I
103D CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4757
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
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 that—
(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 reservation land
for as long as Grand Coulee Dam produces power;
and that the United States has promised and under-
taken 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; and
(c) SETTLEMENT.—Consistent with the negotiated
terms of the Settlement Agreement, the United States
shall join in the motion that the Tribe has agreed to file
in Confederated Tribes v. United States, Indian Claims
Commission Docket 181–D, for the entry of a compromise
final judgment in the amount of $53,000,000. The judg-
ment shall be paid from funds appropriated pursuant to
section 1304 of title 31, United States Code and is not
reimbursable by the Bonneville Power Administration.
SEC. 5. DISTRIBUTION OF THE SETTLEMENT FUNDS.
(a) 
LUMP-SUM
PAYMENT.—The 
judgment 
of
$53,000,000, when paid, shall be deposited in the Treas-
ury of the United States and the principal amount and
interest on the judgment, shall be credited to the account
of the Tribe. These funds may be advanced or expended
for any purpose by the tribal governing body of the Con-
federated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, pursuant to
a distribution plan developed by the Tribe and approved
by the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to section 3 of
Public Law 93–134 (25 U.S.C. 1403): Provided, That any
payment to a minor under the distribution plan shall be
held in trust by the United States for the minor until the
minor reaches the age of 18, or until the minor’s class
is scheduled to graduate from high school, whichever is
later: Provided further, That emergency use of trust funds
may be authorized for the benefit of the minor pursuant
to regulations of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
(b) ANNUAL PAYMENTS.—In addition to the lump-
sum payment, annual payments shall be made directly to
the Tribe in accordance with the Settlement Agreement,
and may be used in the same manner as any other income
received by the tribe from the lease or sale of natural re-
sources.
SEC. 6. REPAYMENT CREDIT.
Beginning with fiscal year 2000 and continuing for
so long as annual payments are made under this Act, the
Administrator shall deduct from the interest payable to
the Secretary of the Treasury from net proceeds as de-
fined in section 13 of the Federal Columbia River Trans-
mission System Act, an amount equal to 26 percent of
the payment made to the Tribe for the prior fiscal year.
Each deduction made under this section shall be a credit
to the interest payments otherwise payable by the Admin-
istrator 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 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.
Æ