1.This Act may be cited as
the Spokane Tribe of Indians of the
Spokane Reservation Grand Coulee Dam Equitable Compensation Settlement
Act
.
2.Congress finds that—
(1)from 1927 to
1931, at the direction of Congress, the Corps of Engineers investigated the
Columbia River and its tributaries to determine sites at which power could be
produced at low cost;
(2)under section
10(e) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 803(e)), when licenses are issued
involving tribal land within an Indian reservation, a reasonable annual charge
shall be fixed for the use of the land, subject to the approval of the Indian
tribe having jurisdiction over the land;
(3)in August 1933,
the Columbia Basin Commission, an agency of the State of Washington, received a
preliminary permit from the Federal Power Commission for water power
development at the Grand Coulee site;
(4)had the Columbia
Basin Commission or a private entity developed the site, the Spokane Tribe
would have been entitled to a reasonable annual charge for the use of the land
of the Spokane Tribe;
(5)in the mid-1930s,
the Federal Government, which is not subject to licensing under the Federal
Power Act (16 U.S.C. 792 et seq.)—
(A)federalized the
Grand Coulee Dam project; and
(B)began
construction of the Grand Coulee Dam;
(6)when the Grand
Coulee Dam project was federalized, the Federal Government recognized
that—
(A)development of
the project affected the interests of the Spokane Tribe and the Confederated
Tribes of the Colville Reservation; and
(B)it would be
appropriate for the Spokane and Colville Tribes to receive a share of revenue
from the disposition of power produced at Grand Coulee Dam;
(7)in the Act of
June 29, 1940 (16 U.S.C. 835d et seq.), Congress—
(A)granted to the
United States—
(i)in
aid of the construction, operation, and maintenance of the Columbia Basin
Project, all the right, title, and interest of the Spokane Tribe and Colville
Tribes in and to the tribal and allotted land within the Spokane and Colville
Reservations, as designated by the Secretary of the Interior from time to time;
and
(ii)other interests
in that land as required and as designated by the Secretary for certain
construction activities undertaken in connection with the project; and
(B)provided that
compensation for the land and other interests was to be determined by the
Secretary in such amounts as the Secretary determined to be just and
equitable;
(8)pursuant to that
Act, the Secretary paid—
(A)to the Spokane
Tribe, $4,700; and
(B)to the
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, $63,000;
(9)in 1994,
following litigation under the Act of August 13, 1946 (commonly known as the
Indian Claims Commission Act
(60 Stat. 1049, chapter 959; former
25 U.S.C. 70 et seq.)), Congress ratified the Colville Settlement Agreement,
which required—
(A)for past use of
the land of the Colville Tribes, a payment of $53,000,000; and
(B)for continued use
of the land of the Colville Tribes, annual payments of $15,250,000, adjusted
annually based on revenues from the sale of electric power from the Grand
Coulee Dam project and transmission of that power by the Bonneville Power
Administration;
(10)the Spokane
Tribe, having suffered harm similar to that suffered by the Colville Tribes,
did not file a claim within the 5-year statute of limitations under the Indian
Claims Commission Act;
(11)neither the
Colville Tribes nor the Spokane Tribe filed claims for compensation for use of
the land of the respective Tribes with the Commission prior to August 13, 1951,
but both Tribes filed unrelated land claims prior to August 13, 1951;
(12)in 1976, over
objections by the United States, the Colville Tribes were successful in
amending the 1951 Claims Commission land claims to add the Grand Coulee claim
of the Colville Tribes;
(13)the Spokane
Tribe had no such claim to amend, having settled the Claims Commission land
claims of the Spokane Tribe with the United States in 1967;
(14)the Spokane
Tribe has suffered significant harm from the construction and operation of
Grand Coulee Dam;
(15)Spokane tribal
acreage taken by the United States for the construction of Grand Coulee Dam
equaled approximately 39 percent of Colville tribal acreage taken for
construction of the dam;
(16)the payments and
delegation made pursuant to this Act constitute fair and equitable compensation
for the past and continued use of Spokane tribal land for the production of
hydropower at Grand Coulee Dam; and
(17)by vote of the
Spokane tribal membership, the Spokane Tribe has resolved that the payments and
delegation made pursuant to this Act constitute fair and equitable compensation
for the past and continued use of Spokane tribal land for the production of
hydropower at Grand Coulee Dam.
