended, through December 31, 1991. Nothing in this section, however, shall be construed to mean that any such corporation shall or shall not after such date be subject to the provisions of such Acts. Any such corporation which, but for this section, would be subject to the provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 shall transmit to its stockholders each year a report containing substantially all the information required to be included in an annual report to stockholders by a corporation which is subject to the provisions of such Act.". SEC. 7. The Settlement Act is further amended by adding a new section 30 to read as follows: "RELATION TO OTHER PROGRAMS "SEC. 30. (a) The payments and grants authorized under this Act shall not be deemed a substitute for any governmental programs otherwise available to |