S. 216 

One Hundred Sixteenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE FIRST SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Thursday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and nineteen 

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. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Spokane Tribe of Indians of 

the Spokane Reservation Equitable Compensation Act’’. 

SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

Congress finds that— 

(1) from 1927 to 1931, at the direction of Congress, the 

Corps of Engineers investigated the Columbia River and its 

tributaries to determine sites at which power could be produced 

at low cost; 

(2) under section 10(e) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 

803(e)), when licenses are issued involving tribal land within 

an Indian reservation, a reasonable annual charge shall be 

fixed for the use of the land, subject to the approval of the 

Indian tribe having jurisdiction over the land; 

(3) in August 1933, the Columbia Basin Commission, an 

agency of the State of Washington, received a preliminary 

permit from the Federal Power Commission for water power 

development at the Grand Coulee site; 

(4) had the Columbia Basin Commission or a private entity 

developed the site, the Spokane Tribe would have been entitled 

to a reasonable annual charge for the use of the land of the 

Spokane Tribe; 

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

not subject to licensing under the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 

792 et seq.)— 

(A) federalized the Grand Coulee Dam project; and 

(B) began construction of the Grand Coulee Dam; 

(6) when the Grand Coulee Dam project was federalized, 

the Federal Government recognized that— 

(A) development of the project affected the interests 

of the Spokane Tribe and the Confederated Tribes of the 

Colville Reservation; and 

(B) it would be appropriate for the Spokane and 

Colville Tribes to receive a share of revenue from the 

disposition of power produced at Grand Coulee Dam; 

(7) in the Act of June 29, 1940 (16 U.S.C. 835d et seq.), 

Congress— 
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(A) granted to the United States— 

(i) in aid of the construction, operation, and 

maintenance of the Columbia Basin Project, all the 

right, title, and interest of the Spokane Tribe and 

Colville Tribes in and to the tribal and allotted land 

within the Spokane and Colville Reservations, as designated by the Secretary of the Interior from time 

to time; and 

(ii) other interests in that land as required and 

as designated by the Secretary for certain construction 

activities undertaken in connection with the project; 

and 

(B) provided that compensation for the land and other 

interests was to be determined by the Secretary in such 

amounts as the Secretary determined to be just and equitable; 

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

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

(B) to the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, $63,000; 

(9) in 1994, following litigation under the Act of August 

13, 1946 (commonly known as the ‘‘Indian Claims Commission 

Act’’ (60 Stat. 1049, chapter 959; former 25 U.S.C. 70 et seq.)), 

Congress ratified the Colville Settlement Agreement, which 

required— 

(A) for past use of the land of the Colville Tribes, 

a payment of $53,000,000; and 

(B) for continued use of the land of the Colville Tribes, 

annual payments of $15,250,000, adjusted annually based 

on revenues from the sale of electric power from the Grand 

Coulee Dam project and transmission of that power by 

the Bonneville Power Administration; 

(10) the Spokane Tribe, having suffered harm similar to 

that suffered by the Colville Tribes, did not file a claim within 

the 5-year statute of limitations under the Indian Claims 

Commission Act; 

(11) neither the Colville Tribes nor the Spokane Tribe 

filed claims for compensation for use of the land of the respective tribes with the Commission prior to August 13, 1951, 

but both tribes filed unrelated land claims prior to August 

13, 1951; 

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

Colville Tribes were successful in amending the 1951 Claims 

Commission land claims to add the Grand Coulee claim of 

the Colville Tribes; 

(13) the Spokane Tribe had no such claim to amend, having 

settled the Claims Commission land claims of the Spokane 

Tribe with the United States in 1967; 

(14) the Spokane Tribe has suffered significant harm from 

the construction and operation of Grand Coulee Dam; 

(15) Spokane tribal acreage taken by the United States 

for the construction of Grand Coulee Dam equaled approximately 39 percent of Colville tribal acreage taken for construction of the dam; 

(16) the payments and delegation made pursuant to this 

Act constitute fair and equitable compensation for the past 
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and continued use of Spokane tribal land for the production 

of hydropower at Grand Coulee Dam; and 

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

Tribe has resolved that the payments and delegation made 

pursuant to this Act constitute fair and equitable compensation 

for the past and continued use of Spokane tribal land for 

the production of hydropower at Grand Coulee Dam. 

SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

The purpose of this Act is to provide fair and equitable compensation to the Spokane Tribe for the use of the land of the 

Spokane Tribe for the generation of hydropower by the Grand 

Coulee Dam. 

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

In this Act: 

(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the 

Administrator of the Bonneville Power Administration or the 

head of any successor agency, corporation, or entity that markets power produced at Grand Coulee Dam. 

(2) COLVILLE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT.—The term ‘‘Colville 

Settlement Agreement’’ means the Settlement Agreement 

entered into between the United States and the Colville Tribes, 

signed by the United States on April 21, 1994, and by the 

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

Colville Tribes in Docket 181–D of the Indian Claims Commission, which docket was transferred to the United States Court 

of Federal Claims. 

