[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 221 (Tuesday, November 17, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Page 63942]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-30651]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Construction of Replacement Education Facilities
AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Revised Instructions and Ranking Criteria.
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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) is announcing its intention
to revise the instructions governing the priority ranking process for
construction of replacement education facilities and the criteria used
in ranking applications. The revised process will not provide for new
school starts nor grade level expansions, but will include application
ranking criteria for facilities master plans, which can affect
application point values and ranking order. The revised procedures will
provide more continuity, objectivity and accountability in the priority
ranking for construction of replacement education facilities; address
the handling of emergency needs; and accommodate federal/tribal
financial partnerships for education facilities construction projects.
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program Number: 15.062
``Replacement and Repair of Indian Schools.'')
DATES: Comments on the proposed revisions must be received on or before
December 1, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Direct written comments on the proposed revisions to Dr.
Kenneth G. Ross, Special Assistant to the Director, Office of Indian
Education Programs, 201 Third St., NW, Suite 510, Albuquerque, New
Mexico 87102.
Copies of the proposed revised instructions and ranking criteria
are available upon request from the BIA Office of Indian Education
Programs at 1849 C Street NW, MS-3512 MIB, Washington, DC 20240 or at
201 Third St., NW, Suite 510, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102.
The proposed revisions are also available from BIA Area and
Education line offices and from the BIA Facilities Management and
Construction Center, 201 Third St. NW, Suite 500, Albuquerque, New
Mexico 87102.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Kenneth G. Ross, Special Assistant
to the Director, Office of Indian Education Programs, 201 Third St. NW,
Suite 510, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102, (505) 766-3850.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This Notice is published under authority
delegated by the Secretary of the Interior to the Assistant Secretary
for Indian Affairs in the Departmental Manual at 209 DM 8. 25 U.S.C.
2005(c) directs the BIA to publish, in the Federal Register, the system
used to determine priorities for school construction projects and to
submit a current priority ranking for school construction projects at
the time any budget request is presented to Congress. The Conference
Report for the FY1992 Interior and Related Agencies Appropriation Act,
House Report No. 256, 102d Cong., 1st Sess. 46 (1991), indicated that
Congress desired the Department to continue efforts to revise the
priority ranking process for new school construction. The Conference
Report stated that emphasis should be given to tribal consultation and
to improving the objectivity of the ranking process, to providing
continuity to the priority ranking list, and to providing procedures
for handling emergency needs. The BIA plans to hold tribal consultation
hearings on the proposed revisions. Tribes with schools under their
jurisdiction and BIA-funded school boards shall receive advance,
written notice of the consultation hearing schedule.
Dated: November 6, 1998.
Kevin Gover,
Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 98-30651 Filed 11-16-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-02-P
