II

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2259

To provide for the settlement of the claims of the Confederated Tribes

of the Colville Reservation concerning their contribution to the production

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

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 30 (legislative day, JUNE 7), 1994

Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Mr. HATFIELD, Mr. GORTON, Mr. INOUYE, and

Mr. BRADLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs

A BILL

To provide for the settlement of the claims of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation concerning their

contribution to 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 ‘‘Confederated Tribes

5 of the Colville Reservation Grand Coulee Dam Settlement

6 Act’’.

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

8 As used in this Act:
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1 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis2 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Bonneville

3 Power Administration.

4 (2) BONNEVILLE POWER ADMINISTRATION.—

5 The term ‘‘Bonneville Power Administration’’ means

6 the Bonneville Power Administration of the Depart7 ment of Energy or any successor agency, corpora8 tion, or entity that markets power produced at the

9 Dam.

10 (3) DAM.—The term ‘‘Dam’’ means the Grand

11 Coulee Dam—

12 (A) operated by the Bureau of Reclama13 tion of the Department of the Interior, and

14 (B) with respect to which power is mar15 keted by the Bonneville Power Administration

16 of the Department of Energy.

17 (4) CONFEDERATED TRIBES V. UNITED

18 STATES.—The term ‘‘Confederated Tribes v. United

19 States’’ means the case pending before the United

20 States Court of Claims arising from the claim filed

21 with the Indian Claims Commission with the docket

22 number 181–D that—

23 (A) was transferred to the United States

24 Court of Claims pursuant to the Federal Courts

25 Improvement Act of 1982 (96 Stat. 25) as Con-
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1 federated Tribes v. United States (20 Cl. Ct.

2 31);

3 (B) with respect to which an appeal was

4 filed in the United States Court of Appeals,

5 Federal Circuit (964 F.2d 1102) (Fed. Cir.

6 1992); and

7 (C) on the basis of the appeal, was re8 manded in part by the United States Court of

9 Appeals to the United States Court of Claims.

10 (5) MINOR.—The term ‘‘minor’’ means a child

11 who has not attained the age of 18.

12 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

13 the Secretary of the Interior.

14 (7) SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT.—The term

15 ‘‘Settlement Agreement’’ means the Settlement

16 Agreement entered into between the United States

17 and the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reserva18 tion, signed by the United States on April 21, 1994,

19 and by the Tribe on April 16, 1994, to settle the

20 claims of the Tribe under Confederated Tribes v.

21 United States.

22 (8) TRIBE.—‘‘Tribe’’ means the Confederated

23 Tribes of the Colville Reservation, a federally

24 recognized Indian tribe.
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1 SEC. 3. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:

3 (1) An action by the Confederated Tribes of the

4 Colville Reservation against the United States is

5 pending before the United States Court of Federal

6 Claims.

7 (2) In such action, the Tribe seeks to recover

8 damages under section 2(5)) of the Indian Claims

9 Commission Act (60 Stat. 1050 (formerly 25 U.S.C.

10 70a(5)) relating to fair and honorable dealings.

11 (3) Although the matter that is the subject of

12 such action is in dispute, the potential liability of the

13 United States is substantial.

14 (4) The claim filed by Tribe with respect to

15 such action alleges that—

16 (A) after the construction of the Grand

17 Coulee Dam, the United States has used land

18 located in the Colville Reservation in connection

19 with the generation of electric power;

20 (B) the United States will continue to use

21 such land during such time as the Grand Cou22 lee Dam produces power; and

23 (C) the United States has promised to pay

24 the Tribe for the use referred to in subpara25 graph (A), but has failed to make such pay26 ment.
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1 (5) After years of litigation, the United States

2 has negotiated a Settlement Agreement with the

3 Tribe that was signed by the appropriate officials of

4 the Department of Justice, the Bonneville Power

5 Administration, and the Department of the Interior.

6 (6) The Settlement Agreement is contingent on

7 the enactment of enabling legislation to approve and

8 ratify the Settlement Agreement.

9 (7) Upon the enactment of this Act, the Settle10 ment Agreement will—

11 (A) provide mutually agreeable compensa12 tion for the past use (as determined under such

13 Agreement) of land of the Colville Reservation

14 in connection with the generation of electric

15 power at Grand Coulee Dam;

16 (B) establish a method to ensure that the

17 Tribe will be compensated for future use (as de18 termined under such Agreement) of land of the

19 Colville Reservation in the generation of electric

20 power at Grand Coulee Dam; and approved;

21 and

22 (C) settle the claims of the Tribe against

23 the United States brought under the Indian

24 Claims Commission Act.
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1 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are as

2 follows:

3 (1) To approve and ratify the Settlement

4 Agreement entered into by the United States and

5 the Tribe.

6 (2) To direct the Bonneville Power Administra7 tion to carry out the obligations of the Bonneville

8 Power Administration under the Settlement Agree9 ment.

10 SEC. 4. APPROVAL, RATIFICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION

11 OF SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Settlement Agreement is

13 hereby approved and ratified.

