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S. 3355: Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 2008

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S. 3355: Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 2008

110th Congress · introduced 2008-07-29 · Native Americans · Latest: Committee on Indian Affairs. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

  1. Where it came from: introduced 2008-07-29 · official record
  2. Who proposed it: Sen. Tester, Jon [D-MT] · what a sponsor is
  3. What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
  4. Where it stands now: Committee on Indian Affairs. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
  5. If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 2008

Plain summary

Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 2008 - Ratifies 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 applicable environmental statutes. Requires the Secretary, through the Commissioner of Reclamation, to carry out activities necessary to: (1) rehabilitate and improve the water diversion and delivery features of the Crow Irrigation Project in accordance with an agreement to be negotiated with the Tribe; and (2) design and construct such features of the reservation's municipal, rural, and industrial water system. Ratifies tribal water rights, which shall be held in trust for the use and benefit of the Tribe. Grants the Tribe sole authority to allocate, distribute, and lease such rights, subject to specified limitations. Directs the Secretary to allocate to the Tribe 300,000 acre-feet per year of water stored in Bighorn Lake, under a water right held by the United States, as measured at the Yellowtail Dam outlet works. Requires the Tribe, as a condition of receiving an allocation, to enter into an agreement with the Secretary to establish the terms and conditions. Declares that the benefits provided shall be considered to satisfy all claims of the Tribe and allottees. Establishes in the Treasury the Crow Settlement Fund. Grants the Tribe the exclusive right to develop and market power generation as a water development project on the Yellowtail Afterbay Dam. Repeals this Act on January 1, 2015, if the Secretary does not publish by December 31, 2014, a statement of findings that specified conditions have been fulfilled (including court approval and ratification of the compact).

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

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A “Nay” vote

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PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 2008

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Tester, Jon [D-MT] · 1 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (1)
Statute
A written law passed by a legislature. A statute can be changed by a later law; changing a constitution needs an amendment.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Record fed-us-cong110-s3355 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong110 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong110