OPA

WASHINGTON - The Department of Justice, the Department of the Army and the Department of the Interior issued the following statement regarding Standing Rock Sioux Tribe v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers:

“We appreciate the District Court’s opinion on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act. However, important issues raised by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and other tribal nations and their members regarding the Dakota Access pipeline specifically, and pipeline-related decision-making generally, remain. Therefore, the Department of the Army, the Department of Justice, and the Department of the Interior will take the following steps.

“The Army will not authorize constructing the Dakota Access pipeline on Corps land bordering or under Lake Oahe until it can determine whether it will need to reconsider any of its previous decisions regarding the Lake Oahe site under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) or other federal laws. Therefore, construction of the pipeline on Army Corps land bordering or under Lake Oahe will not go forward at this time. The Army will move expeditiously to make this determination, as everyone involved — including the pipeline company and its workers — deserves a clear and timely resolution. In the interim, we request that the pipeline company voluntarily pause all construction activity within 20 miles east or west of Lake Oahe.

“Furthermore, this case has highlighted the need for a serious discussion on whether there should be nationwide reform with respect to considering tribes’ views on these types of infrastructure projects. Therefore, this fall, we will invite tribes to formal, government-to government consultations on two questions: (1) within the existing statutory framework, what should the federal government do to better ensure meaningful tribal input into infrastructure related reviews and decisions and the protection of tribal lands, resources, and treaty rights; and (2) should new legislation be proposed to Congress to alter that statutory framework and promote those goals.

“Finally, we fully support the rights of all Americans to assemble and speak freely. We urge everyone involved in protest or pipeline activities to adhere to the principles of nonviolence. Of course, anyone who commits violent or destructive acts may face criminal sanctions from federal, tribal, state, or local authorities. The Departments of Justice and the Interior will continue to deploy resources to North Dakota to help state, local, and tribal authorities, and the communities they serve, better communicate, defuse tensions, support peaceful protest, and maintain public safety.

“In recent days, we have seen thousands of demonstrators come together peacefully, with support from scores of sovereign tribal governments, to exercise their First Amendment rights and to voice heartfelt concerns about the environment and historic, sacred sites. It is now incumbent on all of us to develop a path forward that serves the broadest public interest.”

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Lawrence S. “Larry” Roberts today announced that the Obama Administration has exceeded its goal of placing half a million acres of tribal homelands into trust for federally recognized tribes.

“Restoring tribal homelands has been a pillar of President Obama’s commitment to support tribal self-determination and self-governance, empowering tribal leaders to build stronger, more resilient communities,” Secretary Jewell said. “The Administration broke the logjam on trust land applications in 2009 and has worked steadily, collaboratively and effectively to restore Native lands that will help strengthen tribal economies and make their nations whole again.”

The 500,000 acre goal was surpassed Friday when President Obama signed into law the bipartisan Nevada Native Nations Lands Act, which conveys more than 71,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service lands to the U.S. Department of the Interior to place into federal trust status for six Nevada tribes. The tribes will use their newly acquired lands to expand housing, provide economic development opportunities and promote cultural activities for and by their tribal members.

“Secretary Jewell announced early on a goal of restoring 500,000 acres to Indian Country by the end of the Obama Administration and we view this as a meaningful start to correcting the enormous loss of tribal homelands Indian Country has endured,” Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Roberts told tribal leaders at the opening session of the National Congress of American Indians’ 73rd Annual Convention in Phoenix, AZ earlier this week.

Roberts further said, “I want to thank the Bureau of Indian Affairs Director Mike Black for his implementation of this important policy, the Regional Directors and their staff for their hard work to make it a reality. While our fee-to-trust process remains rigorous and tribes must expend precious resources to address the Carcieri decision, tribes continue to prioritize the return of their homelands, investing their own resources to ensure a land base for future generations.”

Restoring tribal homelands has been a key part of the Obama Administration's Indian Country priorities, representing a shift from historic federal policy that previously resulted in tribes losing millions of acres of land across the U.S. over several hundred years. Since 2009, the Bureau of Indian Affairs has processed 2,265 individual trust applications and restored more than 542,000 acres of land into trust. And in partnership with tribes and agency staff at all levels, Indian Affairs continues to process additional applications for land into trust.

