[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 711 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 711

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 24, 1999

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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, 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. AMENDMENT OF CONSENT DECREE.

    (a) Purpose--Investment of Joint Trust Funds.--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--
            (1) 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 (Public Law 102-154, 43 U.S.C. 1474b);
            (2) accounts outside the United States Treasury (hereafter 
        referred to as ``outside accounts''); or
            (3) both.
Any funds deposited in an outside account shall be invested in 
incoming-producing obligations and other instruments or securities 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.
    (b) Joint trust funds deposited in the Fund or an outside account 
that have been approved unanimously by the trustees for expenditure by 
or through a State or Federal agency shall be transferred promptly from 
the Fund or the outside account to such agency.
    (c) The transfer of joint trust funds outside the Court Registry 
shall not affect the supervisory jurisdiction of the 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 fund.
    (d) 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 (Public Law 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.
    (e) Any interest accrued under the authority in this Act shall be 
used only for a peer reviewed grant program, consisting of--
            (1) marine research, including applied fisheries research;
            (2) monitoring; and
            (3) restoration, other than habitat acquisition, and 
        additionally for community and economic restoration projects 
        and facilities (including projects proposed by the communities 
        of the EVOS Region or the fishing industry).
    (f) The trustees shall administer grants authorized by this Act.
    (g) The authority provided in this Act shall expire on September 
30, 2002, unless by September 30, 2001, the trustees have submitted to 
the Congress a report recommending a structure the Trustees believe 
would be most effective and appropriate for the administration and 
expenditure of remaining funds and interest received. Upon the 
expiration of the authorities granted in this Act all monies in the 
Fund or outside accounts shall be returned to the Court Registry.
                                 <all>