II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1525

To provide for equitable compensation of the Spokane Tribe of Indians of

the Spokane Reservation in settlement of its claims concerning its contribution to the production of hydropower by the Grand Coulee Dam,

and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

AUGUST 5, 1999

Mrs. MURRAY (for herself and Mr. INOUYE) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs

A BILL

To provide for equitable compensation of the Spokane Tribe

of Indians of the Spokane Reservation in settlement of

its claims concerning its contribution to 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 Grand Coulee Dam Equi6 table Compensation Settlement Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress finds the following:

3 (1) From 1927 to 1931, at the direction of

4 Congress, the Corps of Engineers investigated the

5 Columbia River and its tributaries to determine sites

6 where power could be produced at low cost.

7 (2) The Corps of Engineers listed a number of

8 sites, including the site where the Grand Coulee

9 Dam is now located, with recommendations that the

10 power development be performed by local govern11 mental authorities or private utilities under the Fed12 eral Power Act.

13 (3) Under section 10(e) of the Federal Power

14 Act, licensees must pay Indian tribes for the use of

15 reservation lands.

16 (4) The Columbia Basin Commission, an agen17 cy of the State of Washington, applied for, and in

18 August 1933 received, a preliminary permit from the

19 Federal Power Commission for water power develop20 ment of the Grand Coulee Site.

21 (5) In the mid-1930’s, the Federal Government,

22 which is not subject to the Federal Power Act, fed23 eralized the Grand Coulee Dam project and began

24 construction of the Grand Coulee Dam.

25 (6) At the time the Grand Coulee Dam project

26 was federalized, the Federal Government knew and
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1 recognized that the Spokane Tribe and the Confed2 erated Tribes of the Colville Reservation had com3 pensable interests in the Grand Coulee Dam project,

4 including but not limited to development of hydro5 power, extinguishment of a salmon fishery upon

6 which the Spokane Tribe was almost totally depend7 ent, and inundation of lands with loss of potential

8 power sites previously identified by the Spokane

9 Tribe.

10 (7) In an Act dated June 29, 1940 (54 Stat.

11 703; 16 U.S.C. 835d), Congress enacted legislation

12 to grant to the United States all the rights of the

13 Indians in lands of the Spokane Tribe and Colville

14 Indian Reservations required for the Grand Coulee

15 Dam project and various rights-of-way over Indian

16 lands required in connection with the project. The

17 Act provided that compensation for the lands and

18 rights-of-way required shall be determined by the

19 Secretary of the Interior in such amounts as such

20 Secretary determines just and equitable.

21 (8) In furtherance of the Act of June 29, 1940,

22 the Secretary of the Interior paid to the Spokane

23 Tribe the total sum of $4,700. The Confederated

24 Tribes of the Colville Reservation received a pay25 ment of $63,000.
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1 (9) In 1994, following 43 years of litigation be2 fore the Indian Claims Commission, the United

3 States Court of Federal Claims and the United

4 States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit,

5 Congress ratified an agreement between the Confed6 erated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and the

7 United States that provided for past damages and

8 annual payments of $15,250,000 in perpetuity, ad9 justed annually, based on revenues for the sale of

10 electric power and transmission of such power by the

11 Bonneville Power Administration.

12 (10) In legal opinions issued throughout the

13 years by the Department of the Interior Solicitor’s

14 Office, a Task Force Study conducted from 1976 to

15 1980 ordered by the Senate Appropriations Com16 mittee, and in hearings before the Congress when

17 the Confederated Tribes Act was enacted, it has re18 peatedly been recognized that the Spokane Tribe

19 suffered similar damages and had a case legally

20 comparable with that of the Confederated Tribes of

21 the Colville Reservation with the sole exception that

22 the 5-year statute of limitations provided in the In23 dian Claims Commission Act of 1946 prevented the

24 Spokane Tribe from bringing its own action for fair

25 and honorable dealings as provided in that Act.
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1 (11) The failure of the Spokane Tribe to bring

2 an action of its own before the Indian Claims Com3 mission can be attributed to a combination of fac4 tors, including the failure of the Bureau of Indian

5 Affairs to carry out its advisory responsibilities as

6 required by the Indian Claims commission Act (Act

7 of August 13, 1946, ch. 959, 60 Stat. 1050), and

8 an effort of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to

9 impose improper requirements on claims attorneys

10 retained by Indian tribes which caused delays in re11 tention of counsel and full investigation of the Spo12 kane Tribe’s potential claims.