(3) COLVILLE TRIBES.—The term ‘‘Colville Tribes’’ means 

the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. 

(4) COMPUTED ANNUAL PAYMENT.—The term ‘‘Computed 

Annual Payment’’ means the payment calculated under paragraph 2.b. of the Colville Settlement Agreement, without regard 

to any increase or decrease in the payment under section 2.d. 

of the agreement. 

(5) CONFEDERATED TRIBES ACT.—The term ‘‘Confederated 

Tribes Act’’ means the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation Grand Coulee Dam Settlement Act (Public Law 103– 

436; 108 Stat. 4577). 

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

of the Interior. 

(7) SPOKANE BUSINESS COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Spokane Business Council’’ means the governing body of the Spokane Tribe 

under the constitution of the Spokane Tribe. 

(8) SPOKANE TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Spokane Tribe’’ means the 

Spokane Tribe of Indians of the Spokane Reservation, Washington. 

SEC. 5. PAYMENTS BY ADMINISTRATOR. 

(a) INITIAL PAYMENT.—On March 1, 2022, the Administrator 

shall pay to the Spokane Tribe an amount equal to 25 percent 

of the Computed Annual Payment for fiscal year 2021. 

(b) SUBSEQUENT PAYMENTS.— 

(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than March 1, 2023, and March 

1 of each year thereafter through March 1, 2029, the Administrator shall pay the Spokane Tribe an amount equal to 25 

percent of the Computed Annual Payment for the preceding 

fiscal year. 
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(2) MARCH 1, 2030, AND SUBSEQUENT YEARS.—Not later than 

March 1, 2030, and March 1 of each year thereafter, the 

Administrator shall pay the Spokane Tribe an amount equal 

to 32 percent of the Computed Annual Payment for the preceding fiscal year. 

SEC. 6. TREATMENT AFTER AMOUNTS ARE PAID. 

(a) USE OF PAYMENTS.—Payments made to the Spokane Business Council or Spokane Tribe under section 5 may be used or 

invested by the Spokane Business Council in the same manner 

and for the same purposes as other Spokane Tribe governmental 

amounts. 

(b) NO TRUST RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SECRETARY.—Neither 

the Secretary nor the Administrator shall have any trust responsibility for the investment, supervision, administration, or expenditure of any amounts after the date on which the funds are paid 

to the Spokane Business Council or Spokane Tribe under section 

5. 

(c) TREATMENT OF FUNDS FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES.—The payments of all amounts to the Spokane Business Council and Spokane 

Tribe under section 5, and the interest and income generated by 

those amounts, shall be treated in the same manner as payments 

under section 6 of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan 

Distribution of Judgment Funds Act (100 Stat. 677). 

(d) TRIBAL AUDIT.—After the date on which amounts are paid 

to the Spokane Business Council or Spokane Tribe under section 

5, the amounts shall— 

(1) constitute Spokane Tribe governmental amounts; and 

(2) be subject to an annual tribal government audit. 

SEC. 7. REPAYMENT CREDIT. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall deduct from the 

interest payable to the Secretary of the Treasury from net proceeds 

(as defined in section 13 of the Federal Columbia River Transmission System Act (16 U.S.C. 838k))— 

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

(2) in each subsequent fiscal year in which the Administrator makes a payment under section 5, $2,700,000. 

(b) CREDITING.— 

(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in paragraphs (2) 

and (3), each deduction made under this section for the fiscal 

year shall be— 

(A) a credit to the interest payments otherwise payable 

by the Administrator to the Secretary of the Treasury 

during the fiscal year in which the deduction is made; 

and 

(B) allocated pro rata to all interest payments on debt 

associated with the generation function of the Federal 

Columbia River Power System that are due during the 

fiscal year. 

(2) DEDUCTION GREATER THAN AMOUNT OF INTEREST.—If, 

in an applicable fiscal year under paragraph (1), the deduction 

is greater than the amount of interest due on debt associated 

with the generation function for the fiscal year, the amount 

of the deduction that exceeds the interest due on debt associated 

with the generation function shall be allocated pro rata to 

all other interest payments due during the fiscal year. 
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(3) CREDIT.—To the extent that a deduction exceeds the 

total amount of interest described in paragraphs (1) and (2), 

the deduction shall be applied as a credit against any other 

payments that the Administrator makes to the Secretary of 

the Treasury. 

SEC. 8. EXTINGUISHMENT OF CLAIMS. 

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

Spokane Tribe, all monetary claims that the Spokane Tribe has 

or may have against the United States to a fair share of the 

annual hydropower revenues generated by the Grand Coulee Dam 

project for the past and continued use of land of the Spokane 

Tribe for the production of hydropower at Grand Coulee Dam shall 

be extinguished. 

SEC. 9. ADMINISTRATION. 

Nothing in this Act establishes any precedent or is binding 

on the Southwestern Power Administration, Western Area Power 

Administration, or Southeastern Power Administration. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.