The Biden administration is making sure tribes get connected to the historic funding available for infrastructure in Indian Country.

With the release of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Tribal Playbook on Tuesday, tribes have a roadmap for accessing the $13 billion in set asides to improve water, internet, transportation and other initiatives in their communities. Working with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the White House has identified a little over 150 programs where tribes can apply for funding to address long underfunded needs.

“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law specifically includes provisions that set aside over $13 billion in funds and other resources for tribal communities,” Mitch Landrieu, the Senior Advisor and Infrastructure Implementation Coordinator at the White House said on a press call in the afternoon. “Beyond what is set aside, tribes are also eligible to apply for billions of dollars in competitive program.”

“Together this is going to be the largest investment in tribal infrastructure in American history,” said Landrieu.

As part of his work in the Biden administration, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland has been meeting with tribes to discuss ways in which they can secure investments in their infrastructure. Recent visits have taken him to New Mexico, Arizona, South Dakota and Alaska.

“Tribal communities have too often been left behind and not given a seat at the table to be part of decisions that impact them and their communities — including project development and funding opportunities,” Newland said during the press call. “That’s why, as we began to implement this historic law, our work started with soliciting tribal feedback.”

When it comes to infrastructure, feedback from Indian Country has been consistent, Newland said in an interview after the call. His trips over the last few months confirmed that tribal leaders are eager to access the historic levels of funding. They are just looking for more information on ways to do that.

“People are excited about the funding,” said Newland, a citizen of the Bay Mills Indian Community, based in Michigan. “But what I heard in my meetings with folks, one-on-one, reflected what we heard through our listening sessions and our consultations.”

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Tribal Playbook, Newland said, seeks to answer questions tribal leaders have about the numerous federal agencies that are offering funding. They also want to know how to go about applying for some of the grant programs. [See table at bottom of story.]

“One of the reasons why we put this playbook together was to just have kind of a roadmap, if you will, of where these funding streams are for Indian Country, which agencies to connect with, what the funds are for and then how to get them,” Newland, who served as president of his tribal nation before joining the Department of the Interior, told Indianz.Com.

The BIA, which Newland oversees, has been provided with $466 million from the infrastructure law. The amount includes $216 million for climate resilience programs and $250 million to support water and health infrastructure.

Newland’s visit to South Dakota, for example, highlighted $29 million to improve dam safety across Indian Country, where maintenance and repair projects are finally being funded at adequate levels. The Alaska trip brought attention to the unique challenges facing tribes in the state, where entire communities are being relocated to safer ground due to climate change.

“With the climate adaptation and resilience funds, that’s an existing program for us that tribes apply for you to do their planning documents for adaptation and relocation,” Newland said in the interview. “We’re also trying to coordinate with other agencies to apply some of the climate funds to some of the highest risk and most ready communities, to begin the relocation process or help them where they’ve already started.”

But it’s not just the BIA that Newland has been hearing about during his trips to Indian Country. Infrastructure funding for tribes is available at the Department of Commerce, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency, just to name a few federal agencies. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Tribal Playbook helps bring all of these numerous programs into one spot for tribes to access.

“Part of the challenge is that there’s so much information to get out to folks, you know, in making sure that it’s easily accessible,” Newland said in the interview. “But that’s what we’re trying to do here.”

Some of the information includes a new implementation memorandum issued by the Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday to guide the investment of $868 million in tribal water infrastructure. Of that amount, $154 million will be distributed during the current fiscal year.

“There’s incredible flexibility that tribes will have in utilizing these dollars — whether it’s for drinking water challenges, wastewater challenges, getting lead out of water systems, addressing PFAS and other emerging contaminants,” Radhika Fox, the Assistant Administrator for the Office of Water at EPA, said during the press call.

“So it’s an incredible opportunity, a historic opportunity,” said Fox.

Investing in water infrastructure is also a top priority over at the Department of Health and Human Services. According to Deputy Secretary Andrea Palm, the Indian Health Service has already identified $3.4 billion in water and sewer needs across Indian Country.

“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is a tremendous boost to our work to promote public health and prevent the spread of disease,” said Palm, the second-in-command at HHS.

“Specifically, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law appropriates $700 million to the Indian Health Service each and every year between 2022 and 2026,” Palm said during the press call. “That’s a total of three and a half billion to build infrastructure to ensure a safe supply of drinking water, reliable sewage systems and solid waste disposal facilities.”

At the Department of Transportation, the new law provides nearly $3 billion for tribal infrastructure needs over the next five years, according to the playbook released on Tuesday. Among other projects, the funds will improve aging roads and bridges throughout Indian Country.

“About 70 percent of the roads and the Bureau of Indian Affairs road system remain unpaved and only 68 percent of the bridges in the system are deemed to be ‘in acceptable condition,'” Landrieu of the White House said on the press call.

President Biden’s Administration has worked to make it easier for Tribes to identify and access funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law with the release of this Playbook.

This law invests an unprecedented $13B in infrastructure in tribal communities. https://t.co/RrR0C7rzQ7

— Bryan Newland (@AsstSecNewland) May 31, 2022

The following table is drawn from a document released by the White House on May 31, 2022. It contains more than 150 programs for which tribes are eligible to apply for infrastructure funding.

The data has not been independently verified. The full comma-separated values (CSV) file is posted on whitehouse.gov.