IC 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 216 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 28, 2019 

Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Spokane Tribe of Indi3 ans of the Spokane Reservation Equitable Compensation 

4 Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 Congress finds that— 

7 (1) from 1927 to 1931, at the direction of Con8 gress, the Corps of Engineers investigated the Co9 lumbia River and its tributaries to determine sites at 

10 which power could be produced at low cost; 

11 (2) under section 10(e) of the Federal Power 

12 Act (16 U.S.C. 803(e)), when licenses are issued in13 volving tribal land within an Indian reservation, a 

14 reasonable annual charge shall be fixed for the use 

15 of the land, subject to the approval of the Indian 

16 tribe having jurisdiction over the land; 

17 (3) in August 1933, the Columbia Basin Com18 mission, an agency of the State of Washington, re19 ceived a preliminary permit from the Federal Power 

20 Commission for water power development at the 

21 Grand Coulee site; 

22 (4) had the Columbia Basin Commission or a 

23 private entity developed the site, the Spokane Tribe 

24 would have been entitled to a reasonable annual 

25 charge for the use of the land of the Spokane Tribe; 


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1 (5) in the mid-1930s, the Federal Government, 

2 which is not subject to licensing under the Federal 

3 Power Act (16 U.S.C. 792 et seq.)— 

4 (A) federalized the Grand Coulee Dam 

5 project; and 

6 (B) began construction of the Grand Cou7 lee Dam; 

8 (6) when the Grand Coulee Dam project was 

9 federalized, the Federal Government recognized 

10 that— 

11 (A) development of the project affected the 

12 interests of the Spokane Tribe and the Confed13 erated Tribes of the Colville Reservation; and 

14 (B) it would be appropriate for the Spo15 kane and Colville Tribes to receive a share of 

16 revenue from the disposition of power produced 

17 at Grand Coulee Dam; 

18 (7) in the Act of June 29, 1940 (16 U.S.C. 

19 835d et seq.), Congress— 

20 (A) granted to the United States— 

21 (i) in aid of the construction, oper22 ation, and maintenance of the Columbia 

23 Basin Project, all the right, title, and in24 terest of the Spokane Tribe and Colville 

25 Tribes in and to the tribal and allotted 


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1 land within the Spokane and Colville Res2 ervations, as designated by the Secretary 

3 of the Interior from time to time; and 

4 (ii) other interests in that land as re5 quired and as designated by the Secretary 

6 for certain construction activities under7 taken in connection with the project; and 

8 (B) provided that compensation for the 

9 land and other interests was to be determined 

10 by the Secretary in such amounts as the Sec11 retary determined to be just and equitable; 

12 (8) pursuant to that Act, the Secretary paid— 

13 (A) to the Spokane Tribe, $4,700; and 

14 (B) to the Confederated Tribes of the 

15 Colville Reservation, $63,000; 

16 (9) in 1994, following litigation under the Act 

17 of August 13, 1946 (commonly known as the ‘‘In18 dian Claims Commission Act’’ (60 Stat. 1049, chap19 ter 959; former 25 U.S.C. 70 et seq.)), Congress 

20 ratified the Colville Settlement Agreement, which re21 quired— 

22 (A) for past use of the land of the Colville 

23 Tribes, a payment of $53,000,000; and 

24 (B) for continued use of the land of the 

25 Colville Tribes, annual payments of 


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1 $15,250,000, adjusted annually based on reve2 nues from the sale of electric power from the 

3 Grand Coulee Dam project and transmission of 

4 that power by the Bonneville Power Adminis5 tration; 

6 (10) the Spokane Tribe, having suffered harm 

7 similar to that suffered by the Colville Tribes, did 

8 not file a claim within the 5-year statute of limita9 tions under the Indian Claims Commission Act; 

10 (11) neither the Colville Tribes nor the Spokane 

11 Tribe filed claims for compensation for use of the 

12 land of the respective tribes with the Commission 

13 prior to August 13, 1951, but both tribes filed unre14 lated land claims prior to August 13, 1951; 

15 (12) in 1976, over objections by the United 

16 States, the Colville Tribes were successful in amend17 ing the 1951 Claims Commission land claims to add 

18 the Grand Coulee claim of the Colville Tribes; 

19 (13) the Spokane Tribe had no such claim to 

20 amend, having settled the Claims Commission land 

21 claims of the Spokane Tribe with the United States 

22 in 1967; 

23 (14) the Spokane Tribe has suffered significant 

24 harm from the construction and operation of Grand 

25 Coulee Dam; 


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1 (15) Spokane tribal acreage taken by the 

2 United States for the construction of Grand Coulee 

3 Dam equaled approximately 39 percent of Colville 

4 tribal acreage taken for construction of the dam; 

5 (16) the payments and delegation made pursu6 ant to this Act constitute fair and equitable com7 pensation for the past and continued use of Spokane 

8 tribal land for the production of hydropower at 

9 Grand Coulee Dam; and 

10 (17) by vote of the Spokane tribal membership, 

11 the Spokane Tribe has resolved that the payments 

12 and delegation made pursuant to this Act constitute 

13 fair and equitable compensation for the past and 

14 continued use of Spokane tribal land for the produc15 tion of hydropower at Grand Coulee Dam. 

16 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

17 The purpose of this Act is to provide fair and equi18 table compensation to the Spokane Tribe for the use of 

19 the land of the Spokane Tribe for the generation of hydro20 power by the Grand Coulee Dam. 

21 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this Act: 

23 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis24 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Bonneville 

25 Power Administration or the head of any successor 


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1 agency, corporation, or entity that markets power 

2 produced at Grand Coulee Dam. 

