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To authorize the integration and consolidation of alcohol and substance abuse programs and services provided by Indian tribal governments, and for other purposes.

January 30, 2001

Mr. CAMPBELL (for himself and for Mr. INOUYE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs

To authorize the integration and consolidation of alcohol and substance abuse programs and services provided by Indian tribal governments, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Native American Alcohol and Substance Abuse Program Consolidation Act of 2001'.

SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.

The purposes of this Act are--

(1) to enable Indian tribes to consolidate and integrate alcohol and other substance abuse prevention, diagnosis and treatment programs, and mental health and related programs, to provide unified and more effective and efficient services to Native Americans afflicted with alcohol and other substance abuse problems; and

(2) to recognize that Indian tribes can best determine the goals and methods for establishing and implementing prevention, diagnosis and treatment programs for their communities, consistent with the policy of self-determination.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

(a) IN GENERAL- In this Act:

(1) FEDERAL AGENCY- The term `Federal agency' has the meaning given the term `agency' in section 551(1) of title 5, United States Code.

(2) INDIAN- The term `Indian' has the meaning given that term in section 4(d) of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(d)).

(3) INDIAN TRIBE- The terms `Indian tribe' and `tribe' have the meaning given the term `Indian tribe' in section 4(e) of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(e)) and shall include entities as provided for in subsection (b)(2).

(4) SECRETARY- Except where otherwise provided, the term `Secretary' means the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

(5) SUBSTANCE ABUSE- The term `substance abuse' includes the illegal use or abuse of a drug, the abuse of an inhalant, or the abuse of tobacco or related products.

(b) INDIAN TRIBE-

(1) IN GENERAL- In any case in which an Indian tribe has authorized another Indian tribe, an inter-tribal consortium, or a tribal organization to plan for or carry out programs, services, functions, or activities (or portions thereof) on its behalf under this Act, the authorized Indian tribe, inter-tribal consortium, or tribal organization shall have the rights and responsibilities of the authorizing Indian tribe (except as otherwise provided in the authorizing resolution or in this Act).

(2) INCLUSION OF OTHER ENTITIES- In a case described in paragraph (1), the term `Indian tribe', as defined in subsection (a)(2), shall include the additional authorized Indian tribe, inter-tribal consortium, or tribal organization.

SEC. 4. INTEGRATION OF SERVICES AUTHORIZED.

The Secretary, in cooperation with the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Education, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the United States Attorney General, and the Secretary of Transportation, as appropriate, shall, upon the receipt of a plan acceptable to the Secretary that is submitted by an Indian tribe, authorize the tribe to coordinate, in accordance with such plan, its federally funded alcohol and substance abuse and mental health programs in a manner that integrates the program services involved into a single, coordinated, comprehensive program and reduces administrative costs by consolidating administrative functions.

SEC. 5. PROGRAMS AFFECTED.

The programs that may be integrated in a demonstration project under any plan referred to in section 4 shall include--

(1) any program under which an Indian tribe is eligible for the receipt of funds under a statutory or administrative formula for the purposes of prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of alcohol and other substance abuse problems and disorders, or mental health problems and disorders, or any program designed to enhance the ability to treat, diagnose, or prevent alcohol and other substance abuse and related problems and disorders, or mental health problems or disorders;

(2) any program under which an Indian tribe is eligible for receipt of funds though a competitive or other grant program for the purposes of prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of alcohol and other substance abuse problems and disorders, or mental health problems and disorders, or treatment, diagnosis, or prevention of related problems and disorders, or any program designed to enhance the ability to treat, diagnose, or prevent alcohol and other substance abuse and related problems and disorders, or mental health problems or disorders, if--

(A) the Indian tribe has provided notice to the appropriate agency regarding the intentions of the tribe to include the grant program in the plan it submits to the Secretary, and the affected agency has consented to the inclusion of the grant in the plan; or

(B) the Indian tribe has elected to include the grant program in its plan, and the administrative requirements contained in the plan are essentially the same as the administrative requirements under the grant program; and

(3) any program under which an Indian tribe is eligible for receipt of funds under any other funding scheme for the purposes of prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of alcohol and other substance abuse problems and disorders, or mental health problems and disorders, or treatment, diagnosis, or prevention of related problems and disorders, or any program designed to enhance the ability to treat, diagnose, or prevent alcohol and other substance abuse and related problems and disorders, or mental health problems or disorders.

SEC. 6. PLAN REQUIREMENTS.

For a plan to be acceptable under section 4, the plan shall--

(1) identify the programs to be integrated;

(2) be consistent with the purposes of this Act authorizing the services to be integrated into the project;

(3) describe a comprehensive strategy that identifies the full range of existing and potential alcohol and substance abuse and mental health treatment and prevention programs available on and near the tribe's service area;

(4) describe the manner in which services are to be integrated and delivered and the results expected under the plan;

(5) identify the projected expenditures under the plan in a single budget;

(6) identify the agency or agencies in the tribe to be involved in the delivery of the services integrated under the plan;

(7) identify any statutory provisions, regulations, policies, or procedures that the tribe believes need to be waived in order to implement its plan; and

(8) be approved by the governing body of the tribe.

SEC. 7. PLAN REVIEW.

(a) CONSULTATION- Upon receipt of a plan from an Indian tribe under section 4, the Secretary shall consult with the head of each Federal agency providing funds to be used to implement the plan, and with the tribe submitting the plan.

(b) IDENTIFICATION OF WAIVERS- The parties consulting on the implementation of the plan under subsection (a) shall identify any waivers of statutory requirements or of Federal agency regulations, policies, or procedures necessary to enable the tribal government to implement its plan.

