II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 995 

To provide for equitable compensation to the Spokane Tribe of Indians 

of the Spokane Reservation for the use of tribal land for the production 

of hydropower by the Grand Coulee Dam, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 1, 2017 

Ms. CANTWELL (for herself and Mrs. MURRAY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide for equitable compensation to the Spokane Tribe 

of Indians of the Spokane Reservation for the use of 

tribal land for the production of hydropower by the 

Grand Coulee Dam, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Spokane Tribe of Indi5 ans of the Spokane Reservation Equitable Compensation 

6 Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) from 1927 to 1931, at the direction of Con2 gress, the Corps of Engineers investigated the Co3 lumbia River and its tributaries to determine sites at 

4 which power could be produced at low cost; 

5 (2) under section 10(e) of the Federal Power 

6 Act (16 U.S.C. 803(e)), when licenses are issued in7 volving tribal land within an Indian reservation, a 

8 reasonable annual charge shall be fixed for the use 

9 of the land, subject to the approval of the Indian 

10 tribe having jurisdiction over the land; 

11 (3) in August 1933, the Columbia Basin Com12 mission, an agency of the State of Washington, re13 ceived a preliminary permit from the Federal Power 

14 Commission for water power development at the 

15 Grand Coulee site; 

16 (4) had the Columbia Basin Commission or a 

17 private entity developed the site, the Spokane Tribe 

18 would have been entitled to a reasonable annual 

19 charge for the use of the land of the Spokane Tribe; 

20 (5) in the mid-1930s, the Federal Government, 

21 which is not subject to licensing under the Federal 

22 Power Act (16 U.S.C. 792 et seq.)— 

23 (A) federalized the Grand Coulee Dam 

24 project; and 


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1 (B) began construction of the Grand Cou2 lee Dam; 

3 (6) when the Grand Coulee Dam project was 

4 federalized, the Federal Government recognized 

5 that— 

6 (A) development of the project affected the 

7 interests of the Spokane Tribe and the Confed8 erated Tribes of the Colville Reservation; and 

9 (B) it would be appropriate for the Spo10 kane and Colville Tribes to receive a share of 

11 revenue from the disposition of power produced 

12 at Grand Coulee Dam; 

13 (7) in the Act of June 29, 1940 (16 U.S.C. 

14 835d et seq.), Congress— 

15 (A) granted to the United States— 

16 (i) in aid of the construction, oper17 ation, and maintenance of the Columbia 

18 Basin Project, all the right, title, and in19 terest of the Spokane Tribe and Colville 

20 Tribes in and to the tribal and allotted 

21 land within the Spokane and Colville Res22 ervations, as designated by the Secretary 

23 of the Interior from time to time; and 

24 (ii) other interests in that land as re25 quired and as designated by the Secretary 


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1 for certain construction activities under2 taken in connection with the project; and 

3 (B) provided that compensation for the 

4 land and other interests was to be determined 

5 by the Secretary in such amounts as the Sec6 retary determined to be just and equitable; 

7 (8) pursuant to that Act, the Secretary paid— 

8 (A) to the Spokane Tribe, $4,700; and 

9 (B) to the Confederated Tribes of the 

10 Colville Reservation, $63,000; 

11 (9) in 1994, following litigation under the Act 

12 of August 13, 1946 (commonly known as the ‘‘In13 dian Claims Commission Act’’ (60 Stat. 1049, chap14 ter 959; former 25 U.S.C. 70 et seq.)), Congress 

15 ratified the Colville Settlement Agreement, which re16 quired— 

17 (A) for past use of the land of the Colville 

18 Tribes, a payment of $53,000,000; and 

19 (B) for continued use of the land of the 

20 Colville Tribes, annual payments of 

21 $15,250,000, adjusted annually based on reve22 nues from the sale of electric power from the 

23 Grand Coulee Dam project and transmission of 

24 that power by the Bonneville Power Adminis25 tration; 


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1 (10) the Spokane Tribe, having suffered harm 

2 similar to that suffered by the Colville Tribes, did 

3 not file a claim within the 5-year statute of limita4 tions under the Indian Claims Commission Act; 

5 (11) neither the Colville Tribes nor the Spokane 

6 Tribe filed claims for compensation for use of the 

7 land of the respective tribes with the Commission 

8 prior to August 13, 1951, but both tribes filed unre9 lated land claims prior to August 13, 1951; 

10 (12) in 1976, over objections by the United 

11 States, the Colville Tribes were successful in amend12 ing the 1951 Claims Commission land claims to add 

13 the Grand Coulee claim of the Colville Tribes; 

14 (13) the Spokane Tribe had no such claim to 

15 amend, having settled the Claims Commission land 

16 claims of the Spokane Tribe with the United States 

17 in 1967; 

18 (14) the Spokane Tribe has suffered significant 

19 harm from the construction and operation of Grand 

20 Coulee Dam; 

21 (15) Spokane tribal acreage taken by the 

22 United States for the construction of Grand Coulee 

23 Dam equaled approximately 39 percent of Colville 

24 tribal acreage taken for construction of the dam; 


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1 (16) the payments and delegation made pursu2 ant to this Act constitute fair and equitable com3 pensation for the past and continued use of Spokane 

4 tribal land for the production of hydropower at 

5 Grand Coulee Dam; and 

6 (17) by vote of the Spokane tribal membership, 

7 the Spokane Tribe has resolved that the payments 

8 and delegation made pursuant to this Act constitute 

9 fair and equitable compensation for the past and 

10 continued use of Spokane tribal land for the produc11 tion of hydropower at Grand Coulee Dam. 