3 (2) COLVILLE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT.—The 

4 term ‘‘Colville Settlement Agreement’’ means the 

5 Settlement Agreement entered into between the 

6 United States and the Colville Tribes, signed by the 

7 United States on April 21, 1994, and by the Colville 

8 Tribes on April 16, 1994, to settle the claims of the 

9 Colville Tribes in Docket 181–D of the Indian 

10 Claims Commission, which docket was transferred to 

11 the United States Court of Federal Claims. 

12 (3) COLVILLE TRIBES.—The term ‘‘Colville 

13 Tribes’’ means the Confederated Tribes of the 

14 Colville Reservation. 

15 (4) COMPUTED ANNUAL PAYMENT.—The term 

16 ‘‘Computed Annual Payment’’ means the payment 

17 calculated under paragraph 2.b. of the Colville Set18 tlement Agreement, without regard to any increase 

19 or decrease in the payment under section 2.d. of the 

20 agreement. 

21 (5) CONFEDERATED TRIBES ACT.—The term 

22 ‘‘Confederated Tribes Act’’ means the Confederated 

23 Tribes of the Colville Reservation Grand Coulee 

24 Dam Settlement Act (Public Law 103–436; 108 

25 Stat. 4577). 


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

2 the Secretary of the Interior. 

3 (7) SPOKANE BUSINESS COUNCIL.—The term 

4 ‘‘Spokane Business Council’’ means the governing 

5 body of the Spokane Tribe under the constitution of 

6 the Spokane Tribe. 

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

8 Tribe’’ means the Spokane Tribe of Indians of the 

9 Spokane Reservation, Washington. 

10 SEC. 5. PAYMENTS BY ADMINISTRATOR. 

11 (a) INITIAL PAYMENT.—On March 1, 2022, the Ad12 ministrator shall pay to the Spokane Tribe an amount 

13 equal to 25 percent of the Computed Annual Payment for 

14 fiscal year 2021. 

15 (b) SUBSEQUENT PAYMENTS.— 

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

17 2023, and March 1 of each year thereafter through 

18 March 1, 2029, the Administrator shall pay the Spo19 kane Tribe an amount equal to 25 percent of the 

20 Computed Annual Payment for the preceding fiscal 

21 year. 

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

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

24 year thereafter, the Administrator shall pay the Spo25 kane Tribe an amount equal to 32 percent of the 


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1 Computed Annual Payment for the preceding fiscal 

2 year. 

3 SEC. 6. TREATMENT AFTER AMOUNTS ARE PAID. 

4 (a) USE OF PAYMENTS.—Payments made to the Spo5 kane Business Council or Spokane Tribe under section 5 

6 may be used or invested by the Spokane Business Council 

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

8 Spokane Tribe governmental amounts. 

9 (b) NO TRUST RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SEC10 RETARY.—Neither the Secretary nor the Administrator 

11 shall have any trust responsibility for the investment, su12 pervision, administration, or expenditure of any amounts 

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

14 Business Council or Spokane Tribe under section 5. 

15 (c) TREATMENT OF FUNDS FOR CERTAIN PUR16 POSES.—The payments of all amounts to the Spokane 

17 Business Council and Spokane Tribe under section 5, and 

18 the interest and income generated by those amounts, shall 

19 be treated in the same manner as payments under section 

20 6 of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan Dis21 tribution of Judgment Funds Act (100 Stat. 677). 

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

23 amounts are paid to the Spokane Business Council or Spo24 kane Tribe under section 5, the amounts shall— 


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1 (1) constitute Spokane Tribe governmental 

2 amounts; and 

3 (2) be subject to an annual tribal government 

4 audit. 

5 SEC. 7. REPAYMENT CREDIT. 

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

7 from the interest payable to the Secretary of the Treasury 

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

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

10 838k))— 

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

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

13 Administrator makes a payment under section 5, 

14 $2,700,000. 

15 (b) CREDITING.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para17 graphs (2) and (3), each deduction made under this 

18 section for the fiscal year shall be— 

19 (A) a credit to the interest payments oth20 erwise payable by the Administrator to the Sec21 retary of the Treasury during the fiscal year in 

22 which the deduction is made; and 

23 (B) allocated pro rata to all interest pay24 ments on debt associated with the generation 


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1 function of the Federal Columbia River Power 

2 System that are due during the fiscal year. 

3 (2) DEDUCTION GREATER THAN AMOUNT OF

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

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

6 amount of interest due on debt associated with the 

7 generation function for the fiscal year, the amount 

8 of the deduction that exceeds the interest due on 

9 debt associated with the generation function shall be 

10 allocated pro rata to all other interest payments due 

11 during the fiscal year. 

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

13 exceeds the total amount of interest described in 

14 paragraphs (1) and (2), the deduction shall be ap15 plied as a credit against any other payments that 

16 the Administrator makes to the Secretary of the 

17 Treasury. 

18 SEC. 8. EXTINGUISHMENT OF CLAIMS. 

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

20 to the Spokane Tribe, all monetary claims that the Spo21 kane Tribe has or may have against the United States 

22 to a fair share of the annual hydropower revenues gen23 erated by the Grand Coulee Dam project for the past and 

24 continued use of land of the Spokane Tribe for the producVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Jun 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S216.RFH S216

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1 tion of hydropower at Grand Coulee Dam shall be extin2 guished. 

3 SEC. 9. ADMINISTRATION. 

4 Nothing in this Act establishes any precedent or is 

5 binding on the Southwestern Power Administration, West6 ern Area Power Administration, or Southeastern Power 

7 Administration. 

Passed the Senate June 27, 2019. 

Attest: JULIE E. ADAMS, 

Secretary. 


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