Claims Resolution Act of 2010

(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the Senate on November 19, 2010. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Claims Resolution Act of 2010 - Title I: Individual Indian Money Account Litigation Settlement - (Sec. 101) Authorizes, ratifies, and confirms the class action settlement agreement dated December 7, 2009, in Cobell v. Salazar, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia, as modified by the parties. Authorizes the court to certify the Trust Administration Class, notwithstanding federal rules of procedure.

Establishes the Trust Land Consolidation Fund (TLCF) upon final approval of the settlement with amounts from the TLCF to be made available to the Secretary of the Interior (the Secretary) to conduct the Land Consolidation Program (LCP) and for other specified costs. Directs the Secretary to deposit $1.9 billion in the TLCF. Requires the Secretary to consult with Indian tribes to identify fractional interests in trust or restricted land authorized for purchase within the jurisdictions of the respective tribes.

Makes funds available to the Secretary to contribute to an Indian Education Scholarship Fund to provide scholarships for Native Americans.

Considers plaintiffs whom the Secretary, after reasonable efforts, is unable to locate for five years after the date of final approval, to have accepted a LCP offer.

Excludes settlement amounts received from income under the Internal Revenue Code.

Sets forth provisions relating to incentive awards and awards of attorneys' fees, expenses, and costs.

Requires the Secretary to consult with and consider candidates offered by federally recognized tribes before selecting, under the settlement, two members for the special board of trustees.

Sets forth criteria for trust administration class adjustments, minimum payments, and timing of payments.

Title II: Final Settlement of Claims From In Re Black Farmers Discrimination Litigation - (Sec. 201) Defines "settlement agreement" as the settlement dated February 18, 2010 between certain plaintiffs and the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to resolve the claims raised or that could have been raised in cases consolidated in In re Black Farmers Discrimination Litigation, including Pigford claims under the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (FCEA). Defines "Pigford claim" as a discrimination complaint defined in the consent decree in Pigford v. Glickman, approved by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on April 14, 1999.

Appropriates $1.15 billion to the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out terms of the settlement agreement if such settlement is: (1) approved by a court order that is or becomes final and nonappealable; and (2) modified to incorporate specified additional terms.

Limits Pigford claims funding, if the settlement is not approved, to the $100 million of funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation made available by the FCEA.

Requires the Comptroller General to evaluate internal controls and report to Congress throughout the claims adjudication process. Directs the USDA Inspector General to perform performance audits based on statistical samplings of adjudicated claims.

Title III: White Mountain Apache Tribe Water Rights Quantification - White Mountain Apache Tribe Water Rights Quantification Act of 2010 - (Sec. 304) Authorizes, ratifies, and confirms the White Mountain Apache Tribe Water Rights Quantification Agreement and amendments made to such agreement by this title. Requires the Secretary of the Interior, in implementing the agreement, to comply with all requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and all other applicable federal environmental laws and specified regulations.

(Sec. 305) Requires the water rights of the tribe to be held in trust by the United States and not to be subject to forfeiture or abandonment. Provides for reallocations of certain water rights to the tribe. Exempts the tribe from any water service capital charge for tribal CAP water (water from specified aqueducts and pumping plants). Requires the tribe to enact a water code, as specified.

(Sec. 306) Requires the Secretary to enter into a specified contract with the tribe to provide, among other things, that the tribe, on approval of the Secretary, may enter into contracts or options to lease, contracts to exchange, or options to exchange tribal CAP water in Maricopa, Pinal, Pima, and Yavapai Counties in Arizona providing for the temporary delivery to any individual or entity of any portion of the tribal CAP water, subject to the conditions that the term of the contract or option to lease shall not be longer than 100 years (with renegotiation permitted at any time), the contracts or options to exchange shall be for the term provided in the contract or option, and a lease or option to lease providing for the temporary delivery of tribal CAP water shall require the lessee to pay for charges associated with the leased water. Authorizes, ratifies, and confirms such a contract or lease, except to the extent that any provision of the contract or lease conflicts with a provision of this title.

