I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 487 

To amend the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Equitable Compensation Act 

to provide compensation to members of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe 

for damage resulting from the Oahe Dam and Reservoir Project, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 16, 2007 

Ms. HERSETH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Equitable Compensation Act to provide compensation to members of 

the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe for damage resulting 

from the Oahe Dam and Reservoir Project, 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 ‘‘Cheyenne River Sioux 

5 Tribe Equitable Compensation Amendments Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin pro2 gram, authorized by section 9 of the Act of Decem3 ber 22, 1944 (commonly known as the ‘‘Flood Con4 trol Act of 1944’’) (58 Stat. 891), was intended to 

5 promote the general economic development of the 

6 United States; 

7 (2) the Oahe Dam and Reservoir Project— 

8 (A) is a major component of the Pick9 Sloan Missouri River Basin program; and 

10 (B) contributes to the national economy; 

11 (3) the Oahe Dam and Reservoir Project flood12 ed the fertile bottom land of the Cheyenne River 

13 Sioux Reservation, which greatly damaged the econ14 omy and cultural resources of the Cheyenne River 

15 Sioux Tribe and caused the loss of many homes and 

16 communities of members of the Tribe; 

17 (4) Congress has provided compensation to sev18 eral Indian tribes, including the Cheyenne River 

19 Sioux Tribe, that border the Missouri River and suf20 fered injury as a result of 1 or more of the Pick21 Sloan projects; 

22 (5) on determining that the compensation paid 

23 to the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe was inadequate, 

24 Congress enacted the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe 

25 Equitable Compensation Act (Public Law 106–511; 


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1 114 Stat. 2365), which created the Cheyenne River 

2 Sioux Tribal Recovery Trust Fund; and 

3 (6) that Act did not provide for additional com4 pensation to members of the Cheyenne River Sioux 

5 Tribe that lost land as a result of the Oahe Dam 

6 and Reservoir Project. 

7 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 

8 (1) to provide that the Cheyenne River Sioux 

9 Tribal Recovery Trust Fund may be used to provide 

10 compensation to members of the Cheyenne River 

11 Sioux Tribe that lost land as a result of the Oahe 

12 Dam and Reservoir Project; and 

13 (2) to provide for the capitalization of the Chey14 enne River Sioux Tribal Recovery Trust Fund. 

15 SEC. 3. CHEYENNE RIVER SIOUX TRIBE EQUITABLE COM16 PENSATION. 

17 (a) FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.—Section 102 of the 

18 Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Equitable Compensation Act 

19 (Public Law 106–511; 114 Stat. 2365) is amended— 

20 (1) in subsection (a)(3), by striking subpara21 graphs (A) and (B) and inserting the following: 

22 ‘‘(A) the United States did not justly or 

23 fairly compensate the Tribe and member land24 owners for the Oahe Dam and Reservation 

25 project, under which the United States acquired 


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1 104,492 acres of land of the Tribe and member 

2 landowners; and 

3 ‘‘(B) the Tribe and member landowners 

4 should be adequately compensated for that 

5 land;’’; and 

6 (2) in subsection (b)(1), by inserting ‘‘and 

7 member landowners’’ after ‘‘Tribe’’ each place it ap8 pears. 

9 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 103 of the Cheyenne 

10 River Sioux Tribe Equitable Compensation Act (Public 

11 Law 106–511; 114 Stat. 2365) is amended— 

12 (1) by redesignating paragraph (1) as para13 graph (3) and moving the paragraph so as to appear 

14 after paragraph (2); and 

15 (2) by inserting before paragraph (2) the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(1) MEMBER LANDOWNER.—The term ‘mem18 ber landowner’ means a member of the Tribe (or an 

19 heir of such a member) that owned land (including 

20 land allotted under the Act of February 8, 1887 (24 

21 Stat. 388, chapter 119)) located on the Cheyenne 

22 River Sioux Reservation that was acquired by the 

23 United States for the Oahe Dam and Reservoir 

24 Project.’’. 


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1 (c) CHEYENNE RIVER SIOUX TRIBAL RECOVERY

