[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1523 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1523

 To allow for the investment of joint Federal and State funds from the 
      civil settlement of damages from the Exxon Valdez oil spill.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 12, 1997

 Mr. Murkowski (for himself and Mr. Stevens) introduced the following 
    bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To allow for the investment of joint Federal and State funds from the 
      civil settlement of damages from the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, That, notwithstanding 
any other provision of law, upon the joint motion of the United States 
and the State of Alaska and the issuance of an appropriate order by the 
United States District Court for the District of Alaska, the joint 
trust funds or any portion thereof, including any interest accrued 
thereon, previously received or to be received by the United States and 
the State of Alaska pursuant to the Agreement and Consent decree issued 
in United States v. Exxon Corporation, et al. (No. A91-082 CIV) and 
State of Alaska v. Exxon Corporation, et al. (No. A91-083 CIV) 
(hereafter referred to as the ``Consent Decree''), may be deposited in 
appropriate accounts outside the Court Registry, including the Natural 
Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration Fund (hereafter referred to 
as the ``Fund'') established in title I of the Department of the 
Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1992 (Pub. L. 102-
154, 43 U.S.C. 1474b) and such accounts outside the United States 
Treasury consisting of income-producing obligations and other 
instruments or securities of a type or class that have been determined 
unanimously by the Federal and State natural resource trustees for the 
Exxon Valdez oil spill to have a high degree of reliability and 
security: Provided, That any joint trust funds in the Fund and any such 
outside accounts that have been approved unanimously by the trustees 
for expenditure by or through a State of Federal agency shall be 
transferred promptly from the Fund and such outside accounts to the 
State or United States upon the joint request of the governments: 
Provided further, That the transfer of joint trust funds outside the 
Court Registry shall not affect the supervisory jurisdiction of such 
District Court under the Consent Decree or the Memorandum of Agreement 
and Consent Decree in United States v. State of Alaska (No. A91-081-
CIV) over all expenditures of the joint trust funds: Provided further, 
That nothing herein shall affect the requirement of section 207 of the 
Dire Emergency Supplemental Appropriations and Transfers for Relief 
From the Effects of Natural Disasters, for Other Urgent Needs, and for 
the Incremental Cost of ``Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm'' Act of 
1992 (Pub. L. 102-229, U.S.C. 1474b note) that amounts received by the 
United States and designated by the trustees for the expenditure by or 
through a Federal agency must be deposited into the Fund: Provided 
further, That any interest accrued under the authority in this section 
may be used only for grants for marine research and monitoring 
(including applied fisheries research) and for community and economic 
restoration projects (including projects proposed by the fishing 
industry and facilities): Provided further, That the Federal trustees 
are hereby authorized to administer such grants: Provided further, That 
the authority provided in this section shall expire on September 30, 
2002, unless by September 30, 2001 the trustees have submitted to the 
Congress a proposal to authorize in Federal statute a board to 
administer funds invested, interest received, and grants awarded from 
such interest.
                                 <all>