Gros Ventre and Assiniboine Tribes of the Fort Belknap Indian Community Water Rights Settlement Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5673 To provide for the settlement of the water rights claims of the Fort Belknap Indian Community, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 24, 2020 Mr. GALLEGO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 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 2020’’. 7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 8 this Act is as follows: 9 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:23 Jan 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H5673.IH H5673 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5673 IH 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. Fort Belknap Indian Community 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 and the economy of the 9 Reservation will be able to depend on the develop- 10 ment of the water and other resources of the Res- 11 ervation; 12 (3) to transfer a portion of the land within the 13 ancestral territory of the Fort Belknap Indian Com- 14 munity to restore, in part, the historical, cultural, 15 and spiritual land of the Fort Belknap Indian Com- 16 munity; 17 (4) to plan, design, and construct the facilities 18 needed to effectively use Reservation water rights, 19 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:23 Jan 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5673.IH H5673 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5673 IH consistent with the Compact and this Act, and other 1 resources that are necessary for— 2 (A) the development of a viable Reserva- 3 tion economy; and 4 (B) the implementation of the water rights 5 compact between the Fort Belknap Indian 6 Community and the State; 7 (5) to achieve a fair, equitable, and final settle- 8 ment of claims to water rights in the State for— 9 (A) the Fort Belknap Indian Community; 10 and 11 (B) the United States for the benefit of 12 the Fort Belknap Indian Community and 13 allottees; 14 (6) to authorize, ratify, and confirm the Com- 15 pact, to the extent that the Compact is consistent 16 with this Act; 17 (7) to authorize and require the Secretary— 18 (A) to execute the Compact; 19 (B) to make available priority funding 20 from the Reclamation Water Settlement Fund 21 established by section 10501 of the Omnibus 22 Public Land Management Act of 2009 (43 23 U.S.C. 407); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:23 Jan 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5673.IH H5673 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5673 IH (C) to take any other actions necessary to 1 carry out the Compact in accordance with this 2 Act; 3 (8) to authorize and appropriate funds, includ- 4 ing for certain economic development initiatives and 5 projects on the Reservation, necessary for the imple- 6 mentation of the Compact and this Act in order to 7 support a final water rights settlement for the Fort 8 Belknap Indian Community that results in measur- 9 able benefits to the Tribes and members; and 10 (9) to authorize the exchange and transfer of 11 certain Federal and State land. 12 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 13 In this Act: 14 (1) ALLOTTEE.—The term ‘‘allottee’’ means an 15 individual or the Fort Belknap Indian Community 16 who holds a beneficial real property interest in an al- 17 lotment of Indian land that is— 18 (A) located within the Reservation; and 19 (B) held in trust by the United States. 20 (2) BLACKFEET TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Blackfeet 21 Tribe’’ means the Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet 22 Indian Reservation of Montana. 23 (3) COMMISSIONER.—The term ‘‘Commis- 24 sioner’’ means the Commissioner of Reclamation. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:23 Jan 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5673.IH H5673 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5673 IH (4) COMPACT.—The term ‘‘Compact’’ means— 1 (A) the Fort Belknap-Montana water 2 rights compact dated April 16, 2001, as con- 3 tained in section 85–20–1001 of the Montana 4 Code Annotated (2019); and 5 (B) any exhibit (including exhibit amend- 6 ments), part, or amendment to the Compact 7 that is executed to make the Compact con- 8 sistent with this Act. 9 (5) CERCLA.—The term ‘‘CERCLA’’ means 10 the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Com- 11 pensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 12 9601 et seq.). 13 (6) DODSON.—The term ‘‘Dodson’’ means the 14 facilities of the Milk River Project, including the 15 Dodson Diversion Dam and Dodson South Canal, 16 owned by the Bureau of Reclamation and located in 17 the northeastern corner of, and within the exterior 18 boundary of, the Reservation. 19 (7) ENFORCEABILITY DATE.