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Policy Watchtower/Watchdog report

OIG: IHS sanitation IIJA funds won't cover the full project backlog

Indian Health ServiceHHS OIGWatchdog reportSep 4, 2026

Check: HHS OIG found that the $700 million of FY 2026 IIJA money left for the IHS Sanitation Facilities Construction (SFC) Program will not fund and complete the pre-IIJA backlog of 1,513 projects (the Legacy list).

Read the original

What it does

Tribes and Alaska Native communities with unfunded SFC projects are affected, especially in the Alaska and Navajo Areas, which hold 712 of the 1,513 Legacy projects. IHS allocated $2.6 billion of the $3.5 billion IIJA total (the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) across FYs 2022-2025. Estimated cost to address remaining and newly added projects rose from $3.4 billion in FY 2022 to $5.9 billion in FY 2025, and 593 Legacy projects were still unfunded as of November 2024.

Why it matters for tribal funding

Directly tribal. The document is about tribes, tribal programs or Native organizations specifically.

Who it covers: Tribal governments, Alaska Native villages.

What to do next

  1. Ask your IHS Area Office where each of your projects sits on the Legacy list and what its funding tier is (Tier 1 means ready to fund; Tiers 2 and 3 need more planning).
  2. Identify other funding sources for projects that may not be reached; OIG notes IIJA, Environmental Protection Agency, or other agency funds have helped cover shortfalls.
  3. Review your project cost estimates with your Area Office, since OIG reports estimates have risen with scope changes and inflation.

Sources

Every signal is built from public records. The highlighted words appear in the source exactly as shown.

  • Health and Human Services OIG: reports (IHS)oig_reportSep 4, 2026

    OIG Final Data Brief: Snapshot of Indian Health Service Sanitation Facilities Construction Projects Funded Under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

    • Quoted from the source: “The FY 2026 IIJA funding , totaling $ 700 million , will not be sufficient for IHS to fund and complete the Legacy list of projects .”
    • Quoted from the source: “the cost to address the remaining Legacy projects as well as new ly added projects has increased from $3.4 billion in FY 2022 to $5.9 billion in FY 2025.”
    Read the originalU.S. government record, public domain.

Terms with a dotted underline open a plain-language definition. This is guidance, not legal advice: the official text always controls. A free public service from GrantsPath, a Native-owned business.