12 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

13 The purpose of this Act is to provide fair and equi14 table compensation to the Spokane Tribe for the use of 

15 the land of the Spokane Tribe for the generation of hydro16 power by the Grand Coulee Dam. 

17 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

18 In this Act: 

19 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis20 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Bonneville 

21 Power Administration or the head of any successor 

22 agency, corporation, or entity that markets power 

23 produced at Grand Coulee Dam. 

24 (2) COLVILLE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT.—The 

25 term ‘‘Colville Settlement Agreement’’ means the 


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1 Settlement Agreement entered into between the 

2 United States and the Colville Tribes, signed by the 

3 United States on April 21, 1994, and by the Colville 

4 Tribes on April 16, 1994, to settle the claims of the 

5 Colville Tribes in Docket 181–D of the Indian 

6 Claims Commission, which docket was transferred to 

7 the United States Court of Federal Claims. 

8 (3) COLVILLE TRIBES.—The term ‘‘Colville 

9 Tribes’’ means the Confederated Tribes of the 

10 Colville Reservation. 

11 (4) COMPUTED ANNUAL PAYMENT.—The term 

12 ‘‘Computed Annual Payment’’ means the payment 

13 calculated under paragraph 2.b. of the Colville Set14 tlement Agreement, without regard to any increase 

15 or decrease in the payment under section 2.d. of the 

16 agreement. 

17 (5) CONFEDERATED TRIBES ACT.—The term 

18 ‘‘Confederated Tribes Act’’ means the Confederated 

19 Tribes of the Colville Reservation Grand Coulee 

20 Dam Settlement Act (Public Law 103–436; 108 

21 Stat. 4577). 

22 (6) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Spo23 kane Tribe of Indians Recovery Trust Fund estab24 lished by section 5. 


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1 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of the Interior. 

3 (8) SPOKANE BUSINESS COUNCIL.—The term 

4 ‘‘Spokane Business Council’’ means the governing 

5 body of the Spokane Tribe under the constitution of 

6 the Spokane Tribe. 

7 (9) SPOKANE TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Spokane 

8 Tribe’’ means the Spokane Tribe of Indians of the 

9 Spokane Reservation, Washington. 

10 SEC. 5. SPOKANE TRIBE OF INDIANS RECOVERY TRUST 

11 FUND. 

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF FUND.—There is estab13 lished in the Treasury of the United States a separate ac14 count to be known as the ‘‘Spokane Tribe of Indians Re15 covery Trust Fund’’, consisting of— 

16 (1) amounts deposited in the Fund under sub17 section (b); and 

18 (2) any interest earned on investment of 

19 amounts in the Fund. 

20 (b) DEPOSITS.—On October 1 of the first fiscal year 

21 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

22 the Treasury shall, from the general fund of the Treasury, 

23 deposit in the Fund $53,000,000. 

24 (c) MAINTENANCE AND INVESTMENT OF FUND.— 

25 The Fund shall be maintained and invested by the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 May 05, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S995.IS S995

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1 retary in accordance with the Act of June 24, 1938 (25 

2 U.S.C. 162a). 

3 (d) PAYMENTS TO THE SPOKANE TRIBE.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—At any time after the date 

5 on which the Spokane Business Council has adopted 

6 a plan described in subsection (e) and after amounts 

7 are deposited in the Fund, the Spokane Business 

8 Council may request that all or a portion of the 

9 amounts in the Fund be disbursed to the Spokane 

10 Tribe by submitting to the Secretary written notice 

11 of the adoption by the Spokane Business Council of 

12 a resolution requesting the disbursement. 

13 (2) PAYMENT.—Not later than 60 days after 

14 the date on which the Secretary receives notice 

15 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall disburse 

16 the amounts requested from the Fund to the Spo17 kane Tribe. 

18 (e) PLAN.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 

20 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Spokane 

21 Business Council shall prepare a plan that describes 

22 the manner in which the Spokane Tribe intends to 

23 use amounts received under subsection (d) to pro24 mote— 

25 (A) economic development; 


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1 (B) infrastructure development; 

2 (C) educational, health, recreational, and 

3 social welfare objectives of the Spokane Tribe 

4 and the members of the Spokane Tribe; or 

5 (D) any combination of the activities de6 scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (C). 

7 (2) REVIEW AND REVISION.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Spokane Business 

9 Council shall make available to the members of 

10 the Spokane Tribe for review and comment a 

11 copy of the plan before the date on which the 

12 plan is final, in accordance with procedures es13 tablished by the Spokane Business Council. 

