Gros Ventre and Assiniboine Tribes of the Fort Belknap Indian Community Water Rights Settlement Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1911 To provide for the settlement of the water rights claims of the Fort Belknap Indian Community, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 27, 2021 Mr. TESTER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs A BILL To provide for the settlement of the water rights claims of the Fort Belknap Indian Community, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Gros Ventre and Assiniboine Tribes of the Fort Belknap 5 Indian Community Water Rights Settlement Act of 6 2021’’. 7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 8 this Act is as follows: 9 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S1911.IS S1911 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1911 IS Sec. 2. Purposes. Sec. 3. Definitions. Sec. 4. Ratification of Compact and judicial decree. Sec. 5. Tribal water rights. Sec. 6. Exchange and transfer of public land into trust. Sec. 7. Storage allocation from Lake Elwell. Sec. 8. Milk River Project. Sec. 9. Satisfaction of claims. Sec. 10. Waivers and releases of claims. Sec. 11. Aaniiih Nakoda Settlement Trust Fund. Sec. 12. Funding. Sec. 13. Miscellaneous provisions. Sec. 14. Termination on failure to meet enforceability date. Sec. 15. Antideficiency. SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 1 The purposes of this Act are— 2 (1) to fulfill the trust responsibility of the 3 United States to Indian Tribes and to promote Trib- 4 al sovereignty and economic self-sufficiency by set- 5 tling water rights claims of Indian Tribes without 6 lengthy and costly litigation; 7 (2) to ensure the sovereignty of the Fort 8 Belknap Indian Community of the Fort Belknap 9 Reservation of Montana and the economy of the 10 Reservation will be able to depend on the develop- 11 ment of the water and other resources of the Res- 12 ervation; 13 (3) to transfer a portion of the land within the 14 ancestral territory of the Fort Belknap Indian Com- 15 munity to restore, in part, the historical, cultural, 16 and spiritual land of the Fort Belknap Indian Com- 17 munity; 18 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1911.IS S1911 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1911 IS (4) to plan, design, and construct the facilities 1 needed to effectively use Reservation water rights, 2 consistent with the Compact and this Act, and other 3 resources that are necessary for— 4 (A) the development of a viable Reserva- 5 tion economy; and 6 (B) the implementation of the water rights 7 compact between the Fort Belknap Indian 8 Community and the State; 9 (5) to achieve a fair, equitable, and final settle- 10 ment of claims to water rights in the State for— 11 (A) the Fort Belknap Indian Community 12 of the Fort Belknap Reservation of Montana; 13 and 14 (B) the United States for the benefit of 15 the Fort Belknap Indian Community and 16 allottees; 17 (6) to authorize, ratify, and confirm the water 18 rights compact entered into by the Fort Belknap In- 19 dian Community, the State, and the United States, 20 to the extent that the Compact is consistent with 21 this Act; 22 (7) to authorize and require the Secretary— 23 (A) to execute the Compact; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1911.IS S1911 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1911 IS (B) to make available priority funding 1 from the Reclamation Water Settlement Fund 2 established by section 10501 of the Omnibus 3 Public Land Management Act of 2009 (43 4 U.S.C. 407); and 5 (C) to take any other actions necessary to 6 carry out the Compact in accordance with this 7 Act; 8 (8) to authorize and appropriate funds, includ- 9 ing for certain economic development initiatives and 10 projects on the Reservation, necessary for the imple- 11 mentation of the Compact and this Act in order to 12 support a final water rights settlement for the Fort 13 Belknap Indian Community that results in measur- 14 able benefits to the Tribes and members; and 15 (9) to authorize the exchange and transfer of 16 certain Federal and State land. 17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 18 In this Act: 19 (1) ALLOTTEE.—The term ‘‘allottee’’ means an 20 individual or the Fort Belknap Indian Community 21 who holds a beneficial real property interest in an al- 22 lotment of Indian land that is— 23 (A) located within the Reservation; and 24 (B) held in trust by the United States. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1911.IS S1911 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1911 IS (2) BLACKFEET TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Blackfeet 1 Tribe’’ means the Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet 2 Indian Reservation of Montana. 3 (3) COMMISSIONER.—The term ‘‘Commis- 4 sioner’’ means the Commissioner of Reclamation. 