II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1523

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

civil settlement of damages from the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

NOVEMBER 12, 1997

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

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

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.

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

3 That, notwithstanding any other provision of law, upon

4 the joint motion of the United States and the State of

5 Alaska and the issuance of an appropriate order by the

6 United States District Court for the District of Alaska,

7 the joint trust funds or any portion thereof, including any

8 interest accrued thereon, previously received or to be re9 ceived by the United States and the State of Alaska pursu10 ant to the Agreement and Consent decree issued in United
2

S 1523 IS

1 States v. Exxon Corporation, et al. (No. A91–082 CIV)

2 and State of Alaska v. Exxon Corporation, et al. (No.

3 A91–083 CIV) (hereafter referred to as the ‘‘Consent De4 cree’’), may be deposited in appropriate accounts outside

5 the Court Registry, including the Natural Resource Dam6 age Assessment and Restoration Fund (hereafter referred

7 to as the ‘‘Fund’’) established in title I of the Department

8 of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act,

9 1992 (Pub. L. 102–154, 43 U.S.C. 1474b) and such ac10 counts outside the United States Treasury consisting of

11 income-producing obligations and other instruments or se12 curities of a type or class that have been determined

13 unanimously by the Federal and State natural resource

14 trustees for the Exxon Valdez oil spill to have a high de15 gree of reliability and security: Provided, That any joint

16 trust funds in the Fund and any such outside accounts

17 that have been approved unanimously by the trustees for

18 expenditure by or through a State of Federal agency shall

19 be transferred promptly from the Fund and such outside

20 accounts to the State or United States upon the joint re21 quest of the governments: Provided further, That the

22 transfer of joint trust funds outside the Court Registry

23 shall not affect the supervisory jurisdiction of such Dis24 trict Court under the Consent Decree or the Memorandum

25 of Agreement and Consent Decree in United States v.
3

S 1523 IS

1 State of Alaska (No. A91–081–CIV) over all expenditures

2 of the joint trust funds: Provided further, That nothing

3 herein shall affect the requirement of section 207 of the

4 Dire Emergency Supplemental Appropriations and Trans5 fers for Relief From the Effects of Natural Disasters, for

6 Other Urgent Needs, and for the Incremental Cost of

7 ‘‘Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm’’ Act of 1992

8 (Pub. L. 102–229, U.S.C. 1474b note) that amounts re9 ceived by the United States and designated by the trustees

10 for the expenditure by or through a Federal agency must

11 be deposited into the Fund: Provided further, That any

12 interest accrued under the authority in this section may

13 be used only for grants for marine research and monitor14 ing (including applied fisheries research) and for commu15 nity and economic restoration projects (including projects

16 proposed by the fishing industry and facilities): Provided

17 further, That the Federal trustees are hereby authorized

18 to administer such grants: Provided further, That the au19 thority provided in this section shall expire on September

20 30, 2002, unless by September 30, 2001 the trustees have

21 submitted to the Congress a proposal to authorize in Fed22 eral statute a board to administer funds invested, interest

23 received, and grants awarded from such interest.

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