Sponsors (2)
The bill provides the Crow Tribe with targeted, flexible funding and longer timeframes to build and secure water and wastewater infrastructure (and to acquire water-rights land), but shifts long-term O&M costs to the Tribe and creates administrative and funding-indexing risks that could delay projects or raise local costs.
Crow Tribe: receives a dedicated MR&I Projects Account to fund planning, design, construction, and repair of water and wastewater infrastructure, enabling concrete project delivery.
Crow Tribe: may acquire on-Reservation land with water rights using leftover MR&I funds after projects finish, helping secure long-term water resources for the Tribe.
Crow Settlement Fund stakeholders (Tribe, taxpayers): Fund will be actively managed and invested by the Secretary and made available until expended or reverted, which can improve stewardship and speed access to project financing.
Crow Tribe: the federal government disclaims obligation to pay for operation, maintenance, or replacement of MR&I projects, leaving long-term O&M and replacement costs to the Tribe.
Crow Tribe, Secretary of the Interior, and local partners: restructuring accounts, transfers, and repeal of the old MR&I 'system' increases administrative complexity and transition risk, which may delay funds availability and require renegotiation or administrative adjustments.
Crow Tribe and taxpayers: indexing MR&I deposit amounts to construction cost trends could increase required funding levels or reduce purchasing power if funding does not keep pace, raising upfront cash needs or project costs.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Revises the 2010 Crow Tribe water settlement to redefine MR&I projects, repeal the old MR&I system, create an MR&I Projects Account, and place fund management with the Secretary of the Interior.
Official title: To amend the Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 2010 to make improvements to that Act, and for other purposes.
Introduced January 24, 2025 by Troy Downing · Last progress January 24, 2025
Amends the Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 2010 to revise definitions, remove the prior MR&I System, create a new MR&I (Municipal, Rural, & Industrial) Projects Account, and change how the Crow Settlement Fund is managed, invested, and distributed by the Secretary of the Interior. The bill redirects funding flows, updates cross-references, and adjusts statutory citations to support Tribal water infrastructure projects and related environmental obligations. These changes affect the structure and administration of the Crow Settlement Fund, how MR&I projects are defined and funded, and the Interior Department’s responsibilities for managing and disbursing settlement monies. The amendments renumber affected sections and refine statutory language to implement the new account and funding mechanics.