3.The purpose of this Act is to provide fair
and equitable compensation to the Spokane Tribe for the use of the land of the
Spokane Tribe for the generation of hydropower by the Grand Coulee Dam.
4.In this Act:
(1)The
term Administrator means the Administrator of the Bonneville Power
Administration or the head of any successor agency, corporation, or entity that
markets power produced at Grand Coulee Dam.
(2)Colville
Settlement AgreementThe term Colville Settlement
Agreement means the Settlement Agreement entered into between the United
States and the Colville Tribes, signed by the United States on April 21, 1994,
and by the Colville Tribes on April 16, 1994, to settle the claims of the
Colville Tribes in Docket 181–D of the Indian Claims Commission, which docket
was transferred to the United States Court of Federal Claims.
(3)The term Colville Tribes means the
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation.
(4)The term Computed Annual Payment means the
payment calculated under paragraph 2.b. of the Colville Settlement Agreement,
without regard to any increase or decrease in the payment under section 2.d. of
the agreement.
(5)The term Confederated Tribes Act means
the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation Grand Coulee Dam Settlement
Act (Public Law 103–436; 108 Stat. 4577).
(6)The
term Fund means the Spokane Tribe of Indians Settlement Fund
established by section 5.
(7)The
term Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior.
(8)The term Spokane Business Council
means the governing body of the Spokane Tribe under the constitution of the
Spokane Tribe.
(9)The term Spokane Tribe means the Spokane Tribe
of Indians of the Spokane Reservation, Washington.
5.
(a)There is established in the Treasury of the United States
an interest-bearing trust fund to be known as the Spokane Tribe of
Indians Settlement Fund
, consisting of—
(1)amounts deposited
in the Fund under subsection (b); and
(2)any interest
earned on investment of amounts in the Fund.
(b)From
amounts made available under section 11—
(1)for fiscal year
2012, the Secretary shall deposit in the Fund $23,900,000; and
(2)for each of the 4
fiscal years thereafter, the Secretary shall deposit in the Fund
$18,900,000.
(c)Maintenance and
Investment of FundThe Fund shall be maintained and invested by
the Secretary in accordance with the Act of June 24, 1938 (25 U.S.C.
162a).
(d)Payment of
Funds to Spokane Business Council
(1)At
any time after amounts are deposited in the Fund, the Spokane Business Council
may submit to the Secretary written notice of the adoption by the Spokane
Business Council of a resolution requesting that the Secretary pay all or a
portion of the amounts in the Fund to the Spokane Business Council.
(2)Not
later than 60 days after receipt of a notice under paragraph (1), the Secretary
shall pay the amount requested to the Spokane Business Council.
(e)
(1)Cultural
resource repository and interpretive center
(A)Of the initial deposit under subsection (b)(1),
$5,000,000 shall be used by the Spokane Business Council for the planning,
design, construction, equipping, and continuing operation and maintenance of a
Cultural Resource Repository and Interpretive Center to—
(i)house, preserve,
and protect the burial remains and funerary and cultural resources affected by
the operation of the Grand Coulee Dam; and
(ii)provide an
interpretive and educational facility regarding the culture and history of the
Spokane Tribe.
(B)The
funding under subparagraph (A) does not alter or affect any authority,
obligation, or responsibility of the United States under—
(i)the
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (25 U.S.C. 3001 et
seq.);
(ii)the
Archaeological Resources Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 470aa et seq.);
(iii)the National
Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.); or
(iv)the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
(2)Of all other amounts deposited in the Fund (including
interest generated on those amounts)—
(A)25 percent shall
be—
(i)reserved by the
Spokane Business Council; and
(ii)used for
discretionary purposes of general benefit to all members of the Spokane Tribe;
and
(B)75 percent shall
be used by the Spokane Business Council to carry out—
(i)resource
development programs;
(ii)credit
programs;
(iii)scholarship
programs; or
(iv)reserve,
investment, and economic development programs.
6.Payments by
Administrator
(a)On March 1, 2012, the Administrator shall pay to the
Spokane Tribe an amount equal to 25 percent of the Computed Annual Payment for
fiscal year 2011.
(b)
(1)Not later than March 1, 2013, and March 1 of each year
thereafter through March 1, 2021, the Administrator shall pay the Spokane Tribe
an amount equal to 25 percent of the Computed Annual Payment for the preceding
fiscal year.
(2)March 1, 2022,
and subsequent yearsNot later than March 1, 2022, and March 1 of
each year thereafter, the Administrator shall pay the Spokane Tribe an amount
equal to 32 percent of the Computed Annual Payment for the preceding fiscal
year.
