Secretary Deb Haaland speaks at the 15 Nov 2021 Tribal Nations Summit (AP Photo, Evan Vucci)
On Monday, November 15th the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was signed into law. In a press release, Secretary Deb Haaland said of the law that, “the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal’s historic investments in Tribal communities will help bolster community resilience, replace aging infrastructure, and provide support needed for climate-related relocation and adaptation.”
According to the National Congress of American Indians Topline Summary, some of these investments include things such as $466 million for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. This allocation is intended for construction, repair, and maintenance of power and water systems; Tribal climate resilience, adaptation, and community relocation. Additional funding includes a ‘historic’ $2.5 billion to fulfill water right settlements and deliver water resources to Tribal nations.
Other critical areas of need addressed in the law include over $4.5 billion authorized and reauthorized for Tribal Transportation programs such as TTP, Tribal Transit, Bridge Investment Program, and more; approximately $55.4 billion for Water rights settlements, water quality and sanitation projects, stormwater infrastructure, and more; and $17.3 billion in Tribal set-aside and funding opportunities for Broadband and telecommunications projects.
In total, this law includes $550 billion in new federal spending and an additional $650 billion in spending over five years, more than $15 billion in Tribal specific funding measures and $146.3 billion in competitive grant and cooperative agreement funding.
“The single-largest investment in Tribal infrastructure ever is going to occur: more than $13 billion in direct investment to Indian Country and tens of billions more in grants and future funding opportunities”
Read the full bill here (Text - HR3684: Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act)
Read the US Senate Committee on Indian Affairs summary here (Committee on Indian Affairs HR3684 Summary)