S. Rpt. 119-90 accompanies the "Miccosukee Reserved Area Amendments Act" — legislation that falls within the Indian Affairs Committee's jurisdiction. Committee reports serve as the official legislative history of a bill, documenting what the legislation would do and why the committee recommends passage. Reports of this kind include the committee's section-by-section analysis, any amendments adopted during markup, the Congressional Budget Office cost estimate, dissenting views from minority members, and the legal basis for the legislation. Courts and agencies consult committee reports when interpreting enacted laws, making these documents important beyond the immediate legislative moment.
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Senate Report 119-90 - MICCOSUKEE RESERVED AREA AMENDMENTS ACT
[Senate Report 119-90]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 220
119th Congress } { Report
SENATE
1st Session } { 119-90
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MICCOSUKEE RESERVED AREA AMENDMENTS ACT
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October 28, 2025.--Ordered to be printed
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Ms. Murkowski, from the Committee on Indian Affairs,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 673]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Indian Affairs, to which was referred the
bill (S. 673) to amend Miccosukee Reserved Area Act to
authorize the expansion of the Miccosukee Reserved Area and to
carry out activities to protect structures within the Osceola
Camp from flooding, and for other purposes, having considered
the same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and
recommends that the bill, do pass.
PURPOSE
S. 673 would amend the Miccosukee Reserved Area Act (MRAA)
to authorize inclusion of the ``Osceola Camp'' into the
Miccosukee Reserved Area and direct the Secretary of the
Interior to act, in consultation with the Tribe, to protect the
Camp from flooding.
BACKGROUND AND NEED
The Miccosukee Tribe is a federally recognized Indian Tribe
whose reservation is located within the exterior boundaries of
the Everglades National Park (ENP) in Miami-Dade, Florida. From
1964 to 1998, the Miccosukee Tribe lived and governed their own
affairs on a strip of land on the northern edge of the ENP,
known as the Special Use Permit Area, under permits from the
National Park Service and other legal authority.\1\
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\1\Miccosukee Reserved Area Act (MRAA), Pub. L. No. 105-313, 112
Stat. 2964 (1998).
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In 1998, Congress passed the Miccosukee Reserved Area Act
(MRAA), which replaced the special use permit with a permanent
legal framework that expanded the Miccosukee Tribe's Special
Use Permit Area for its exclusive use, occupancy, and
governance in perpetuity.\2\ Congress expressly provided that
such land, now known as the Miccosukee Reserved Area (MRA),
would be considered ``Indian Country'' and treated as an Indian
reservation.\3\ The MRAA reserved the federal government's
ability to engage in activities for the restoration or
protection of the South Florida ecosystem under federal law,
and provided that the costs of such restoration would be borne
by the federal government, including compensating the
Miccosukee Tribe for any loss of Tribal structures within the
MRA.\4\
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\2\Id.
\3\MRAA Sec. 5(c) (as defined in 18 U.S.C. 1151).
\4\MRAA Sec. 8(e)(2)-(3).
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The MRAA did not include the Osceola Camp, a residential
village situated within the ENP and home to several families of
the Miccosukee Tribe, in the MRA. Established in 1935, the Camp
includes housing structures, water supply systems, roadways,
and wastewater treatment systems, among other infrastructure.
It is experiencing flooding caused by ecosystem restoration
efforts from the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan
(CERP) and Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP),\5\ which
are part of ongoing efforts to improve the ecological health of
the ENP by diverting hundreds of thousands of acre-feet of
water per year from Lake Okeechobee south to Florida Bay to
increase and improve water flow. Consequently, buildings within
the Camp need to be elevated in order to avoid a safety hazard
to the residents and allow continued residential and commercial
use of the site, which is in the middle of the project area.\6\
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\5\News Release, National Park Service, Everglades National Park
Seeks public input on Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida Osceola
Camp Cure Plan (Nov. 1, 2023) (on file with the Committee), https://
www.nps.gov/ever/learn/news/osceola-cure-plan-ea.htm.
\6\Id.
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SUMMARY
S. 673 amends the MRAA to include Camp Osceola as part of
the MRA and directs the Department of the Interior, in
consultation with the Tribe, to take appropriate actions to
protect structures within Camp Osceola from flooding.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
S. 673 was introduced by Senators Scott and Moody on
February 20, 2025. The Committee held a business meeting on
March 5, 2025, to consider S. 673 and ordered the bill to be
reported favorably, without amendment, by voice vote.