As part of President Obama’s pledge to work nation-to-nation with tribal leaders to strengthen their communities and build their economies, the Administration also has overhauled antiquated leasing regulations to provide tribes greater control over their homelands and issued new regulations to allow the Interior Department to accept land into trust for federally recognized Alaska tribes, thereby advancing tribal sovereignty and closing a long-standing gap that had not extended this eligibility to Alaska Natives.

The Secretary of the Interior is authorized by the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 to acquire land into trust for federally recognized tribes. Lands held in federal Indian trust status, which cannot be sold, alienated, or transferred to non-Indians or non-Natives, benefit their American Indian and Alaska Native tribal owners through federal programs for business development, housing, and environmental and cultural protection. Typical uses of trust land include governmental operations, cultural activities, agricultural/forestry activities, housing, economic development, social and community services, and health care and educational facilities.

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ANCHORAGE – U.S. Department of the Interior Deputy Secretary Michael L. Connor today signed an agreement with officials from the Ahtna Intertribal Resources Commission (AITRC) which coordinates natural resource management issues for the eight federally recognized tribes in the Ahtna region to create a cooperative wildlife management demonstration project on federal and Ahtna Corporation lands in Southcentral Alaska.

The Memorandum of Agreement with the Commission will foster a greater role for the Ahtna people in managing subsistence moose and caribou hunting for tribal members under the Federal Subsistence Management Program.

“As Alaska’s population has grown, the Ahtna people have borne the brunt of increasing hunting pressure on their traditional lands because these areas are fairly accessible to much of the Railbelt region, home to 70 percent of Alaska’s population,” said Deputy Secretary Connor. “This agreement is an effort to help preserve their traditional way of life, put food on the table and improve wildlife habitat and populations for everyone.”

Recognizing the importance of traditional ecological knowledge and cultural practices, the agreement commits Interior to begin a process under the Federal Subsistence Board to allow the Ahtna Commission to administer caribou and moose hunts for tribal members under the Federal Subsistence Management Program. The Federal Subsistence Board would establish broad parameters for the initiative, which also would sanction joint work on wildlife management and habitat issues across federal and Ahtna lands. The Ahtna Corporation’s traditional region encompasses more than 1.5 million acres from Cantwell to Chitina.

“The DOI and AITRC share mutual concern for conservation of healthy wildlife populations and their habitats, as well as ensuring sustainable and sufficient harvests for customary and traditional subsistence uses. The ability of our people to pass down traditional knowledge and customary practices from generation to generation has allowed us to thrive for thousands of years. We are very thankful for the work of Secretary Jewell and Deputy Secretary Connor and their staff to make sure our traditional ecological knowledge and customary and traditional management practices are heard and represented,” said AITRC Board Chair Christopher Gene.

Rural Alaskans in the Ahtna region who are not tribal members will continue to hunt on federal lands under the Federal Subsistence Management Program as before and will not be affected by the agreement. Federal lands in the Ahtna region include portions of Denali National Park and Preserve, Wrangell St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge, and scatted Bureau of Land Management lands around the Richardson and Denali Highways.

The Ahtna Cooperative Management Demonstration Project is the first cooperative agreement established nationwide under Department of the Interior’s Secretarial Order No. 3342, which Interior Secretary Sally Jewell announced last month at the annual Alaska Federation of Natives conference. The Secretarial Order encourages federal land managers to involve Native Americans in the management of fish and wildlife resources on federal lands that are part of their traditional lands.

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WASHINGTON – Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Lawrence S. Roberts today announced final, updated Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) guidelines for implementing the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA) that will better protect the rights of Indian children, their parents and their tribes in state child welfare proceedings.

The guidelines explain the ICWA statute and regulations while also providing examples of best practices for its implementation, the goal of which is to encourage greater uniformity in the application of ICWA measures.

“The BIA’s updated Indian Child Welfare Act guidelines are the capstone of the Obama Administration’s efforts to support the stability and security of Indian families and tribes by providing a more consistent interpretation of ICWA, regardless of the child welfare worker, judge or state involved,” Roberts said. “I want to thank tribal leaders, the Indian child welfare community, and our state and federal partners for their valuable input and assistance with updating the guidelines. The guidelines themselves will help with ensuring the rights of Indian children and their families under ICWA, and in strengthening the cohesiveness of tribal communities everywhere.”

The BIA first published its ICWA guidelines in 1979, shortly after the law’s passage. While the Department updated the guidelines in 2015, it updated them further to complement its recently finalized regulations which became effective on December 12, 2016.