13 (12) As a consequence of construction of the

14 Grand Coulee Dam project, the Spokane Tribe has

15 suffered the complete loss of the salmon fishery

16 upon which it was dependent, the loss of identified

17 hydropower sites it could have developed, the loss of

18 hydropower revenues it would have received under

19 the Federal Power Act had the project not been fed20 eralized, and it continues to lose hydropower reve21 nues which the Federal Government recognized the

22 Spokane Tribe was due at the time the project was

23 constructed.
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1 (13) Over 39 percent of the Indian-owned lands

2 used for the Grand Coulee Dam project were Spo3 kane Tribe lands.

4 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.

5 The purpose of this Act is to provide fair and equi6 table compensation to the Spokane Tribe on a basis that

7 is proportionate to the compensation provided to the Con8 federated Tribes of the Colville Reservation for the dam9 ages and losses suffered as a consequence of construction

10 and operation of the Grand Coulee Dam project.

11 SEC. 4. SETTLEMENT FUND ACCOUNT.

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF ACCOUNT.—There is hereby

13 established in the Treasury an interest bearing account

14 to be known as the ‘‘Spokane Tribe of Indians Settlement

15 Fund Account’’.

16 (b) DEPOSIT OF AMOUNTS.—

17 (1) INITIAL DEPOSIT.—Upon enactment of this

18 Act and appropriation of funds, the Secretary of the

19 Treasury shall deposit into the Fund Account a sum

20 equal to 39.4 percent of the sum paid to the Confed21 erated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in a lump

22 sum pursuant to section 5(a) of the Confederated

23 Tribes Act, adjusted by the consumer price index

24 from the date of that payment to the Confederated

25 Tribes until the date of enactment of this Act, as
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1 payment and satisfaction of the Spokane Tribe’s

2 claim for use of its lands for generation of hydro3 power for the period from 1940 through November

4 2, 1994, the date of the enactment of the Confed5 erated Tribes Act.

6 (2) SUBSEQUENT DEPOSITS.—Commencing on

7 September 30 of the first fiscal year following enact8 ment of this Act and on September 30 of each of the

9 5 fiscal years following such fiscal year, the Admin10 istrator of the Bonneville Power Administration shall

11 pay into the Fund Account a sum equal to 20 per12 cent of 39.4 percent of the sum authorized to be

13 paid to the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Res14 ervation pursuant to section 5(b) of the Confed15 erated Tribes Act through the end of the fiscal year

16 during which this Act is enacted, adjusted by the

17 consumer price index to maintain the purchasing

18 power the Spokane Tribe would have had if annual

19 payments had been made to the Spokane Tribe on

20 the date annual payments commenced and were sub21 sequently made to the Confederated Tribes of the

22 Colville Reservation pursuant to section 5(b) of the

23 Confederated Tribes Act.

24 (c) ANNUAL PAYMENTS.—On September 1 of the fis25 cal year following the enactment of this Act and of each
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1 fiscal year thereafter, payments shall be made by the Bon2 neville Power Administration, or any successor thereto, di3 rectly to the Spokane Tribe in an amount which is equal

4 to 39.4 percent of the annual payment authorized to be

5 paid to the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation

6 in the operative and each subsequent fiscal year pursuant

7 to section 5(b) of the Confederated Tribes Act.

8 SEC. 5. USE AND TREATMENT OF SETTLEMENT FUNDS.

9 (a) TRANSFER OF FUNDS TO TRIBE.—The Secretary

10 of the Treasury shall transfer all or any portion of the

11 settlement funds described in section 4(a) to the Spokane

12 Business Council not later than 60 days after such Sec13 retary receives written notice of the adoption by the Spo14 kane Business Council of a resolution requesting that such

15 Secretary execute the transfer of such funds. Subsequent

16 requests may be made and funds transferred if not all of

17 the funds are requested at one time.

18 (b) USE OF INITIAL PAYMENT FUNDS.—

19 (1) GENERAL DISCRETIONARY FUNDS.—Twen20 ty-five percent of the settlement funds described in

21 section 4(a) and (b) shall be reserved by the Busi22 ness Council and used for discretionary purposes of

23 general benefit to all members of the Spokane Tribe.
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1 (2) FUNDS FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES.—Seventy2 five percent of the settlement funds described in sec3 tion 4(a) and (b) shall be used for the following:

4 (A) Resource development program.

