Sponsors (2)
The bill provides multi-year, dedicated funding and operational support to accelerate and sustain Indian water-rights settlements and preserves customs fee authority for continuity and predictability through 2035, but it increases federal outlays, concentrates implementation discretion, and extends fee-related costs and reduced near-term oversight for importers and consumers.
Tribal communities (Indian nations with water-rights settlements) receive stable, dedicated funding of $250M annually (2026–2035) plus $45M annually for operations & maintenance to implement and complete Indian water rights settlements.
Completed tribal water projects get long-term O&M funding, reducing the risk of deteriorating water infrastructure on tribal lands and improving service reliability.
Implementation of settlements and fund management is made more flexible and predictable because the Secretary of the Interior can transfer/index amounts and deposited funds are available without further annual appropriation, helping tribes plan and accelerate project completion.
Federal outlays increase by about $295M per year (2026–2035) to fund the tribal deposits, which may raise federal spending pressure or crowd out other priorities funded from Treasury resources.
Concentrating discretion in the Secretary of the Interior over sequencing, timing, and transfers could reduce transparency and allow shifting priorities to delay some settlements or alter outcomes.
Extending customs user-fee authority through 2035 prolongs importers' and consumers' exposure to those fees and any fee increases, maintaining a source of added costs for trade and consumers.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Creates two subaccounts that require annual Treasury deposits (2026–2035) to fund operations/maintenance for named Indian water settlements and to finance new Congress-approved settlements.
Official title: Amend the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to establish subaccounts in the Indian Water Rights Settlement Completion Fund, and for other purposes.
Introduced June 10, 2026 by Ben Ray Luján · Last progress June 10, 2026
Creates two permanent subaccounts in the Indian Water Rights Settlement Completion Fund to provide recurring Treasury deposits to support operations, maintenance, repair, and ongoing obligations for specified tribal water settlements and to fund new and continuing Indian water rights settlements authorized by Congress. Also clarifies a funding prohibition in the White Mountain Apache Tribe Water Rights Quantification Act of 2010 and extends two expiration dates in a customs/user-fee provision from December 31, 2031 to September 30, 2035.