This report covers the final FY 2014 funding levels for selected non-BIA, non-BIE, and non-IHS programs of particular interest to tribes and Indian organizations in the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations bill. It is included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014 (Act) (HR 3547, PL 113-76) which was signed into law on January 17, 2014. The Act provides funding for what would normally be all 12 separate appropriations bills. A Joint Explanatory Statement accompanies the Act, rather than a formal conference report. These documents may be accessed on Congress’s website: Thomas.loc.gov
This report does not include the FY 2014 Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Indian Education, or Indian Health Service funding levels, as we reported those in our General Memorandum 14-006 of January 17, 2014.
DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR NON-BIA/BIE PROGRAMS
OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL TRUSTEE FOR AMERICAN INDIANS
FY 2014 Request $139,677,000
FY 2014 Enacted $139,677,000
The appropriated amount reflects the Administration’s request and is broken down as follows:
Program Operations, Support, and Improvements
FY 2014 Request $137,651,000
FY 2014 Enacted $137,651,000*
*From this total, up to $23,045,000 is made available to the Office of Historical Accounting.
Executive Direction
FY 2014 Request $2,026,000
FY 2014 Enacted $2,026,000
Availability of Funds: The bill language provides for the transfer and continued availability of funds. The provision reads:
Provided, That funds for trust management improvements and litigation support may, as needed, be transferred to or merged with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education, “Operation of Indian Programs” account; the Office of the Solicitor, “Salaries and Expenses” account; and the Office of the Secretary, “Departmental Operations” account: Provided further, That funds made available through contracts or grants obligated during fiscal year 2014, as authorized by the Indian Self-Determination Act of 1975 (25 U.S.C. 450 et seq.), shall remain available until expended by the contractor or grantee.
Statute of Limitations: The bill language continues language to extend the statute of limitations on filing tribal and individual Indian mismanagement claims. The provision reads:
Provided further, That, notwithstanding any other provision of law, the statute of limitations shall not commence to run on any claim, including any claim in litigation pending on the date of the enactment of this Act, concerning losses to or mismanagement of trust funds, until the affected Indian tribe or individual Indian has been furnished with an accounting of such funds from which the beneficiary can determine whether there has been a loss: Provided further, That, notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary shall not be required to provide a quarterly statement of performance for any Indian trust account that has not had activity for at least 18 months and has a balance of $15 or less: Provided further, That the Secretary shall issue an annual account statement and maintain a record of any such accounts and shall permit the balance in each such account to be withdrawn upon the express written request of the account holder: Provided further, That not to exceed $50,000 is available for the Secretary to make payments to correct administrative errors of either disbursements from or deposits to Individual Indian Money or Tribal accounts after September 30, 2002: Provided further, That erroneous payments that are recovered shall be credited to and remain available in this account for this purpose.
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
Operation of the National Park System
FY 2014 Request $2,284,920,000
FY 2014 Enacted $2,236,753,000
Excerpts from the Joint Explanatory Statement:
Wild Bison. – The Service is directed to continue to consult with Native American Tribes to develop an updated conservation and management plan for Yellowstone bison that utilizes sound management practices.
Park Partnerships. – The Committees encourage the use of public–private partnerships as an important tool in the successful operation of land management agencies. These partnerships, which leverage Federal dollars with State, local, nonprofit, and philanthropic entities, have proven effective at achieving partner and Service goals and objectives. The Committees urge the Department and Service to reassess recent policy interpretations and review procedures to facilitate partnerships that have historically proven beneficial to national parks and partners. The Committees support the ongoing efforts by the Service to enter into cooperative partnerships with Native American Tribes to enhance the management and operation of its parks and facilities.
Water Quality. – The Committees urges the Service to work with the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida to examine the water quality of the L-28 canal system.
