[Senate Report 118-80]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                      Calendar No. 175
118th Congress     }                                     {      Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session       }                                     {      118-80

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 TECHNICAL CORRECTION TO THE SHOSHONE-PAIUTE TRIBES OF THE DUCK VALLEY 
            RESERVATION WATER RIGHTS SETTLEMENT ACT OF 2023

                                _______
                                

                 July 26, 2023.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

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

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 950]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Indian Affairs, to which was referred the 
bill (S. 950) to amend the Omnibus Public Land Management Act 
of 2009 to make a technical correction to the water rights 
settlement for the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley 
Reservation, and for other purposes, having considered the 
same, reports favorably thereon, with an amendment, and 
recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass.

                                PURPOSE

    The purpose of S. 950 is to amend the Omnibus Public Land 
Management Act of 2009 to authorize payment to the Shoshone-
Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation (Tribes) in an 
amount equivalent to the unpaid interest that would have 
accrued if interest accrual were permitted on the Tribes' water 
settlement trust funds deposited between October 1, 2009 and 
January 25, 2016.

                               BACKGROUND

    The Duck Valley Reservation encompasses 290,000 acres of 
land on the border between Nevada and Idaho, along the East 
Fork of the Owyhee River, a tributary to the Snake River. The 
Reservation was established by executive order in 1877 and 
expanded by executive orders in 1886 and 1910.
    The Tribes have consistently used the water sources on the 
Reservation for agriculture, livestock, and domestic purposes. 
The Reservation, however, lacks sufficient reliable 
infrastructure to provide dependable water for irrigation and 
drinking, and this lack of water infrastructure has been a 
chronic problem since the Reservation was first established in 
1877.
    Inconsistent natural flows and non-Indian settlement north 
and south of the Reservation in Nevada have led to chronic 
water stress and conflict with other water users over 
generations. Additionally, federal attempts to alleviate these 
concerns--including the Bureau of Reclamation's nearby Owyhee 
Project and the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Duck Valley Indian 
Irrigation Project--further complicated water storage and 
economic development on the Reservation.
    For example, in the 1930s, the federal government 
authorized and built the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Duck Valley 
Indian Irrigation Project (Project) to provide water storage 
along the East Fork of the Owyhee River for irrigation and 
stock water purposes on the Reservation. The Project failed to 
provide the Tribes complete relief because the Project's 
primary water storage facility, the Wild Horse Reservoir, was 
located approximately 15 miles from the Reservation, which 
increased potential conflict with off-reservation water users 
and reduced the number of acres available to the Tribes for 
cultivation and other development opportunities. Moreover, the 
Project did not receive sufficient funding for the Tribes to 
perform adequate operation and maintenance activities pursuant 
to their self-governance compact. As a result, the Project 
facilities fell into disrepair, which led to fallow lands and 
sub-optimal production.
    In 2009, Congress enacted the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the 
Duck Valley Reservation Water Rights Settlement (``Settlement 
Act'') as part of the Omnibus Lands Act of 2009.\1\ The 
Settlement Act quantified the Tribes' disputed water rights, 
including federal reserved water rights. The Settlement Act 
also (1) resolved the Tribes' claims against the United States 
for its failure to protect the Tribes' water rights and natural 
resources; (2) assisted the Tribes in their efforts to 
rehabilitate the Duck Valley Indian Irrigation Project; and (3) 
provided municipal water supplies and other critical water 
related projects.\2\
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    \1\Pub. L. 111-11 Sec. Sec. 10801-10809 (2009).
    \2\81 Fed. Reg. 4063-4064 (Jan. 25, 2016).
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    Specifically, the Settlement Act authorized a total of $60 
million to two Trust Funds for the Tribes to rehabilitate the 
Project and for other activities over a five-year period. 
Between Fiscal Years 2010-2014, $45 million was deposited into 
a Development Fund\3\ and $15 million was deposited into a 
Maintenance Fund.\4\ Pursuant to the Settlement Act, the 
settlement funds began to be appropriated on October 1, 2009, 
and the Department immediately began investing the funds, 
earning interest.
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    \3\Supra, note 1 at Sec. 10807(b)(3).
    \4\Supra, note 1 at Sec. 10807(c)(3).
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                          NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    On January 25, 2016, and pursuant to the Settlement Act, 
the Secretary of the Interior published a notice of findings in 
the Federal Register making the settlement enforceable.\5\ In 
February 2016, the Department opined that this ``enforceability 
date'' was the earliest date upon which the settlement funds 
could be invested per the terms of the settlement.\6\ 
Accordingly, the Department withdrew all the interest accrued 
before the enforceability date and deposited it in the Federal 
Treasury.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\81 Fed. Reg. 4063-4064 (Jan. 25, 2016); Pub. L. No. 111-11 
Sec. 10808(d).
    \6\See Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Legislative Hearing, 
October 6, 2021 (Statement of Brian Thomas, Chairman, Shoshone-Paiute 
Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation).
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    The Department agrees that prohibiting investment of a 
Tribe's settlement funds prior to the enforceability date is 
uncommon in Indian water settlements.\7\ In fact, only five 
Tribes are subject to this unusual restriction, and the 
Department supports reimbursement in all five of these 
cases.\8\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \7\See Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Legislative Hearing, 
October 6, 2021 (Statement of Bryan Newland Assistant Secretary for 
Indian Affairs, United States Department of the Interior) (stating 
``[t]he provision in the Duck Valley Settlement Act prohibiting 
investment until an enforceability date is reached is not common in 
Indian water rights settlements. It appears in the Duck Valley 
settlement and other settlements enacted in 2009-2010, including the 
Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 2010, Pub. L. No. 111-291; 
the Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights Settlement Act, Pub. L. No. 111-
291; the Aamodt Litigation Settlement Act, Pub. L. No. 111-291; and the 
Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project and Navajo Nation Water Rights, Pub. 
L. No. 111-11.'').
    \8\See, id. (stating ``[t]he Department supports S. 648 and, as a 
matter of equity, would support similar legislation to resolve this 
same issue in the four other Indian water rights settlements approved 
by Congress in 2009 and 2010'').
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                          SUMMARY OF THE BILL

