To provide for the settlement of the water rights claims of the Fort Belknap Indian Community, and for other purposes.
Summary
What This Bill Does
The bill creates states the legislative purposes: achieve final settlement of water rights claims for the Fort Belknap Indian Community, ratify the water compact with Montana, authorize the Secretary to execute the Compact, establishes key definitions for the title including allottee, Compact, Commissioner, enforceability date, Fort Belknap Indian Community, Trust Fund, Implementation Fund, Reservation, and Tribal water rights, and authorizes, ratifies, and confirms the Fort Belknap-Montana water rights compact, directs the Secretary to execute it, and requires compliance with environmental laws (ESA, NEPA) during implementation. It relies on appropriations, grants, exemptions, and liability protections. The main policy areas are Water Rights, Housing, Native American Affairs, and Agriculture.
Who Benefits and How
Fort Belknap Indian Community could gain revenue opportunities, United States federal government could face reduced risk, and Blackfeet Tribe could gain revenue opportunities.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Federal taxpayers could face higher costs, Department of the Interior would take on compliance duties, and Secretary of the Interior would take on compliance duties.
Key Provisions
- Creates states the legislative purposes: achieve final settlement of water rights claims for the Fort Belknap Indian Community, ratify the water compact with Montana, authorize the Secretary to execute the Compact...
- Establishes key definitions for the title including allottee, Compact, Commissioner, enforceability date, Fort Belknap Indian Community, Trust Fund, Implementation Fund, Reservation, and Tribal water rights.
- Authorizes, ratifies, and confirms the Fort Belknap-Montana water rights compact, directs the Secretary to execute it, and requires compliance with environmental laws (ESA, NEPA) during implementation.
- Exempts ratifies and confirms the tribal water rights, provides that water rights cannot be lost through non-use or forfeiture, and protects allottee interests with equivalent or better benefits than before this Act.
- Authorizes federal-state land exchanges where the Secretary of Interior and Secretary of Agriculture negotiate with Montana to exchange federal lands (BLM and National Forest) for state land parcels, with priority given...
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
The bill creates states the legislative purposes: achieve final settlement of water rights claims for the Fort Belknap Indian Community, ratify the water compact with Montana, authorize the Secretary to execute the Compact, establishes key definitions for the title including allottee, Compact, Commissioner, enforceability date, Fort Belknap Indian Community, Trust Fund, Implementation Fund, Reservation, and Tribal water rights, and authorizes, ratifies, and confirms the Fort Belknap-Montana water rights compact, directs the Secretary to execute it, and requires compliance with environmental laws (ESA, NEPA) during implementation.
Key Policy Areas
Water Rights, Housing, Native American Affairs, Agriculture
Primary Purpose
The bill creates states the legislative purposes: achieve final settlement of water rights claims for the Fort Belknap Indian Community, ratify the water compact with Montana, authorize the Secretary to execute the Compact, establishes key definitions for the title including allottee, Compact, Commissioner, enforceability date, Fort Belknap Indian Community, Trust Fund, Implementation Fund, Reservation, and Tribal water rights, and authorizes, ratifies, and confirms the Fort Belknap-Montana water rights compact, directs the Secretary to execute it, and requires compliance with environmental laws (ESA, NEPA) during implementation.
Policy Domains
Title I - Fort Belknap Indian Community Water Rights Settlement
Identified Gains
- Fort Belknap Indian Community
- United States federal government
- Blackfeet Tribe
- Water infrastructure contractors
- State of Montana
Identified Costs
- Federal taxpayers
- Department of the Interior
- Secretary of the Interior
- Fort Belknap Indian Community
- US Forest Service
Sponsors
Steve Daines
R-MT | Primary Sponsor
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Daines (for himself and Mr. Sheehy) introduced the following …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Blackfeet Tribe, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management
Fort Belknap Indian Community faces effects in multiple directions
Positive-direction: Blackfeet Tribe, Fort Belknap Indian Community members, Other Indian tribes in Montana, United States federal government
Negative-direction: Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, Department of the Interior, Forest Service, Secretary of the Interior
Water and wastewater contractors, Water infrastructure contractors
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Interior
- "the_commissioner"
- → Commissioner of Reclamation
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Interior
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
The Fort Belknap-Montana water rights compact dated April 16, 2001, as contained in Montana Code Annotated section 85-20-1001, and any amendments to make it consistent with this title
An individual who holds a beneficial real property interest in an allotment of Indian land located within the Reservation and held in trust by the United States
The date described in section 111(f) when waivers and releases take effect
Water rights of the Fort Belknap Indian Community as described in the Compact and title
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology