[Senate Report 107-252]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                       Calendar No. 562
107th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session                                                     107-252

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  PROVIDING FOR THE USE AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE FUNDS AWARDED TO THE 
QUINAULT INDIAN NATION UNDER UNITED STATES CLAIMS COURT DOCKETS 772-71, 
           773-71, 774-71, AND 775-71 AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

                                _______
                                

               September 3, 2002.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

    Mr. Inouye, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 1308]

    The Committee on Indian Affairs, to which was referred the 
bill S. 1308 to provide for the use and distribution of the 
funds awarded to the Quinault Indian Nation under United States 
Claims Court Dockets 772-71, 773-71, 774-71, and 775-71 and for 
other purposes have considered the same, reports favorably 
thereon without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

                                PURPOSE

    The purpose of S. 1308 is to authorize the transfer of 
funds that were awarded to the Quinault Indian Nation from the 
Department of Interior to the Quinault Indian Nation and to 
establish 3 separate accounts into which specified monies will 
be deposited and used for certain purposes.

                          BACKGROUND AND NEED

    In 1989, the United States Claims Court awarded the 
Quinault Nation $600,000 as compensation for damages to the 
tribe's salmon fishery caused by certain forestry and logging 
practices. The Department of Interior currently holds these 
funds in trust, and Federal legislation is required to 
authorize the transfer of funds to the Quinault Nation. There 
will be three separate accounts established. The first account, 
a Permanent Fisheries Fund, will consist of the remaining 
principal balance of the judgment funds, which is now $540,000 
after legal fees. The funds in the Permanent Fisheries Fund may 
not be expended. The second account will consist of the 
investment income generated from the Permanent Fisheries Fund 
after the date of distribution of the funds to the Tribe. These 
funds may be used for fisheries enhancement projects and the 
costs associated with administering the Permanent Fisheries 
Fund. The third account will consist of the interest earned on 
the principal judgment funds since 1989, the date of the award 
to the Tribe, to the date of distribution to the Tribe. These 
funds may be used for tribal government activities.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    S. 1308, the Quinault Permanent Fisheries Fund Act, was 
introduced by Senator Murray, for herself, and Senator Cantwell 
on August 2, 2001, and was referred to the Committee on Indian 
Affairs. A companion measure, H.R. 2524, was introduced by 
Representative Norm Dicks in the House of Representatives on 
July 17, 2001. On March 21, 2002, the Committee favorably 
reported S. 1308 to the full Senate.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

    Section 1. Short Title. Section 1 provides the Short Title 
of the Act as the ``Quinault Permanent Fisheries Fund Act.''
    Section 2. Distribution of Judgment Funds. Subsection (a) 
authorizes the establishment of three separate accounts in 
which specified funds are to be deposited. The first account, a 
Permanent Fisheries Fund, will consist of the principal amount 
of the judgment funds. These funds shall be invested by the 
Tribe in accordance with the Tribe's investment policy and may 
not be expended. The second account will consist of investment 
income earned on the Permanent Fisheries Fund from the date 
that the judgment funds are distributed to the Tribe and 
forward. These funds may be used for fisheries enhancement 
projects and the costs associated with administering the 
Permanent Fisheries Fund. The third account shall consist of 
the investment income earned on the judgment funds from 
September 19, 1989, to the date of disbursement of the funds to 
the Tribe. These funds may be used for tribal government 
activities specified in the Tribe's approved annual budget.
    Subsection (b) provides that the Tribe has discretionary 
authority to determine the amount of funds available for 
expenditure under the second and third accounts.
    Subsection (c) requires the Tribe to maintain the records 
and investment activities of the three accounts separately. The 
records and activities shall be audited annually.
    Subsection (d) mandates that a full accounting of the 
previous fiscal year's investment activities and expenditures 
from all funds shall be made available to the tribal membership 
no later than 120 days after the close of the Tribe's fiscal 
year.
    Section 3. General Provisions. Section 3 provides for the 
judgment funds to be disbursed to the Tribe not later than 30 
days after enactment of this Act. It also relieves the United 
States of all trust responsibility and liability for the 
investment, supervision, administration, or expenditure of the 
judgment funds once the funds are disbursed to the Tribe. 
Finally, the funds distributed shall be subject to section 7 of 
the Indian Tribal Judgment Funds Use or Distribution Act, 
relating to the use or distribution of certain judgment funds 
awarded by the Indian Claims Commission or the Court of Claims.

            COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION AND TABULATION OF VOTE

    The Committee on Indian Affairs, in an open business 
session on March 21, 2002, ordered S. 1308 to be reported 
favorably to the Senate.

                   COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

    The cost estimate for S. 1308 as provided by the 
Congressional Budget Office is set forth below:

S. 1308--Quinault Permanent Fisheries Fund Act

    S. 1308 would direct the Secretary of the Interior to 
distribute a judgment awarded to the Quinault Indian Tribe in 
1989. About $1 million in judgments and accumulated interest is 
being held in a trust fund on behalf of the tribe; however, the 
Secretary does not have the authority to distribute the funds 
without Congressional action. S. 1308 would allow the tribe to 
withdraw the $600,000 award and over $600,000 in interest from 
the Treasury.
    Based on information from the Department of the Interior, 
CBO estimates that enacting S. 1308 would cost about $1 million 
in 2002 for the payment to the tribe. Because S. 1308 would 
result in direct spending, pay-as-you-go procedures would 
apply. S. 1308 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. 
Enactment of this legislation would benefit the Quinault Indian 
Nation.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Lanette J. 
Walker. This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy 
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

                        EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

    The position of the Administration on S. 1308 has not been 
received.

                    REGULATORY AND PAPERWORK IMPACT

    Paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the 
Senate requires each report accompanying a bill to evaluate the 
regulatory and paperwork impact that would be incurred in 
carrying out the bill. The Committee finds that S. 1308 will 
not require the promulgation of regulations so the regulatory 
and paperwork impact should be minimal, if any.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    In compliance with subsection 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by a 
bill are required to be set forth in the accompanying Committee 
report. There are no changes in existing law.

                                
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