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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4890 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4890
To amend the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to establish
subaccounts in the Indian Water Rights Settlement Completion Fund, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 24, 2026
Mr. Lujan (for himself and Mr. Heinrich) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to establish
subaccounts in the Indian Water Rights Settlement Completion Fund, 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 ``Protecting Indian Water Rights
Settlements Act of 2026''.
SEC. 2. INDIAN WATER RIGHTS SETTLEMENT COMPLETION FUND SUBACCOUNTS.
(a) In General.--Section 70101 of the Infrastructure Investment and
Jobs Act (25 U.S.C. 149) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(e) Operations, Maintenance, Repair, and Ongoing Obligations
Subaccount.--
``(1) Establishment.--There is established in the Fund a
subaccount, to be known as the `Operations, Maintenance,
Repair, and Ongoing Obligations Subaccount' (referred to in
this subsection as the `Subaccount').
``(2) Deposits.--
``(A) In general.--On the later of October 1, 2026,
and the date of enactment of this subsection, and on
each October 1 thereafter through October 1, 2035, out
of any funds in the Treasury not otherwise
appropriated, the Secretary of the Treasury shall
deposit in the Subaccount $45,000,000.
``(B) Availability.--Amounts deposited in the
Subaccount under subparagraph (A) shall be available to
the Secretary of the Interior, without further
appropriation or fiscal year limitation, for the uses
described in paragraph (3).
``(3) Uses.--Amounts deposited in the Subaccount under
paragraph (2)(A) shall be used by the Secretary of the
Interior, without further appropriation or fiscal year
limitation, for transfers to funds or accounts authorized to
receive discretionary appropriations, including Tribal trust
funds established by an Act of Congress, to satisfy the
obligations of the United States with respect to certain Indian
water rights settlements under the following:
``(A) The water delivery and operation,
maintenance, repair, and related provisions of Public
Law 98-530 (98 Stat. 2698), relating to the water
rights of the Ak-Chin Indian Community.
``(B) The water delivery and operations,
maintenance, repair, and related provisions of the
Colorado Ute Indian Water Rights Settlement Act of 1988
(Public Law 100-585; 102 Stat. 2973), relating to the
Animas-La Plata Project (as defined in section 3 of
that Act (102 Stat. 2973)).
``(C) Section 10603(g) of the Northwestern New
Mexico Rural Water Projects Act (Public Law 111-11; 123
Stat. 1387).
``(D) The water acquisition provisions of the Snake
River Water Rights Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-447; 118
Stat. 3431), including to carry out the Snake River
Flow Component described in section 5(a) of that Act
(118 Stat. 3433).
``(E) The Hualapai Tribe Water Rights Settlement
Act of 2022 (Public Law 117-349; 136 Stat. 6225),
including the Hualapai Water Trust Fund Account
established under section 6(a)(1) of that Act (136
Stat. 6234).
``(f) New and Continuing Settlements Subaccount.--
``(1) Establishment.--There is established in the Fund a
subaccount, to be known as the `New and Continuing Settlements
Subaccount' (referred to in this subsection as the
`Subaccount').
``(2) Deposits.--
``(A) In general.--On the later of October 1, 2026,
and the date of enactment of this subsection, and on
each October 1 thereafter through October 1, 2035, out
of any funds in the Treasury not otherwise
appropriated, the Secretary of the Treasury shall
deposit in the Subaccount $250,000,000.
``(B) Availability.--Amounts deposited in the
Subaccount under subparagraph (A) shall be available to
the Secretary of the Interior, without further
appropriation or fiscal year limitation, for the uses
described in paragraph (3).
``(3) Uses.--Subject to paragraph (4), amounts deposited in
the Subaccount under paragraph (2)(A) shall be used by the
Secretary of the Interior for transfers to funds or accounts
authorized to receive discretionary appropriations, including
Tribal trust funds established by an Act of Congress, or to
satisfy other obligations of the United States identified by
the Secretary of the Interior, under any Indian water rights
settlement approved and authorized by an Act of Congress.
``(4) Scope of transfers.--
``(A) In general.--Transfers authorized under
paragraph (3) shall be made in such amounts as are
determined by the Secretary of the Interior to be
appropriate to satisfy the obligations of the United
States, including appropriate indexing, pursuant to the
applicable Indian water rights settlement.
``(B) Sequence and timing.--The Secretary of the
Interior shall have the discretion to determine the
sequence and timing of transfers from the Subaccount
under paragraph (3) to substantially complete the
eligible Indian water rights settlements as
expeditiously as practicable.''.
(b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 312(e) of the White Mountain
Apache Tribe Water Rights Quantification Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-
291; 124 Stat. 3095; 136 Stat. 6184) is amended by striking paragraph
(5) and inserting the following:
``(5) Prohibition.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, any amounts made available under paragraph (2)(B) shall
not be made available from the Reclamation Water Settlements
Fund established by section 10501(a) of the Omnibus Public Land
Management Act of 2009 (43 U.S.C. 407(a)).''.
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