Prohibits: (1) use of tribal CAP water outside of Arizona; (2) tribal water rights from being sold, leased, transferred, or used outside the boundaries of the reservation or off-reservation trust land other than pursuant to an exchange, except as specified; and (3) limiting the right of the tribe to enter into an agreement with the Arizona Water Banking Authority.

(Sec. 307) Directs the Secretary, acting through the Bureau of Reclamation, to plan, design, and construct the WMAT rural water system (a specified municipal, rural, and industrial water diversion, storage, and delivery system) to divert, store, and distribute water from the North Fork of the White River to the tribe. Specifies components of the WMAT rural water system (the system for purposes of this title). Requires title to the system to be in trust by the United States in its capacity as trustee for the tribe, but requires the Secretary to convey the tribe title to the system after publication by the Secretary of a specified statement of findings. Terminates any obligation of the United States to pay for operation, maintenance, or replacement costs of the system after title is transferred to the tribe under this title. Sets forth provisions concerning limits on U.S. liability, judicial review, Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA) agreements, final designs for the system, and project construction.

(Sec. 308) Sets forth provisions relating to the satisfaction, waiver, or release of claims by the tribe, a limited waiver of U.S. or tribal sovereign immunity for the purpose of resolving issues arising under this title, and after-acquired trust land.

(Sec. 310) Establishes in the Lower Colorado River Basin Development Fund a subaccount to be known as the White Mountain Apache Tribe Water Rights Settlement Subaccount (Subaccount), consisting of specified amounts. Requires the Secretary to use amounts from the Subaccount for the planning, design, and construction of the system in accordance with this title, and for specified purposes. Requires the system, upon a request from the tribe, to be planned, designed, and constructed pursuant to ISDEAA agreements.

(Sec. 312) Establishes the WMAT Settlement Fund to be administered by the Secretary for use by the tribe for: (1) fish production, including hatcheries; (2) rehabilitation of recreational lakes and existing irrigation systems; (3) water-related economic development projects; and (4) protection, restoration, and economic development of forest and watershed health.

Establishes the WMAT Maintenance Fund for the operation, maintenance, and replacement costs associated with the delivery of water through the system.

Establishes in the Lower Colorado River Basin Development Fund a WMAT Cost Overrun Subaccount to be administered and used by the Secretary for activities related to operation and maintenance of the system if specified amounts will be insufficient in the period before title to the system is conveyed to the tribe.

Requires annual reports to the Secretary describing all expenditures from the Settlement and Maintenance funds.

Mandates appropriations (out of any funds not otherwise appropriated) and authorizes appropriations.

(Sec. 313) Exempts the United States from any liability for failure to carry out any obligation or activity authorized to be carried out under this title if adequate appropriations are not provided by Congress expressly to carry out the purposes of this title.

(Sec. 314) Requires compliance with all applicable environmental laws.

Title IV: Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement - Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 2010 - (Sec. 404) Ratifies, authorizes, and confirms the water rights compact between the Crow Tribe and the state of Montana. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to promptly execute the compact and comply with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and all other applicable environmental acts and regulations.

(Sec. 405) Requires the Secretary, acting through the Commissioner of Reclamation, subject to exceptions, to carry out activities necessary to rehabilitate and improve the water diversion and delivery features of the Crow Irrigation Project (CIP) in accordance with an agreement to be negotiated with the tribe. Makes the Bureau of Reclamation the lead agency with respect to any activity to rehabilitate or improve the water diversion or delivery features of the CIP. Directs the Secretary to enter into one or more agreements with the tribe under which the tribe will plan, design, and construct any or all of the rehabilitation and improvement required by this section.

Requires the tribe (upon request, in partial consideration of certain funding, and at no cost to the United States) and any CIP water user (in partial consideration of the CIP rehabilitation and improvement, as a condition of continued service from the CIP after the enforceability date, and at no cost to the Secretary) to consent to easements and rights-of-way as may be necessary for such rehabilitation and improvement. Allows the tribe to retain criminal and civil jurisdiction over any lands under tribal jurisdiction prior to the granting of any such easement or right-of-way. Directs the United States to hold acquired land in trust on behalf of the tribe.

