Sec. 2. Findings

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Congress finds that— 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; 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; 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; 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; 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.)— federalized the Grand Coulee Dam project; and began construction of the Grand Coulee Dam; when the Grand Coulee Dam project was federalized, the Federal Government recognized that— development of the project affected the interests of the Spokane Tribe and the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation; and 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; in the Act of June 29, 1940 ( 16 U.S.C. 835d et seq.), Congress— granted to the United States— 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 other interests in that land as required and as designated by the Secretary for certain construction activities undertaken in connection with the project; and 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; pursuant to that Act, the Secretary paid— to the Spokane Tribe, $4,700; and to the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, $63,000; 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— for past use of the land of the Colville Tribes, a payment of $53,000,000; and 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; 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; 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; 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; 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; the Spokane Tribe has suffered significant harm from the construction and operation of Grand Coulee Dam;

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; 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 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.

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