Official Summaries

WaterSMART Access for Tribes Act

This bill allows the Department of the Interior to reduce or waive the nonfederal cost share of certain grants and agreements for assisting Indian tribes in planning, designing, or constructing any water management improvement or carrying out any water-related activity if Interior determines that paying the cost share would result in a financial hardship for the tribe.

Current Full Text

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 635 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 635

  To amend the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 to increase 
  Tribal access to water conservation and efficiency grants, and for 
                            other purposes.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 22, 2025

  Ms. Stansbury (for herself, Mr. Huffman, Ms. Norton, Mr. Costa, Mr. 
 Horsford, Ms. Davids of Kansas, Ms. Leger Fernandez, and Mr. Neguse) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 to increase 
  Tribal access to water conservation and efficiency grants, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``WaterSMART Access for Tribes Act''.

SEC. 2. WATER MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT.

    Section 9504(a)(3)(E)(i) of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act 
of 2009 (42 U.S.C. 10364(a)(3)(E)(i)) is amended--
            (1) in subclause (I), by striking ``subclause (II)'' and 
        inserting ``subclauses (II) and (III)''; and
            (2) after subclause (II), by inserting the following:
                                    ``(III) Waiver; reduction.--With 
                                respect to a grant or other agreement 
                                entered into under paragraph (1) 
                                between the Secretary and an Indian 
                                Tribe, the Secretary may reduce or 
                                waive the non-Federal share (and 
                                increase the Federal share accordingly) 
                                of the cost of any infrastructure 
                                improvement or activity that is the 
                                subject of that grant or other 
                                agreement if the Secretary determines 
                                that contribution of the non-Federal 
                                share would result in a financial 
                                hardship for the Indian Tribe.''.
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