(11) The failure of the Spokane Tribe to bring
an action of its own before the Indian Claims Com-
mission can be attributed to a combination of fac-
tors, including the failure of the Bureau of Indian
Affairs to carry out its advisory responsibilities as
required by the Indian Claims Commission Act (Act
of August 13, 1946, ch. 959, 60 Stat. 1050), and
an effort of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to
impose improper requirements on claims attorneys
retained by Indian tribes which caused delays in re-
tention of counsel and full investigation of the Spo-
kane Tribe’s potential claims.
(12) As a consequence of construction of the
Grand Coulee Dam project, the Spokane Tribe has
suffered the complete loss of the salmon fishery
upon which it was dependent, the loss of identified
hydropower sites it could have developed, the loss of
hydropower revenues it would have received under
the Federal Power Act had the project not been fed-
eralized, and it continues to lose hydropower reve-
nues which the Federal Government recognized the
Spokane Tribe was due at the time the project was
constructed.
(13) Over 39 percent of the Indian-owned lands
used for the Grand Coulee Dam project were Spo-
kane Tribe lands.
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to provide fair and equi-
table compensation to the Spokane Tribe on a basis that
is proportionate to the compensation provided to the Con-
federated Tribes of the Colville Reservation for the dam-
ages and losses suffered as a consequence of construction
and operation of the Grand Coulee Dam project.
SEC. 4. SETTLEMENT FUND ACCOUNT.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF ACCOUNT.—There is hereby
established in the Treasury an interest bearing account
to be known as the ‘‘Spokane Tribe of Indians Settlement
Fund Account’’.
(b) DEPOSIT OF AMOUNTS.—
(1) INITIAL DEPOSIT.—Upon enactment of this
Act and appropriation of funds, the Secretary of the
Treasury shall deposit into the Fund Account a sum
equal to 39.4 percent of the sum paid to the Confed-
erated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in a lump
sum pursuant to section 5(a) of the Confederated
Tribes Act, adjusted by the consumer price index
from the date of that payment to the Confederated
Tribes until the date of enactment of this Act, as
payment and satisfaction of the Spokane Tribe’s
claim for use of its lands for generation of hydro-
power for the period from 1940 through November
2, 1994, the date of the enactment of the Confed-
erated Tribes Act.
(2) SUBSEQUENT DEPOSITS.—Commencing on
September 30 of the first fiscal year following enact-
ment of this Act and on September 30 of each of the
5 fiscal years following such fiscal year, the Admin-
istrator of the Bonneville Power Administration shall
pay into the Fund Account a sum equal to 20 per-
cent of 39.4 percent of the sum authorized to be
paid to the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Res-
ervation pursuant to section 5(b) of the Confed-
erated Tribes Act through the end of the fiscal year
during which this Act is enacted, adjusted by the
consumer price index to maintain the purchasing
power the Spokane Tribe would have had if annual
payments had been made to the Spokane Tribe on
the date annual payments commenced and were sub-
sequently made to the Confederated Tribes of the
Colville Reservation pursuant to section 5(b) of the
Confederated Tribes Act.
(c) ANNUAL PAYMENTS.—On September 1 of the fis-
cal year following the enactment of this Act and of each
fiscal year thereafter, payments shall be made by the Bon-
neville Power Administration, or any successor thereto, di-
rectly to the Spokane Tribe in an amount which is equal
to 39.4 percent of the annual payment authorized to be
paid to the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation
in the operative and each subsequent fiscal year pursuant
to section 5(b) of the Confederated Tribes Act.
SEC. 5. USE AND TREATMENT OF SETTLEMENT FUNDS.
(a) TRANSFER OF FUNDS TO TRIBE.—The Secretary
of the Treasury shall transfer all or any portion of the
settlement funds described in section 4(a) to the Spokane
Business Council not later than 60 days after such Sec-
retary receives written notice of the adoption by the Spo-
kane Business Council of a resolution requesting that such
Secretary execute the transfer of such funds. Subsequent
requests may be made and funds transferred if not all of
the funds are requested at one time.
