[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]
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