Biden-Harris Administration Announces $700M To Deliver Clean Drinking Water And Sanitation Infrastructure On Tribal Lands Through Investing In America Agenda

In a significant stride towards ensuring essential drinking water and sanitation infrastructure throughout Indian Country, the Indian Health Service (IHS) announced FY 2025 allocation decisions for $700M in funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). This is the earliest in the fiscal year that the BIL funding has been announced, which helps support more accurate planning and purchasing for critical projects.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides $3.5B to the IHS between FY 2022 and 2026 to develop critical Tribal water infrastructure, including robust drinking water sources, reliable sewage systems, and effective solid waste disposal facilities.

“Three years after President Biden signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we’re continuing to see once-in-a-generation investments in our nation’s infrastructure,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “Today’s announcement of $700M from IHS to support critical sanitation infrastructure projects is another example of how this administration continues to prioritize health and investment across Indian Country.”

The outcome of FY 2025 BIL funding is substantial – more than 14,450 American Indian and Alaska Native households will benefit by gaining access to essential sanitation facility services. When combined, the first four years of BIL funding will ultimately benefit almost 110,000 American Indian and Alaska Native households.

“The projects funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law are making substantial improvements in clean water and sanitation systems in our tribal communities,” said IHS Director Roselyn Tso. “In the first three years of BIL funding, the IHS supported over 765 construction projects across all IHS areas. With the FY 2025 funding, the IHS will allocate $700M to support an additional 67 construction projects. As we enter the fourth year of BIL funding, the IHS is delighted to continue collaborating with our tribal partners and federal partners, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Bureau of Reclamation to ensure safe drinking water, reliable sewage systems, and solid waste disposal facilities are made available to tribal communities throughout Indian Country.”

This allocation aligns with recommendations from tribal leaders and prioritizes projects that have progressed through the planning phase and can seamlessly transition into the design and construction stages. The commitment to securing adequate funding for planning and design activities remains paramount.

The IHS launched an interactive website in April 2023 to furnish insights into projects funded through the BIL. This dynamic platform continues to offer updated information, encompassing project funding amounts, tribes served, number of homes benefitting, and project statuses. The platform includes projects funded starting in FY 2022 to present, with all IHS and contributed fund sources.

From the beginning, the Biden-Harris Administration has taken a whole-of-government approach to providing resources and investing in Tribal communities. IHS has worked in collaboration with additional federal partners to make IHS more competitive in recruiting and retaining talented engineers.

The nationwide IHS Sanitation Facilities Construction Program is responsible for the delivery of environmental engineering services and sanitation facilities to American Indians and Alaska Natives, providing homes and communities with essential water supply, sewage disposal, and solid waste disposal facilities. The program provides technical and financial assistance to American Indian and Alaska Native communities for cooperative development and construction of safe water, wastewater, and solid waste systems and related support facilities.

The IHS, an agency in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, provides a comprehensive health service delivery system for approximately 2.8 million American Indians and Alaska Natives who belong to 574 federally recognized tribes in 37 states.