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.
About This Bill
Committee
Latest Action · April 2, 2024
Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
# Summary
The Tribal Environmental Resiliency Resources Act (TERRA Act) allows Indian tribes facing environmental threats like flooding, erosion, wildfires, and drought to combine multiple federal funding sources into single comprehensive plans. Under this legislation, tribes can streamline administrative requirements, reduce paperwork, and reallocate funds flexibly across different activities to address climate resilience, disaster relief, relocation, housing, infrastructure, and economic development.
The bill designates the Department of the Interior as the lead agency and gives the Secretary of the Interior authority to approve tribal plans within 90 days (or the plan is automatically approved). Federal agencies must grant waiver requests within 45 days unless doing so conflicts with the act's purpose, or the request is automatically granted. Participating federal agencies must coordinate environmental reviews and permitting under a single timeline not to exceed one year whenever possible, and tribes receive consolidated funding that they can reallocate without additional federal approval.
Tribes are required to submit only one annual report instead of separate reports to each funding source, and they can retain all indirect costs and interest earned on transferred funds. The legislation protects tribal confidentiality regarding cultural and historical resources and allows tribes to sue in federal court if the government denies their plan or waiver request. The Department of Interior and other federal agencies must complete an implementation agreement within 180 days, and submit a status report to Congress within two years.
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