Congress enacted IWCA to address the separation of Indian children from their families at a disproportionately high rate, as a result of state agency policies and practices that placed the children in non-Indian foster and adoptive homes.

Based on 2013 data, Native children nationwide are represented in state foster care at a rate 2.5 times greater than their presence in the general population. In some states, Native American children are represented in state foster-care systems at rates as high as 14.8 times their presence in the general population of that state.

Since ICWA’s enactment, state courts and state agencies have sometimes differed in their interpretations of the law and been inconsistent in their implementation of it. To address this problem, the updated guidelines provide information for them to consider in carrying out the Act’s and final rule’s requirements, often drawing upon approaches states have already used.

In developing these guidelines, the Office of the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs worked closely with the Children’s Bureau of the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and with the U.S. Department of Justice to produce a document that reflected the expertise of all three agencies. Its development was also informed by public hearings, tribal consultations, and more than 2,100 written comments on the March 2015 proposed rule, as well as input received during training conducted on the final rule from July 2016 to November.

To view the updated guidelines, visit the Indian Affairs web site at: http://www.indianaffairs.gov/WhoWeAre/BIA/OIS/HumanServices/IndianChildWelfareAct/index.htm.

The Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which is headed by a director who is responsible for managing day-to-day operations through four offices – Indian Services, Justice Services, Trust Services, and Field Operations. These offices directly administer or fund tribally based infrastructure, economic development, law enforcement and justice, social services (including child welfare), tribal governance, and trust land and natural and energy resources management programs for the nation’s federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes through 12 regional offices and 81 agencies.

The Office of Indian Services’ Division of Human Services administers the BIA’s ICWA regulations at 25 CFR Part 23 and the guidelines. For more information, visit http://www.indianaffairs.gov/WhoWeAre/BIA/OIS/HumanServices/IndianChildWelfareAct/index.htm.

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WASHINGTON – Today, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Tara Mac Lean Sweeney announced the Blackwater Community School, located within the Gila River Indian Community in Coolidge, Ariz., will receive $30.1 million dollars, and the Quileute Tribe will receive $44.1 million dollars for the Quileute Tribal School located on Quileute reservation in La Push, Wash., to award design-build contracts for new school buildings. In 2016, Indian Affairs selected both schools as two of 10 schools for replacement through the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) replacement school construction process.

The Blackwater Community School has elected to manage the project using a design-build contract for their new school through a Public Law 100-297 Grant and the Quileute Tribe has elected to manage the project using a design-build contract for their new school through a Public Law 93-638 Self-Determination Contract.

“Today is a great day for Native education at Indian Affairs,” said Assistant Secretary Tara Sweeney. “I am excited for the next phase of this process to initiate for these schools. I appreciate everyone involved with these projects from Indian Affairs, Bureau of Indian Education, the schools, and tribal communities for their dedication to take these schools from an idea to the world-class buildings that they will become.”

The Division of Facilities Management and Construction for Indian Affairs (DFMC) will provide oversight verification throughout the project and will be available to provide technical support to the Blackwater Community School and the Quileute Tribe. The replacement project for Quileute Tribal School authorizes a new 60,950 GSF campus supporting a projected K-12 grade enrollment of 79 students. The replacement project for the Blackwater Community School authorizes a new 88,547 GSF campus supporting a projected K-5 grade enrollment of 409 students.

“Our team at Indian Affair is proud to be a part of the process of building the modern infrastructures that reflect cultural values and tribal community input for student learning,” Director of the Office of Facilities, Property and Safety Management for Indian Affairs Darrell LaRoche said. “We’re thrilled that the new schools will be considered state of the art with their internet capabilities and classroom smart boards. With community involvement during the design process, the classrooms are tailored to support cultural specific teaching for the students.”

“A school’s environment is as important as the lessons taught in the classroom,” Bureau of Indian Education Director Tony Dearman said. “We are proud to work with Indian Affairs to build a new school where we can deliver excellent in-classroom instruction on the first day it opens its doors.”

Quileute Tribal School was the second 2016 NCLB School to complete the planning phase and first to complete a preliminary 20% design. To ensure compliance with Washington State requirements and enhanced community involvement this project provides a Language/Cultural Lab, permanent stage space, and a wood carpentry vocational shop. This project will be fully compliant with Washington Sustainable Schools Protocol and the Guiding Principles for Sustainable Federal Buildings. The current school facility is located in a designated tsunami zone near the ocean. The new school site is located at elevation safely outside the tsunami zone.

