New Policy Resources for Addressing Climate Adaptation Funding Barriers Experienced by Northwest Coastal Tribes

Tribal Nations should have access to funding that supports Tribal priorities. More than $53 billion in federal funds have been directed toward Tribal programs since 2020, the largest direct investment in Indian Country in history. Despite this historic influx of funds, Tribes continue to face persistent barriers in accessing and using these resources. To help address these challenges, EPIC partnered with the Tribal Coastal Resilience portfolio to identify innovative policy solutions that make federal funding more accessible and responsive to Tribal needs. While the Tribal Coastal Resilience Portfolio was defunded in 2025, the work continues with the Washington Tribes Coastal Resilience Program, which offers small grants and technical assistance for Tribal resilience efforts.

Why Federal Funding for Tribes Matters

Federal funding is key to supporting critical services and infrastructure to Tribal communities. This funding isn’t a handout–it is central to fulfilling the federal government’s Trust Responsibility and treaty obligations–the promises made to Tribes in exchange for millions of acres of land and resources. This scale of investment in Indian Country could be transformative, but the systemic obstacles Tribes currently face–bureaucratic hurdles, inflexible programs, and lack of Tribal-specific design–make it difficult for Tribes to turn those investments into outcomes. 

In 2024, the Tribal Coastal Resilience Portfolio, of the Northwest Climate Resilience Collaborative, worked with Tribes in the Pacific Northwest to assess these barriers and needs and published their findings in a comprehensive report. 

Building on that work, in 2025, EPIC partnered with the Tribal Coastal Resilience Portfolio (co-led by the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians and the University of Washington Climate Impacts Group), the University of Washington Native American Law Center, and the Harvard Environmental and Energy Law Program to identify policy tools and funding opportunities to advance Tribal climate resilience. 

Policy Solutions Guided by Tribal Priorities

Over the course of the year, driven by ongoing input from Tribal leaders and Tribal staff, we developed a set of policy tools to make funding more flexible, accessible, and useful. As EPIC’s Tribal Legal Fellow, my research focused on leveraging existing authorities to ease Tribal access to funding. We found that the most effective programs share key features. They:

• Do not require a cost-match;

• Include set-asides for Tribal programs;

• Avoid burdensome reporting and administrative requirements;

• Further Tribal self-governance; and

• Offer flexibilities to align with Tribal priorities.

What the Project Includes

The project, Policy Resources for Addressing Climate Adaptation Funding Barriers Experienced by Northwest Coastal Tribes, includes: 

• Flexible Funding Authorities to Support Tribal Climate Adaptation, which explores:

• Opportunities to expand the use of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (“638 compacts”);

• An overview of the Indian Employment, Training and Related Services Demonstration Act (“477 Plans”), and opportunities to streamline and integrate federal funds for greater flexibility; and

• Exemplary policies that advance Tribal resilience, like the current legislative effort to pass the Tribal Emergency Response Resources Act (TERRA, H.R. 3654).

• Guidance for Responding to Disasters in Indian Country, to help Tribal leadership and staff decide if and how to seek federal disaster assistance after a disaster.

• A Tribal Climate Adaptation Funding Source Database, with a comprehensive list of grant programs and funding opportunities that can support Tribal adaptation and resilience activities.

More Tools for Tribal Leaders

As part of our work, we also gathered historic notices under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act that list programs available for Tribal self-governance compacting. These resources are available on the Sovereign-to-Sovereign Cooperative Agreements Repository for Tribal leaders seeking to expand Tribal self-governance programs, and researchers seeking to understand trends in the Department of Interior’s approaches to self-governance.

Bonus Read: Rethinking Cost-Match Requirements

For a deeper dive into why federal cost-match requirements are ineffective and inefficient, and how they can be improved, check out this EPIC blog post by Executive Director Tim Male and Tim Wigington of the Freshwater Trust. 

A Note on the Impacts of Federal Funding Cuts

This project was an initiative of the Tribal coastal resilience portfolio (TCR) of the Northwest Climate Resilience Collaborative (NCRC). In May 2025, while we were working on this project, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) terminated the NCRC. In addition to this project, NCRC “supported farmers in Idaho facing the dual stressors of drought and land use change, informed Washington state legislation to save lives during extreme heat events, and worked with coastal Tribes in Oregon and Washington as they respond to sea level rise and other climate threats.” 

In our work with the NCRC, and in particular with the TCR, we witnessed their commitment to centering and advancing Tribal sovereignty and Tribal leadership in coastal resilience. This commitment is crucial in responding to the urgent climate needs we all face, and is something that we can all learn from. We are saddened that the important work NCRC does to support Tribes and rural communities was cut short, and that the decision to end this program was based in political posturing, rather than community need. You can read more about the program and ways to support it here. The Portfolio is continuing their work with the Washington Tribes Coastal Resilience Program, which offers small grants and technical assistance for Tribal resilience efforts.