—The term ‘‘en- 20 forceability date’’ means the date described in sec- 21 tion 10(f). 22 (8) FORT BELKNAP INDIAN COMMUNITY.—The 23 term ‘‘Fort Belknap Indian Community’’ means the 24 Gros Ventre and Assiniboine Tribes of the Fort 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:23 Jan 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5673.IH H5673 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5673 IH Belknap Reservation of Montana, a federally recog- 1 nized Indian Tribe included on the list published by 2 the Secretary pursuant to section 104(a) of the Fed- 3 erally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 4 U.S.C. 5131(a)). 5 (9) FORT BELKNAP INDIAN COMMUNITY COUN- 6 CIL.—The term ‘‘Fort Belknap Indian Community 7 Council’’ means the governing body of the Fort 8 Belknap Indian Community. 9 (10) FRESNO RESERVOIR.—The term ‘‘Fresno 10 Reservoir’’ means the dam and reservoir of the Milk 11 River Project, located on the Milk River 14 miles 12 west of Havre, Montana, and authorized by the Act 13 of June 16, 1933 (48 Stat. 195, chapter 90) (com- 14 monly known as the ‘‘National Industrial Recovery 15 Act’’). 16 (11) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 17 has the meaning given the term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ in 18 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu- 19 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 20 (12) JOINT BOARD.—The term ‘‘Joint Board’’ 21 means the Joint Board of Control for the Milk River 22 Project established in accordance with State law. 23 (13) LAKE ELWELL.—The term ‘‘Lake Elwell’’ 24 means the water impounded on the Marias River in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:23 Jan 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5673.IH H5673 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 5673 IH the State by Tiber Dam, a feature of the Lower 1 Marias Unit of the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin 2 Program. 3 (14) MALTA IRRIGATION DISTRICT.—The term 4 ‘‘Malta Irrigation District’’ means the public cor- 5 poration— 6 (A) created on December 28, 1923, pursu- 7 ant to the laws of the State relating to irriga- 8 tion districts; and 9 (B) headquartered in Malta, Montana. 10 (15) MILK RIVER.—The term ‘‘Milk River’’ 11 means the mainstem of the Milk River and each 12 tributary of the Milk River between the headwater of 13 the Milk River and the confluence of the Milk River 14 with the Missouri River, consisting of— 15 (A) Montana Water Court Basins 40F, 16 40G, 40H, 40I, 40J, 40K, 40L, 40M, 40N, and 17 40O; and 18 (B) the portion of the Milk River and each 19 tributary of the Milk River that flows through 20 the Canadian Provinces of Alberta and Sas- 21 katchewan. 22 (16) MILK RIVER COORDINATING COM- 23 MITTEE.—The term ‘‘Milk River Coordinating Com- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:23 Jan 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5673.IH H5673 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 5673 IH mittee’’ means the committee established by article 1 IV.C. of the Compact. 2 (17) MILK RIVER PROJECT.— 3 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Milk River 4 Project’’ means the Bureau of Reclamation 5 project conditionally approved by the Secretary 6 on March 14, 1903, pursuant to the Act of 7 June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388, chapter 1093), 8 commencing at Lake Sherburne Reservoir and 9 providing water to a point approximately 6 10 miles east of Nashua, Montana. 11 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘Milk River 12 Project’’ includes the St. Mary Unit. 13 (18) MISSOURI RIVER BASIN.—The term ‘‘Mis- 14 souri River Basin’’ means the hydrologic basin of 15 the Missouri River, including tributaries. 16 (19) OM&R.—The term ‘‘OM&R’’ means— 17 (A) any recurring or ongoing activity asso- 18 ciated with the day-to-day operation of a 19 project; 20 (B) any activity relating to scheduled or 21 unscheduled maintenance of a project; and 22 (C) any activity relating to replacing a fea- 23 ture of a project. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:23 Jan 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5673.IH H5673 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 5673 IH (20) PICK-SLOAN MISSOURI RIVER BASIN PRO- 1 GRAM.—The term ‘‘Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin 2 Program’’ means the Pick-Sloan Missouri River 3 Basin Program (authorized by section 9 of the Act 4 of December 22, 1944 (commonly known as the 5 ‘‘Flood Control Act of 1944’’) (58 Stat. 891, chapter 6 665)). 7 (21) PMM.—The term ‘‘PMM’’ means the 8 Principal Meridian, Montana. 9 (22) RESERVATION.— 10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Reserva- 11 tion’’ means the area of the Fort Belknap Res- 12 ervation in the State, as defined in the Compact 13 and modified by section 6. 