The Blackwater Community School is the third NCLB School to completed planning. To ensure compliance with Arizona State and Gila River Tribal requirements and enhanced community involvement this project provides a Language/Cultural Lab, Science Lab/Traditional Farming and Gardening classroom, Art Program Classroom and a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Classroom. This project will be fully compliant with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Protocol and the Guiding Principles for Sustainable Federal Buildings.

The Laguna Elementary School received the first award of $26.2 million to award a design-build contract on May 2, 2018. Within the next few weeks, Dzilth-Na-O-Dith-Hle Community School in Bloomfield, N.M. will begin the preliminary design stage and will be the fourth school to be funded. The remaining six schools are expected to complete the planning phase by the end of 2018.

The Assistant Secretary–Indian Affairs advises the Secretary of the Interior on Indian Affairs policy issues, communicates policy to and oversee the programs of the BIA and the BIE, provides leadership in consultations with tribes, and serves as the DOI official for intra- and inter- departmental coordination and liaison within the Executive Branch on Indian matters.

The Office of Facilities, Property and Safety Management for Indian Affairs is responsible for policy, oversight, and technical assistance for facilities management, facilities construction, asset management, safety management, property management, and real property leasing for all of Indian Affairs, including Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and Bureau of Indian Education (BIE). These responsibilities are carried out through the Division of Facilities Management and Construction, Division of Safety and Risk Management, Division of Property Management, and the Real Property Leasing Program.

The Bureau of Indian Education implements federal Indian education programs and funds 183 elementary and secondary day and boarding schools (of which two-thirds are tribally operated) located on 64 reservations in 23 states and peripheral dormitories serving over 47,000 individual students. The BIE also operates two post-secondary schools and administers grants for 29 tribally controlled colleges and universities and two tribal technical colleges.

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UPDATED: The original version of this press release misstated that Dzilth-Na-O-Dith-Hle Community School is located in Bloomington, NM. We have since corrected the mistake. Dzilth-Na-O-Dith-Hle Community School is located in Bloomfield, NM.

WASHINGTON -- To address concerns regarding mineral leasing and development activity adjacent to Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Deputy Secretary of the Interior Michael L. Connor today announced the U.S. Department of the Interior will expand the resource management planning effort underway in the Farmington, New Mexico area.

For the first time, the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Farmington Field Office and the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ (BIA) Navajo Regional Office will jointly conduct an expanded analysis of management in the area that covers both public and tribal lands.

“Today's announcement is an important step forward toward addressing the longstanding concerns surrounding oil and gas development around Chaco Canyon,” said Deputy Secretary Connor. “I heard these concerns firsthand when I visited Chaco last summer to participate in a public listening session with Senator Udall. BIA's decision to join BLM's planning effort as a co-lead reflects the complex land tenure around the park and demonstrates the Department's commitment to ensuring that the region's rich cultural and archaeological resources are protected.”

The BLM initiated a process to update its Resource Management Plan for the area – which guides development activities on public lands there – in 2014. In support of expanding the planning effort to include tribal lands in the area, the BLM and the BIA are seeking public comments to identify issues and concerns related to including BIA-managed mineral leasing and associated activities in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) which is being prepared as part of the Resource Management Plan Amendment (RMP) Amendment. This expanded effort will look at the whole planning area, and will include mineral leasing and development activity around Chaco Culture National Historic Park.

The joint effort also reflects the Department of the Interior’s emphasis on working with Native American leaders to provide expanded opportunities for integrating traditional knowledge and expertise in the management of public lands that have a special historical, cultural or geographic connection with indigenous communities.

In June of 2015, Deputy Secretary Connor and Senator Tom Udall toured the Chaco Canyon area to see the sensitive archeological site and view the area beyond the park where drilling is proposed. After the visit to Chaco, Connor and Udall held meetings with interested stakeholders.

A Notice of Intent to prepare the RMP Amendment and conduct an EIS will be published in the Federal Register on October 21, 2016, which will formally open a 60-day public scoping period ending on December 20, 2016. The information gathered during this new scoping process will be added to the information already gathered as part of the BLM’s prior scoping process for the EIS.

As part of the scoping process, the BLM and the BIA will be hosting public scoping meetings at the following locations, dates, and times:

The BLM and BIA are asking that input be received within the 60-day scoping period, ending December 20, 2016, or 15 days after the last meeting, whichever is later.

