
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 25USC1632]

 
                            TITLE 25--INDIANS
 
                     CHAPTER 18--INDIAN HEALTH CARE
 
                    SUBCHAPTER III--HEALTH FACILITIES
 
Sec. 1632. Safe water and sanitary waste disposal facilities


(a) Congressional findings

    The Congress hereby finds and declares that--
        (1) the provision of safe water supply systems and sanitary 
    sewage and solid waste disposal systems is primarily a health 
    consideration and function;
        (2) Indian people suffer an inordinately high incidence of 
    disease, injury, and illness directly attributable to the absence or 
    inadequacy of such systems;
        (3) the long-term cost to the United States of treating and 
    curing such disease, injury, and illness is substantially greater 
    than the short-term cost of providing such systems and other 
    preventive health measures;
        (4) many Indian homes and communities still lack safe water 
    supply systems and sanitary sewage and solid waste disposal systems; 
    and
        (5) it is in the interest of the United States, and it is the 
    policy of the United States, that all Indian communities and Indian 
    homes, new and existing, be provided with safe and adequate water 
    supply systems and sanitary sewage waste disposal systems as soon as 
    possible.

(b) Authority; assistance; transfer of funds

    (1) In furtherance of the findings and declarations made in 
subsection (a) of this section, Congress reaffirms the primary 
responsibility and authority of the Service to provide the necessary 
sanitation facilities and services as provided in section 2004a of title 
42.
    (2) The Secretary, acting through the Service, is authorized to 
provide under section 2004a of title 42--
        (A) financial and technical assistance to Indian tribes and 
    communities in the establishment, training, and equipping of utility 
    organizations to operate and maintain Indian sanitation facilities;
        (B) ongoing technical assistance and training in the management 
    of utility organizations which operate and maintain sanitation 
    facilities; and
        (C) operation and maintenance assistance for, and emergency 
    repairs to, tribal sanitation facilities when necessary to avoid a 
    health hazard or to protect the Federal investment in sanitation 
    facilities.

    (3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law--
        (A) the Secretary of Housing and Urban Affairs is authorized to 
    transfer funds appropriated under the Housing and Community 
    Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301, et seq.) to the Secretary 
    of Health and Human Services, and
        (B) the Secretary of Health and Human Services is authorized to 
    accept and use such funds for the purpose of providing sanitation 
    facilities and services for Indians under section 2004a of title 42.

(c) 10-year plan

    Beginning in fiscal year 1990, the Secretary, acting through the 
Service, shall develop and begin implementation of a 10-year plan to 
provide safe water supply and sanitation sewage and solid waste disposal 
facilities to existing Indian homes and communities and to new and 
renovated Indian homes.

(d) Tribal capability

    The financial and technical capability of an Indian tribe or 
community to safely operate and maintain a sanitation facility shall not 
be a prerequisite to the provision or construction of sanitation 
facilities by the Secretary.

(e) Amount of assistance

    (1) The Secretary is authorized to provide financial assistance to 
Indian tribes and communities in an amount equal to the Federal share of 
the costs of operating, managing, and maintaining the facilities 
provided under the plan described in subsection (c) of this section.
    (2) For the purposes of paragraph (1), the term ``Federal share'' 
means 80 percent of the costs described in paragraph (1).
    (3) With respect to Indian tribes with fewer than 1,000 enrolled 
members, the non-Federal portion of the costs of operating, managing, 
and maintaining such facilities may be provided, in part, through cash 
donations or in kind property, fairly evaluated.

(f) Eligibility of programs administered by Indian tribes

    Programs administered by Indian tribes or tribal organizations under 
the authority of the Indian Self-Determination Act [25 U.S.C. 450f et 
seq.] shall be eligible for--
        (1) any funds appropriated pursuant to this section, and
        (2) any funds appropriated for the purpose of providing water 
    supply or sewage disposal services,

on an equal basis with programs that are administered directly by the 
Service.

(g) Annual report; sanitation deficiency levels

    (1) The Secretary shall submit to the President, for inclusion in 
each report required to be transmitted to the Congress under section 
1671 of this title, a report which sets forth--
        (A) the current Indian sanitation facility priority system of 
    the Service;
        (B) the methodology for determining sanitation deficiencies;
        (C) the level of sanitation deficiency for each sanitation 
    facilities project of each Indian tribe or community;
        (D) the amount of funds necessary to raise all Indian tribes and 
    communities to a level I sanitation deficiency; and
        (E) the amount of funds necessary to raise all Indian tribes and 
    communities to zero sanitation deficiency.

