§1377 Indian Tribes

Summary

Requires the Administrator, working with the Director of the Indian Health Service, to check what sewage treatment is needed for Indian tribes, how much of that need will be met by State allotments, and what stops those needs from being met. A report with findings and recommendations had to be sent to Congress no later than one year after February 4, 1987. The report must explain how the Administrator will help tribes make waste management plans and build treatment works, and how tribal participation and program management can be improved. Tribes may make cooperative agreements with the State(s) where their lands are, but the Administrator must approve those agreements. The Administrator must set aside money for tribal projects. For fiscal years 1987 through 2014, the Administrator reserved one-half of one percent of funds under section 1287 before State allotments. For fiscal year 2015 and later, the Administrator must reserve at least 0.5 percent and at most 2.0 percent of funds for subchapter VI before State allotments. Those reserved funds can only fund projects eligible under section 1383(c) for Indian tribes, former Indian reservations in Oklahoma, and Native villages (43 U.S.C. 1602). The Administrator can treat a tribe as a State for certain named parts of the law if the tribe has a governing body, the functions relate to water resources on tribal or trust lands, and the Administrator believes the tribe can carry out the work. Grants under section 1329 may be made to tribes as if they were States, but no more than one-third of one percent of yearly 1329 appropriations can be used that way. The law does not change or create any Alaska Native governmental authority or decide whether Indian country exists in Alaska. Definitions (one line each): Federal Indian reservation — land within any Indian reservation under U.S. jurisdiction. Indian tribe — a tribe, band, group, or community recognized by the Secretary of the Interior that governs a Federal Indian reservation.