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Adds a new paragraph (8) to 25 U.S.C. 3502(c) authorizing the Secretary of Energy, at the applicant's request, to use appropriated funds to conduct financial and technical assessments and related activities in connection with loan and loan guarantee applications for eligible projects (including renewable energy and transmission projects on or near Indian land and projects outside Indian land), and caps such assessments at not more than $500,000 per application.
Amends Section 40101 (42 U.S.C. 18711) to (1) modify subsection (d) to add explicit application/plan requirements for Indian Tribes (including options for Tribes executing projects or awarding grants to eligible entities), revise oversight language to require grants be allocated pursuant to the applicable State or Indian Tribe plan, and add a savings provision that an Indian Tribe is not required to award grants to specified eligible entities; (2) amend subsection (e) to add references to "distributed generation" in eligibility or priority language; and (3) amend subsection (h) to add a new paragraph (3) stating that Indian Tribes that receive or award grants under subsection (d), and eligible entities owned by Indian Tribes that receive grants under subsection (c), shall not be required to provide matching funds.
Amends subsection (f) of 42 U.S.C. 16352 (cost sharing) by adding an explicit exemption that grants awarded to an Indian Tribe under section 40101(d) of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act are exempt from the cost-sharing requirements of this section.
Expands Department of Energy support for Tribal energy projects and clarifies rules for Tribal applicants to grid resilience and related energy grants. It lets DOE use appropriated funds to pay for financial and technical assessments for loan and loan‑guarantee applications (capped at $500,000 per application), exempts certain Tribal grants from cost‑share/match requirements, and confirms Tribes are not required to award subgrants if they receive funding.
Adds a new paragraph to 25 U.S.C. 3502(c) authorizing the Secretary of Energy, at the request of an applicant and subject to a dollar cap, to use appropriated funds to carry out financial and technical assessments and related activities for loan and loan guarantee applications supporting eligible projects (including renewable energy and transmission projects on or near Indian land and projects outside Indian land).
Limits the amount the Secretary of Energy may use for such financial and technical assessments to not more than $500,000 for any one application.
Amends provisions (Public Law 117–169 citations) to add projects carried out by an Indian Tribe on or near Indian land or outside Indian land to a list of additional DOE Tribal programs (adds subparagraph (E) to section 50141(d)(3)).
Amends 42 U.S.C. 18711(d) (Section 40101 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) so that for each fiscal year an Indian Tribe must submit an application to the Secretary that includes either: (I) a plan describing how the Tribe will use the proposed funding if the Tribe will execute the projects, or (II) a plan described in subparagraph (B) if the Tribe intends to award grants to eligible entities with amounts made available to the Tribe under this subsection.
Replaces the oversight provision for grants under the program to require the Secretary to ensure each grant provided to a State or an Indian Tribe (if the Tribe intends to award grants to eligible entities with those grant funds) is allocated pursuant to the applicable plan of the State or Indian Tribe.
Primary beneficiaries are Indian Tribes and Tribal communities: lower upfront costs and reduced administrative barriers should make it easier for Tribes to apply for and receive DOE support for energy and grid resilience projects. Allowing DOE to pay for financial and technical assessments (up to $500,000 each) lowers the cost and technical burden of preparing loan and loan‑guarantee applications; this may increase Tribal participation in federal lending programs and speed decisionmaking. Transmission owners, electric generating unit owners, and other project partners may see increased Tribal-led project activity and new opportunities for partnerships. DOE program offices must absorb or allocate appropriated funds to pay for assessments, implement updated application and oversight rules, and apply the cost‑share exemptions. Overall fiscal impact is limited to use of existing appropriations (within the $500,000 cap per assessment) rather than mandatory new spending; the provision mostly changes eligibility, matching, and procedural rules rather than creating large new grant programs. Administrative workload may shift toward designing application assessment processes, tracking capped payments, and ensuring statutory exemptions and oversight protections are correctly applied.
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Introduced March 27, 2025 by Brian Emanuel Schatz · Last progress March 27, 2025
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Introduced in Senate