    (2) In preparing each report required under paragraph (1) (other 
than the initial report), the Secretary shall consult with Indian tribes 
and tribal organizations (including those tribes or tribal organizations 
operating health care programs or facilities under any contract entered 
into with the Service under the Indian Self-Determination Act [25 U.S.C. 
450f et seq.]) to determine the sanitation needs of each tribe.
    (3) The methodology used by the Secretary in determining sanitation 
deficiencies for purposes of paragraph (1) shall be applied uniformly to 
all Indian tribes and communities.
    (4) For purposes of this subsection, the sanitation deficiency 
levels for an Indian tribe or community are as follows:
        (A) level I is an Indian tribe or community with a sanitation 
    system--
            (i) which complies with all applicable water supply and 
        pollution control laws, and
            (ii) in which the deficiencies relate to routine 
        replacement, repair, or maintenance needs;

        (B) level II is an Indian tribe or community with a sanitation 
    system--
            (i) which complies with all applicable water supply and 
        pollution control laws, and
            (ii) in which the deficiencies relate to capital 
        improvements that are necessary to improve the facilities in 
        order to meet the needs of such tribe or community for domestic 
        sanitation facilities;

        (C) level III is an Indian tribe or community with a sanitation 
    system which--
            (i) has an inadequate or partial water supply and a sewage 
        disposal facility that does not comply with applicable water 
        supply and pollution control laws, or
            (ii) has no solid waste disposal facility;

        (D) level IV is an Indian tribe or community with a sanitation 
    system which lacks either a safe water supply system or a sewage 
    disposal system; and
        (E) level V is an Indian tribe or community that lacks a safe 
    water supply and a sewage disposal system.

    (5) For purposes of this subsection, any Indian tribe or community 
that lacks the operation and maintenance capability to enable its 
sanitation system to meet pollution control laws may not be treated as 
having a level I or II sanitation deficiency.

(Pub. L. 94-437, title III, Sec. 302, Sept. 30, 1976, 90 Stat. 1407; 
Pub. L. 100-713, title III, Sec. 302, Nov. 23, 1988, 102 Stat. 4814; 
Pub. L. 102-573, title III, Secs. 302, 307(b)(1), Oct. 29, 1992, 106 
Stat. 4560, 4564.)

                       References in Text

    The Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, referred to in 
subsec. (b)(3)(A), is Pub. L. 93-383, Aug. 22, 1974, 88 Stat. 633, as 
amended. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short 
Title note set out under section 5301 of Title 42, The Public Health and 
Welfare, and Tables.
    The Indian Self-Determination Act, referred to in subsecs. (f) and 
(g)(2), is title I of Pub. L. 93-638, Jan. 4, 1975, 88 Stat. 2206, as 
amended, which is classified principally to part A (Sec. 450f et seq.) 
of subchapter II of chapter 14 of this title. For complete 
classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out 
under section 450 of this title and Tables.


                               Amendments

    1992--Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 102-573, Sec. 302(1), amended subsec. (e) 
generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (e) read as follows: ``The 
provisions of this section shall not diminish the primary responsibility 
of the Indian family, community, or tribe to establish, collect, and 
utilize reasonable user fees, or otherwise set aside funding, for the 
purpose of operating and maintaining sanitation facilities.''
    Subsec. (f)(1). Pub. L. 102-573, Sec. 302(2), substituted ``this 
section'' for ``subsection (h) of this section''.
    Subsec. (g)(1). Pub. L. 102-573, Sec. 302(3)(A), substituted ``The 
Secretary shall submit to the President, for inclusion in each report 
required to be transmitted to the Congress under section 1671 of this 
title, a report'' for ``The Secretary shall submit to the Congress an 
annual report''.
    Subsec. (g)(2) to (6). Pub. L. 102-573, Sec. 302(3)(B), redesignated 
pars. (3) to (6) as (2) to (5), respectively, and struck out former par. 
(2) which read as follows: ``The first report required under paragraph 
(1) shall be submitted by no later than the date that is 180 days after 
November 23, 1988, and, beginning in 1990, each subsequent annual report 
shall be submitted by the date that is 60 days after the date on which 
the President submits the budget to the Congress under section 1105 of 
title 31.''
    Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 102-573, Sec. 307(b)(1), struck out subsec. (h) 
which authorized appropriations to carry out subsec. (b)(2) for fiscal 
years 1990 to 1992.
    1988--Pub. L. 100-713 amended section generally, substituting 
subsecs. (a) to (h) relating to safe water and sanitary waste disposal 
facilities for former subsecs. (a) to (c) relating to construction of 
safe water and sanitary waste disposal facilities.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 1633, 1671, 3905, 3908 of 
this title.
