H.R. 929 would direct the Department of the Interior (DOI) to take into trust approximately 17 acres of land in Pierce County, Washington, owned by the Puyallup Tribe. Under the bill, DOI would hold title to that land for the benefit of the tribe, and the United States would not be liable for any environmental contamination that occurred on or before the date the land would be taken into trust. The legislation also would prohibit certain types of gaming on those lands. Using information from DOI, CBO estimates that the administrative costs to implement H.R. 929 would not be significant; any spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
H.R. 929 would impose an intergovernmental mandate as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA). The bill would prohibit state and local governments from taxing land taken into trust for the Puyallup Tribe. Information from Pierce County about taxes and other receipts associated with the land indicates that those foregone revenues would total less than $100,000 annually, well below the annual intergovernmental threshold established in UMRA ($99 million in 2023, adjusted annually for inflation).