Historic Preservation Fund
FY 2014 Request $58,910,000
FY 2014 Enacted $56,410,000
The appropriated total includes the following tribal allocation:
Tribal Historic Preservation Grants
FY 2014 Request $8,985,000
FY 2014 Enacted $8,985,000
FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE
State and Tribal Wildlife Grants
FY 2014 Request $61,323,000
FY 2014 Enacted $58,695,000
The appropriated total includes the following tribal allocation:
Tribal Wildlife Grants
FY 2014 Request $4,268,000
FY 2014 Enacted $4,084,000
RELATED AGENCIES
OFFICE OF NAVAJO AND HOPI RELOCATION
FY 2014 Request $8,100,000
FY 2014 Enacted $7,341,000
The bill language is as follows:
Provided, That funds provided in this or any other appropriations Act are to be used to relocate eligible individuals and groups including evictees from District 6, Hopi-partitioned lands residents, those in significantly substandard housing, and all others certified as eligible and not included in the preceding categories: Provided further, That none of the funds contained in this or any other Act may be used by the Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation to evict any single Navajo or Navajo family who, as of November 30, 1985, was physically domiciled on the lands partitioned to the Hopi Tribe unless a new or replacement home is provided for such household: Provided further, That no relocatee will be provided with more than one new or replacement home: Provided further, That the Office shall relocate any certified eligible relocatees who have selected and received an approved homesite on the Navajo reservation or selected a replacement residence off the Navajo reservation or on the land acquired pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 640d–10: Provided further, That $200,000 shall be transferred to the Office of Inspector General of the Department of the Interior, to remain available until expended, for audits and investigations of the Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation, consistent with the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.).
The Joint Explanatory Statement provides:
The bill provides $7,341,000 for the Office of Navajo and Hopi Relocation (ONHIR). The Committees note with concern that less than half ($2,600,000) of the Administration’s proposal for fiscal year 2014 is for new relocations, despite a long backlog of waiting families. Thus, the agreement includes new bill language transferring funds to the Department of the Interior’s Office of the Inspector General to audit and investigate ONHIR’s operations.
INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN INDIAN AND ALASKA NATIVE CULTURE AND ARTS DEVELOPMENT
FY 2014 Request $11,369,000
FY 2014 Enacted $ 9,369,000
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
Salaries and Expenses for Museum Research Institutes
FY 2014 Request $275,935,000
FY 2014 Enacted $267,200,000
The appropriated total funds 23 different museum research institutes. The National Museum of the American Indian is one of these 23 and is funded as follows:
National Museum of the American Indian
FY 2014 Request $32,265,000
FY 2014 Enacted $31,293,000
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
There are a limited number of tribal-specific programs under the EPA but tribes are often eligible for the larger grant programs. We report below on several programs of interest to tribes.
Under Administrative Provisions, the bill language states:
For fiscal year 2014, notwithstanding 31 U.S.C. 6303(1) and 6305(1), the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, in carrying out the Agency’s function to implement directly Federal environmental programs required or authorized by law in the absence of an acceptable tribal program, may award cooperative agreements to federally recognized Indian tribes or Intertribal consortia, if authorized by their member tribes, to assist the Administrator in implementing Federal environmental programs for Indian tribes required or authorized by law, except that no such cooperative agreements may be awarded from funds designated for State financial assistance agreements.
State and Tribal Assistance Grants
FY 2014 Request $3,153,852,000
FY 2014 Enacted $3,535,161,000
There are two categories of assistance under the State and Tribal Assistance Grants (STAG): Infrastructure Assistance Grants and Categorical Grants.
Infrastructure Assistance Grants
FY 2014 Request $2,018,000,000
FY 2014 Enacted $2,480,783,000
This amount is allocated as follows:
Water Supply and Wastewater Infrastructure Grants for Alaska Rural and Native Villages
FY 2014 Request $10,000,000
FY 2014 Enacted $10,000,000
The Alaska Rural and Native Village Program, administered by the State of Alaska, provides infrastructure funding to Alaska Native Villages and rural Alaska communities that lack access to basic drinking water and sanitation infrastructure.
The bill language states:
$10,000,000 shall be for grants to the State of Alaska to address drinking water and wastewater infrastructure needs of rural and Alaska Native Villages: Provided, That, of these funds: (A) the State of Alaska shall provide a match of 25 percent; (B) no more than 5 percent of the funds may be used for administrative and overhead expenses; and (C) the State of Alaska shall make awards consistent with the Statewide priority list established in conjunction with the Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture for all water, sewer, waste disposal, and similar projects carried out by the State of Alaska that are funded under section 221 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1301) or the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1921 et seq.) which shall allocate not less than 25 percent of the funds provided for projects in regional hub communities;
Brownfields Projects
FY 2014 Request $85,000,000
FY 2014 Enacted $90,000,000
Safe Drinking Water Revolving Loan Fund
FY 2014 Request $817,000,000
FY 2014 Enacted $906,896,000
Grants under this program can go to tribes directly as well as to the Indian Health Service under cooperative agreements to fund tribal projects.
Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund
FY 2014 Request $1,095,000,000
FY 2014 Enacted $1,448,887,000
Some of these funds will be used for building or improving sanitation facilities in Indian Country.
With regard to restrictions on the use of the Safe Drinking Water Revolving Loan Fund and the Clean Water Revolving Loan Fund for efficiency projects, the bill language is as follows:
Provided, That for fiscal year 2014, to the extent there are sufficient eligible project applications, not less than 10 percent of the funds made available under this title to each State for Clean Water State Revolving Fund capitalization grants shall be used by the State for projects to address green infrastructure, water or energy efficiency improvements, or other environmentally innovative activities: Provided further, That for fiscal year 2014, funds made available under this title to each State for Drinking Water State Revolving Fund capitalization grants may, at the discretion of each State, be used for projects to address green infrastructure, water or energy efficiency improvements, or other environmentally innovative activities:
Categorical Grants
FY 2014 Request $1,135,842,000
FY 2014 Enacted $1,054,378,000
This amount is allocated as follows:
Tribal General Assistance Program (GAP)
FY 2014 Request $72,631,000
FY 2014 Enacted $65,476,000
GAP provides general assistance grants to build capacity to administer environmental regulatory programs that may be authorized by EPA in Indian Country, and to provide technical assistance in the development of multimedia programs to address environmental issues on Indian lands. The GAP grants cover the costs of planning, developing, and establishing environmental protection programs consistent with other applicable provisions of law providing for enforcement of such laws by Indian tribes on Indian lands.
Tribal Air Quality Management
FY 2014 Request $13,252,000
FY 2014 Enacted $12,829,000
This program includes funding for tribal air pollution control agencies and tribal governments. Through Clean Air Act (CAA) section 105 Grants, tribes may develop and implement programs for the prevention and control of air pollution or implementation of national primary and secondary ambient air standards. Through CAA Section 103 grants, tribal air pollution control agencies or tribes, colleges, universities, or multi-tribe jurisdictional air pollution control agencies and/or non-profit organizations may conduct and promote research, investigations, experiments, demonstrations, surveys, studies and training related to air pollution.
Brownfields Grants
FY 2014 Request $47,572,000
FY 2014 Enacted $47,745,000
Section 319 Non-Point Source Pollution Grants
FY 2014 Request $164,493,000
FY 2014 Enacted $159,252,000
Grants under Section 319 of the Clean Water Act are provided to states, territories, and tribes to help them implement their EPA-approved non-point source management programs by remediating non-point source pollution that has occurred in the past and by preventing or minimizing new non-point source pollution.
Wetland Program Development Grants
FY 2014 Request $15,143,000
FY 2014 Enacted $14,661,000
The Wetland Program Development Grants enable EPA to provide technical and financial support to assist states, tribes, and local governments toward the national goal of an overall increase in the nation’s wetlands. Grants are used to develop new or refine existing state and tribal wetland protection, management, and restoration programs as well as to implement programs where environmental results can be demonstrated.
Brownfields
FY 2014 Request $26,002,000
FY 2014 Enacted $26,002,000
This program, under the EPA’s Environmental and Program Management program, differs from the Brownfields programs listed above. It is designed to help states, tribes, local communities and other stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together to assess, safely clean up, and reuse Brownfields. The other programs provide funding for cleanup purposes alone. However, the programs work in conjunction with one another.
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Waste Management
FY 2014 Request $115,819,000
FY 2014 Enacted $107,783,000
The RCRA Waste Management program is designed to reduce the amount of waste generated and to improve the recovery and conservation of materials by focusing on a hierarchy of waste management options that advocate reduction, reuse, and recycling over treatment and disposal. The program has a tribal component, which is aimed at providing technical assistance to tribes.
Please let us know if we may be of further assistance regarding the FY 2014 funding levels for selected non-BIA, non-BIE, and non-IHS programs of particular interest to tribes and Indian organizations in the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations bill.