2 TRUST FUND.—Section 104 of the Cheyenne River Sioux 

3 Tribe Equitable Compensation Act (Public Law 106–511; 

4 114 Stat. 2365) is amended— 

5 (1) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(b) FUNDING.—On the first day of the fiscal year 

8 beginning after the date of enactment of the Cheyenne 

9 River Sioux Tribe Equitable Compensation Amendments 

10 Act of 2007 and on the first day of each of the following 

11 4 fiscal years (referred to in this section as the ‘capitaliza12 tion dates’), the Secretary of the Treasury shall deposit 

13 into the Fund, from amounts in the general fund of the 

14 Treasury— 

15 ‘‘(1) $58,144,591.60; and 

16 ‘‘(2) an additional amount equal to the amount 

17 of interest that would have accrued if— 

18 ‘‘(A) the amount described in paragraph 

19 (1) had been— 

20 ‘‘(i) credited to the principal account 

21 as described in subsection (c)(2)(B)(i)(I) 

22 on the first day of the fiscal year beginning 

23 October 1, 2001; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) invested as described in sub25 section (c)(2)(C) during the period beginVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:29 Jan 17, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H487.IH H487

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1 ning on the date described in clause (i) 

2 and ending on the last day of the fiscal 

3 year before the fiscal year in which that 

4 amount is deposited into the Fund; and 

5 ‘‘(B) the interest that would have accrued 

6 under subparagraph (A) during the period de7 scribed in subparagraph (A)(ii) had been— 

8 ‘‘(i) credited to the interest account 

9 under subsection (c)(2)(B)(ii); and 

10 ‘‘(ii) invested during that period in ac11 cordance with subsection (c)(2)(D)(i).’’; 

12 (2) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(c) INVESTMENTS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE OBLIGATIONS.—Notwith16 standing any other provision of law, the Secretary of 

17 the Treasury shall invest the Fund only in interest18 bearing obligations of the United States issued di19 rectly to the Fund. 

20 ‘‘(2) INVESTMENT REQUIREMENTS.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the 

22 Treasury shall invest the Fund in accordance 

23 with this paragraph. 

24 ‘‘(B) SEPARATE INVESTMENTS OF PRIN25 CIPAL AND INTEREST.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) PRINCIPAL ACCOUNT.—The 

2 amounts deposited into the Fund under 

3 subsection (b)(1) shall be— 

4 ‘‘(I) credited to a principal ac5 count within the Fund (referred to in 

6 this paragraph as the ‘principal ac7 count’); and 

8 ‘‘(II) invested in accordance with 

9 subparagraph (C). 

10 ‘‘(ii) INTEREST ACCOUNT.— 

11 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The interest 

12 earned from investing amounts in the 

13 principal account shall be— 

14 ‘‘(aa) transferred to a sepa15 rate interest account within the 

16 Fund (referred to in this para17 graph as the ‘interest account’); 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(bb) invested in accordance 

20 with subparagraph (D). 

21 ‘‘(II) CREDITING.—The interest 

22 earned from investing amounts in the 

23 interest account, and the amounts de24 posited into the Fund under subVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:29 Jan 17, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H487.IH H487

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1 section (b)(2), shall be credited to the 

2 interest account. 

3 ‘‘(C) INVESTMENT OF PRINCIPAL AC4 COUNT.— 

5 ‘‘(i) INITIAL INVESTMENT.—Amounts 

6 in the principal account shall be initially 

7 invested in eligible obligations with the 

8 shortest available maturity. 

9 ‘‘(ii) SUBSEQUENT INVESTMENTS.— 

10 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—On the date 

11 on which the amount in the principal 

12 account is divisible into 3 substan13 tially equal portions, each portion 

14 shall be invested in eligible obligations 

15 that are identical (except for transfer16 ability) to the next-issued publicly17 issued Treasury obligations having a 

18 2-year maturity, a 5-year maturity, 

19 and a 10-year maturity, respectively. 