5 (4) COMPACT.—The term ‘‘Compact’’ means— 6 (A) the Fort Belknap-Montana water 7 rights compact dated April 16, 2001, as con- 8 tained in section 85–20–1001 of the Montana 9 Code Annotated (2019); and 10 (B) any exhibit (including exhibit amend- 11 ments), part, or amendment to the Compact 12 that is executed to make the Compact con- 13 sistent with this Act. 14 (5) CERCLA.—The term ‘‘CERCLA’’ means 15 the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Com- 16 pensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 17 9601 et seq.). 18 (6) ENFORCEABILITY DATE.—The term ‘‘en- 19 forceability date’’ means the date described in sec- 20 tion 10(f). 21 (7) FORT BELKNAP INDIAN COMMUNITY.—The 22 term ‘‘Fort Belknap Indian Community’’ means the 23 Gros Ventre and Assiniboine Tribes of the Fort 24 Belknap Reservation of Montana, a federally recog- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1911.IS S1911 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1911 IS nized Indian Tribal entity included on the list pub- 1 lished by the Secretary pursuant to section 104(a) 2 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 3 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131(a)). 4 (8) FORT BELKNAP INDIAN COMMUNITY COUN- 5 CIL.—The term ‘‘Fort Belknap Indian Community 6 Council’’ means the governing body of the Fort 7 Belknap Indian Community. 8 (9) FORT BELKNAP INDIAN IRRIGATION 9 PROJECT.— 10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Fort 11 Belknap Indian Irrigation Project’’ means the 12 Federal Indian irrigation project units, systems, 13 and works developed by the United States to ir- 14 rigate land within the Reservation, including 15 pursuant to— 16 (i) the Treaty of October 17, 1855 17 (11 Stat. 657); 18 (ii) the Act of May 1, 1888 (25 Stat. 19 113, chapter 213); 20 (iii) the Act of August 15, 1894 (28 21 Stat. 286, chapter 290); 22 (iv) the Act of July 1, 1898 (30 Stat. 23 571, chapter 545); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1911.IS S1911 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1911 IS (v) the Act of April 30, 1908 (35 1 Stat. 70, chapter 153); and 2 (vi) this Act. 3 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘Fort 4 Belknap Indian Irrigation Project’’ shall in- 5 clude— 6 (i) the Milk River unit, including— 7 (I) the Three Mile Coulee unit; 8 (II) the White Bear unit; and 9 (III) the Fort Belknap future ir- 10 rigation project, including the Fort 11 Belknap Reservoir and Dam; 12 (ii) the Southern Tributary Irrigation 13 Project, including— 14 (I) the Beaver Creek unit; 15 (II) the Duck Creek unit; 16 (III) the Lodge Pole Creek unit; 17 (IV) the Big Warm Creek unit; 18 (V) the Jim Brown Creek unit; 19 (VI) the Little Peoples Creek 20 unit; 21 (VII) the South Fork Peoples 22 Creek Unit; and 23 (VIII) the Little Warm Creek 24 unit; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1911.IS S1911 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1911 IS (iii) the Peoples Creek Irrigation 1 Project, including the Upper Peoples Creek 2 Dam and Reservoir. 3 (10) FRESNO RESERVOIR.—The term ‘‘Fresno 4 Reservoir’’ means the dam and reservoir of the Milk 5 River Project, located on the Milk River 14 miles 6 west of Havre, Montana, and authorized by the Act 7 of June 16, 1933 (48 Stat. 195, chapter 90) (com- 8 monly known as the ‘‘National Industrial Recovery 9 Act’’). 10 (11) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 11 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 12 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 13 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 14 (12) JOINT BOARD.—The term ‘‘Joint Board’’ 15 means the Joint Board of Control for the Milk River 16 Project established in accordance with State law. 17 (13) LAKE ELWELL.—The term ‘‘Lake Elwell’’ 18 means the water impounded on the Marias River in 19 the State by Tiber Dam, a feature of the Lower 20 Marias Unit of the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin 21 Program. 22 (14) MALTA IRRIGATION DISTRICT.—The term 23 ‘‘Malta Irrigation District’’ means the public cor- 24 poration— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1911.IS S1911 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1911 IS (A) created on December 28, 1923, pursu- 1 ant to the laws of the State relating to irriga- 2 tion districts; and 3 (B) headquartered in Malta, Montana. 4 (15) MILK RIVER.—The term ‘‘Milk River’’ 5 means the mainstem of the Milk River and each 6 tributary of the Milk River between the headwater of 7 the Milk River and the confluence of the Milk River 8 with the Missouri River, consisting of— 9 (A) Montana Water Court Basins 40F, 10 40G, 40H, 40I, 40J, 40K, 40L, 40M, 40N, and 11 40O; and 12 (B) the portion of the Milk River and each 13 tributary of the Milk River that flows through 14 the Canadian Provinces of Alberta and Sas- 15 katchewan. 