[Federal Register: July 6, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 129)]
[Notices]
[Page 37044-37046]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr06jy07-94]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Building Tribal Energy Development Capacity
AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.
ACTION: Grant program to build tribal energy development capacity.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Energy Policy Act of 2005 authorizes the Secretary to
provide development grants to Indian tribes and tribal energy resource
development organizations for use in developing or obtaining the
managerial and technical capacity needed to develop energy resources on
Indian land, and to properly account for resulting energy production
and revenues. In furtherance of this goal, the Department of the
Interior's Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development is
soliciting proposals from tribes and tribal energy resource development
organizations. The Department will award several grants of up to
$50,000 each for this program.
DATES: Submit grant proposals by August 6, 2007. We will not consider
grant proposals received after this date.
ADDRESSES: You must submit the Tribal Energy Development Capacity
proposal by mail or hand-carry to the Department of the Interior,
Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development, Attention: Tribal
Energy Development Capacity Proposal, Room 20--South Interior Building,
1951 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20245.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Darryl Francois, Program Analyst,
Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development, Room 20--South
Interior Building, 1951 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20245,
Telephone (202) 219-0740 or Fax (202) 208-4564.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title V, Section 503 of the Energy Policy
Act of 2005 (Pub. L. 109-58) amends Title XXVI (Indian Energy) of the
Energy Policy Act of 1992 to require the Secretary of the Interior
(Secretary) to offer Indian tribes the opportunity to enter into a
Tribal Energy Resource Agreement (TERA) with the Department of the
Interior. The intent of these agreements is to promote tribal oversight
and management of energy and mineral resource development on tribal
lands and further the goal of Indian Self-Determination. A TERA offers
a tribe an entirely new alternative for entering into energy-related
business agreements and leases and for granting rights-of-way for
pipelines and electric transmission and distribution lines without the
Secretary's review and approval.
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 requires that the Secretary, before
approving a TERA with a tribe, make a determination of a tribe's
capacity to manage the full scope of administrative, regulatory, and
energy resource development that the tribe proposes to assume under an
approved TERA.
Recognizing that a tribe wanting to enter into a TERA with the
Department may need technical assistance in building its management
capacity, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 also authorizes the Secretary
to provide development grants to Indian tribes and tribal energy
resource development organizations for use in developing or obtaining
the managerial and technical capacity needed to develop energy
resources on Indian land, and to properly account for resulting energy
production and revenues. In furtherance of this goal, the Department of
the Interior's Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development (IEED)
is soliciting proposals from tribes and tribal energy resource
development organizations to achieve the following goals:
Evaluate the type and range of energy development
activities that a tribe may want to assume under a TERA.
Determine the current level of scientific, technical,
administrative, or financial management capacity of the tribe to assume
responsibility for the identified development activities; and
Determine which scientific, technical, administrative, or
financial management capacities need enhancement and what process and/
or procedures the grantee may use to eliminate these capacity gaps.
A. Items To Consider Before Preparing an Application for a Tribal
Energy Devlopment Capacity Grant
1. Trust Land Status
Tribal Energy Development Capacity (TEDC) funding can only be made
available to Tribes whose lands are held in trust or restricted fee by
the Federal government. Congress has appropriated these funds to
develop tribal capacity to manage the full scope of administrative,
regulatory, and energy resource development only on Indian trust or
restricted fee lands.
2. Tribes' Compliance History
All grant programs are under constant and close scrutiny by the
Administration and Congress. Therefore, IEED must monitor all TEDC
grants for statutory and regulatory compliance to assure that awarded
funds are correctly applied to projects that the IEED is authorized to
support. Tribes that expend funds on unapproved functions may forfeit
remaining funds in that project year, as well as future year TEDC
funding. Consequently, IEED may request a tribe to provide a summary of
any funds they have received in past years through award programs
administered by IEED, and IEED may conduct a review of award
expenditures before making a decision on current year proposals.
3. BIA Sanction List
Tribes who are on the BIA's list of sanctioned tribes with a Level
1 rating will not be considered for an award.
4. Multi-Year Projects
The TEDC program cannot award multi-year funding for a project.
Funding available for building energy development capacity is subject
to annual appropriations by Congress and therefore IEED can only
consider single-year projects. Therefore, Tribal Energy Development
Capacity projects should be designed to be completed in one year.
5. What the Tribal Energy Development Capacity Award Cannot Fund
As stated above, these funds are used specifically to assist tribes
in an assessment of their ability to manage the full scope of
administrative, regulatory, and energy resource development work only.