20 ‘‘(II) MATURITY OF OBLIGA21 TIONS.—As each 2-year, 5-year, and 

22 10-year eligible obligation under sub23 clause (I) matures, the principal of 

24 the maturing eligible obligation shall 

25 be initially invested in accordance with 


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1 clause (i) until the date on which the 

2 principal is reinvested substantially 

3 equally in the eligible obligations that 

4 are identical (except for transfer5 ability) to the next-issued publicly6 issued Treasury obligations having 2- 

7 year, 5-year, and 10-year maturities. 

8 ‘‘(iii) DISCONTINUATION OF ISSUANCE

9 OF OBLIGATIONS.—If the Department of 

10 the Treasury discontinues issuing to the 

11 public obligations having 2-year, 5-year, or 

12 10-year maturities, the principal of any 

13 maturing eligible obligation shall be rein14 vested substantially equally in available eli15 gible obligations that are identical (except 

16 for transferability) to the next-issued pub17 licly-issued Treasury obligations with ma18 turities of longer than 1 year. 

19 ‘‘(D) INVESTMENT OF INTEREST AC20 COUNT.— 

21 ‘‘(i) BEFORE EACH CAPITALIZATION

22 DATE.—For purposes of subsection 

23 (b)(2)(B), amounts considered as if they 

24 were in the interest account of the Fund 

25 shall be invested in eligible obligations that 


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1 are identical (except for transferability) to 

2 publicly-issued Treasury obligations that 

3 have maturities that coincide, to the great4 est extent practicable, with the applicable 

5 capitalization date for the Fund. 

6 ‘‘(ii) ON AND AFTER EACH CAPITAL7 IZATION DATE.—On and after each capital8 ization date, amounts in the interest ac9 count shall be invested and reinvested in 

10 eligible obligations that are identical (ex11 cept for transferability) to publicly-issued 

12 Treasury obligations that have maturities 

13 that coincide, to the greatest extent prac14 ticable, with the date on which the 

15 amounts will be withdrawn by the Sec16 retary of the Treasury and transferred to 

17 the Secretary of the Interior for use in ac18 cordance with subsection (d). 

19 ‘‘(E) PAR PURCHASE PRICE.— 

20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—To preserve in 

21 perpetuity the amount in the principal ac22 count, the purchase price of an eligible ob23 ligation purchased as an investment of the 

24 principal account shall not exceed the par 

25 value of the obligation. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) TREATMENT.—At the maturity 

2 of an eligible obligation described in clause 

3 (i), any discount from par in the purchase 

4 price of the eligible obligation shall be 

5 treated as interest paid at maturity. 

6 ‘‘(F) HOLDING TO MATURITY.—Eligible 

7 obligations purchased pursuant to this para8 graph shall be held to their maturities. 

9 ‘‘(3) ANNUAL REVIEW OF INVESTMENT ACTIVI10 TIES.—Not less frequently than once each calendar 

11 year, the Secretary of the Treasury shall review with 

12 the Tribe the results of the investment activities and 

13 financial status of the Fund during the preceding 

14 calendar year. 

15 ‘‘(4) MODIFICATIONS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary of the 

17 Treasury determines that investing the Fund in 

18 accordance with paragraph (2) is not prac19 ticable or would result in adverse consequences 

20 to the Fund, the Secretary of the Treasury 

21 shall modify the requirements to the least ex22 tent necessary, as determined by the Secretary 

23 of the Treasury. 

