TERRA Act

This bill helps Tribal communities facing floods, fires, erosion, and other climate or disaster threats. It lets Tribes combine money from many federal programs into one clear Plan, cut red tape, and use funds more flexibly, including for community‑led relocation if needed.

The Department of the Interior would lead. Plans are reviewed with a presumption of approval and a 90‑day decision deadline; if the deadline is missed, the Plan is automatically approved. Waiver requests for rules like matching funds or strict deadlines must get a decision in 45 days, or they’re deemed approved. Money would move faster: agencies send funds to Interior within 30 days of getting them, and Interior sends them to Tribes within 45 days. Agencies may also set aside at least 10% of a program’s funds for Tribes.

• Who is affected
  • Federally recognized Indian Tribes with lands or ways of life at risk from environmental impacts and natural disasters.
• What changes
  • One Plan and one annual report replace many separate applications and reports; Tribes can reallocate funds as needs change, carry funds over without time limits, count them as non‑Federal for matches, keep interest, and recover 100% of indirect costs.
  • Permitting and reviews are coordinated across agencies on a shared schedule; existing studies can be reused; if agencies miss deadlines, a court can set a new timeline; reviews assume that doing nothing would harm the Tribe.
  • Land needed for a Plan can be taken into trust faster, with less paperwork, including when purchased with Plan funds or to avoid imminent environmental risk.
  • Traditional Ecological Knowledge shared in a Plan is kept confidential and exempt from public disclosure.
  • No Tribe loses funding by using this program, and it doesn’t change self‑determination contracting rights.
• When
  • Key timelines: 90 days for Plan decisions; 45 days for waiver decisions; 30 days for agencies to send funds to Interior; 45 days for Interior to send funds to Tribes.