Sec. 15. Blackfeet Settlement Fund
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There is established in the Treasury of the United States a fund to be known as the Blackfeet Settlement Fund (referred to in this section as the Fund ) to be managed, invested, and distributed by the Secretary, consisting of the amounts deposited in the Fund under subsection (c), together with any interest earned on those amounts, to be available until expended and to be used solely for the purpose of carrying out this Act. The Secretary shall establish in the Fund the following accounts:
The Administration and Energy Account. The OM&R Account. The St. Mary Account. The Blackfeet Water, Storage, and Development Projects Account. The MR&I System Account. The Blackfeet Irrigation Project Deferred Maintenance, Four Horns Dam Safety, and Rehabilitation and Enhancement of the Four Horns Feeder Canal, Dam, and Reservoir Improvements Account. The St. Mary/Milk Water Management and Activities Fund. The Secretary shall transfer to the Fund— to the Administration and Energy Account, the amount made available pursuant to section 16(a)(1); in the OM&R Account, the amount made available pursuant to section 16(a)(2); in the St.
Mary Account, the amount made available pursuant to section 16(a)(3); in the Blackfeet Water, Storage, and Development Projects Account, the amount made available pursuant to section 16(a)(5); for the MR&I System Account, the amount made available pursuant to section 16(a)(4); for the Blackfeet Irrigation Project Deferred Maintenance, Four Horns Dam Safety, and Rehabilitation and Enhancement of the Four Horns Feeder Canal, Dam, and Reservoir Improvements Account, the amount made available pursuant to section 16(a)(6); and for the St.
Mary/Milk Water Management and Activities Fund, the amount made available pursuant to section 16(a)(7). The Secretary shall manage, invest, and distribute all amounts in the Fund in a manner that is consistent with the investment authority of the Secretary under— the first section of the Act of June 24, 1938 ( 25 U.S.C. 162a ); the American Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act of 1994 ( 25 U.S.C. 4001 et seq. ); and this section. Amounts appropriated to, and deposited in, the Fund, including any investment earnings, shall be made available to the Tribe by the Secretary beginning on the enforceability date.
Notwithstanding paragraph (1), as soon as practicable after the date on which the Tribe ratifies the Compact, and subject to the availability of appropriations, the Secretary shall make available to the Tribe to carry out this Act $4,800,000 from the Administration and Energy Account. The Tribe may withdraw all or part of the funds in the Fund, not including the $3,800,000 made available for the St. Mary River studies under section 7(b), on approval by the Secretary of a tribal management plan submitted by the Tribe in accordance with the American Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act of 1994 ( 25 U.S.C. 4001 et seq. ).
In addition to the requirements under the American Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act of 1994 ( 25 U.S.C. 4001 et seq. ), the tribal management plan under paragraph
(1)shall require that the Tribe shall spend all amounts withdrawn from the Fund in accordance with this Act. The Secretary may carry out such judicial or administrative actions as the Secretary determines to be necessary to enforce the tribal management plan to ensure that amounts withdrawn by the Tribe from the Trust Fund under this subsection are used in accordance with this Act. The Tribe may request that all or part of the funds in the Fund be disbursed from the Fund pursuant to an approved expenditure plan consistent with this Act. The expenditure plan under paragraph
(1)shall include a description of the manner and purpose for which the amounts proposed to be withdrawn from the Fund will be used by the Tribe, in accordance with subsection (h). On receipt of an expenditure plan under this subsection, the Secretary shall approve the plan if the Secretary determines that the plan is reasonable and consistent with the purposes of this Act. The Secretary may carry out such judicial or administrative actions as the Secretary determines to be necessary to enforce an expenditure plan to ensure that amounts disbursed under this subsection are used in accordance with this Act. Amounts from the Fund shall be used by the Tribe for the following purposes: The Administration and Energy Account shall be used in accordance with subsection (e)(2) and for administration of the Tribal water rights and energy development projects under this Act and the Compact. The OM&R Account shall be used to assist the Tribe in paying OM&R costs. The St. Mary Account shall be distributed as follows: Subject to subparagraph (B), all interest earned on the account shall be distributed to the Tribe annually. If the Tribe withdraws all or a portion of the principal under subsection
(f)or (g)— subparagraph
(A)shall not apply; and the Secretary shall distribute the interest earned on the account for that year as the Secretary determines appropriate. The Blackfeet Water, Storage, and Development Projects Account shall be used to carry out section 12. The MR&I System Account shall be used to carry out section 11. The Blackfeet Irrigation Project Deferred Maintenance, Four Horns Dam Safety, and Rehabilitation and Enhancement of the Four Horns Feeder Canal, Dam, and Reservoir Improvements Account shall be used to carry out section 10. The St. Mary/Milk Water Management and Activities Account shall be used to carry out sections 5 and 7. The Secretary and the Secretary of the Treasury shall not be liable for the expenditure or investment of any amounts withdrawn from the Fund by the Tribe under subsection
(f)or (g). No portion of the Fund shall be distributed on a per capita basis to any member of the Tribe. On request by the Tribe, the Secretary may transfer amounts from an account described in paragraph (1), (2), (4), (5), or
(7)of subsection
(b)to any other account the Secretary determines to be appropriate.
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