To authorize the integration and administrative streamlining of Federal funding for Indian Tribes that have reservations, other Tribal lands, or ways of life at risk due to environmental impacts and natural disasters, and for other purposes.
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMs. Randall (for herself, Ms. Perez, Mr. Simpson, Ms. Davids …
Summary
What This Bill Does
The TERRA Act (Tribal Emergency Response Resources Act) creates a new framework allowing Indian Tribes facing environmental threats like flooding, wildfires, sea level rise, and permafrost degradation to combine funding from multiple federal programs into single comprehensive "Plans." Instead of navigating dozens of separate federal programs with different rules, Tribes can consolidate funds and redirect them toward climate resilience projects or community-driven relocation when necessary.
Who Benefits and How
Indian Tribes facing climate and environmental emergencies are the primary beneficiaries. They gain the ability to integrate funding from 15+ federal agencies (Interior, Agriculture, HUD, FEMA, EPA, etc.) into unified Plans with streamlined administration. Key benefits include:
- Waiver of matching requirements, competition rules, and partnership mandates with states
- Single annual report replacing multiple program-specific reporting requirements
- Expedited land-into-trust acquisitions for relocation purposes
- 10% minimum set-asides from federal programs for Tribal participation
- 100% indirect cost recovery and ability to retain interest on transferred funds
- Automatic plan approval if the Secretary does not respond within 90 days
Construction and infrastructure contractors serving Tribal communities also benefit from streamlined permitting with 1-year environmental review targets.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Federal agencies across 15+ departments must coordinate fund transfers within 30 days, process waiver requests within 45 days, and participate in streamlined permitting with strict deadlines. The Department of the Interior assumes lead responsibility for implementation, developing model reports, monitoring systems, and coordinating interdepartmental agreements within 180 days.
State and local governments lose some influence as Tribes can waive requirements to partner with them, and may lose tax revenue from expedited land-into-trust acquisitions.
Non-tribal recipients of federal programs may see reduced funding availability due to the 10% tribal set-aside requirement.
Key Provisions
- Authorizes integration of funding from climate resilience, disaster relief, housing, infrastructure, economic development, land management, energy, and public health programs
- Grants broad waiver authority for matching requirements, competition procedures, formula limitations, and state partnership mandates
- Creates expedited fee-to-trust land acquisition process with reduced documentation requirements for Tribes facing environmental risks
- Establishes 90-day Plan approval deadline with presumption of approval and automatic approval if no response
- Reduces reporting to single annual model report, eliminating program-specific requirements
- Protects Traditional Ecological Knowledge from disclosure under FOIA and NEPA
- Allows Tribes to sue federal agencies for non-compliance with attorney fee recovery
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Empowers Indian Tribes to integrate funding from multiple Federal programs into comprehensive Plans for addressing environmental impacts and natural disasters, including community-driven relocation, while reducing administrative burdens and supporting Tribal self-determination.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Consolidate and streamline Federal funding and permitting processes to empower Tribal self-determination in addressing climate and environmental emergencies, with strong deference to Tribal authority and reduced Federal bureaucracy."
Likely Beneficiaries
- Indian Tribes facing environmental threats and natural disasters
- Tribal governments seeking funding integration and administrative flexibility
- Tribal communities requiring relocation due to climate impacts
- Tribal self-governance and self-determination efforts
Likely Burden Bearers
- Federal agencies required to transfer funds and waive requirements
- Federal regulatory agencies facing streamlined review deadlines
- Office of Management and Budget (loses some oversight requirements)
- State and local governments (Tribes can bypass partnership requirements)
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Interior
- "the_department"
- → Department of the Interior
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Interior
- "the_department"
- → Department of the Interior
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
A Federal agency that administers a program that has been integrated, or is being proposed for integration, into a Plan.
Any voluntary, Tribally led climate adaptation strategy that may involve moving all or part of a Tribal community from an area prone to environmental hazards to a safer area, including protect-in-place, managed retreat, and full-scale relocation efforts.
Includes Department of Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, HHS, DHS, HUD, Justice, Transportation, Treasury, EPA, FCC, FERC, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and other agencies with eligible programs.
A Federal agency with review, permitting, or authorization responsibility for Plan activities that participates in streamlined permitting and review procedures.
A comprehensive Plan authorized under this Act that integrates multiple Federal programs for Tribal environmental resilience.
A body of observations, knowledge, innovations, practices, and beliefs developed by Indian Tribes through long-term interaction with the environment, which may only be obtained with Tribal consent and is kept confidential.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology