Federal Agencies Estimated About $3 Billion in Existing Tribal Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Needs in Fiscal Year 2016, but the Needs Are Underestimated

IHS and EPA estimated costs for tribal water infrastructure needs, with  IHS identifying at least $3.2 billion in estimated costs for infrastructure  projects to address existing drinking water and wastewater infrastructure  needs for fiscal year 2016 and EPA estimating the costs of future tribal  drinking water infrastructure needs at an additional $2.4 billion over the  following 20 years. IHS Underestimates Existing Tribal Water Infrastructure Needs Because IHS Has Not Identified All Eligible Homes with Infrastructure Needs and Relevant Data Are Not Accurate

IHS area staff work with tribes each year to (1) identify Indian homes  eligible for and in need of IHS drinking water or wastewater infrastructure  assistance to include in IHS’s home-specific tracking system, HITS; and  (2) develop projects aimed at correcting any identified sanitation  deficiencies in these homes to include in the SDS. HITS does not  provide IHS with the option of recording a home’s deficiency level as  unassessed, so a deficiency level 0 could indicate that there is no  deficiency or that the home has not yet been assessed to determine a  deficiency. According to IHS officials, there are multiple ways to assess homes’  deficiency levels. Therefore, using HITS, IHS could not determine if  these homes had (1) no deficiency, (2) a deficiency that IHS addressed  prior to 2015, or (3) an unknown deficiency because the homes had not  been assessed. IHS  officials said that improving the system’s accuracy would be beneficial. By  implementing a mechanism to indicate in HITS whether each home with a  deficiency level of 0 has been assessed, IHS could also have more  efficient ways to take steps to address the deficiencies of the homes  contained in HITS. Federal Agencies Provided Funding for Tribal Water Infrastructure Projects, but Processes May Not Prioritize Projects That Address the Most Severe Deficiencies

In fiscal year 2016, federal agencies obligated approximately $370 million  for tribal drinking water or wastewater infrastructure projects. The  agencies with tribal-specific programs for drinking water and wastewater  infrastructure—IHS, EPA, and USDA—funded some projects to address  what they identified as the most severe sanitation deficiencies— communities and homes that do not have safe drinking water or  wastewater disposal facilities. However, the agencies’ processes may not  always prioritize projects that address the most severe sanitation  deficiencies. These scoring factor categories include population, income, joint  financing, and discretionary points that can be awarded at state offices  and headquarters (see table 3). Based on our review of IHS and EPA documents and interviews with  these agencies’ officials, we found that their process for prioritizing and  selecting projects to fund from the SDS can discourage funding some  deficiency level 4 and 5 projects, especially those with a relatively high  cost per home. IHS headquarters officials said that the agency is working to improve the  extent to which it funds feasible projects to address the highest sanitation  deficiencies. However, a senior IHS official said that changing the  SDS scoring factors is not part of this effort because the current scoring  factors balance a number of interests in addition to projects’ deficiency  levels. Regarding USDA’s Native American program, based on our review of  agency documents and interviews with USDA officials, we found that the  agency’s process for prioritizing and selecting projects may not provide  USDA with reasonable assurance that it is selecting projects to fund that  address the most severe sanitation deficiencies. As a  result, USDA may not have reasonable assurance that it is consistently  evaluating or funding project applications in a way that aligns with the  Native American program’s goal. The  officials stated that this inefficiency could have been avoided if they had  been communicating with their USDA counterparts about the projects that  each agency was considering to fund. IHS and USDA funded some projects to address the most severe  sanitation deficiencies, but residents of many Indian homes remain  without safe drinking water or wastewater disposal as the agencies also  prioritized and funded projects that addressed other needs. Also, by USDA implementing a scoring factor similar to the  one in its Colonias program—that is, one that awards points for proposed  projects that address health risks from a lack of access to safe drinking  water and wastewater disposal—for the Native American program, USDA  would have more assurance that it is evaluating project applications  consistently and funding projects to address the most severe sanitation  deficiencies in Indian communities, consistent with the program’s goal. Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

