[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 59 (Monday, March 29, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14936-14937]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-7658]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Construction of Replacement Education Facilities
AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.
ACTION: Call for applications and notice of revised instructions and
ranking criteria.
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SUMMARY: This Notice is the official call for applications for
construction of Bureau-funded replacement education facilities. It also
explains how to obtain copies of the revised publication,
``Instructions and Application for Replacement School Construction
1999.'' Applications for construction of Bureau-funded replacement
education facilities may be submitted in accordance with these 1999
revised instructions.
DATES: Applications must be received on or before July 16, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the 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 from 201
Third St. NW, Suite 510, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102. The revised
instructions are also available from BIA Area and Education line
offices and from the BIA Facilities Management and Construction Center,
201 Third St. NW,
[[Page 14937]]
Suite 500, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102.
All applications must be submitted to the BIA Office of Indian
Education Programs at 201 Third St. NW, Suite 510, Albuquerque, New
Mexico 87102.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions regarding applications may
be submitted to the attention of 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) 346-6544, Fax (505)
346-6553 or to applicable Education Line Officers whose addresses and
phone numbers are available in Appendix A of the application document.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We published a notice in the Federal
Register on November 17, 1998 (63 FR 63942), requesting comments on
draft instructions governing the priority ranking process for
construction of replacement education facilities and the criteria used
in ranking applications. We have reviewed all written comments received
and incorporated some of the comments in the revised instructions in
this notice. The revised instructions entitled ``Instructions and
Application for Replacement School Construction 1999'' are available at
the address provided in the ADDRESSES section.
The revised process will not provide for new school starts nor
grade level expansions. 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 construction projects.
We will send copies of the revised instructions to all BIA schools
and schools that receive BIA funds under contract or grant. (Catalog of
Federal Domestic Assistance Program Number: 15.062 ``Replacement and
Repair of Indian Schools.'') Applications for construction of Bureau-
funded replacement education facilities may be submitted in accordance
with the 1999 revised instructions. This Notice is the official call
for applications for construction of Bureau-funded replacement
education facilities.
BIA's Office of Indian Education Programs' Line Officers will
conduct training on the revised instructions and ranking criteria for
all schools under their administrative jurisdiction. The BIA Education
Line Officers, in March 1999, will canvas the schools to find out
whether they intend to submit an official application for replacement
school construction and to identify the person who will be the point of
contact for correspondence. Each potential applicant mustsubmit their
response to their Education Line Officer by close of business of the
due date specified for that response. BIA will place all respondents on
the mailing list and provide them with instructions and application
forms.
We will send all potential applicants the specifics relating to
training location, date, and times by certified mail. Applications will
be accepted beginning June 28, l999, until July 16, 1999. We will use
the criteria in the revised instructions to review and evaluate all
applications that we receive on or before the deadline.
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) directed 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
FY 1992 Interior and Related Agencies Appropriation Act, House Report
No. 256, 102d Cong., 1st Sess. 46 (1991), indicated that Congress
wanted the Department to revise the priority ranking process for new
school construction. The Conference Report said that BIA should
emphasize tribal consultation and improve the objectivity of the
ranking process, provide continuity to the priority ranking list, and
provide procedures for handling emergency needs. The Education Line
Officers will conduct training for applicants on how to complete their
applications. Tribes and BIA-funded school boards will receive advance,
written notice of training session dates, times, and locations for
tribes and schools under their respective jurisdictions.
Dated: March 22, 1999.
Kevin Gover,
Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 99-7658 Filed 3-26-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-02-P
