Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in fiscal year 1991 and thereafter, sums provided by any party, including sums provided in advance or as a reimbursement for natural resource damage assessments, may be credited to this appropriation and shall remain available until expended.
(
This appropriation, referred to in text, probably means appropriations under the heading "
"(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law and subject to the provisions of paragraphs (5) and (7), upon the joint motion of the United States and the State of Alaska and the issuance of an appropriate order by the United States District Court for the District of Alaska, the joint trust funds, or any portion thereof, including any interest accrued thereon, previously received or to be received by the United States and the State of Alaska pursuant to the Agreement and Consent Decree issued in United States v. Exxon Corporation, et al. (No. A91–082 CIV) and State of Alaska v. Exxon Corporation, et al. (No. A91–083 CIV) (hereafter referred to as the 'Consent Decree'), may be deposited in-
"(A) the Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration Fund (hereafter referred to as the 'Fund') established in title I of the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1992 (
"(B) accounts outside the United States Treasury (hereafter referred to as 'outside accounts'); or
"(C) both.
Any funds deposited in an outside account may be invested only in income-producing obligations and other instruments or securities that have been determined unanimously by the Federal and State natural resource trustees for the Exxon Valdez oil spill ('trustees') to have a high degree of reliability and security.
"(2) Joint trust funds deposited in the Fund or an outside account that have been approved unanimously by the Trustees for expenditure by or through a State or Federal agency shall be transferred promptly from the Fund or the outside account to the State of Alaska or United States upon the joint request of the governments.
"(3) The transfer of joint trust funds outside the Court Registry shall not affect the supervisory jurisdiction of the district court under the Consent Decree or the Memorandum of Agreement and Consent Decree in United States v. State of Alaska (No. A91–081–CIV) over all expenditures of the joint trust funds.
"(4) Nothing herein shall affect the requirement of section 207 of the dire emergency supplemental appropriations and transfers for relief from the effects of natural disasters, for other urgent needs, and for the incremental cost of 'Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm' Act of 1992 (
"(5) All remaining settlement funds are eligible for the investment authority granted under this section so long as they are managed and allocated consistent with the Resolution of the Trustees adopted March 1, 1999, concerning the Restoration Reserve, as follows:
"(A) $55 million of the funds remaining on October 1, 2002, and the associated earnings thereafter shall be managed and allocated for habitat protection programs including small parcel habitat acquisitions. Such sums shall be reduced by-
"(i) the amount of any payments made after the date of enactment of this Act [Nov. 29, 1999] from the Joint Trust Funds pursuant to an agreement between the Trustee Council and Koniag, Inc., which includes those lands which are presently subject to the Koniag Non-Development Easement, including, but not limited to, the continuation or modification of such Easement; and
"(ii) payments in excess of $6.32 million for any habitat acquisition or protection from the joint trust funds after the date of enactment of this Act and prior to October 1, 2002, other than payments for which the Council is currently obligated through purchase agreements with the Kodiak Island Borough, Afognak Joint Venture and the Eyak Corporation.
"(B) All other funds remaining on October 1, 2002, and the associated earnings shall be used to fund a program, consisting of-
"(i) marine research, including applied fisheries research;
"(ii) monitoring; and
"(iii) restoration, other than habitat acquisition, which may include community and economic restoration projects and facilities (including projects proposed by the communities of the EVOS Region or the fishing industry), consistent with the Consent Decree.
"(6) The Federal trustees and the State trustees, to the extent authorized by State law, are authorized to issue grants as needed to implement this program.
"(7) The authority provided in this section shall expire on September 30, 2002, unless by September 30, 2001, the Trustees have submitted to the Congress a report recommending a structure the Trustees believe would be most effective and appropriate for the administration and expenditure of remaining funds and interest received. Upon the expiration of the authorities granted in this section all monies in the Fund or outside accounts shall be returned to the Court Registry or other account permitted by law."