[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 85 (Thursday, May 1, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24082-24085]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-9512]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Grant Program to Build Tribal Energy Development Capacity
AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.
ACTION: Solicitation of Proposals.
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SUMMARY: The Energy Policy Act of 2005 authorizes the Secretary to
provide assistance to Indian tribes for use in developing and
sustaining 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 use a
competitive evaluation process to select several proposed projects to
receive an award.
DATES: Submit grant proposals by June 30, 2008. 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, 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:
A. Background
B. Items To Consider Before Preparing an Application for a Tribal
Energy Development Capacity Grant
C. How To Prepare an Application for Tribal Energy Development
Capacity Funding
D. Submission of Application in Digital Format
E. Award Evaluation and Administrative Information
F. When To Submit
G. Where To Submit
H. Transfer of Funds
I. Reporting Requirements for Award Recipients
A. Background
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 further approval of the
Secretary.
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 financial assistance to Indian tribes for use in
developing and sustaining 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:
[[Page 24083]]
Evaluate the type and range of energy development
activities that a tribe may want to pursue.
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 capacity gaps, or
sustain the continued development of their energy development capacity
into the future.
B. Items To Consider Before Preparing an Application for a Tribal
Energy Development Capacity Grant
1. Trust Land Status
Tribal Energy Development Capacity (TEDC) funding can be made
available only 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
The IEED will monitor all TEDC grants for statutory and regulatory
compliance to assure that awarded funds are correctly applied to
approved projects. Tribes that expend funds on unapproved functions may
forfeit remaining funds in that proposal year, as well as future year
TEDC funding. Consequently, IEED may request a tribe to provide a
summary of any funds it has received in past years through other
projects approved by IEED, and IEED may conduct a review of prior award
expenditures before making a decision on current year proposals.
3. BIA Sanction List
Tribes who are currently under BIA sanction resulting from non
compliance with the Single Audit Act may be ineligible from being
considered for an award.
4. Multi-Year Proposals
The IEED cannot fund multi-year TEDC proposals. Therefore, all
proposals 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 technical energy resource development
work only. Examples of items that cannot be funded include, but are not
limited to the following:
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
proposal and only for the duration of the proposal;
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 contract.
C. 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 current tribal resolution authorizing the proposal;
A proposal describing the planned activities and
deliverable products;
A detailed budget estimate.
A detailed description of each of the required components follows.
1. Mandatory Component: Tribal Resolution.
The tribal resolution must be current, and it must be signed. It
must authorize tribal approval for a TEDC proposal in the same fiscal
year as that of the proposal and must explicitly refer to the proposal
being submitted.
2. Mandatory Component: 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) Tribal point of contact and contact information, including
telephone and fax numbers, and tribal responsible parties for technical
execution and administration of the project;
(b) Include a short summary overview of the proposal that includes
the reason for the proposed project, the total funding requested for
the project, and the elements described in (c), (d), (e), (f), (g),
(h), (i), and (j) of this part.
(c) Energy resource development potential: Describe in relevant
detail the tribe's identified energy resources and existing or planned
exploration and assessment.
(d) Energy resource development history and current status: Provide
examples of the tribe's experience with energy resource development
activities (both in the target area for capacity assessment and other
energy resource development activities).
(e) Existing energy resource development capabilities: Describe in
relevant detail the tribe's existing capabilities in comparison with
the spectrum of capabilities and 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).
(f) Describe in relevant detail plans the tribe has for energy
development and growth including any current efforts to develop
governmental institutions or independent business entities related to
energy development activities.
(g) Describe in relevant detail any existing or planned tribal
projects or programs, including but not limited to, staff, training, or
budget resources, that could be applied to completion of the objectives
in the accompanying proposal and future development of those
objectives.
(h) Technical Summary and Current Status: Describe in relevant
detail the proposal. 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
[[Page 24084]]
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).
(i) Proposal Objectives, Goals and Scope of Work: Describe the work
proposed and the project goals and objectives expected to be achieved
by the proposal. Specifically, identify the areas on which 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.
(j) 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.
(k) Resumes of Key Personnel: 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: 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
proposal. 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 proposal should have a budget. The budget should break out
contract and consulting fees, travel, and all other relevant proposal
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 proposal line items that
involve several components or contain numerous sub-functions. The
budget breakdown should include, at a minimum the following:
(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, specifics 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 proposal.
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.
D. 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 at (202) 208-7253.
E. Award Evaluation and Administrative Information
1. Ranking Criteria
The proposal ranking criteria factors and associated scores as
follows:
(a) Energy resource potential, 25 points.
(b) Energy resource development history and current status, 15
points.
(c) Existing energy resource development capabilities, 15 points.
(d) Demonstrated willingness to develop independent energy resource
development business entity, 20 points.
(e) Intent to develop and retain energy development capacity within
tribal government or business entities, 10 points.
(f) Tribal commitment of staff, training, or monetary resources, 15
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--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 in writing.
F. When To Submit
The IEED will accept applications at any time before June 30, 2008,
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 June 30, 2008.
G. Where To Submit
Applicants must submit the Tribal Energy Development Capacity
proposals to IEED at 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 be received in IEED's office within 5 working days
after the deadline.
H. Transfer of Funds
IEED will transfer a tribe's TEDC funds to the BIA Regional Office
that
[[Page 24085]]
serves that tribe, via a sub-allotment funding document coded for the
tribe's TEDC proposal. 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.
I. 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
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.
IEED requires that deliverable products be provided in digital
format, along with printed hard copies. Reports can be provided in
either WordPerfect, 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.
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 sent to the IEED--Capacity Development Report, South
Interior Building--Room 20, 1951 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington,
DC 20245. IEED will transmit one of these copies to the tribe's BIA
Regional Office, and one copy to the tribe's BIA Agency office. Two
printed and two digital copies will then reside with IEED.
Dated: April 18, 2008.
Carl J. Artman,
Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. E8-9512 Filed 4-30-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-04-P