14 (B) UPDATES.—The Spokane Business 

15 Council may update the plan on an annual 

16 basis, subject to the condition that the Spokane 

17 Business Council provides the members of the 

18 Spokane Tribe an opportunity to review and 

19 comment on the updated plan. 

20 SEC. 6. PAYMENTS BY ADMINISTRATOR. 

21 (a) INITIAL PAYMENT.—On March 1, 2020, the Ad22 ministrator shall pay to the Spokane Tribe an amount 

23 equal to 25 percent of the Computed Annual Payment for 

24 fiscal year 2019. 

25 (b) SUBSEQUENT PAYMENTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than March 1, 

2 2021, and March 1 of each year thereafter through 

3 March 1, 2029, the Administrator shall pay the Spo4 kane Tribe an amount equal to 25 percent of the 

5 Computed Annual Payment for the preceding fiscal 

6 year. 

7 (2) MARCH 1, 2030, AND SUBSEQUENT YEARS.— 

8 Not later than March 1, 2030, and March 1 of each 

9 year thereafter, the Administrator shall pay the Spo10 kane Tribe an amount equal to 32 percent of the 

11 Computed Annual Payment for the preceding fiscal 

12 year. 

13 SEC. 7. TREATMENT AFTER AMOUNTS ARE PAID. 

14 (a) USE OF PAYMENTS.—Payments made to the Spo15 kane Business Council or Spokane Tribe under section 5 

16 or 6 may be used or invested by the Spokane Business 

17 Council in the same manner and for the same purposes 

18 as other Spokane Tribe governmental amounts. 

19 (b) NO TRUST RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SEC20 RETARY.—Neither the Secretary nor the Administrator 

21 shall have any trust responsibility for the investment, su22 pervision, administration, or expenditure of any amounts 

23 after the date on which the funds are paid to the Spokane 

24 Business Council or Spokane Tribe under section 5 or 6. 


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1 (c) TREATMENT OF FUNDS FOR CERTAIN PUR2 POSES.—The payments of all amounts to the Spokane 

3 Business Council and Spokane Tribe under sections 5 and 

4 6, and the interest and income generated by those 

5 amounts, shall be treated in the same manner as payments 

6 under section 6 of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe 

7 of Michigan Distribution of Judgment Funds Act (100 

8 Stat. 677). 

9 (d) TRIBAL AUDIT.—After the date on which 

10 amounts are paid to the Spokane Business Council or Spo11 kane Tribe under section 5 or 6, the amounts shall— 

12 (1) constitute Spokane Tribe governmental 

13 amounts; and 

14 (2) be subject to an annual tribal government 

15 audit. 

16 SEC. 8. REPAYMENT CREDIT. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall deduct 

18 from the interest payable to the Secretary of the Treasury 

19 from net proceeds (as defined in section 13 of the Federal 

20 Columbia River Transmission System Act (16 U.S.C. 

21 838k))— 

22 (1) in fiscal year 2030, $2,700,000; and 

23 (2) in each subsequent fiscal year in which the 

24 Administrator makes a payment under section 6, 

25 $2,700,000. 


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1 (b) CREDITING.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para3 graphs (2) and (3), each deduction made under this 

4 section for the fiscal year shall be— 

5 (A) a credit to the interest payments oth6 erwise payable by the Administrator to the Sec7 retary of the Treasury during the fiscal year in 

8 which the deduction is made; and 

9 (B) allocated pro rata to all interest pay10 ments on debt associated with the generation 

11 function of the Federal Columbia River Power 

12 System that are due during the fiscal year. 

13 (2) DEDUCTION GREATER THAN AMOUNT OF

14 INTEREST.—If, in an applicable fiscal year under 

15 paragraph (1), the deduction is greater than the 

16 amount of interest due on debt associated with the 

17 generation function for the fiscal year, the amount 

18 of the deduction that exceeds the interest due on 

19 debt associated with the generation function shall be 

20 allocated pro rata to all other interest payments due 

21 during the fiscal year. 

22 (3) CREDIT.—To the extent that a deduction 

23 exceeds the total amount of interest described in 

24 paragraphs (1) and (2), the deduction shall be ap25 plied as a credit against any other payments that 


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1 the Administrator makes to the Secretary of the 

2 Treasury. 

3 SEC. 9. EXTINGUISHMENT OF CLAIMS. 

4 On the deposit of amounts in the Fund under section 

5 5, all monetary claims that the Spokane Tribe has or may 

6 have against the United States to a fair share of the an7 nual hydropower revenues generated by the Grand Coulee 

8 Dam project for the past and continued use of land of 

9 the Spokane Tribe for the production of hydropower at 

10 Grand Coulee Dam shall be extinguished. 

11 SEC. 10. ADMINISTRATION. 

12 Nothing in this Act establishes any precedent or is 

13 binding on the Southwestern Power Administration, West14 ern Area Power Administration, or Southeastern Power 

15 Administration. 

Æ 


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