Input may be submitted by mail to BLM Farmington Field Office, Attention: Mark Ames, Project Manager, 6251 North College Blvd., Suite A, Farmington, New Mexico 87402; by email to BLM_NM_FFO_Comments@blm.gov, or by fax to 505-564-7608.

For the BIA, please contact Harrilene Yazzie, BIA Regional National Environmental Policy Act Coordinator at 505-863-8287, P.O. Box 1060, Gallup, New Mexico 87301, or harrilene.yazzie@bia.gov.

Additional information is available online at FARMINGTON RMP: MANCOS-GALLUP AMENDMENT.

WASHINGTON – Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Lawrence S. Roberts today issued an updated Contract Support Costs (CSC) Policy for the Indian Affairs Manual (IAM). The updated Policy reflects extensive tribal consultation and the work of the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ (BIA) CSC Workgroup, which is comprised of tribal and federal experts.

The updated Policy provides for the full payment of CSC and helps ensure that the payment of CSC is accurate, timely, and meets 100 percent of a tribe’s CSC need as calculated under the Policy. The Policy also simplifies and streamlines CSC calculation to expedite payment.

“The updated Contract Support Costs Policy was driven by our strong commitment to tribal self-determination and self-governance,” Roberts said. “The Policy will ensure that tribes contracting or compacting to administer Indian Affairs programs and services receive the amount of CSC that the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act requires. “I want to thank the tribal representatives and federal staff of the CSC Workgroup for their multi-year effort to collaboratively draft the Policy, review tribal comments on the Policy, and incorporate tribal input in the final version of the updated Policy.”

This is the first update to the CSC Policy since it was initially issued in May of 2006. The Supreme Court’s decision in Salazar v. Ramah Navajo Chapter and the Administration’s commitment to fully fund CSC necessitated significant revisions. The update repeals the 2006 approach of equitable distribution of insufficient CSC funds to reflect the modern approach of fully funding CSC.

Many of the key components of the updated policy involve the calculation and payment of CSC. After hearing from tribal leaders about the burdens of increased employee health insurance premiums, increased facilities support costs, and additional administrative expenses, direct CSC will now be calculated as 18 percent of tribal budgeted salary costs, not including fringe, of section 106(a)(1) programs. In addition, the policy provides a simplified method for calculating indirect CSC for smaller tribes that do not meet the single-audit threshold for funding and do not have an approved IDC rate that is four or fewer years old. These provisions will provide administrative and financial relief to tribes that will ensure they are not forced to use program funding to cover administrative costs.

Incorporating the updated policy into the Indian Affairs Manual respects tribal requests to provide clear policy. To view the updated CSC Policy, along with other parts of the Indian Affairs Manual, visit the Indian Affairs website at: https://www.indianaffairs.gov/WhatWeDo/Knowledge/Directives/IAM/index.htm.

The Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs oversees the BIA which directly administers or funds tribally based infrastructure, economic and workforce development, law enforcement and justice, social services (including child welfare), tribal governance, and trust land and natural and energy resources management programs for the nation’s federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes.

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WASHINGTON – Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke praised today’s announcement by the Department of Justice on the progress being made in coordinated federal, state, tribal and local efforts that are reducing the incidence of violent crime across the Nation.

“I am very happy to see that the Indian Country Federal Law Enforcement Coordination Group has been an integral part of this effort and is focusing on violent crime on Tribal reservations,” Secretary Zinke said. “The Federal Government provides significant public safety resources to Indian Country, with numerous departments and agencies delivering and supporting law enforcement services.

“Law enforcement in Indian Country is especially complex, and it is heart-breaking that crimes against Native American women and girls occur at exponentially higher rates than non-Native populations. It’s a subject that I have been especially passionate about since my time representing Montana in the U.S. House of Representatives. With many unique challenges that include sovereignty, jurisdiction, cross deputation, geographically disbursed areas, and cultural awareness among other items. I congratulate the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services, which has co-led the Indian Country Federal Law Enforcement Coordination Group with the Department of Justice Office of Tribal Justice. Under my leadership the Bureau and Department will remain committed to the health and safety of all of Indian Country.”

The Indian Country Federal Law Enforcement Coordination Group, an assembly of sworn federal law enforcement officers and other stakeholders who have responsibilities in Indian Country, was created in response to suggestions by federal law enforcement officials who sought to enhance coordination and provide improved federal law enforcement services to Tribal communities.