14 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘Reserva- 15 tion’’ includes all land and interests in land— 16 (i) held in trust by the United States 17 for the benefit of the Fort Belknap Indian 18 Community, including the land within the 19 boundary established by— 20 (I) the Agreement with the Gros 21 Ventre and Assiniboine Tribes of the 22 Fort Belknap Reservation, ratified by 23 the Act of May 1, 1888 (25 Stat. 113, 24 chapter 212), as modified by the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:23 Jan 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5673.IH H5673 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 5673 IH Agreement with the Indians of the 1 Fort Belknap Reservation of October 2 9, 1895 (ratified by the Act of June 3 10, 1896) (29 Stat. 350, chapter 4 398); and 5 (II) the Act of March 3, 1921 6 (41 Stat. 1355, chapter 135); and 7 (ii) to be held in trust by the United 8 States for the benefit of the Fort Belknap 9 Indian Community pursuant to section 6. 10 (23) ST. MARY UNIT.— 11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘St. Mary 12 Unit’’ means the St. Mary Storage Unit of the 13 Milk River Project authorized by Congress on 14 March 25, 1905. 15 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘St. Mary 16 Unit’’ includes— 17 (i) Sherburne Dam and Reservoir; 18 (ii) Swift Current Creek Dike; 19 (iii) Lower St. Mary Lake; 20 (iv) St. Mary Canal Diversion Dam; 21 and 22 (v) St. Mary Canal and appur- 23 tenances. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:23 Jan 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5673.IH H5673 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 5673 IH (24) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 1 means the Secretary of the Interior. 2 (25) SERVICE CONTRACT.—The term ‘‘service 3 contract’’ means a business or commercial agree- 4 ment between a contractor and a customer covering 5 maintenance and servicing of facilities over a speci- 6 fied period. 7 (26) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the 8 State of Montana. 9 (27) TRIBAL WATER RIGHTS.—The term ‘‘Trib- 10 al water rights’’ means the water rights of the Fort 11 Belknap Indian Community, as described in article 12 III of the Compact and this Act, including— 13 (A) the allocation of water to the Fort 14 Belknap Indian Community from Lake Elwell 15 under section 7; and 16 (B) the water rights of allottees. 17 (28) TRUST FUND.—The term ‘‘Trust Fund’’ 18 means the Fort Belknap Indian Community Settle- 19 ment Trust Fund established under section 20 11(b)(1). 21 SEC. 4. RATIFICATION OF COMPACT AND JUDICIAL DE- 22 CREE. 23 (a) RATIFICATION OF COMPACT.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:23 Jan 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5673.IH H5673 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 5673 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—As modified by this Act, the 1 Compact is authorized, ratified, and confirmed. 2 (2) AMENDMENTS.—Any amendment to the 3 Compact executed after the date of enactment of 4 this Act is authorized, ratified, and confirmed to the 5 extent that the amendment is executed to make the 6 Compact consistent with this Act. 7 (b) EXECUTION.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—To the extent that the Com- 9 pact does not conflict with this Act, the Secretary 10 shall execute the Compact, including all exhibits to, 11 or parts of, the Compact requiring the signature of 12 the Secretary. 13 (2) MODIFICATIONS.—Nothing in this Act pre- 14 cludes the Secretary from approving any modifica- 15 tion to an appendix or exhibit to the Compact that 16 is consistent with this Act, to the extent that the 17 modification does not otherwise require congres- 18 sional approval under section 2116 of the Revised 19 Statutes (25 U.S.C. 177) or any other applicable 20 provision of Federal law. 21 (c) ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—In implementing the Com- 23 pact and this Act, the Secretary shall comply with 24 all applicable provisions of— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:23 Jan 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5673.IH H5673 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 5673 IH (A) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 1 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); 2 (B) the National Environmental Policy Act 3 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); and 4 (C) all other applicable environmental laws 5 and regulations. 6 (2) EFFECT OF EXECUTION.— 7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The execution of the 8 Compact by the Secretary under this subsection 9 shall not constitute a major Federal acti [Text truncated for display. 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