[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4757 Introduced in House (IH)]

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 Confederated 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 Representatives 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 Administrator of 
        the Bonneville Power Administration.
            (2) The term ``Bonneville Power Administration'' 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 recognized 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 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 Department of the Interior. The Settlement Agreement is 
        contingent on the enactment of the enabling legislation; and
            (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 Coulee 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 Agreement entered 
        into by the United States and the Tribe; and
            (2) to direct the Bonneville Power Administration 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.
    (b) Annual Payments.--The Bonneville Power Administration shall 
make annual payments to the Tribe as set forth in the Settlement 
Agreement and shall carry out its other obligations under the 
Settlement Agreement.
    (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 judgment 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 Treasury 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 Confederated 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 
resources.

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 defined in section 13 of the Federal Columbia River 
Transmission 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 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 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 
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 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 Settlement Agreement or this Act, 
the interest or investment income earned or received on those 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 investment income on those payments earned or received 
while the payments are held in trust for the member, are not subject to 
levy, execution, forfeiture, 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 investment 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 assistance 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 Settlement Agreement do 
not affect the trust responsibility of the United States and its 
agencies to the Tribe and the members of the Tribe.

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