(Sec. 406) Directs the Secretary, acting through the Commissioner, to plan, design, and construct the water diversion and delivery features of the MR&I System (the municipal, rural, and industrial water system of the Reservation). Makes the Bureau of Reclamation the lead agency with respect to any activity to design and construct the water diversion and delivery features of the MR&I System (the system for purposes of this title). Directs the Secretary to enter into one or more agreements with the tribe under which the tribe will plan, design, and construct any or all of the rehabilitation and improvement required by this section.

Requires the tribe, upon request, in consideration of certain funding, and at no cost to the United States, to consent to easements and rights-of-way as may be necessary for system construction. Allows the tribe to retain criminal and civil jurisdiction over any lands under tribal jurisdiction prior to the granting of any such easement or right-of-way. Directs the United States to hold acquired land in trust on behalf of the tribe.

Requires the Secretary to convey title to each authorized system facility or section of a system facility to the tribe after completion of construction of a system facility or a section of a system facility that is operating and delivering water. Exempts the United States from certain liability and sets forth provisions concerning the federal obligation after such conveyance.

Authorizes the tribe to collect water use charges from system customers for specified costs. Directs the Secretary to: (1) provide technical assistance; (2) facilitate the formation of a project management committee; and (3) consult with the tribe, the state of Montana, and affected nonfederal parties to discuss nonfederal contributions, and, if appropriate, negotiate an agreement on the means by which such contributions may be provided.

(Sec. 407) Ratifies, confirms, and declares valid tribal water rights which: (1) shall be held in trust by the United States for the use and benefit of the tribe and allottees; and (2) shall not be subject to forfeiture or abandonment. Grants the tribe authority to allocate, distribute, and lease such rights, subject to specified limitations. Permits leases by allottees. Applies specified provisions of the Act of February 8, 1887, relating to using water for irrigation, to the tribal water rights.

Requires the tribe, not later than three years after the date on which it ratifies the compact to enact a tribal water code, that provides for: (1) the management, regulation and governance of all uses of the tribal water rights in accordance with the compact; and (2) establishment by the tribe of conditions, permit requirements, and other limitations relating to the storage, recovery, and use of the tribal water rights in accordance with the compact. Sets forth required elements of such code.

(Sec. 408) Directs the Secretary to allocate to the tribe 300,000 acre-feet per year of water stored in Bighorn Lake, Yellowtail Unit, Lower Bighorn Division, Pick Sloan Missouri Basin Program, Montana, under a water right held by the United States and managed by the Bureau of Reclamation, as measured at the outlet works of Yellowtail Dam. Requires the tribe to enter into a specified allocation agreement.

Requires the tribe, as a condition of receiving an allocation, to enter into a specified agreement with the Secretary to establish allocation terms and conditions.

(Sec. 409) Declares that the benefits provided under the compact shall satisfy all claims of the tribe and allottees. Sets forth provisions concerning claims related to the Crow Irrigation Project.

(Sec. 410) Sets forth provisions concerning waivers and release of claims.

(Sec. 411) Establishes in the Treasury the Crow Settlement Fund, with specified accounts. Sets forth permitted fund activities. Requires an annual report to the Secretary describing each fund expenditure.

(Sec. 412) Grants the tribe the exclusive right to develop and market power generation on the Yellowtail Afterbay Dam, subject to conditions. Directs the tribe to enter into an agreement, including provisions for certain future charges and payments, with the Bureau of Reclamation before construction of such a project. Requires the Bureau to consult with the tribe on at least a quarterly basis on all issues relating to the Bureau's management of Yellowtail Dam.

(Sec. 413) Sets forth provisions concerning sovereign immunity, tribes affected, claims for reimbursement, U.S. liability, and other effects of enactment.

(Sec. 414) Mandates appropriations (out of any funds not otherwise appropriated) and authorizes appropriations.

(Sec. 415) Repeals this title on April 1, 2016, or the day after an agreed upon extended date, if the Secretary does not publish a specified statement of findings by March 31, 2016.

