Quapaw Tribal Settlement Act of 2025

This Act may be cited as the “Quapaw Tribal Settlement Act of 2025”.

(a) Definitions.— In this section:

(1) Claimant.— The term Claimant means each of—

(A) the Quapaw Nation and the parties identified in paragraphs 1 through 10 of the complaint in Bear, et al. v. United States, No. 13–51X (Fed. Cl. Mar. 25, 2013); and

(B) the individual members of the Quapaw Nation identified in Exhibit A to the amended complaint in Bear, et al. v. United States, No. 13–51X (Fed. Cl. Mar. 25, 2013) filed on February 14, 2014.

(2) Report.— The term Report means the report of the Review Panel of the United States Court of Federal Claims in Congressional Reference Case No. 13–51X, Bear, et al. v. United States (Jan. 9, 2020), submitted to the House of Representatives on January 31, 2020.

(3) Secretary.— The term Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior (or a designee).

(b) Establishment.— There is established a Special Deposit Account in the Department of the Interior Bureau of Trust Funds Administration, to be known as the “Quapaw Bear Settlement Trust Account”.

(c) Administration.— The Secretary of the Interior by and through the Bureau of Trust Funds Administration shall administer all funds appropriated to the Quapaw Bear Settlement Trust Account.

(d) Authorization of payment.— In accordance with the Report, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed to pay to the Claimants $137,500,000 out of any funds in the Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated. The Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer the single payment to the Quapaw Bear Settlement Trust Account established in subsection (b).

(e) Payment in accordance with report.— The payment under subsection (d) shall be made in accordance with the Report.

(f) Distribution.— After the settlement proceeds are transferred to the Quapaw Bear Settlement Trust Account specified under subsection (b), the settlement proceeds shall be available for use, allocation, and distribution in accordance with the Claimants’ distribution plan. The Claimants shall establish a distribution plan in accordance with subsection (d) and the procedures set forth in subsection (g).

(g) Distribution of Funds in the Quapaw Bear Settlement Trust Account.—

(1) Mediation.—

(A) No more than forty-five (45) days following enactment of the Act, the Claimants shall submit the issues of the allocation and distribution of the settlement proceeds to a mutually agreed upon third-party mediator.

(B) In the event the Claimants do not submit to a mutually agreed upon third-party mediation within forty-five (45) days pursuant to the preceding subparagraph, then any Claimant may initiate Secretarial Allocation procedures under paragraph (2) below.

(C) Any mediation shall be confidential and non-binding on the Claimants without the written consent of the Claimants, provided that nothing in this paragraph shall be interpreted to bar the Quapaw Nation Business Committee from consulting with the Quapaw Nation Indian Council during mediation.

(D) No statements made or information exchanged during mediation shall be admissible in any future legal or dispute resolution proceedings without the written consent of the Claimants.

(E) The Claimants shall mutually agree to conduct mediation at a specified location. Each Claimant shall pay its own costs, plus an equal share of the costs of the mediator and the mediation facilities.

(F) Following successful completion of any mediation under this section, the Claimants may submit a mutually agreed upon distribution plan to the Secretary.

(G) Upon submission of a mutually agreed upon distribution plan to the Secretary, the Secretary shall distribute the funds in the Quapaw Bear Settlement Trust Account to the Claimants in accordance with their mutually agreed upon distribution plan.

(H) In the event the Claimants do not reach a mutually agreed upon distribution plan following mediation, then any Claimant, through written notification, may submit the matter to the Secretary who shall determine a final distribution plan allocating the funds in the Quapaw Bear Settlement Trust Account in accordance with the Report based on the procedures in paragraph (2).

(2) Secretarial Allocation.—

(A) Following an unsuccessful mediation pursuant to the procedures in paragraph (1), any Claimant may petition the Secretary to determine final allocations of settlement proceeds in accordance with subsection (d).

(B) The Secretary shall commence the Secretarial Allocation process in accordance with this paragraph (2) if the Claimants do not reach a mutually agreed upon allocation plan within 18 months following enactment of the Act.

(C) Upon the receipt of such a petition by a Claimant, the Secretary or the Secretary’s designee shall order an allocation of the settlement proceeds pursuant to the following steps:

(i) Within thirty (30) days following the Secretary’s receipt of a petition to allocation settlement proceeds after failed mediation, the Secretary or the Secretary’s designee shall issue a scheduling order to establish a schedule for a hearing and the issuance of a final decision by the Secretary of a final distribution plan.

(ii) The Secretary’s decision determining a final distribution plan in accordance with subsection (d) shall be made following a hearing to be presided over by the Secretary or the Secretary’s designee. The hearing shall occur no less than sixty (60) days following the issuance of the scheduling order.

(iii) At least fifteen (15) days prior to the hearing, each Claimant shall submit to the other Claimants and to the Secretary a copy of all exhibits on which such Claimant intends to rely at the hearing, a pre-hearing brief, and a proposed final decision by the Secretary. The proposed final decision shall include a proposed distribution plan to be submitted to the Secretary and shall be limited to proposed rulings and distributions for each Claimant.

(iv) Within fourteen (14) days after the close of the hearing, each Claimant may submit a post-hearing brief to the Secretary.

(v) Following the hearing and post-hearing brief, the Secretary shall issue a final decision determining a final distribution plan in accordance with subsection (d) within sixty (60) calendar days. The Claimants may mutually agree upon a binding distribution plan at any time before the Secretary’s decision is issued.

(vi) Within twenty (20) calendar days after transmittal of the Secretary’s final decision to the Claimants, the Claimants may submit to the Secretary any information necessary for the implementation of the final distribution plan.

(vii) Within sixty (60) days of the Secretary’s final decision determining a final distribution plan, the Secretary shall distribute the funds in the Quapaw Bear Settlement Trust Account to the Claimants pursuant to the terms of the final distribution plan.

(viii) Any deadlines established in this section may be extended by unanimous mutual agreement of the Claimants.

(3) Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service.— In discharging any duties under this Act, the Secretary is authorized to utilize the Federal Mediation Conciliation Service to provide technical support and dispute resolution resources, provided, however, that the Secretary or the Secretary’s designee is responsible for approving and implementing any mutually agreed-upon or binding distribution plan reached pursuant to this Act.