(b) USE OF INITIAL PAYMENT FUNDS.—
(1) GENERAL DISCRETIONARY FUNDS.—Twen-
ty-five percent of the settlement funds described in
section 4 (a) and (b) shall be reserved by the Busi-
ness Council and used for discretionary purposes of
general benefit to all members of the Spokane Tribe.
(2) FUNDS FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES.—Seventy-
five percent of the settlement funds described in sec-
tion 4 (a) and (b) shall be used for the following:
(A) Resource development program.
(B) Credit program.
(C) Scholarship program.
(D) Reserve, investment, and economic de-
velopment programs.
(c) USE
OF ANNUAL PAYMENT FUNDS.—Annual
payments made to the Spokane Tribe pursuant to section
4(c) may be used or invested by the Spokane Tribe in the
same manner as other tribal governmental funds.
(d) APPROVAL OF SECRETARY NOT REQUIRED.—
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the approval
of the Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary of the
Interior for any payment, distribution, or use of the prin-
cipal, interest, or income generated by any settlement
funds transferred or paid to the Spokane Tribe pursuant
to this Act shall not be required and such Secretaries shall
have no trust responsibility for the investment, super-
vision, administration, or expenditure of such funds once
such funds are transferred to or paid directly to the Spo-
kane Tribe.
(e) TREATMENT
OF FUNDS
FOR CERTAIN PUR-
POSES.—The payments or distributions of any portion of
the principal, interest, and income generated by the settle-
ment funds described in section 4 shall be treated in the
same manner as payments or distributions from the In-
vestment Fund described in section 6 of Public Law 99–
346 (100 Stat. 677).
(f) TRIBAL AUDIT.—The settlement funds described
in section 4, once transferred or paid to the Spokane
Tribe, shall be considered Spokane Tribe governmental
funds and, as other tribal governmental funds, be subject
to an annual tribal governmental audit.
SEC. 6. REPAYMENT CREDIT.
Beginning in the fiscal year following enactment of
this Act and continuing for so long as annual payments
are made under this Act, the Administrator of the Bonne-
ville Power Administration shall deduct from the interest
payable to the Secretary of the Treasury from net pro-
ceeds as defined in section 13 of the Federal Columbia
River Transmission System Act, a percentage of the pay-
ment made to the Spokane Tribe for the prior fiscal year.
The actual percentage of such deduction shall be cal-
culated and adjusted to ensure that the Bonneville Power
Administration receives a deduction comparable to that
which it receives for payments made to the Confederated
Tribes of the Colville Reservation pursuant to the Confed-
erated Tribes Act. Each deduction made under this section
shall be credited to the interest payments otherwise pay-
able by the Administrator to the Secretary of the Treasury
during the fiscal year in which the deduction is made, and
shall be allocated pro rata to all interest payments on debt
associated with the generation function of the Federal Co-
lumbia River Power System that are due during that fiscal
year; except that, if the deduction in any fiscal year is
greater than the interest due on debt associated with the
generation function for the fiscal year, then the amount
of the deduction that exceeds the interest due on debt as-
sociated with the general function shall be allocated pro
rata to all other interest payments due during that fiscal
year. To the extent that the deduction exceeds the total
amount of any such interest, the deduction shall be applied
as a credit against any other payments that the Adminis-
trator makes to the Secretary of the Treasury.
SEC. 7. SATISFACTION OF CLAIMS.
Payment under section 4 shall constitute full pay-
ment and satisfaction of the Spokane Tribe’s claim to a
fair share of the annual hydropower revenues generated
by the Grand Coulee Dam project from 1940 through the
fiscal year prior to the fiscal year during which this Act
is enacted and represents the Spokane Tribe’s propor-
tional entitlement of hydropower revenues based on the
lump sum payment for damages from 1940 through 1994
and the annual payments by the Bonneville Power Admin-
istration to the Colville Tribes commencing in fiscal year
1995 through the fiscal year that this Act is enacted.
SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.
For the purposes of this Act—
(1) 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);
(2) the term ‘‘Fund Account’’ means the Spo-
kane Tribe of Indians Settlement Fund Account es-
tablished under section 4(a); and
(3) the term ‘‘Spokane Tribe’’ means the Spo-
kane Tribe of Indians of the Spokane Reservation.
SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums
as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.
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