(Sec. 416) Exempts the United States from liability for any failure to carry out any obligation or activity authorized by this title (including the settlement agreement) if adequate appropriations are not provided in specified funds.

Title V: Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights - Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights Settlement Act - (Sec. 502) States that the purposes of this title are to approve, authorize, ratify, and confirm the Settlement Agreement of March 31, 2006, between the United States, the Taos Pueblo, New Mexico, the Taos Valley Acequia Association and its 55 member ditches, Taos, the El Prado Water and Sanitation District (EPWSD), and the 12 Taos area Mutual Domestic Water Consumers Associations, and any amendments executed to make the agreement consistent with this title.

(Sec. 504) Requires water rights to which the Taos Pueblo is entitled under the partial final decree entered in New Mexico v. Abeyta and New Mexico v. Arellano to be held in trust by the United States and not to be subject to forfeiture, abandonment, or permanent alienation.

(Sec. 505) Establishes in the Treasury the Taos Pueblo Water Development Fund to pay or reimburse costs incurred by the Pueblo for: (1) acquiring water rights; (2) constructing, operating, or repairing water production, treatment or delivery infrastructure, on-farm improvements, or wastewater infrastructure; (3) restoring, preserving, and protecting the Buffalo Pasture; (4) administering the Pueblo's water rights acquisition program and water management and administration system; and (5) watershed protection and enhancement, agriculture support, related community welfare and economic development, and costs to negotiate, authorize, and implement the settlement agreement.

(Sec. 506) Authorizes the Pueblo to market its water rights under the agreement.

(Sec. 507) Directs the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Commissioner of Reclamation, to provide: (1) grants and technical assistance to the Pueblo to construct, replace, or rehabilitate water infrastructure, to protect the environment associated with the Buffalo Pasture area, and to enhance watershed conditions; and (2) financial assistance to eligible non-Pueblo entities for mutual-benefit projects in accordance with the agreement.

(Sec. 508) Directs the Secretary to enter into three repayment contracts for the delivery of specified amounts of San Juan-Chama Project water to the Pueblo, the town of Taos, and EPWSD.

(Sec. 509) Mandates appropriations (out of any funds not otherwise appropriated) and authorizes appropriations for FY2011-FY2016 for the Taos Pueblo Water Development Fund and mutual-benefit projects funding.

(Sec. 510) Provides for the waiver and release of claims against the parties to New Mexico v. Abeyta and New Mexico v. Arellano in return for recognition of the Pueblo's water rights and other benefits.

(Sec. 513) Exempts the United States from liability for any failure to carry out any obligation or activity authorized by this title (including the settlement agreement) if adequate appropriations are not provided in specified funds.

Title VI: Aamodt Litigation Settlement - Aamodt Litigation Settlement Act - Subtitle A: Pojoaque Basin Regional Water System - (Sec. 611) Directs the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Commissioner of Reclamation, to plan, design, and construct a regional water system, in accordance with the settlement agreement dated January 19, 2006, among New Mexico, the Pueblos of Nambe, Pojoaque, San Ildefonso, and Tesuque, the city of Santa Fe, and Santa Fe County: (1) to divert water to the Pueblos and to the County Water Utility, in accordance with the Pojoaque Regional Water System Engineering Report, dated September 2008; and (2) that consists of surface water diversion facilities at San Ildefonso Pueblo on the Rio Grande and any treatment, transmission, storage and distribution facilities and wellfields for the County Distribution System (the portion of the regional water system that serves water customers on non-Pueblo land in the Pojoaque Basin) and Pueblo Water Facilities that are necessary to supply 4,000 acre-feet of water within the Pojoaque Basin.

Authorizes New Mexico and Santa Fe County, in agreement with the Pueblos, the city of Santa Fe, and other signatories to the Cost-Sharing and System Integration Agreement (that describes the location, capacity, and management of the regional water system and allocates system costs), to modify the extent, size, and capacity of the County Distribution System.

(Sec. 612) Sets a deadline for the Pueblos and the County to submit to the Secretary an executed operating agreement for the regional water system. Requires the Secretary to approve or disapprove such agreement pursuant to specified criteria.

