[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