Indian Health Service's Capacity to Manage Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Funding Appropriated to Sanitation Facilities Construction Projects

The Indian Health Service (IHS) Sanitation Facilities Construction (SFC) Program works in partnership with Tribes to prevent the spread of disease by providing American Indian and Alaska Native homes and communities with essential water supply, sewage disposal, and solid waste disposal facilities. In fiscal year 2021, IHS identified a need of more than $3.4 billion for SFC projects affecting more than 248,000 new and existing homes. To address that need, Congress appropriated $3.5 billion for SFC projects through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. OIG is conducting a two-phase evaluation to assess IH's capacity to administer and oversee the supplemental $3.5 billion. In the first phase, OIG conducted preliminary research of IHS's capacity and shared early observations with the agency in September 2022 (OEI-06-22-00320) to help IHS preemptively address challenges. In the second phase (OEI-06-24-00010), OIG will further assess IHS's capacity by more deeply examining the previously identified challenges, as well as any new or anticipated issues and IHS's efforts to overcome challenges and incorporate lessons learned.

Announced or Revised	Agency	Title	Component	Report Number(s)	Expected Issue Date (FY)
Completed (partial)	Indian Health Service	Indian Health Service's Capacity to Manage Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Funding Appropriated to Sanitation Facilities Construction Projects	Office of Evaluation and Inspections	OEI-06-22-00320 OEI-06-24-00010	2024