24 ‘‘(B) CONSULTATION.—Before making a 

25 modification under subparagraph (A), the SecVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:29 Jan 17, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H487.IH H487

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1 retary of the Treasury shall consult with the 

2 Tribe with respect to the modification.’’; 

3 (3) in subsection (d), by striking paragraph (1) 

4 and inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘(1) WITHDRAWAL OF INTEREST.—Beginning 

6 on the first day of the fiscal year beginning after the 

7 date of enactment of the Cheyenne River Sioux 

8 Tribe Equitable Compensation Amendments Act of 

9 2007, and on the first day of each fiscal year there10 after, the Secretary of the Treasury shall withdraw 

11 and transfer all funds in the interest account of the 

12 Fund to the Secretary of the Interior for use in ac13 cordance with paragraph (2), to be available without 

14 fiscal year limitation.’’; and 

15 (4) in subsection (f)— 

16 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and 

17 (4) as paragraphs (4) and (5), respectively; and 

18 (B) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

19 following: 

20 ‘‘(3) MEMBER LANDOWNERS.— 

21 ‘‘(A) ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION.— 

22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro23 vided in clause (iii), the plan may provide 

24 for the payment of additional compensa25 tion to member landowners for acquisition 


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1 of land by the United States for use in the 

2 Oahe Dam and Reservoir Project. 

3 ‘‘(ii) DETERMINATION OF HEIRS.—An 

4 heir of a member land owner shall be de5 termined pursuant to the applicable pro6 bate code of the Tribe. 

7 ‘‘(iii) EXCEPTION.—During any fiscal 

8 year, payments of additional compensation 

9 to a member landowner under clause (i) 

10 shall not— 

11 ‘‘(I) be deposited or transferred 

12 into— 

13 ‘‘(aa) the Individual Indian 

14 Money account of the member 

15 landowner; or 

16 ‘‘(bb) any other fund held by 

17 the United States on behalf of 

18 the member landowner; or 

19 ‘‘(II) exceed an amount equal to 

20 44.3 percent of the amount trans21 ferred by the Secretary of the Interior 

22 to the Tribe under paragraph (2). 

23 ‘‘(B) PROVISION OF RECORDS.—To assist 

24 the Tribe in processing claims of heirs of mem25 ber landowners for land acquired by the United 


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1 States for use in the Oahe Dam and Reservoir 

2 Project, the Secretary of the Interior shall pro3 vide to the Tribe, in accordance with applicable 

4 laws (including regulations), any record re5 quested by the Tribe to identify the heirs of 

6 member landowners by the date that is 90 days 

7 after the date of receipt of a request from the 

8 Tribe.’’. 

9 (d) ELIGIBILITY OF TRIBE FOR CERTAIN PROGRAMS

10 AND SERVICES.—Section 105 of the Cheyenne River Sioux 

11 Tribe Equitable Compensation Act (Public Law 106–511; 

12 114 Stat. 2365) is amended in the matter preceding para13 graph (1) by inserting ‘‘or any member landowner’’ after 

14 ‘‘Tribe’’. 

15 (e) EXTINGUISHMENT OF CLAIMS.—Section 107 of 

16 the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Equitable Compensation 

17 Act (Public Law 106–511; 114 Stat. 2368) is amended 

18 to read as follows: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 107. EXTINGUISHMENT OF CLAIMS. 

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—On the date on which the final 

21 payment is deposited into the Fund under section 104(b), 

22 all monetary claims that the Tribe has or may have 

23 against the United States for the taking by the United 

24 States of land and property of the Tribe for the Oahe Dam 


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1 and Reservoir Project of the Pick-Sloan Missouri River 

2 Basin program shall be extinguished. 

3 ‘‘(b) EFFECT OF ACCEPTANCE OF PAYMENT.—On 

4 acceptance by a member landowner or an heir of a member 

5 landowner of any payment by the Tribe for damages re6 sulting from the taking by the United States of land or 

7 property of the Tribe for the Oahe Dam and Reservoir 

8 Project of the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin program, 

9 all monetary claims that the member landowner or heir 

10 has or may have against the United States for the taking 

11 shall be extinguished.’’. 

Æ 


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