    As amended, S. 950 authorizes the appropriation of 
$5,124,902.12 for deposit into the Settlement Act's Development 
Fund. This represents the amount of unpaid interest that would 
have accrued if interest accrual were permitted on the Tribes' 
water settlement trust funds deposited between October 1, 2009 
(when the funds were initially appropriated) and January 25, 
2016 (the enforceability date). Funds appropriated under S. 950 
will be used to carry out the purposes of the settlement: 
rehabilitating and expanding existing irrigation projects, 
developing fish and wildlife, conducting water resources 
planning, designing and constructing sewer systems, and 
carrying out cultural preservation activities, among other 
related activities.

       SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF S. 950 AS ORDERED REPORTED

Section 1--Short title

    This section sets forth the short title as the ``Technical 
Correction to the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley 
Reservation Water Rights Settlement Act of 2023.''

Section 2--Authorization of payment of interest on Trust Funds 
        established under settlement

    This section amends section 10807(b)(3) of the Omnibus 
Public Lands Management Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-11) to add a new 
subparagraph that authorizes an appropriation of $5,124,902.12 
for deposit into the Development Fund.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    Senators Cortez-Masto (D-NV), Crapo (R-ID), Risch (R-ID), 
and Rosen (D-NV), introduced S. 950 on March 22, 2023. The 
Senate Committee on Indian Affairs met at a duly convened 
business meeting to consider S. 950. Senator Cortez Masto 
untimely filed one amendment, which struck language in Section 
2 of the bill providing for cost-indexing of the amount to be 
deposited in the Development Fund to reflect changes since 
January 25, 2016. With the concurrence of the Vice Chair, the 
Chairman waived Committee Rule 5(c) and the Committee 
considered the amendment, which was adopted. S. 950, as 
amended, was ordered reported favorably by voice vote.
    117th Congress. Senators Cortez Masto (D-NV), Crapo (R-ID), 
Risch (R-ID), and Rosen (D-NV) introduced S. 648 on March 9, 
2021. Both the Tribes and the Department of the Interior 
testified in support of the bill during a legislative hearing 
held by the Committee on October 6, 2021. On November 17, 2021, 
the Committee met at a duly convened business meeting to 
consider S. 648. Senator Cortez Masto timely filed one 
amendment in the nature of a substitute, which replaced the 
interest formula provision with the specific unpaid interest 
amount calculated by the Department of the Interior and agreed 
to by the Tribes. The Committee adopted the amendment and 
ordered S. 648, as amended, reported favorably by voice vote. 
On March 15, 2022, S. 648 was placed on the Senate Legislative 
Calendar. No further action on the bill took place prior to 
adjournment.
    On March 12, 2021, Representative Amodei (R-NV) introduced 
H.R. 1869, the House companion to S. 648. On May 15, 2021, H.R. 
1869 was referred to the House Natural Resources Subcommittee 
on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife. The Subcommittee held a hearing 
on June 29, 2021. No further action on the bill took place 
prior to adjournment.
    116th Congress. Senators Cortez Masto (D-NV), Crapo (R-ID), 
Risch (R-ID), and Rosen (D-NV) introduced a similar bill in the 
116th Congress, S. 3754, on May 18, 2020. No action was taken 
on the bill. On July 13, 2020, Representative Amodei (R-NV) 
introduced H.R. 7576, the House companion to S. 3754. H.R. 7576 
was referred to the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on 
Water, Oceans, and Wildlife on August 6, 2020. No further 
action on the bill took place prior to adjournment.

                   COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


    S. 950 would authorize the appropriation of $5.125 million 
for the Department of the Interior to deposit specified 
interest payments into the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes Water Rights 
Development Fund. The fund was established pursuant to the 
Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation Water 
Rights Settlement Act of 2009 to rehabilitate water 
infrastructure projects located on the reservation in Idaho and 
Nevada.
    The settlement agreement was effective in 2016 and 
ownership of the fund was transferred to the tribes and is held 
in trust by the federal government. Assuming the appropriation 
of authorized amount, CBO estimates that enacting the 
legislation would cost $5 million and that the full amount 
would be deposited into the fund in 2024.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Aurora Swanson. 
The estimate was reviewed by Ann E. Futrell, Senior Adviser for 
Budget Analysis.
                                         Phillip L. Swagel,
                             Director, Congressional Budget Office.

               REGULATORY AND PAPERWORK IMPACT STATEMENT

    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 believes that S. 950 will 
have minimal impact on regulatory or paperwork requirements.

                        EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

    The Committee has received no communications from the 
Executive Branch regarding S. 950.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    On February 9, 2023, the Committee unanimously approved a 
motion to waive subsection 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing 
Rules of the Senate. In the opinion of the Committee, it is 
necessary to dispense with subsection 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate to expedite the business of the 
Senate.

                                  [all]