Examples of items that cannot be funded include, but are not limited to
the following:
[[Page 37045]]
Purchasing and/or leasing of equipment for the development
of energy and mineral resources;
Establishing or operating a tribal office, and/or purchase
of office equipment not specific to the assessment project. Tribal
salaries may be included only if they are directly involved in the
project and only for the duration of the project;
Indirect costs and overhead as defined by the Federal
Acquisition Regulation (FAR);
Purchase of project equipment such as computers, vehicles,
field gear, etc.;
The payment of fees or procurement of any services
associated with energy assessment or exploration or development
activity;
Legal fees;
Research and development of unproven technologies;
Training;
Contracted negotiation fees;
Purchase of resource assessment data; and
Any other activities not authorized by the Tribal
resolution or by the award letter.
B. How To Prepare an Application for Tribal Energy Development Capacity
Funding
Applications must be prepared in accordance with this section. A
complete application for TEDC funding must contain the following
components:
(a) A tribal resolution authorizing the proposed project;
(b) A proposal describing the planned activities and deliverable
products;
(c) A detailed budget estimate.
IEED will examine every application for these components. Any
application that does not contain all of the mandatory components will
be considered incomplete and returned to the tribe, with an
explanation. Tribes will then be allowed ten working days to correct
all deficiencies and submit the application for re-consideration.
1. Mandatory Component 1: Tribal Resolution
The tribal resolution must be current, and it must be signed. It
must authorize tribal approval for a TEDC proposed project in the same
fiscal year as that of the proposal and must explicitly refer to the
proposal being submitted.
2. Mandatory Component 2: Tribal Energy Development Capacity Proposal
A tribe must present its TEDC proposal in the format prescribed in
this section. The proposal should be well organized, contain as much
detail as possible, yet be presented succinctly to allow a quick and
thorough understanding of the proposal by the IEED evaluation team. The
proposal must include the following sections:
(a) Overview: A short summary overview of the proposal that
includes the following:
--Elements of the proposed study;
--Reasons the proposed study is needed;
--Total requested funding;
--Responsible parties for technical execution and administration of the
proposed project; and
--A tribal point of contact for the project and contact information.
(b) Technical Summary and Current Status: Describe in relevant
detail the proposed project. Acknowledge any existing capacity
assessments or building efforts already underway or previously
completed. Give examples of the tribe's experience with energy
development activities (both in the target area for capacity assessment
and other energy development activities). Describe future plans the
tribe has for energy development and growth. The proposed new study
should not duplicate previous work. Describe the tribe's existing
capabilities in comparison with the spectrum of abilities necessary for
successful energy development, including but not limited to the
following:
Land and lease management
Technical, scientific and engineering assessment
Financial and revenue management
Environmental monitoring and assessment
Regulatory monitoring and development (especially Federal,
State, and Tribal environmental and safety regulations)
(c) Project Objectives, Goals and Scope of Work: Describe the work
proposed and the project goals and objectives expected to be achieved
by the proposed project. Specifically, identify the areas where the
proposal's assessment will focus. Describe in relevant detail the scope
of work and justify a particular approach to be used in assessing the
tribe's capacity to manage energy development activities and determine
proposed next steps to be taken to eliminate identified skill gaps.
(d) Deliverable Products: Describe the deliverable products that
the proposed project will generate. Discuss and provide deadlines for
planned status reports as well as the final report.
(e) Resumes of Key Personnel: If the tribe will use consultant
services, provide the resumes of key personnel who will do the project
work. The resumes should provide information on each individual's
expertise. If subcontractors are used, these should also be disclosed.
3. Mandatory Component 3: Detailed Budget Estimate
A detailed budget estimate is required for the funding level
requested. The detail not only provides the tribe with an estimate of
costs, but it also provides IEED with the means of evaluating each
project. This line-by-line budget must fully detail all projected and
anticipated expenditures under the TEDC proposal. The ranking committee
reviews each budget estimate to determine whether the budget is
reasonable and can produce the results outlined under the proposal.
Each proposed project function should have a separate budget. The
budget should break out contract and consulting fees, travel, and all
other relevant project expenses. Preparation of the budget portion of a
proposal should be considered a top priority. A TEDC proposal that
includes sound budget projections will receive a more favorable ranking
over those proposals that fail to provide appropriate budget
projections.
The budget should provide a comprehensive breakdown for those
project line items that involve several components or contain numerous
sub-functions.
(a) Contracted Personnel Costs. This includes all contracted
personnel and consultants, their respective positions and time (staff-
hour) allocations for the proposed functions of a project.
Personnel funded under the Public Law 93-638 Tribal Energy
Development Capacity Program must have documented professional
qualifications necessary to perform the work. Attach position
descriptions to the budget estimate.
If a consultant is to be hired for a fixed fee, itemize
the consultant's expenses as part of the project budget.
Consultant fees must be accompanied by documentation that
clearly identifies the qualifications of the proposed consultants,
specifies how the consultant(s) are to be used and includes a line item
breakdown of costs associated with each consultant activity.
(b) Travel Estimates. Estimates should be itemized by airfare and
vehicle rental, lodging and per diem, based on the current federal
government per diem schedule.