H.R. 504, identical companion legislation to S. 673, was
introduced by Representative Gimenez (R-FL-28) with
Representatives Diaz-Balart (R-FL-26) and Salazar (R-FL-27) as
cosponsors on January 16, 2025. Representative Soto (D-FL-9)
was added as a cosponsor on February 5, 2025. H.R. 504 was
referred to the House Committees on Natural Resources and
Transportation and Infrastructure. The House Committee on
Natural Resources held a mark-up session on June 6, 2025, and
reported the bill, without amendment, by unanimous consent (H.
Rept. 119-189). The House Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure discharged the bill on July 10, 2025. H.R. 504
passed the House of Representatives by voice vote, on July 14,
2025.
In the 118th Congress, a similar bill S. 2783, was
introduced by Senators Rubio and Scott on September 13, 2023.
The Committee held a hearing on S. 2783 on July 10, 2024 (S.
Hrg. 118-530). On July 25, 2024, the Committee held a business
meeting to consider S. 2783 and ordered the bill reported
favorably, without amendment (S. Rept. 118-245). S. 2783 passed
the Senate on December 12, 2024, by voice vote.
On September 18, 2023, Representatives Gimenez (R-FL-28)
and Diaz-Balart (R-FL-26) introduced H.R. 5537, identical
companion legislation to S. 2783, which was referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources and the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION
The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in an open business
meeting on March 5, 2025, by a majority voice vote of a quorum
present, recommends that the Senate pass, S. 673, without
amendment.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1--Short title
This section sets forth the short title as the ``Miccosukee
Reserved Area Amendments Act.''
Section 2--Miccosukee Reserved Area addition
This section amends the Miccosukee Reserved Area Act to
include ``Camp Osceola'' as part of the Miccosukee Reserved
Area.
Section 3--Protection of the Osceola Camp from flooding
This section amends the Miccosukee Reserved Area Act to
direct the Secretary of the Interior to take appropriate
actions to protect structures within Osceola Camp from flooding
within two years of enactment and in consultation with the
Miccosukee Tribe.
COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
S. 673 would amend the Miccosukee Reserved Area Act to add
the Osceola Camp, a tract of land in the Everglades National
Park in Florida, to the federally reserved area for the
Miccosukee Tribe. Under the bill, the Osceola Camp would be
subject to the tribe's rights, responsibilities, and
restrictions. The bill also would require the Department of the
Interior to implement flood protection measures for structures
in the camp within two years of enactment.
Based on information from the National Park Service, CBO
expects that existing efforts to protect structures in the camp
from flooding would fulfill the requirements in the bill. On
that basis, CBO expects that implementing S. 673 would have
insignificant costs over the 2025-2030 period. Any related
spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated
funds.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Alaina Rhee. The
estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director
of Budget Analysis.
Phillip L. Swagel,
Director, Congressional Budget Office.
REGULATORY AND PAPERWORK IMPACT STATEMENT
Paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the
Senate requires each report accompanying a bill to evaluate the
regulatory and paperwork impact that would be incurred in
carrying out the bill. The Committee believes that S. 673, as
reported, will have minimal impact on regulatory or paperwork
requirements.
EXECUTIVE TESTIMONY AND COMMUNICATIONS
The testimony provided by the U.S. Department of the
Interior from the July 10, 2024, hearing on S. 2783 follows:
statement of jason freihage deputy assistant secretary of
management for indian affairs u.s. department of the
interior
s. 2783, miccosukee reserved area amendments act
Good afternoon, Chairman Schatz, Vice Chairman Murkowski,
and members of the Committee. My name is Jason Freihage, and I
am the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Management for Indian
Affairs at the Department of the Interior (Department). Thank
you for the opportunity to present testimony on S. 2783,
``Miccosukee Reserved Area Amendments Act.''
S. 2783, Miccosukee Reserved Area Amendments Act
S. 2783 would amend the Miccosukee Reserved Area Act by
authorizing expansion of the Miccosukee Reserved Area to
include Osceola Camp (Camp), which is situated within the
boundary of Everglades National Park. The bill would uphold the
sovereignty of the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians and ensure the
Camp remains within the landscape of Everglades National Park
in perpetuity. The NPS currently authorizes management of the
Camp through a Special Use Permit; this bill would ensure
permanence and protection of the Camp and eliminate the need
for recurring permit approval. Additionally, the bill would
authorize appropriations of such sums as necessary, but not
more than a total of $14,000,000, to safeguard structures
within the Camp from flooding events.
The Department supports S. 2783.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
In compliance with subsection 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee waives the
requirement to detail changes in existing law to expedite the
business of the Senate.
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