Sponsors (7)
Provides multi-year funding, waived match requirements, and technical assistance to expand drinking water, sanitation, and O&M support for Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian communities on Tribal land.
Official title: To provide access to reliable, clean, and drinkable water on Tribal lands, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 14, 2025 by Joseph Neguse · Last progress July 14, 2025
The bill directs substantial new federal funding and technical assistance to improve drinking water and sanitation for Tribal and Native Hawaiian communities—trading increased federal spending and administrative complexity for faster access to safer, more resilient water infrastructure and services.
Tribal and Native Hawaiian households gain substantially improved access to safe, reliable drinking water and wastewater services, reducing waterborne disease and improving public health.
Tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations, and tribal utilities receive significantly expanded funding and technical assistance (multiple grant/loan authorities and TA programs across the bill), lowering financial barriers to build, repair, and sustain water infrastructure.
The bill prioritizes highest-need communities and provides multi-year operations & maintenance support (including at least five years of O&M eligibility after project completion), increasing the likelihood that investments remain functional and benefit residents over time.
The bill increases federal spending through multiple authorized appropriations and new grant/loan programs, which could raise taxpayer costs and contribute to budgetary pressures or tradeoffs with other priorities.
Sustained operations and long‑term maintenance remain dependent on future annual appropriations and 'as funds permit' language, creating a risk that completed projects lack funding to remain functional over time.
Complex eligibility rules, cross‑referencing prior statutory definitions, and expanded categories of eligible projects can create administrative burdens that delay disbursement or leave some communities unable to access funds without capacity building.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Provides new federal funding, technical assistance, and legal authorities to expand drinking water, sanitation, and operations and maintenance (O&M) support for Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian communities on Tribal land. It directs USDA, HHS/Indian Health Service, and the Bureau of Reclamation to make grants, loans, and technical-assistance resources available and lifts certain matching and targeting requirements to speed access to funds. Appropriates multi-year amounts for construction, technical assistance, and O&M (including $100M for USDA loan/grant authority, $500M/year for IHS programmatic grants, $100M/year for O&M assistance, and annual Reclamation technical assistance funds), requires interagency consultation, and expands eligible facilities to include noncommercial community structures essential to Tribal life and government services.