(c) WAIVERS- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the head of the affected Federal agency shall have the authority to waive any statutory requirement, regulation, policy, or procedure promulgated by the Federal agency that has been identified by the tribe or the Federal agency under subsection (b) unless the head of the affected Federal agency determines that such a waiver is inconsistent with the purposes of this Act or with those provisions of the Act that authorizes the program involved which are specifically applicable to Indian programs.

SEC. 8. PLAN APPROVAL.

(a) IN GENERAL- Not later than 90 days after the receipt by the Secretary of a tribe's plan under section 4, the Secretary shall inform the tribe, in writing, of the Secretary's approval or disapproval of the plan, including any request for a waiver that is made as part of the plan.

(b) DISAPPROVAL- If a plan is disapproved under subsection (a), the Secretary shall inform the tribal government, in writing, of the reasons for the disapproval and shall give the tribe an opportunity to amend its plan or to petition the Secretary to reconsider such disapproval, including reconsidering the disapproval of any waiver requested by the Indian tribe.

SEC. 9. FEDERAL RESPONSIBILITIES.

(a) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE INDIAN HEALTH SERVICE-

(1) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING- Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Education, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the United States Attorney General, and the Secretary of Transportation shall enter into an interdepartmental memorandum of agreement providing for the implementation of the plans authorized under this Act.

(2) LEAD AGENCY- The lead agency under this Act shall be the Indian Health Service.

(3) RESPONSIBILITIES- The responsibilities of the lead agency under this Act shall include--

(A) the development of a single reporting format related to the plan for the individual project which shall be used by a tribe to report on the activities carried out under the plan;

(B) the development of a single reporting format related to the projected expenditures for the individual plan which shall be used by a tribe to report on all plan expenditures;

(C) the development of a single system of Federal oversight for the plan, which shall be implemented by the lead agency;

(D) the provision of technical assistance to a tribe appropriate to the plan, delivered under an arrangement subject to the approval of the tribe participating in the project, except that a tribe shall have the authority to accept or reject the plan for providing the technical assistance and the technical assistance provider; and

(E) the convening by an appropriate official of the lead agency (whose appointment is subject to the confirmation of the Senate) and a representative of the Indian tribes that carry out projects under this Act, in consultation with each of the Indian tribes that participate in projects under this Act, of a meeting not less than 2 times during each fiscal year for the purpose of providing an opportunity for all Indian tribes that carry out projects under this Act to discuss issues relating to the implementation of this Act with officials of each agency specified in paragraph (1).

(b) REPORT REQUIREMENTS- The single reporting format shall be developed by the Secretary under subsection (a)(3), consistent with the requirements of this Act. Such reporting format, together with records maintained on the consolidated program at the tribal level shall contain such information as will--

(1) allow a determination that the tribe has complied with the requirements incorporated in its approved plan; and

(2) provide assurances to the Secretary that the tribe has complied with all directly applicable statutory requirements and with those directly applicable regulatory requirements which have not been waived.

SEC. 10. NO REDUCTION IN AMOUNTS.

In no case shall the amount of Federal funds available to a participating tribe involved in any project be reduced as a result of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 11. INTERAGENCY FUND TRANSFERS AUTHORIZED.

The Secretary, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Education, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the United States Attorney General, or the Secretary of Transportation, as appropriate, is authorized to take such action as may be necessary to provide for the interagency transfer of funds otherwise available to a tribe in order to further the purposes of this Act.

SEC. 12. ADMINISTRATION OF FUNDS AND OVERAGE.

(a) ADMINISTRATION OF FUNDS-

(1) IN GENERAL- Program funds shall be administered under this Act in such a manner as to allow for a determination that funds from specific programs (or an amount equal to the amount utilized from each program) are expended on activities authorized under such program.

(2) SEPARATE RECORDS NOT REQUIRED- Nothing in this section shall be construed as requiring a tribe to maintain separate records tracing any services or activities conducted under its approved plan under section 4 to the individual programs under which funds were authorized, nor shall the tribe be required to allocate expenditures among individual programs.

(b) OVERAGE- All administrative costs under a plan under this Act may be commingled, and participating Indian tribes shall be entitled to the full amount of such costs (under each program or department's regulations), and no overage shall be counted for Federal audit purposes so long as the overage is used for the purposes provided for under this Act.

SEC. 13. FISCAL ACCOUNTABILITY.

Nothing in this Act shall be construed to interfere with the ability of the Secretary or the lead agency to fulfill the responsibilities for the safeguarding of Federal funds pursuant to chapter 75 of title 31, United States Code.

SEC. 14. REPORT ON STATUTORY AND OTHER BARRIERS TO INTEGRATION.

(a) PRELIMINARY REPORT- Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit a report to the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives on the implementation of the program authorized under this Act.

(b) FINAL REPORT- Not later than 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit a report to the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives on the results of the implementation of the program authorized under this Act. The report shall identify statutory barriers to the ability of tribes to integrate more effectively their alcohol and substance abuse services in a manner consistent with the purposes of this Act.

SEC. 15. ASSIGNMENT OF FEDERAL PERSONNEL TO STATE INDIAN ALCOHOL AND DRUG TREATMENT OR MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAMS.

Any State with an alcohol and substance abuse or mental health program targeted to Indian tribes shall be eligible to receive, at no cost to the State, such Federal personnel assignments as the Secretary, in accordance with the applicable provisions of subchapter IV of chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code, may deem appropriate to help insure the success of such program.

END