“For the past two years, we have leveraged tribal, federal, state and local criminal justice partnerships to make a sustained effort to increase the number of reporting agencies using the FBI's Uniform Crime Report,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Michael S. Black. “This tool allows us to make more accurate comparisons of Indian Country crime to other non-Indian country communities.”

The Group enhances communication and fosters the free exchange of ideas and information between sworn federal law enforcement officers, agents, and other stakeholders who are based in Washington, D.C. and have oversight and/or operational responsibilities in Indian Country. Through better coordination, the goal of this group is to provide improved federal law enforcement services and support to Indian Country, ultimately helping to make Tribal communities safer.

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WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke applauded the efforts of a Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Office of Justice Services (OJS) K-9 Police Officer who recently took more than 17 pounds of deadly drugs off the streets. The BIA officer was monitoring vehicle traffic on Interstate 25 on the San Felipe Pueblo Indian Reservation when he conducted a traffic stop resulting in the arrest of an individual, and the seizure of approximately 15.9 pounds of methamphetamine and 1.25 pounds of heroin.

A field test of the substances was conducted and returned positive results for the presence of methamphetamine from one of the fifteen packages and heroin from the one of packages. One package did test positive for heroin and had an approximate weight of 1.25 pounds (567.67 grams). On Thursday, August 30, 2018, a Criminal Complaint was filed in the District of New Mexico and the suspect was held for further court proceedings.

"Our Bureau of Indian Affairs law enforcement officers are the front line in America’s ongoing fight against opioids," said Secretary Zinke. "I applaud their fine efforts today and every day. Opioids have had a disproportionately negative effect on American Indian and Alaska Native communities, and as Secretary of the Interior, I understand how imperative our efforts are on this urgent issue. The DOI Opioid Task Force is doing a great job. I thank President Trump for his great leadership in helping us find creative ways to solve this crisis, and I look forward to a day when opioids no longer claim the lives of so many of our citizens."

"Thank you, Secretary Zinke and the hard working BIA-OJS officers on the ground, for helping to keep Indian Country safe," said Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Tara Sweeney. "The President's Initiative is directly impacting the families within our tribal communities."

The Department of the Interior is committed to making available resources required to fight drug abuse, and earlier this year Secretary Zinke established the Department of the Interior’s drug fighting Joint Task Force to help achieve President Donald Trump's mission to end the opioid epidemic and make America safe. So far, the task force has made 155 arrests and confiscated approximately 1,155 pounds of illegal drugs. Secretary Zinke has continually worked with tribes to carry out President Trump’s directive to stop the drug and opioid crisis, conducting dozens of tribal visits to see the affected communities, while listening and learning about how to fight the crisis on the ground.

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WASHINGTON – The Department of the Interior announced today that the Bureau of Reclamation is awarding a construction contract of almost $62 million for part of the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project in New Mexico to increase the supply of clean drinking water to surrounding communities.

“This contract is a big step toward completing the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project, which is a top priority as it fits into the administration's commitment to improving infrastructure,” U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke said. “The project is critical to providing a much-needed, long-term, sustainable water supply for people on the Navajo and Jicarilla Apache reservations and the City of Gallup. It is also the cornerstone of our commitments under the Navajo Nation San Juan River Water Rights Settlement.”

The contract was awarded to Oscar Renda Contracting Inc. of Roanoke, Texas. It covers Block 9-11, an integral component of the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project. When completed, the entire project will consist of approximately 300 miles of pipeline, two water treatment plants, 19 pumping plants, and multiple water storage tanks.

Under the new contract, Reaches 9 through 11 of the San Juan Lateral portion of the project will include construction of approximately 28 miles of 48-inch and 42-inch diameter water transmission pipeline between the community of Naschitti, New Mexico to the Twin Lakes, New Mexico area. Work on this segment of the project is anticipated to begin in January 2018 with completion scheduled for March 2020.

Upon completion of the entire Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project in 2024, Block 9-11 will include turnouts to provide water to the communities of Naschitti, Buffalo Springs, Tohatchi, and Mexican Springs.

“This contract on a critical infrastructure project is the result of tremendous work by our Reclamation team and partners,” said Alan Mikkelsen, Reclamation’s Acting Commissioner. “The Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project will improve the safety and quality of life by providing an increased supply of clean drinking water to communities within the project area.”

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