II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 711

To allow for the investment of joint Federal and State funds from the

civil settlement of damages from the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and for

other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 24, 1999

Mr. MURKOWSKI (for himself and Mr. STEVENS) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To allow for the investment of joint Federal and State funds

from the civil settlement of damages from the Exxon

Valdez oil spill, 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. AMENDMENT OF CONSENT DECREE.

4 (a) PURPOSE—INVESTMENT OF JOINT TRUST

5 FUNDS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law,

6 upon the joint motion of the United States and the State

7 of Alaska and the issuance of an appropriate order by the

8 United States District Court for the District of Alaska,

9 the joint trust funds, or any portion thereof, including any
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1 interest accrued thereon, previously received or to be re2 ceived by the United States and the State of Alaska pursu3 ant to the Agreement and Consent Decree issued in

4 United States v. Exxon Corporation, et al. (No. A91–082

5 CIV) and State of Alaska v. Exxon Corporation, et al.

6 (No. A91–083 CIV) (hereafter referred to as the ‘‘Consent

7 Decree’’), may be deposited in—

8 (1) the Natural Resource Damage Assessment

9 and Restoration Fund (hereafter referred to as the

10 ‘‘Fund’’) established in title I of the Department of

11 the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations

12 Act, 1992 (Public Law 102–154, 43 U.S.C. 1474b);

13 (2) accounts outside the United States Treas14 ury (hereafter referred to as ‘‘outside accounts’’); or

15 (3) both.

16 Any funds deposited in an outside account shall be in17 vested in incoming-producing obligations and other instru18 ments or securities that have been determined unani19 mously by the Federal and State natural resource trustees

20 for the Exxon Valdez oil spill to have a high degree of

21 reliability and security.

22 (b) Joint trust funds deposited in the Fund or an

23 outside account that have been approved unanimously by

24 the trustees for expenditure by or through a State or Fed-
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1 eral agency shall be transferred promptly from the Fund

2 or the outside account to such agency.

3 (c) The transfer of joint trust funds outside the Court

4 Registry shall not affect the supervisory jurisdiction of the

5 District Court under the Consent Decree or the Memo6 randum of Agreement and Consent Decree in United

7 States v. State of Alaska (No. A91–081–CIV) over all ex8 penditures of the joint trust fund.

9 (d) Nothing herein shall affect the requirement of

10 section 207 of the Dire Emergency Supplemental Appro11 priations and Transfers for Relief From the Effects of

12 Natural Disasters, for Other Urgent Needs, and for the

13 Incremental Cost of ‘‘Operation Desert Shield/Desert

14 Storm’’ Act of 1992 (Public Law 102–229, U.S.C. 1474b

15 note) that amounts received by the United States and des16 ignated by the trustees for the expenditure by or through

17 a Federal agency must be deposited into the Fund.

18 (e) Any interest accrued under the authority in this

19 Act shall be used only for a peer reviewed grant program,

20 consisting of—

21 (1) marine research, including applied fisheries

22 research;

23 (2) monitoring; and

24 (3) restoration, other than habitat acquisition,

25 and additionally for community and economic res-
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1 toration projects and facilities (including projects

2 proposed by the communities of the EVOS Region

3 or the fishing industry).

4 (f) The trustees shall administer grants authorized

5 by this Act.

6 (g) The authority provided in this Act shall expire

7 on September 30, 2002, unless by September 30, 2001,

8 the trustees have submitted to the Congress a report rec9 ommending a structure the Trustees believe would be most

10 effective and appropriate for the administration and ex11 penditure of remaining funds and interest received. Upon

12 the expiration of the authorities granted in this Act all

13 monies in the Fund or outside accounts shall be returned

14 to the Court Registry.

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