To amend the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 to increase Tribal access to water conservation and efficiency grants, and for other purposes.
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill amends the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 to give the Secretary of the Interior new authority to reduce or waive cost-sharing requirements for Indian tribes receiving water conservation grants. Currently, tribes must contribute a non-Federal share of project costs; this bill allows the Secretary to waive that requirement when it would cause financial hardship.
Who Benefits and How
Indian tribes benefit directly by gaining access to full federal funding for water infrastructure improvements without needing to provide matching funds. Tribes experiencing economic challenges can now pursue water conservation projects that were previously financially out of reach. This particularly helps smaller or economically disadvantaged tribes who lack the resources for cost-sharing.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The federal government (through the Department of the Interior) bears additional costs by covering the full expense of projects where cost-sharing is waived. Taxpayers fund a larger share of tribal water infrastructure projects when waivers are granted.
Key Provisions
- Authorizes the Secretary to reduce or waive non-Federal cost-share requirements for tribal water grants
- Waiver applies to grants under Section 9504 of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act
- Secretary must determine that cost-sharing would cause financial hardship for the tribe
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Allows the Secretary of the Interior to reduce or waive the non-Federal cost-share requirement for water conservation and efficiency grants to Indian tribes experiencing financial hardship.
Key Policy Areas
Water Resources, Tribal Affairs, Federal Grants
Primary Purpose
Allows the Secretary of the Interior to reduce or waive the non-Federal cost-share requirement for water conservation and efficiency grants to Indian tribes experiencing financial hardship.
Policy Domains
Section 2 - Reduction or waiver of non-Federal share of costs for Indian tribes
Identified Gains
- Indian tribes
- Tribal water utilities
- Tribal communities
Identified Costs
- Federal government (Department of Interior)
- Federal taxpayers
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
ReportedReported by Mr. Manchin, without amendment
Mr. Luján (for himself, Ms. Cortez Masto, and Mr. Hickenlooper) …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Indian tribes receiving water conservation grants
Tribal water infrastructure contractors and utilities
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Interior
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