(c) Data Collection and Analysis Costs. These costs should be
itemized in sufficient detail for the reviewer to evaluate the charges.
(d) Other Expenses. Include computer rental, report generation,
drafting, and advertising costs for a proposed project.
[[Page 37046]]
As previously stated, a tribe or tribal organization that expends
TEDC funds on unapproved project functions is subject to forfeiture of
any remaining funds in that project year as well as sanctions against
receipt of any future year TEDC funding.
C. Submission of Application in Digital Format
Submit the application in digital form. Acceptable formats are MS
Word, WordPerfect, and Adobe Acrobat PDF. Image and graphic files may
be JPG, TIF, or other PC bit image file formats.
Files must be saved with filenames that clearly identify the file
being submitted. File name extensions must clearly indicate the
software application used for preparation of the documents (i.e., .wpd,
.doc, .pdf.)
Documents requiring an original signature, such as cover letters,
tribal resolutions, and other letters of tribal authorization must also
be submitted in hard copy (paper) form.
If you have any additional questions concerning the Tribal Energy
Development Capacity proposal submission process, please contact Darryl
Francois, IEED's TEDC Coordinator at (202) 208-7253.
D. Award Evalaution and Administrative Information
1. Ranking Criteria
The proposal ranking criteria factors and associated scores as
follows:
(a) Resource potential, 25 points.
(b) Energy development history and current status, 15 points.
(c) Existing energy development capabilities, 20 points.
(d) Demonstrated willingness to develop independent energy
development business entity, 20 points.
(e) Tribal funding commitment, 20 points.
2. Ranking of Proposals and Award Letters
The TEDC review committee will rank the tribal energy development
capacity proposals using the ranking criteria. The evaluation team will
then forward the rated requests to the Director of IEED (Director) for
approval. Once approved, the Director will submit all proposals to the
Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs for concurrence and announcement
of awards to the selected tribes, via written notice. Those tribes not
receiving an award will also be notified immediately in writing.
E. When to Submit
The IEED will accept applications at any time before August 6,
2007, and will send a notification of receipt to the return address on
the application package, along with a determination of whether or not
the application is complete. However, the technical evaluation of the
proposal will begin only after August 6, 2007.
F. Where to Submit
Applicants must submit the Tribal Energy Development Capacity
proposals to IEED at the following address: ATTN: Tribal Energy
Development Capacity Proposal, South Interior Building--Room 20, 1951
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20245.
A tribe may fax a complete TEDC proposal to IEED prior to the
deadline for submission of proposals; however, an original signature
copy, including all signed tribal resolutions and/or letters of tribal
authorization, must also be received in IEED's office within five
working days after the deadline.
G. Transfer of Funds
IEED will transfer a tribe's TEDC funds to the BIA Regional Office
that serves that tribe, via a sub-allotment funding document coded for
the tribe's TEDC project. The tribe should be anticipating the transfer
of funds and be in contact with their budget personnel contacts at the
Regional and Agency office levels. Tribes receiving TEDC awards must
establish a new 638 contract to complete the transfer process, or use
an existing 638 contract, as applicable.
H. Reporting Requirements for Award Recipients
1. Quarterly Reporting Requirements
During the life of the TEDC project, quarterly reports are to be
submitted to the IEED project coordinator assigned to your project. The
beginning and ending quarter periods are to be based on the actual
start date of the TEDC project. This date can be determined between the
IEED project coordinator and the tribe.
The quarterly report can be a one to two page summary of events,
accomplishments, problems and/or results that took place during the
quarter. Quarterly reports are due two weeks after the end of a
project's fiscal quarter.
2. Final Reporting Requirements
Delivery Schedules: The tribe must deliver all products
and data generated by the proposed assessment project to IEED through
the TEDC project coordinator within two weeks after completion of the
project.
Provide Reports and Data in Digital Form. IEED requires
that deliverable products be provided in digital format, along with
printed hard copies. Reports can be provided in either MS Word or PDF
format. Spreadsheet data can be provided in MS Excel or PDF formats.
Images can be provided in PDF, JPEG, TIFF, or any of the Windows
metafile formats.
Number of Copies. When a tribe prepares a proposal for a
TEDC project, it must describe the deliverable products and include a
requirement that the products be prepared in standard format (see
format description above). Each proposal's budget estimate will provide
funding for a total of six printed and six digital copies of the final
report to be distributed as follows:
(a) The tribe will receive two printed and two digital copies of
the TEDC report.
(b) IEED will receive four printed copies and four digital copies
of the report. IEED will transmit one of these copies to the tribe's
BIA Regional Office, and one copy to the tribe's BIA Agency office.
(c) Two printed and two digital copies will then reside with IEED.
These copies should be forwarded to the IEED office in Washington, DC,
to the attention of the Tribal Energy Resource Agreement Office.
Dated: June 26, 2007.
Carl J. Artman,
Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. E7-13138 Filed 7-5-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-40-P
