The 2026 proposal to streamline Administration for Native Americans grant rules
Health and Human Services Department. October 19, 2026. Read the source.
What is changing in the Administration for Native Americans grant regulations?
On October 14, 2026, HHS proposed to shrink the regulations for Administration for Native Americans (ANA) grants at 45 CFR part 1336 from five sections to three. The proposal would remove text that repeats the statute, along with an outdated office address and a template paragraph for ineligibility letters. Appeals would move to the standard Departmental Appeals Board process in 45 CFR part 16. The 20 percent match still applies because it is written into the Native American Programs Act, and so does the waiver. Comments are due November 13, 2026.
What ANA funds
ANA makes competitive grants for Native-led community projects in social and economic development, Native language preservation, and environmental regulatory work. Tribes, Alaska Native villages, and regional corporations can apply. So can public and nonprofit agencies that serve Native Hawaiians and urban or rural Native communities. Awards run from twelve to sixty months and are meant as seed funding. In fiscal year 2025, ANA awarded $50,738,495 in new and continuing grants.
What the proposal changes
A final rule in June 2026 repealed most of part 1336 and left five sections. This proposal folds those five into three: definitions, notices of ineligibility and appeals, and financial and administrative requirements.
Ineligibility notices. ANA must still tell an applicant why an application or activity was found ineligible, with the legal and factual grounds. The letter would no longer have to include a copy of the regulations or a set template paragraph.
Appeals. An applicant found ineligible, or a grantee whose award is suspended, terminated, or denied continuation funding, would appeal to the Departmental Appeals Board under 45 CFR part 16. That is the same process other ACF programs use.
Match. The regulation would no longer restate the 20 percent non-federal share, since the statute already requires it at 42 U.S.C. 2991b(c). The waiver would remain, with the reasons for it now cited to the statute.
HHS says the proposal adds no paperwork. It plans training and technical assistance so grantees still know which rules apply to them.
How to comment
Comments are due November 13, 2026. File them at regulations.gov under docket ACF-2026-0826, or by email with the docket number or RIN 0970-AD50 in the subject line. Comments are published with the commenter’s name.
Planning for the match
The 20 percent share is the part of an ANA application that most often needs planning ahead. A waiver can be requested. How cost share and matching funds work.
Quillify matches Tribes and Native-serving organizations to ANA funding announcements as they post, alongside foundation and state programs that fund the same work. It drafts the application from your own documents, so the project description, budget, and match narrative start from what you have already written.
What you can do today
More policy news: NIH webinar notices, October 26 to 28, 2026. The 2026 proposal to trim HHS block grant regulations. The 2026 final rule trimming child support program regulations. USDA SPUR guaranteed loans for FY 2027: who qualifies and how to apply. SBA surety bond guarantee fees: what changes on November 30, 2026.
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