(Sec. 613) Directs the Secretary, for the purpose of providing a reliable supply of water from the system for the Pueblos in accordance with the settlement agreement, to: (1) acquire rights to specified Nambe reserved water and water acquired by the County; (2) make a specified amount of water available to the Pueblos in accordance with the San Juan-Chama Project Act; and (3) seek approval to divert such water for the system at points consistent with the agreement.

(Sec. 614) States that the regional water system shall have the capacity to divert from the Rio Grande a quantity of water sufficient to provide: (1) up to 4,000 acre-feet of consumptive use of water; and (2) the requisite peaking capacity described in the engineering report and the final project design.

(Sec. 615) Establishes in the Treasury the Aamodt Settlement Pueblos' Fund.

(Sec. 616) Directs the Secretary to comply with each federal law relating to environmental protection.

(Sec. 617) Mandates certain appropriations, for FY2011-FY2016, out of Treasury funds not otherwise appropriated and authorizes additional appropriations to the Secretary in FY2011-FY2024 for: (1) the planning, design, and construction of the regional water system and the conduct of environmental compliance activities; and (2) the fund. Mandates, from funds not otherwise appropriated, appropriations for the acquisition of water rights.

Subtitle B: Pojoaque Basin Indian Water Rights Settlement - (Sec. 621) Authorizes, ratifies, and confirms the settlement agreement and the Cost-Sharing and System Integration Agreement.

(Sec. 622) Declares that the settlement agreement shall not constitute a major federal action under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. Directs the Secretary to comply with each federal law relating to environmental protection.

(Sec. 623) Requires the Secretary to publish by September 15, 2017, a statement of finding that specified conditions have been fulfilled, including the following: (1) to the extent that the settlement agreement conflicts with this subtitle, it has been revised to conform with this subtitle; (2) the revised agreement has been executed by the appropriate parties and the Secretary; (3) Congress has fully appropriated, or the Secretary has provided from other authorized sources, all funds authorized in subtitle A of this title, with an exception; (4) the Secretary has acquired and entered into appropriate contracts for the water rights described in subtitle A; (5) permits have been issued by the New Mexico State Engineer to the Regional Water Authority to change the points of diversion to the mainstem of the Rio Grande for the diversion and consumptive use of at least 2,381 acre-feet by the Pueblos as part of the water supply for the regional water system, subject to specified conditions; (6) the state of New Mexico has enacted any necessary legislation and provided any funding that may be required under the settlement agreement; (7) a partial final decree that sets forth the water rights and other rights to water to which the Pueblos are entitled under the agreement and this subtitle and that substantially conforms to the agreement that has been approved by the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico; (8) a final decree that sets forth the water rights for all parties to the Aamodt Case and that substantially conforms to the agreement has been approved by that court; and (9) the execution of certain waivers and releases.

Sets forth criteria for substantial completion of the regional water system. Requires the Secretary, at the request of one or more of the Pueblos, on or after June 30, 2021, to: (1) consult with the Pueblos and confer with Santa Fe County and New Mexico on whether the criteria for substantial completion of the system will be met by June 30, 2024; and (2) determine whether the system has been substantially completed and submit a written notice of such determination to the Pueblos, the County, and the state. Provides that such determination shall be considered to be a final agency action subject to judicial review by the decree court.

Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) the failure to make a timely determination; (2) the right to void a final decree; and (3) the voiding of waivers.

(Sec. 624) Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) waivers and releases of claims by the Pueblos and the United States; and (2) tolling of claims between the date of enactment of this Act and June 30, 2021.

(Sec. 626) Exempts the United States from liability for any failure to carry out any obligation or activity authorized by this title (including the settlement agreement) if adequate appropriations are not provided in specified funds.

Title VII: Reclamation Water Settlements Fund - (Sec. 701) Requires the Secretary of the Treasury, out of funds not otherwise appropriated, to transfer funds to the Secretary for deposit in the Reclamation Water Settlements Fund.

