Union Calendar No. 374
103D CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4757
[Report No. 103–685]
A BILL
To provide for the settlement of the claims of the
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation
concerning their contribution to the production of
hydropower by the Grand Coulee Dam, and for
other purposes.
AUGUST 8, 1994
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
IB
Union Calendar No. 374
103D CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4757
[Report No. 103–685]
To provide for the settlement of the claims of the Confederated Tribes
of the Colville Reservation concerning their contribution to the production
of hydropower by the Grand Coulee Dam, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 14, 1994
Mr. MILLER of California (for himself, Mr. RICHARDSON, Mr. INSLEE, Mr.
DICKS, and Ms. DUNN) introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on Natural Resources
AUGUST 8, 1994
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union
and ordered to be printed
A BILL
To provide for the settlement of the claims of the Confed-
erated Tribes of the Colville Reservation concerning their
contribution to the production of hydropower by the
Grand Coulee Dam, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Confederated Tribes
of the Colville Reservation Grand Coulee Dam Settlement
Act’’.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act:
(1) The term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad-
ministrator of the Bonneville Power Administration.
(2) The term ‘‘Bonneville Power Administra-
tion’’ means the Bonneville Power Administration of
the Department of Energy or any successor Agency,
Corporation, or entity that markets power produced
at the Dam.
(3) The term ‘‘Dam’’ means the Grand Coulee
Dam operated by the Bureau of Reclamation of the
Department of the Interior, the power from which is
marketed by the Bonneville Power Administration of
the Department of Energy.
(4) The term ‘‘Settlement Agreement’’ means
the Settlement Agreement entered into between the
United States and the Tribe, signed by the United
States on April 21, 1994, and by the Tribe on April
16, 1994, to settle the claims of the Tribe in Docket
181–D of the Indian Claims Commission, which
docket has been transferred to the United States
Court of Federal Claims.
(5) The term ‘‘Tribe’’ means the Confederated
Tribes of the Colville Reservation, a federally recog-
nized Indian tribe.
SEC. 3. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:
(1) There is pending before the United States
Court of Federal Claims, a suit by the Confederated
Tribes of the Colville Reservation against the United
States, in which the Tribe seeks to recover damages
under the ‘‘Fair and Honorable Dealings’’ clause of
the Indian Claims Commission Act, (Act of August
13, 1946, 60 Stat. 1049), and in which, although
the matter is in dispute, the potential liability of the
United States is substantial.
(2) The claim alleges that the United States
has since the construction of Grand Coulee Dam
used Colville Reservation land in the generation of
electric power, and will continue to use such reserva-
tion land for as long as Grand Coulee Dam produces
power; and that the United States has promised and
undertaken to pay the Tribe for such use and has
not done so.
(3) The United States, after years of litigation,
has negotiated a Settlement Agreement with the
Tribe, signed by the Department of Justice, the
Bonneville Power Administration and the Depart-
ment of the Interior. The Settlement Agreement is
contingent on the enactment of the enabling legisla-
tion.
(4) The Settlement Agreement, approved in this
Act, will provide mutually agreeable compensation
for the past use of reservation land in connection
with the generation of electric power at Grand Cou-
lee Dam, and will establish a method to ensure that
the Tribe will be compensated for the future use of
reservation land in the generation of electric power
at Grand Coulee Dam, and will settle the claims of
the Tribe against the United States brought under
the Indian Claims Commission Act.
(b) PURPOSES.—It is the purpose of this Act—
(1) to approve and ratify the Settlement Agree-
ment entered into by the United States and the
Tribe; and
(2) to direct the Bonneville Power Administra-
tion to carry out its obligations under the Settlement
Agreement.
SEC. 4. APPROVAL, RATIFICATION, AND IMPLEMENTATION
OF SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT.
(a) APPROVAL AND RATIFICATION.—The Settlement
Agreement is approved and ratified.
the generation function of the Federal Columbia 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 that fiscal year, then the amount of the de-
duction that exceeds the interest due on debt associated
with the generation function shall be allocated pro rata
to all other interest payments due during that fiscal year.
SEC. 7. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.
(a) LIENS AND FORFEITURES, ETC.—Funds paid or
deposited to the credit of the Tribe pursuant to the Settle-
ment Agreement or this Act, the interest or investment
income earned or received on those funds, and any pay-
ment authorized by the Tribe or the Secretary of the Inte-
rior to be made from those funds to tribal members, and
the interest or investment income on those payments
earned or received while the payments are held in trust
for the member, are not subject to levy, execution, forfeit-
ure, garnishment, lien, encumbrance, seizure, or Federal,
State or local taxation.
(b) ELIGIBILITY
FOR FEDERAL
AND FEDERALLY
FUNDED PROGRAMS.—Funds paid or deposited to the
credit of the Tribe pursuant to the Settlement Agreement
or this Act, the interest or investment income earned or
received on such funds, and any payment authorized by
the Tribe or the Secretary of the Interior to be made from
those funds to tribal members, and the interest or invest-
ment income on those payments earned or received while
the payments are held in trust for the member, may not
be treated as income or resources nor otherwise utilized
as the basis for denying or reducing the financial assist-
ance or other benefit to which the Tribe, a tribal member,
or household would otherwise be entitled under the Social
Security Act or any Federal or federally assisted program.
(c) TRUST RESPONSIBILITY.—This Act and the Set-
tlement Agreement do not affect the trust responsibility
of the United States and its agencies to the Tribe and
the members of the Tribe.