PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Subcommittee on Water and Power.
Congressional Research Service
Version 35 · Passed Senate amended · Nov 19, 2004
Spokane Tribe of Indians of the Spokane Reservation Grand Coulee Dam Equitable Compensation Settlement Act - (Sec. 5) Establishes in the Treasury the Spokane Tribe of Indians Settlement Fund.
Requires the payment of compensation to the Spokane Tribe for the use of their lands for the generation of hydropower from the Grand Coulee Dam.
Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to make deposits in the Fund for FY 2006 of $17.8 million, and of $12.8 million for each of the following four fiscal years. States that at any time after funds are deposited in the Fund, the Spokane Business Council may submit to the Secretary written notice of its adoption of a resolution requesting that the Secretary pay to it all or a portion of the amounts in the Fund.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Requires that, out of the initial deposit made to the Fund for FY 2006, $5 million be used by the Council for the planning, design, construction, equipping, and continuing operation and maintenance of a Cultural Resource Repository and Interpretive Center to: (1) house, preserve, and protect the burial remains, funerary objects, and other cultural resources affected by the operation of the Grand Coulee Dam; and (2) provide an interpretive and educational facility regarding the culture and history of the Spokane Tribe.
Requires the reservation by the Council of: (1) 25 percent of all other amounts deposited in the Fund for discretionary purposes of general benefit to all members of the Spokane Tribe; and (2) 75 percent for resource development, credit, scholarship, and economic development.
(Sec. 6) Directs the Administrator of the Bonneville Power Administration to pay the Spokane Tribe: (1) 29 percent of the Computed Annual Payment (CAP), for FY 2005, adjusted for inflation; (2) 29 percent of the CAP for FY 2006; and (3) on or before March 1, 2008, and each following March 1, 29 percent of the CAP for the previous fiscal year.
(Sec. 7) Authorizes the Council and the Tribe to use or invest payments made to them under this Act in the same manner and for the same purposes as other Tribe governmental funds.
Subjects to an annual tribal audit all funds paid to the Council or the Tribe.
(Sec. 8) Entitles the Bonneville Power Administration to a deduction from interest otherwise payable to the Secretary for: (1) $2.6 million in FY 2007; and (2) $1.3 million for each subsequent fiscal year in which the Administrator makes a payment to the Tribe under this Act.
(Sec. 9) Directs the Secretary of the Interior to transfer administrative jurisdiction from the Bureau of Reclamation to the Bureau of Indian Affairs over certain land located within the exterior boundaries of the Spokane Indian Reservation and certain other land located on the south bank of the Spokane River.
Provides that all such transferred land shall be held in Trust for the benefit and use of the Spokane Tribe and shall become part of the Spokane Indian Reservation.
Declares that any land so transferred that, before enactment of this Act, was included in the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area shall remain part of such Area.
(Sec. 10) States that payments under this Act and restoration of ownership of land in trust 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.
(Sec. 11) Authorizes appropriations.
(Sec. 12) Declares that nothing in this Act establishes any precedent or is binding on the Southwestern Power Administration, Western Area Power Administration, or Southeastern Power Administration.
People & committees
Sen. Cantwell, Maria [D-WA] · D–WA
Legislative record
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Referred to the Subcommittee on Water and Power.
Referred to the House Committee on Resources.
Received in the House.
Message on Senate action sent to the House.
Passed Senate with an amendment and an amendment to the Title by Unanimous Consent. (text: CR S11582-11584)
Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment and an amendment to the Title by Unanimous Consent.(text: CR S11582-11584)
Measure laid before Senate by unanimous consent. (consideration: CR S11566-11584; text of measure as reported in Senate: CR S11579-11582)
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 787.
Committee on Indian Affairs. Reported by Senator Campbell with an amendment in the nature of a substitute and an amendment to the title. With written report No. 108-397.
Committee on Indian Affairs. Reported by Senator Campbell with an amendment in the nature of a substitute and an amendment to the title. With written report No. 108-397.
Committee on Indian Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
Committee on Indian Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 108-375.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs. (text of measure as introduced: CR S9711-9712)
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S9710-9711)
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
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Source last updated: Jun 20, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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