II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 216 

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 

JANUARY 24, 2019 

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) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

23 the Secretary of the Interior. 

24 (7) SPOKANE BUSINESS COUNCIL.—The term 

25 ‘‘Spokane Business Council’’ means the governing 


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1 body of the Spokane Tribe under the constitution of 

2 the Spokane Tribe. 

3 (8) SPOKANE TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Spokane 

4 Tribe’’ means the Spokane Tribe of Indians of the 

5 Spokane Reservation, Washington. 

6 SEC. 5. PAYMENTS BY ADMINISTRATOR. 

7 (a) INITIAL PAYMENT.—On March 1, 2022, the Ad8 ministrator shall pay to the Spokane Tribe an amount 

9 equal to 25 percent of the Computed Annual Payment for 

10 fiscal year 2021. 

11 (b) SUBSEQUENT PAYMENTS.— 

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

13 2023, and March 1 of each year thereafter through 

14 March 1, 2029, the Administrator shall pay the Spo15 kane Tribe an amount equal to 25 percent of the 

16 Computed Annual Payment for the preceding fiscal 

17 year. 

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

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

20 year thereafter, the Administrator shall pay the Spo21 kane Tribe an amount equal to 32 percent of the 

22 Computed Annual Payment for the preceding fiscal 

23 year. 


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1 SEC. 6. TREATMENT AFTER AMOUNTS ARE PAID. 

2 (a) USE OF PAYMENTS.—Payments made to the Spo3 kane Business Council or Spokane Tribe under section 5 

4 may be used or invested by the Spokane Business Council 

5 in the same manner and for the same purposes as other 

6 Spokane Tribe governmental amounts. 

7 (b) NO TRUST RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SEC8 RETARY.—Neither the Secretary nor the Administrator 

9 shall have any trust responsibility for the investment, su10 pervision, administration, or expenditure of any amounts 

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

12 Business Council or Spokane Tribe under section 5. 

13 (c) TREATMENT OF FUNDS FOR CERTAIN PUR14 POSES.—The payments of all amounts to the Spokane 

15 Business Council and Spokane Tribe under section 5, and 

16 the interest and income generated by those amounts, shall 

17 be treated in the same manner as payments under section 

18 6 of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan Dis19 tribution of Judgment Funds Act (100 Stat. 677). 

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

21 amounts are paid to the Spokane Business Council or Spo22 kane Tribe under section 5, the amounts shall— 

23 (1) constitute Spokane Tribe governmental 

24 amounts; and 

25 (2) be subject to an annual tribal government 

26 audit. 


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1 SEC. 7. REPAYMENT CREDIT. 

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

3 from the interest payable to the Secretary of the Treasury 

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

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

6 838k))— 

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

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

9 Administrator makes a payment under section 5, 

10 $2,700,000. 

11 (b) CREDITING.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para13 graphs (2) and (3), each deduction made under this 

14 section for the fiscal year shall be— 

15 (A) a credit to the interest payments oth16 erwise payable by the Administrator to the Sec17 retary of the Treasury during the fiscal year in 

18 which the deduction is made; and 

19 (B) allocated pro rata to all interest pay20 ments on debt associated with the generation 

21 function of the Federal Columbia River Power 

22 System that are due during the fiscal year. 

23 (2) DEDUCTION GREATER THAN AMOUNT OF

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

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

26 amount of interest due on debt associated with the 


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1 generation function for the fiscal year, the amount 

2 of the deduction that exceeds the interest due on 

3 debt associated with the generation function shall be 

4 allocated pro rata to all other interest payments due 

5 during the fiscal year. 

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

7 exceeds the total amount of interest described in 

8 paragraphs (1) and (2), the deduction shall be ap9 plied as a credit against any other payments that 

10 the Administrator makes to the Secretary of the 

11 Treasury. 

12 SEC. 8. EXTINGUISHMENT OF CLAIMS. 

13 On the date that payment under section 5(a) is made 

14 to the Spokane Tribe, all monetary claims that the Spo15 kane Tribe has or may have against the United States 

16 to a fair share of the annual hydropower revenues gen17 erated by the Grand Coulee Dam project for the past and 

18 continued use of land of the Spokane Tribe for the produc19 tion of hydropower at Grand Coulee Dam shall be extin20 guished. 

21 SEC. 9. ADMINISTRATION. 

22 Nothing in this Act establishes any precedent or is 

23 binding on the Southwestern Power Administration, WestVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:42 Jan 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S216.IS S216

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1 ern Area Power Administration, or Southeastern Power 

2 Administration. 

Æ 


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