Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 94 Part 1.djvu/984

 94 STAT. 934

43 USC 1782, 1752. Litigation or court action. 25 USC 640d-27.

Appropriation authorization.

Ante, p. 929, 25 u s e 640d-17. Repeal. 25 USC 640d-4. Life estate leases, application. 25 USC 640d-28.

Priority ranking.

PUBLIC LAW 96-305—JULY 8, 1980 "(b) Any transfer of public lands pursuant to this Act shall be made notwithstanding the provisions of sections 603 and 402(g) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (Public Law 94-579; 40 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.). "SEC. 29. (a) In any litigation or court action between or among the Hopi Tribe, the Navajo Tribe and the United States or any of its officials, departments, agencies, or instrumentalities, arising out of the interpretation or implementation of this Act, as amended, the Secretary shall pay, subject to the availability of appropriations, attorney's fees, costs and expenses as determined by the Secretary to be reasonable. For each tribe, there is hereby authorized to be appropriated not to exceed $120,000 in fiscal year 1981, $130,000 in fiscal year 1982, $140,000 in fiscal year 1983, $150,000 in fiscal year 1984, and $160,000 in fiscal year 1985, and each succeeding year thereafter until such litigation or court action is finally completed. "(b) Upon the entry of a final judgment in any such litigation or court action, the court shall award reasonable attorney's fees, costs and expenses to the party, other than the United States or its officials, departments, agencies, or instrumentalities, which prevails or substantially prevails, where it finds that any opposing party has unreasonably initiated or contested such litigation. Any party to whom such an award has been made shall reimburse the United States out of such award to the extent that it has received payments pursuant to subsection (a) of this section. "(c) To the extent that any award made to a party against the United States pursuant to subsection (b) of this section exceeds the amount paid to such party by the United States pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, such difference shall be treated as if it were a final judgment of the Court of Claims under section 2517 of title 28, United States Code. "(d) This section shall apply to any litigation or court action pending upon the date of enactment of this section in which a final order, decree, judgment has not been entered, but shall not apply to any action authorized by section 8 or 18(a) of this Act. "SEC. 30. (a) Paragraph (4) of section 5(a) of the Act of December 22, 1974, is repealed. "(b) Any Navajo head of household who desires to do so may submit an application for a life estate lease to the Commission. Such application shall contain such information as the Commission may prescribe by regulation, such regulation to be promulgated by the Commission within ninety days of enactment of this subsection. To be considered, such application must by filed with the Commission on or before April 1, 1981: Provided, That the Commission may, for good cause, grant an extension of one hundred and eighty days. "(c) Upon receipt of applications filed pursuant to this section, the Commission shall group them in the following order: "(A) Applicants who are determined to be at least 50 per centum disabled as certified by a physician approved by the Commission. Such applicants shall be ranked in the order of the severity of their disability. "(B) Applicants who are not at least 50 per centum disabled shall be ranked in order of their age with oldest listed first and the youngest listed last: Provided, That, if any applicant physically resides in quarter quad Nos. 78 NW, 77 NE, 77 NW, 55 SW, or 54 SE as designated on the Mediator's partition map, such applicant shall be given priority over another applicant of equal age.

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