14 (b) DUTIES OF THE BONNEVILLE POWER ADMINIS15 TRATION.—The Bonneville Power Administration shall—

16 (1) on an annual basis, make payments to the

17 Tribe in a manner consistent with the Settlement

18 Agreement; and

19 (2) carry out any other obligation of the Bonne20 ville Power Administration under the Settlement

21 Agreement.

22 (c) IMPLEMENTATION OF SETTLEMENT AGREE23 MENT.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—In a manner consistent with

25 the negotiated terms of the Settlement Agreement,
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1 the United States shall join in the motion that the

2 Tribe has agreed to file in Confederated Tribes of

3 Colville Reservation v. United States, for the entry

4 of a compromise final judgment in the amount of

5 $53,000,000.00.

6 (2) REQUIREMENTS FOR PAYMENT.—The

7 United States shall pay the amount specified in

8 paragraph (1) from funds appropriated pursuant to

9 section 1304 of title 31, United States Code. The

10 amount paid as a judgment may not be not reim11 bursed by the Bonneville Power Administration.

12 SEC. 5. DISTRIBUTION OF THE SETTLEMENT FUNDS.

13 (a) LUMP SUM PAYMENT.—The payment made

14 under section 4(c)(1) (including any interest that accrues

15 on the payment) shall be deposited by the Secretary of

16 the Treasury in a trust fund established for the Tribe pur17 suant to of Public Law 93–134 (25 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.)

18 for use by the tribal governing body of the Confederated

19 Tribes of the Colville Reservation, pursuant to a distribu20 tion plan developed by the Tribe and approved by the Sec21 retary of the Interior pursuant to section 3 of Public Law

22 93–134 (25 U.S.C. 1403), except that—

23 (1) under the distribution plan developed pursu24 ant to this subsection any payment to be made to a
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1 minor shall be held by the United States in trust for

2 the minor until the later of—

3 (A) the date the minor attains the age of

4 18; or

5 (B) the date of graduation of the second6 ary school class with respect to which the minor

7 is scheduled to be a member; and

8 (2) the Secretary may, pursuant to regulations

9 prescribed by the Secretary relating to the adminis10 tration of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, authorize

11 the emergency use of trust funds for the benefit of

12 a minor.

13 (b) ANNUAL PAYMENTS.—In addition to the lump

14 sum payment described in subsection (a), the appropriate

15 official of the Federal Government shall make annual pay16 ments directly to the Tribe in accordance with the Settle17 ment Agreement. The Tribe may use any amount received

18 as an annual payment under this subsection in the same

19 manner as the Tribe may use any other income received

20 by the Tribe from the lease or sale of natural resources.

21 SEC. 6. REPAYMENT CREDIT.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning with fiscal year 2000,

23 and ending at the end of the last fiscal year during which

24 the Tribe receives an annual payment pursuant to the Set25 tlement Agreement, the Administrator shall deduct from
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1 the interest payable to the Secretary of the Treasury from

2 net proceeds (as defined in section 13(b) of the Federal

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

4 838(b)) an amount equal to 26 percent of the payment

5 made to the Tribe for the immediately preceding fiscal

6 year.

7 (b) CREDIT OF INTEREST.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each deduction made under

9 this section shall—

10 (A) be credited to the amount of interest

11 payments that would otherwise be payable by

12 the Administrator to the Secretary of the

13 Treasury during the fiscal year in which the de14 duction is made; and

15 (B) be allocated on a pro rata basis to all

16 interest payments on debt associated with the

17 generation function of the Federal Columbia

18 River Power System that are payable during

19 the fiscal year specified in subparagraph (A).

20 (2) SPECIAL ALLOCATION RULE.—If, for any

21 fiscal year a deduction calculated pursuant to para22 graph (1) would be greater than the amount of in23 terest due on debt associated with the generation

24 function described in paragraph (1)(B) for such fis25 cal year, the amount by which the deduction exceeds
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1 the interest due on debt associated with the genera2 tion function shall be allocated on a pro rata basis

3 as a credit for the payment of any other interest

4 that is payable by the Administrator by the Sec5 retary for such fiscal year.

6 SEC. 7. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.

7 (a) LIENS AND FORFEITURES.—Funds paid or de8 posited to the credit of the Tribe pursuant to the Settle9 ment Agreement or this Act, any interest or investment

10 income earned or received on such funds, any payment au11 thorized by the Tribe or the Secretary of the Interior to

12 be made from such funds to members of the Tribe, and

13 any interest or investment income earned on any such pay14 ment earned or received and deposited in a trust pursuant

15 to this section for a member of the Tribe, may not be sub16 ject to any levy, execution, forfeiture, garnishment, lien,

17 encumbrance, seizure, or taxation by the Federal Govern18 ment or a State or political subdivision of a State.

19 (b) ELIGIBILITY FOR FEDERAL AND FEDERALLY

20 FUNDED PROGRAMS.—None of the funds described in

21 subsection (a) may be treated as income or resources or

22 otherwise used as the basis for denying or reducing the

23 financial assistance or other benefits to which the Tribe,

24 a member of the Tribe, or a household of the Tribe would

25 otherwise be entitled under the Social Security Act (42
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1 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) or any program of the Federal Govern2 ment or program that receives assistance from the Federal

3 Government.

4 (c) TRUST RESPONSIBILITY.—This Act and the Set5 tlement Agreement may not be construed to affect the

6 trust responsibility of the United States to the Tribe or

7 to any of the members of the Tribe.

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