Title VIII: General Provisions - Subtitle A: Unemployment Compensation Program Integrity - (Sec. 801) Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to the amount that states may receive from a reduction of an overpayment otherwise payable to a person who owes a "covered unemployment compensation debt" by revising the definition of such debt to: (1) include a past-due debt for erroneous payment of unemployment due to the person's failure to report earnings (current law requires fraud) under the law of a state; and (2) remove the requirement that such debt remain uncollected for not more than 10 years. Eliminates the requirement that the address on the federal return for the taxable year of the overpayment be an address within the state seeking the offset.

(Sec. 802) Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of title IV of the Social Security Act to require an employer to report to the state Directory of New Hires, in addition to other information, the date services for remuneration were first performed by a newly hired employee.

Subtitle B: TANF - (Sec. 811) Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families [TANF]) of title IV of the Social Security Act to continue grants to states for temporary assistance for needy families programs through September 30, 2011.

Requires preference for healthy marriage promotion and responsible fatherhood grants to be given to entities that have previously: (1) been awarded funds; and (2) demonstrated the ability to carry out specified programs successfully.

Directs an entity seeking funding for both healthy marriage and responsible fatherhood promotion to submit a combined application assuring that it will carry out such activities: (1) under separate programs; and (2) without combining funds awarded to carry out either such activities.

Revises the definition of "healthy marriage promotion activities" to include marriage education and other specified programs for individuals in addition to nonmarried pregnant women and nonmarried expectant fathers.

Appropriates (out of money not otherwise appropriated) for FY2011: (1) $75 million for healthy marriage promotion activities; and (2) $75 million for promotion of responsible fatherhood activities. (Current law authorized $150 million, combined, for both programs in specified fiscal years.) Limits appropriated funds awarded to states, territories, Indian tribes and tribal organizations, and public and nonprofit community entities, including religious organizations, for activities promoting responsible fatherhood to $75 million (current law has a $50 million limit). Requires amounts awarded to fund demonstration projects testing the effectiveness of tribal governments in coordinating the provision to tribal families at risk of child abuse or neglect of child welfare services, and other tribal programs, to be taken in equal proportion from such separate appropriations for healthy marriage and responsible fatherhood activities.

Appropriates (out of money not otherwise appropriated) to the Contingency Fund for State Welfare Programs such sums as necessary for payment to the Fund in a total not to exceed: (1) for FY2011, such sums as are necessary for amounts obligated on or after October 1, 2010, and before enactment of the this Act; and (2) for FY2012, $612 million. (Current law reduces such appropriations by specified amounts.)

(Sec. 812) Amends the data reporting requirements for such grants to require each eligible state to submit reports to the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) regarding: (1) whether each work-eligible individual in a family receiving assistance engages in activities directed toward attaining self-sufficiency; and (2) expenditures made by the state using specified federal and state funds. Directs such states to publish a summary, analysis, and narrative of certain information from the reports on an Internet website maintained by the responsible state agency. Requires the HEW Secretary to submit specified reports to Congress on the information submitted by such states. Directs the HEW Secretary to reduce the grant payable to a state that has not submitted a certain required report.

Subtitle C: Customs User Fees; Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset - (Sec. 821) Amends the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 to extend the date after which customs services fees may not be charged for processing certain merchandise.

(Sec. 822) Requires that no payments be distributed under certain provisions of the Tariff Act of 1930 with respect to entries of any goods that are: (1) unliquidated; and (2) not in litigation or under an order of liquidation from the Department of Commerce.

Subtitle D: Emergency Fund for Indian Safety and Health - (Sec. 831) Reduces appropriations to the Emergency Fund for Indian Safety and Health established in the Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008. Revises the amount in the fund that the Secretary of the Interior must use to implement requirements of approved Indian water settlement agreements.

Subtitle E: Rescission of Funds From WIC Program - (Sec. 841) Rescinds $562 million from appropriations used to provide grants to states under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966.

Subtitle F: Budgetary Effects - (Sec. 851) Requires the budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, to be determined by reference to the latest statement titled "Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation."

Amends the title of this Act so as to read: "The Claims Resettlement Act of 2010."