The objectives of our review were to examine the extent to which the  seven federal agencies, as applicable, (1) identified Indian tribes’ drinking  water and wastewater infrastructure needs; (2) funded tribal drinking  water and wastewater infrastructure projects, including projects to  address the most severe sanitation deficiencies; and (3) collaborated to  meet Indian tribes’ drinking water and wastewater infrastructure needs. We identified the Indian Health Service (IHS), Environmental  Protection Agency (EPA), and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) as  federal agencies that have drinking water and wastewater infrastructure  programs specifically targeted to provide financial assistance for planning  and construction to address Indian tribes’ needs. IHS.
Why GAO Did This Study

Tens of thousands of American Indians and Alaska Natives do not have safe drinking water or wastewater disposal in their home—referred to as needs arising from a sanitation deficiency—at a higher percentage than the general population, according to IHS. Among other things, IHS assesses homes, either individually or by reviewing public water systems, to determine any deficiencies. Seven agencies, including IHS, EPA, and USDA, have programs that provide drinking water and wastewater infrastructure assistance to Indian tribes.
GAO was asked to review federal efforts to provide water infrastructure assistance to Indian tribes. This report examines, among other objectives, the extent to which selected federal agencies (1) identified tribes' drinking water and wastewater infrastructure needs and (2) funded tribal water infrastructure projects, including tribes' most severe sanitation deficiencies. GAO reviewed agency data on tribal needs, analyzed agency funding data for tribal water infrastructure projects, reviewed agency policy documents, and interviewed agency officials and officials from 22 tribes representing different geographic locations.

What GAO Found

Federal agencies have identified several billion dollars in existing and future tribal drinking water and wastewater infrastructure needs. Specifically, the Indian Health Service (IHS) worked with tribes to identify, in fiscal year 2016, an estimated $3.2 billion in water infrastructure projects to address existing sanitation deficiencies in Indian homes, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identified an additional $2.4 billion in future tribal drinking water infrastructure needs over the next 20 years. However, IHS could enhance the accuracy of its information about the water infrastructure needs of some Indian homes. In February 2018, the database that IHS uses to track Indian homes' sanitation deficiencies showed that about one-third of the homes (138,700) had no deficiency. However, because the database does not provide IHS with a way to record if a home's deficiency has been assessed, IHS could not determine whether these homes had no deficiency or if they had not yet been assessed to identify a deficiency. IHS officials stated that improving the database's accuracy would be beneficial. By implementing a way to indicate in its database whether these homes' deficiencies have been assessed, IHS could also more efficiently address any deficiencies in these homes.
Federal agencies provided about $370 million for tribal drinking water and wastewater infrastructure projects in fiscal year 2016, including some projects to address what the agencies identified as the most severe sanitation deficiencies (i.e., communities that lack safe drinking water or wastewater disposal). IHS and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) policies direct the agencies to fund tribal projects that address these deficiencies. However, agency scoring processes may not always prioritize the projects that address them:
IHS assigns points to projects using eight scoring factors, including sanitation deficiency and cost. Based on GAO's review of IHS documents and interviews with agency officials, IHS's process for selecting projects can discourage funding some projects that address the most severe sanitation deficiencies, especially those with a relatively high cost per home. As a result, some projects to serve homes without water infrastructure can remain unfunded for many years. IHS officials said the scoring factors balance a number of interests, and the agency is looking to improve the extent to which it funds projects that address these deficiencies.
USDA uses a different set of scoring factors to assign points when evaluating project applications for its tribal water program, including rural population and income levels. However, USDA does not have a scoring factor to assign points to a project based on whether it will serve homes that lack safe drinking water or wastewater disposal, as it does with another program with similar goals. Instead, USDA officials said they use discretionary points to score projects on this basis, but these points may not be awarded at all. As a result, USDA may not have reasonable assurance that it consistently evaluates project applications in a way that aligns with agency policy to fund projects that address the most severe sanitation deficiencies.
By IHS reviewing and USDA updating their scoring processes, the agencies could have more assurance that the projects they fund address the most severe sanitation deficiencies in Indian communities.

What GAO Recommends

GAO is making 16 recommendations, including that (1) IHS develop a way to indicate in its database if homes' deficiencies have been assessed and (2) IHS and USDA review and update project scoring processes. IHS agreed with these recommendations, and USDA proposed an approach for addressing the recommendation on scoring, as discussed in the report.