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November 22, 2021

$ 1.2 trillion infrastructure bill helps Native American tribes

Native American tribes will receive an influx of money in the infrastructure bill to support water projects, expand broadband coverage and more. However, tribal leaders say a long-term investment will create change.

President Joe Biden signed the $1.2 trillion deal earlier this week that includes about $11 billion in benefits for Indian Country, according to the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. About one-third of that, $3.5 billion, will go to the Indian Health Service, the federal agency tasked with providing health care for more than 2 million Native American and Alaska Natives.

Two southwest tribal leaders were in attendance for the signing, Gila River Indian Community Governor Stephen Roe Lewis and Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez.

“I’m honored to be invited to represent (Gila River Indian Community) and Indian Country as partners with @WhiteHouse in @POTUS signing this historic legislation that will provide critical infrastructure funds to Indian Country including tribal water settlements and roads!,” Lewis said in a tweet.

The funding is enough to address more than 1,560 projects on the agency's list of water and sanitation deficiencies in 12 regions, estimated to cost nearly $2.6 billion. Projects in Alaska and the Southwest region that covers the Navajo Nation — where many tribal members live without running water and indoor plumbing — collectively have the largest price tags.

"In these, and several other tribal communities, sanitation and clean water systems would never be built because the annual appropriations were insufficient to cover all the deficiencies," the National Indian Health Board recently.

Indian Health Service spokeswoman Jennifer Buschick said the agency will consult with tribes soon to determine how to allocate the funding.

Navajo Nation Vice President Myron Lizer said in a statement that the passage of this legislation will help continue momentum for infrastructure projects that stemmed from CARES Act funds. Those projects included four new broadband/cell phone towers, 30 waterline connections to homes, more than 300 off-grid solar installations and more.

“Infrastructure is the primary building block of our communities. This investment will not only help rebuild roads and bridges our people need to access basic services, but it will lay the foundation for many communities who will see broadband or water delivery for the very first time,” Lizer said in the statement. “We thank Congress and the Biden-Harris Administration for working together on this initiative.”

Another $2.5 billion will go to fulfill tribal water rights settlements that already have been approved. The Interior Department hasn't specified which agreements that quantify tribes' rights to water are included. But the leaders of the Navajo Nation, which extends into parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, and the White Mountain Apache Tribe in eastern Arizona said they expect to benefit from the funding.

Heather Tanana, who is Navajo and an assistant law professor at the University of Utah, is part of a group that released a roadmap Tuesday on how the federal government can move forward with the funding effectively. It includes coordination among federal agencies, working with tribes and through an existing tribal task force.

Elsewhere, money in the legislation for Indian Country includes $2 billion in dedicated funding for broadband expansion for Native people.

Addressing climate change, $216 million will be invested in a new tribal transition and relocation assistance program. Additionally, as part of investing in environmental remediation, tribal communities will receive $150 million in dedicated funding to restore orphaned wells.

Here are the other infrastructure areas tribal communities will be eligible for:

$6 billion to support water infrastructure in tribal communities, including $3.5 billion over five years for the Indian Health Service Sanitation Facilities Construction program and $2.5 billion for enacted Indian Water Settlements.
Approximately $4 billion investment in the Tribal Transportation Program that will provide resources for the repair of tribal road networks and bridges
$32 million for tribes for cybersecurity grants
$60 million for tribal fish passage improvements and $172 million to support tribes with salmon recovery efforts

Officials with the Biden administration repeatedly referred to a "whole of government" approach this week during the White House Tribal Nations Summit in announcing agreements among federal agencies on tribal treaty rights and sacred sites.

Tanana, the research lead for the Tribal Clean Water initiative, said goals and accountability also must be part of the equation, along with building capacity for tribes to operate water and sanitation systems on their own. The group of tribal members, water experts and nonprofits push for access to clean water for tribes in the Colorado River basin and beyond.

"Whole of government shouldn't just be a catchy phrase," Tanana said. "It's critical to getting the money that Congress just appropriated on to the ground and into actual projects."

Building and improving upon water and sanitation systems will have a cascading effect in tribal communities and urban areas where most Native Americans live, improve health disparities and foster economic development, the National Indian Health Board said. The group also said the momentum should continue with Congress fully funding health care facilities serving Indigenous people as part of the federal government's obligation to federally recognized tribes.

Colorado U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, who had co-sponsored a separate bill to improve water and wastewater systems in Indian Country, said: "This is the first step of many to reduce this shameful disparity and help ensure that tribal communities have access to safe, clean water."