7.Treatment after
amounts are paid
(a)Payments made to the Spokane Business Council or Spokane
Tribe under section 5 or 6 may be used or invested by the Business Council in
the same manner and for the same purposes as other Spokane Tribe governmental
amounts.
(b)No trust
responsibility of the SecretaryNeither the Secretary nor the
Administrator shall have any trust responsibility for the investment,
supervision, administration, or expenditure of any amounts after the date on
which the funds are paid to the Spokane Business Council or Spokane Tribe under
section 5 or 6.
(c)Treatment of
funds for certain purposesThe payments of all amounts to the
Spokane Business Council and Spokane Tribe under sections 5 and 6, and the
interest and income generated by those amounts, shall be treated in the same
manner as payments under section 6 of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of
Michigan Distribution of Judgment Funds Act (100 Stat. 677).
(d)After the date on which amounts are paid to the Spokane
Business Council or Spokane Tribe under section 5 or 6, the amounts
shall—
(1)constitute
Spokane Tribe governmental amounts; and
(2)be subject to an
annual tribal government audit.
8.
(a)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 (16 U.S.C. 838k))—
(1)in fiscal year
2022, $2,700,000; and
(2)in each
subsequent fiscal year in which the Administrator makes a payment under section
6, $2,700,000.
(b)
(1)Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3), each
deduction made under this section for the fiscal year shall be—
(A)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
(B)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 the fiscal
year.
(2)Deduction
greater than amount of interestIf, in an applicable fiscal year
under paragraph (1), the deduction is greater than the amount of interest due
on debt associated with the generation function for the fiscal year, 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 the fiscal year.
(3)To
the extent that a deduction exceeds the total amount of interest described in
paragraphs (1) and (2), the deduction shall be applied as a credit against any
other payments that the Administrator makes to the Secretary of the
Treasury.
9.Delegation of
authority; reservation boundary; retention of authority
(a)The delegation by the Secretary to the Spokane Tribe
under the authority of the following, with respect to land that is located
within the exterior boundaries of the Spokane Indian Reservation, is
confirmed:
(1)The Act of June
17, 1902 (43 U.S.C. 373).
(2)The Act of June
29, 1940 (16 U.S.C. 835d).
(3)Section 15 of the
Act of August 4, 1939 (43 U.S.C. 485i).
(4)The Lake
Roosevelt Cooperative Management Agreement concluded in April 1990 among the
Department of the Interior, the Spokane Tribe, and the Confederated Tribes of
the Colville Reservation, over all land acquired by the United States pursuant
to the Act of June 29, 1940 (16 U.S.C. 835d), also known as the Reservation or
Indian Zone.
(b)Colville-Spokane
reservation boundaryNothing in this section—
(1)establishes or
affects—
(A)the precise
location of the boundary between the Spokane Indian Reservation and the
Colville Reservation along the Columbia River; or
(B)the agreement
between the Colville Tribes and the Spokane Tribe that the common boundary of
the Spokane Tribe and Colville Tribes Indian zones established under the Act of
June 29, 1940 (16 U.S.C. 835d), shall follow the center line of Lake Roosevelt,
without reference to the course of the submerged Columbia River; or
(2)affects the
rights of the Colville Tribes or the Spokane Tribe to the use of the respective
portion of each tribe of the Indian zone, as provided in the Act of June 29,
1940 (16 U.S.C. 835d).
(c)Retention of
authority by the United StatesNothing in this Act alters or
affects the authority or responsibility of—
(1)the United States
to carry out the Columbia Basin Project under the Columbia Basin Project Act
(16 U.S.C. 835 et seq.); or
(2)the National Park
Service to administer the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area under the Act
of August 25, 1916 (39 Stat. 535, chapter 408; 16 U.S.C. 1 et seq.).
10.Payment by the
Secretary under section 5 and the Administrator under section 6 and delegation
under section 9 constitute full satisfaction of the claim of the Spokane Tribe
to a fair share of the annual hydropower revenues generated by the Grand Coulee
Dam project for the past and continued use of land of the Spokane Tribe for the
production of hydropower at Grand Coulee Dam.
11.Nothing in this Act establishes any
precedent or is binding on the Southwestern Power Administration, Western Area
Power Administration, or Southeastern Power Administration.
12.Authorization
of appropriationsThere are
authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this
Act.