II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5635 

To amend the Energy Policy Act of 1992 with respect to the Department 

of Energy Tribal loan guarantee program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 19 (legislative day, DECEMBER 16), 2024 

Mr. SCHATZ introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Energy Policy Act of 1992 with respect to 

the Department of Energy Tribal loan guarantee program, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tribal Energy Fair5 ness Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY TRIBAL ENERGY PRO7 GRAMS. 

8 (a) DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY TRIBAL LOAN GUAR9 ANTEE PROGRAM.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2602(c) of the En2 ergy Policy Act of 1992 (25 U.S.C. 3502(c)) is 

3 amended by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(8)(A) At the request of an applicant, and 

5 subject to subparagraph (B), the Secretary of En6 ergy may use funds appropriated to the Secretary of 

7 Energy to carry out financial and technical assess8 ments, and related activities, in connection with ap9 plications for loans and loan guarantees under this 

10 subsection to support eligible projects, including re11 newable energy and transmission projects on or near 

12 Indian land and eligible projects carried out outside 

13 Indian land. 

14 ‘‘(B) The Secretary of Energy may use not 

15 more than $500,000 to carry out financial and tech16 nical assessments under subparagraph (A) for any 1 

17 application for a loan or loan guarantee under this 

18 subsection.’’. 

19 (2) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT RESTRIC20 TION.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 50145(a) of 

22 Public Law 117–169 (136 Stat. 2045) is 

23 amended by striking ‘‘, subject to the limita24 tions that apply to loan guarantees under sec25 tion 50141(d)’’. 


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1 (B) ADDITIONAL DOE TRIBAL PRO2 GRAMS.—Section 50141(d)(3) of Public Law 

3 117–169 (136 Stat. 2043) is amended— 

4 (i) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

5 ‘‘or’’ at the end; 

6 (ii) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

7 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; 

8 and 

9 (iii) by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(E) projects carried out by an Indian 

12 Tribe on or near Indian land or outside Indian 

13 land.’’. 

14 (b) PREVENTING OUTAGES AND ENHANCING THE

15 RESILIENCE OF THE ELECTRIC GRID.—Section 40101 of 

16 the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (42 U.S.C. 

17 18711) is amended— 

18 (1) in subsection (d)— 

19 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

20 (i) by striking subparagraph (A) and 

21 inserting the following: 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For each fiscal year, 

23 to be eligible to receive a grant under this sub24 section— 


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1 ‘‘(i) a State shall submit to the Sec2 retary an application that includes a plan 

3 described in subparagraph (B); and 

4 ‘‘(ii) an Indian Tribe shall submit to 

5 the Secretary an application, which shall 

6 include— 

7 ‘‘(I) a plan that describes how 

8 the Indian Tribe will use the proposed 

9 funding for projects if the Indian 

10 Tribe will be executing the projects; or 

11 ‘‘(II) a plan described in sub12 paragraph (B), if the Indian Tribe in13 tends to award grants to eligible enti14 ties with amounts made available to 

15 the Indian Tribe under this sub16 section.’’; and 

17 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 

18 (I) in the subparagraph heading, 

19 by striking ‘‘REQUIRED’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘DESCRIBED’’; 

21 (II) in the matter preceding 

22 clause (i), by inserting ‘‘, as applica23 ble,’’ after ‘‘Indian Tribe’’; and 


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1 (III) in clause (iii), by inserting 

2 ‘‘, as applicable’’ after ‘‘Indian 

3 Tribe’’; 

4 (B) by striking paragraph (4) and insert5 ing the following: 

6 ‘‘(4) OVERSIGHT.—The Secretary shall ensure 

7 that each grant provided to a State or an Indian 

8 Tribe, if the Indian Tribe intends to award grants 

9 to eligible entities with those grants funds, under the 

10 program is allocated pursuant to the applicable plan 

11 of the State or Indian Tribe, as applicable.’’; 

12 (C) in paragraph (5), by inserting ‘‘, as 

13 applicable,’’ after ‘‘made available to the appli14 cable State or Indian Tribe’’; 

15 (D) in paragraph (6), by inserting ‘‘, as 

16 applicable,’’ after ‘‘made available to the State 

17 or Indian Tribe’’; 

18 (E) in paragraph (7), in the matter pre19 ceding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘or In20 dian Tribe’’ each place it appears; 

21 (F) in paragraph (8)— 

22 (i) by striking ‘‘and Indian Tribe’’; 

23 and 

24 (ii) by striking ‘‘or Indian Tribe’’; and 

25 (G) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(9) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this sub2 section requires an Indian Tribe to award grants to 

3 eligible entities described in any of subparagraphs 

4 (A) through (F) of subsection (a)(2) with amounts 

5 made available to the Indian Tribe under this sub6 section.’’; 

7 (2) in subsection (e)— 

8 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

9 (i) in the matter preceding subpara10 graph (A), by inserting ‘‘Indian Tribe or’’ 

11 before ‘‘eligible entity’’; and 

12 (ii) in subparagraph (H)— 

13 (I) in clause (i), by striking 

14 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

15 (II) in clause (ii), by adding 

16 ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 

17 (III) by adding at the end the 

18 following: 

19 ‘‘(iii) distributed generation;’’; and 

20 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

21 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

22 (I) in the matter preceding clause 

23 (i), by inserting ‘‘Indian Tribe or’’ be24 fore ‘‘eligible entity’’; and 


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1 (II) in clause (i)(I), by inserting 

2 ‘‘transmission system-connected’’ be3 fore ‘‘electric generating’’; and 

4 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 

5 (I) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘In6 dian Tribe or’’ before ‘‘eligible enti7 ty’’; and 

8 (II) in clause (ii), by inserting 

9 ‘‘Indian Tribe or’’ before ‘‘eligible en10 tity’’; and 

11 (3) in subsection (h)— 

12 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘para13 graph (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraphs (2) and 

14 (3)’’; and 

15 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(3) INDIAN TRIBES.—An Indian Tribe that re17 ceives or awards a grant under subsection (d) or an 

18 eligible entity described in subsection (a)(2) that is 

19 owned by an Indian Tribe and receives a grant 

20 under subsection (c) shall not be required to match 

21 any amount of the applicable grant.’’. 

22 (c) COST-SHARING EXEMPTION UNDER THE ENERGY

23 POLICY ACT OF 2005.—Section 988(f) of the Energy Pol24 icy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16352(f)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

2 end; 

3 (2) in paragraph (3)(B), by striking the period 

4 at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

5 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(4) a grant awarded to an Indian Tribe under 

7 section 40101(d) of the Infrastructure Investment 

8 and Jobs Act (42 U.S.C. 18711(d)).’’. 

Æ 


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