5 (B) Credit program.

6 (C) Scholarship program.

7 (D) Reserve, investment, and economic de8 velopment programs.

9 (c) USE OF ANNUAL PAYMENT FUNDS.—Annual

10 payments made to the Spokane Tribe pursuant to section

11 4(c) may be used or invested by the Spokane Tribe in the

12 same manner as other tribal governmental funds.

13 (d) APPROVAL OF SECRETARY NOT REQUIRED.—

14 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the approval

15 of the Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary of the

16 Interior for any payment, distribution, or use of the prin17 cipal, interest, or income generated by any settlement

18 funds transferred or paid to the Spokane Tribe pursuant

19 to this Act shall not be required and such Secretaries shall

20 have no trust responsibility for the investment, super21 vision, administration, or expenditure of such funds once

22 such funds are transferred to or paid directly to the Spo23 kane Tribe.

24 (e) TREATMENT OF FUNDS FOR CERTAIN PUR25 POSES.—The payments or distributions of any portion of
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1 the principal, interest, and income generated by the settle2 ment funds described in section 4 shall be treated in the

3 same manner as payments or distributions from the In4 vestment Fund described in section 6 of Public Law 99–

5 346 (100 Stat. 677).

6 (f) TRIBAL AUDIT.—The settlement funds described

7 in section 4, once transferred or paid to the Spokane

8 Tribe, shall be considered Spokane Tribe governmental

9 funds and, as other tribal governmental funds, be subject

10 to an annual tribal governmental audit.

11 SEC. 6. REPAYMENT CREDIT.

12 Beginning in the fiscal year following enactment of

13 this Act and continuing for so long as annual payments

14 are made under this Act, the Administrator of the Bonne15 ville Power Administration shall deduct from the interest

16 payable to the Secretary of the Treasury from net pro17 ceeds as defined in section 13 of the Federal Columbia

18 River Transmission System Act, a percentage of the pay19 ment made to the Spokane Tribe for the prior fiscal year.

20 The actual percentage of such deduction shall be cal21 culated and adjusted to ensure that the Bonneville Power

22 Administration receives a deduction comparable to that

23 which it receives for payments made to the Confederated

24 Tribes of the Colville Reservation pursuant to the Confed25 erated Tribes Act. Each deduction made under this section
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1 shall be credited to the interest payments otherwise pay2 able by the Administrator to the Secretary of the Treasury

3 during the fiscal year in which the deduction is made, and

4 shall be allocated pro rata to all interest payments on debt

5 associated with the generation function of the Federal Co6 lumbia River Power System that are due during that fiscal

7 year; except that, if the deduction in any fiscal year is

8 greater than the interest due on debt associated with the

9 generation function for the fiscal year, then the amount

10 of the deduction that exceeds the interest due on debt as11 sociated with the general function shall be allocated pro

12 rata to all other interest payments due during that fiscal

13 year. To the extent that the deduction exceeds the total

14 amount of any such interest, the deduction shall be applied

15 as a credit against any other payments that the Adminis16 trator makes to the Secretary of the Treasury.

17 SEC. 7. SATISFACTION OF CLAIMS.

18 Payment under section 4 shall constitute full pay19 ment and satisfaction of the Spokane Tribe’s claim to a

20 fair share of the annual hydropower revenues generated

21 by the Grand Coulee Dam project from 1940 through the

22 fiscal year prior to the fiscal year during which this Act

23 is enacted and represents the Spokane Tribe’s propor24 tional entitlement of hydropower revenues based on the

25 lump sum payment for damages from 1940 through 1994
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1 and the annual payments by the Bonneville Power Admin2 istration to the Colville Tribes commencing in fiscal year

3 1995 through the fiscal year that this Act is enacted.

4 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.

5 For the purposes of this Act—

6 (1) the term ‘‘Confederated Tribes Act’’ means

7 the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation

8 Grand Coulee Dam Settlement Act (P.L. 103–436;

9 108 Stat. 4577);

10 (2) the term ‘‘Fund Account’’ means the Spo11 kane Tribe of Indians Settlement Fund Account es12 tablished under section 4(a); and

13 (3) the term ‘‘Spokane Tribe’’ means the Spo14 kane Tribe of Indians of the Spokane Reservation.

15 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

16 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

17 as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.

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