16 (16) MILK RIVER COORDINATING COM- 17 MITTEE.—The term ‘‘Milk River Coordinating Com- 18 mittee’’ means the committee established by article 19 IV.C. of the Compact. 20 (17) MILK RIVER PROJECT.— 21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Milk River 22 Project’’ means the Bureau of Reclamation 23 project conditionally approved by the Secretary 24 on March 14, 1903, pursuant to the Act of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1911.IS S1911 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1911 IS June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388, chapter 1093), 1 commencing at Lake Sherburne Reservoir and 2 providing water to a point approximately 6 3 miles east of Nashua, Montana. 4 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘Milk River 5 Project’’ includes the St. Mary Unit. 6 (18) MISSOURI RIVER BASIN.—The term ‘‘Mis- 7 souri River Basin’’ means the hydrologic basin of 8 the Missouri River, including tributaries. 9 (19) OPERATIONS, MAINTENANCE, AND RE- 10 PAIR.—The term ‘‘operations, maintenance, and re- 11 pair’’ means— 12 (A) any recurring or ongoing activity asso- 13 ciated with the day-to-day operation of a 14 project; 15 (B) any activity relating to scheduled or 16 unscheduled maintenance of a project; and 17 (C) any activity relating to repairing or re- 18 placing a feature of a project. 19 (20) PICK-SLOAN MISSOURI RIVER BASIN PRO- 20 GRAM.—The term ‘‘Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin 21 Program’’ means the Pick-Sloan Missouri River 22 Basin Program (authorized by section 9 of the Act 23 of December 22, 1944 (commonly known as the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1911.IS S1911 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1911 IS ‘‘Flood Control Act of 1944’’) (58 Stat. 891, chapter 1 665)). 2 (21) PMM.—The term ‘‘PMM’’ means the 3 Principal Meridian, Montana. 4 (22) RESERVATION.— 5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Reserva- 6 tion’’ means the area of the Fort Belknap Res- 7 ervation in the State, as modified by this Act. 8 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘Reserva- 9 tion’’ includes— 10 (i) all land and interests in land es- 11 tablished by— 12 (I) the Agreement with the Gros 13 Ventre and Assiniboine Tribes of the 14 Fort Belknap Reservation, ratified by 15 the Act of May 1, 1888 (25 Stat. 113, 16 chapter 212), as modified by the 17 Agreement with the Indians of the 18 Fort Belknap Reservation of October 19 9, 1895 (ratified by the Act of June 20 10, 1896) (29 Stat. 350, chapter 21 398); 22 (II) the Act of March 3, 1921 23 (41 Stat. 1355, chapter 135); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1911.IS S1911 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1911 IS (III) Public Law 94–114 (25 1 U.S.C. 5501 et seq.); 2 (ii) the land known as the ‘‘Hancock 3 lands’’ purchased by the Fort Belknap In- 4 dian Community pursuant to the Fort 5 Belknap Indian Community Council Reso- 6 lution No. 234–89 (October 2, 1989); and 7 (iii) all land transferred under section 8 6. 9 (23) ST. MARY UNIT.— 10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘St. Mary 11 Unit’’ means the St. Mary Storage Unit of the 12 Milk River Project authorized by Congress on 13 March 25, 1905. 14 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘St. Mary 15 Unit’’ includes— 16 (i) Sherburne Dam and Reservoir; 17 (ii) Swift Current Creek Dike; 18 (iii) Lower St. Mary Lake; 19 (iv) St. Mary Canal Diversion Dam; 20 and 21 (v) St. Mary Canal and appur- 22 tenances. 23 (24) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 24 means the Secretary of the Interior. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1911.IS S1911 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1911 IS (25) SERVICE CONTRACT.—The term ‘‘service 1 contract’’ means a business or commercial agree- 2 ment between a contractor and a customer covering 3 maintenance and servicing of facilities over a speci- 4 fied period. 5 (26) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the 6 State of Montana. 7 (27) TRIBAL WATER RIGHTS.—The term ‘‘Trib- 8 al water rights’’ means the water rights of the Fort 9 Belknap Indian Community, as described in article 10 III of the Compact and this Act, including— 11 (A) the allocation of water to the Fort 12 Belknap Indian Community from Lake Elwell 13 under section 7; and 14 (B) the water rights of allottees. 15 (28) TRUST FUND.—The term ‘‘Trust Fund’’ 16 means the Aaniiih Nakoda Settlement Trust Fund 17 established under section 11(b)(1). 18 SEC. 4. RATIFICATION OF COMPACT AND JUDICIAL DE- 19 CREE. 20 (a) RATIFICATION OF COMPACT.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—As modified by this Act, the 22 Compact is authorized, ratified, and confirmed. 23 (2) AMENDMENTS.—Any amendment to the 24 Compact is authorized [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]