II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 50 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to assess sanitation and safety 

conditions at Bureau of Indian Affairs facilities that were constructed 

to provide affected Columbia River Treaty tribes access to traditional 

fishing grounds and expend funds on construction of facilities and structures to improve those conditions, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 8, 2019 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. WYDEN, and Ms. CANTWELL) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Indian Affairs 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to assess sanitation and safety conditions at Bureau of Indian Affairs 

facilities that were constructed to provide affected Columbia River Treaty tribes access to traditional fishing 

grounds and expend funds on construction of facilities 

and structures to improve those conditions, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Columbia River In3 Lieu and Treaty Fishing Access Sites Improvement Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. SANITATION AND SAFETY CONDITIONS AT CERTAIN 

5 BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS FACILITIES. 

6 (a) ASSESSMENT OF CONDITIONS.—The Secretary of 

7 the Interior, acting through the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 

8 in consultation with the affected Columbia River Treaty 

9 tribes, may assess current sanitation and safety conditions 

10 on lands held by the United States for the benefit of the 

11 affected Columbia River Treaty tribes, including all per12 manent Federal structures and improvements on those 

13 lands, that were set aside to provide affected Columbia 

14 River Treaty tribes access to traditional fishing grounds— 

15 (1) in accordance with the Act of March 2, 

16 1945 (59 Stat. 10, chapter 19) (commonly known as 

17 the ‘‘River and Harbor Act of 1945’’); or 

18 (2) in accordance with title IV of Public Law 

19 100–581 (102 Stat. 2944). 

20 (b) EXCLUSIVE AUTHORIZATION; CONTRACTS.—The 

21 Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of 

22 Indian Affairs— 

23 (1) subject to paragraph (2)(B), shall be the 

24 only Federal agency authorized to carry out the ac25 tivities described in this section; and 


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1 (2) may delegate the authority to carry out ac2 tivities described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of sub3 section (d)— 

4 (A) through one or more contracts entered 

5 into with an Indian Tribe or Tribal organiza6 tion under the Indian Self-Determination and 

7 Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5301 et 

8 seq.); or 

9 (B) to include other Federal agencies that 

10 have relevant expertise. 

11 (c) DEFINITION OF AFFECTED COLUMBIA RIVER

12 TREATY TRIBES.—In this section, the term ‘‘affected Co13 lumbia River Treaty tribes’’ means the Nez Perce Tribe, 

14 the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla Indian Reservation, 

15 the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation 

16 of Oregon, and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the 

17 Yakama Nation. 

18 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

19 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the 

20 Interior such sums as are necessary, to remain available 

21 until expended— 

22 (1) for improvements to existing structures and 

23 infrastructure to improve sanitation and safety con24 ditions assessed under subsection (a); and 


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1 (2) to improve access to electricity, sewer, and 

2 water infrastructure, where feasible, to reflect needs 

3 for sanitary and safe use of facilities referred to in 

4 subsection (a). 

5 SEC. 3. STUDY OF ASSESSMENT AND IMPROVEMENT AC6 TIVITIES. 

7 The Comptroller General of the United States, in 

8 consultation with the Committee on Indian Affairs of the 

9 Senate, shall— 

10 (1) conduct a study to evaluate whether the 

11 sanitation and safety conditions on lands held by the 

12 United States for the benefit of the affected Colum13 bia River Treaty tribes (as defined in section 2(c)) 

14 have improved as a result of the activities authorized 

15 in section 2; and 

16 (2) prepare and submit to the Committee on 

17 Indian Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 

18 Natural Resources of the House of Representatives 

19 a report containing the results of that study. 

Æ 


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