regulation

§ 900.119

25 CFR Ch. V (4–1–06 Edition)

(1) Coordination and exchange of information between the Indian tribe or
tribal organization and the Secretary;
(2) Review of work produced by the
Secretary to determine compliance
with:
(i) The POR and design contract during the design stage; or
(ii) The project construction documents during the construction stage;
(3) Disputes shall be resolved in accordance with the disputes clause of
the CMS contract.
(b) If the Indian tribe or tribal organization conducts CMS under section
108 of the Act and the Indian tribe or
tribal organization contracts separately under this subpart for all or
some of the activities in § 900.110, the
contracted activities shall be limited
to:
(1) Coordination and exchange of information between the Indian tribe or
tribal organization and Secretary;
(2) Preparation of tribal or tribal organization construction subcontract
scope of work identification and subcontract preparation, and competitive
selection of tribal or tribal organization construction contract subcontractors;
(3) Review of work produced by tribal
or tribal organization construction
subcontractors to determine compliance with:
(i) The POR and the design contract
during the design stage; or
(ii) The project construction documents during the construction stage.
§ 900.119 To what extent shall the Secretary consult with affected Indian
tribes before spending funds for
any construction project?
Before spending any funds for a planning, design, construction, or renovation project, whether subject to a competitive application and ranking process or not, the Secretary shall consult
with any Indian tribe or tribal organization(s) that would be significantly affected by the expenditure to determine
and to follow tribal preferences to the
greatest extent feasible concerning:
size, location, type, and other characteristics of the project.

§ 900.120 How does an Indian tribe or
tribal organization find out about a
construction project?
Within 30 days after the Secretary’s
allocation of funds for planning phase,
design phase, or construction phase activities for a specific project, the Secretary shall notify, by registered mail
with return receipt in order to document mailing, the Indian tribe or tribal
organization(s) to be benefitted by the
availability of the funds for each phase
of a project. The Secretarial notice of
fund allocation shall offer technical assistance in the preparation of a contract proposal.
(a) The Secretary shall, within 30
days after receiving a request from an
Indian tribe or tribal organization, furnish the Indian tribe or tribal organization with all information available to
the Secretary about the project including, but not limited to: construction
drawings, maps, engineering reports,
design reports, plans of requirements,
cost estimates, environmental assessments, or environmental impact reports and archeological reports.
(b) An Indian tribe or tribal organization is not required to request this information prior to submitting a notification of intent to contract or a contract proposal.
(c) The Secretary shall have a continuing responsibility to furnish information.
§ 900.121 What happens during the
preplanning phase and can an Indian tribe or tribal organization
perform any of the activities involved in this process?
(a) The application and ranking process for developing a priority listing of
projects varies between agencies. There
are, however, steps in the selection
process that are common to most selection processes. An Indian tribe or tribal organization that wishes to secure a
construction project should contact
the appropriate agency to determine
the specific steps involved in the application and selection process used to
fund specific types of projects. When a
priority process is used in the selection
of construction projects, the steps involved in the application and ranking
process are as follows:

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Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior, IHS, HHS
(1) Application. The agency solicits
applications from Indian tribes or tribal organizations. In the request for applications, the Secretary provides specific information regarding the type of
project to be funded, the objective criteria that will be used to evaluate applications, the points or weight that
each criterion will be assigned, and the
time when applications are due. An Indian tribe or tribal organization may
prepare the application (technical assistance from the agency, within resources available, shall be provided
upon request from an Indian tribe or
tribal organization) or may rely upon
the agency to prepare the application.
(2) Ranking/Prioritization. The Secretary evaluates the applications based
on the criteria provided as part of the
application preparation process. The
Secretary applies only criteria and
weights assigned to each criteria that
were disclosed to the Indian tribe or
tribal organization during the application stage. The applications are then
ranked in order from the application
that best meets application criteria to
the application that least meet the application criteria.
(3) Validation. Before final acceptance
of a ranked application, the information, such as demographic information,
deficiency levels reported in application, the condition of existing facilities, and program housing needs, is
validated. During this process, additional information may be developed
by the Indian tribe or tribal organization in support of the original information or the Secretary may designate a
representative of the Department to
conduct an on-site review of the information contained in the application.
(b) [Reserved]
§ 900.122 What does an Indian tribe or
tribal organization do if it wants to
secure a construction contract?
(a) The Act establishes a special
process for review and negotiation of
proposals for construction contracts
which is different than that for other
self-determination contract proposals.
The Indian tribe or tribal organization
should notify the Secretary of its intent to contract. After notification,
the Indian tribe or tribal organization
should prepare its contract proposal in

§ 900.122
accordance with the sections of this
subpart. While developing its construction contract proposal, the Indian tribe
or tribal organization can request technical assistance from the Secretary.
Not later than 30 days after receiving a
request from an Indian tribe or tribal
organization, the Secretary shall provide to the Indian tribe or tribal organization all information available
about the construction project, including construction drawings, maps, engineering reports, design reports, plans
of requirements, cost estimates, environmental assessments, or environmental impact reports, and archaeological reports. The responsibility of
the Secretary to furnish this information shall be a continuing one.
(b) At the request of the Indian tribe
or tribal organization and before finalizing its construction contract proposal, the Secretary shall provide for a
precontract negotiation phase during
the development of a contract proposal. Within 30 days the Secretary
shall acknowledge receipt of the proposal and, if requested by the Indian
tribe or tribal organization, shall confer with the Indian tribe or tribal organization to develop a negotiation
schedule. The negotiation phase shall
include, at a minimum:
(1) The provision of technical assistance under section 103 of the Act and
paragraph (a) of this section;
(2) A joint scoping session between
the Secretary and the Indian tribe or
tribal organization to review all plans,
specifications,
engineering
reports,
cost estimates, and other information
available to the parties, for the purpose
of identifying all areas of agreement
and disagreement;
(3) An opportunity for the Secretary
to revise plans, designs, or cost estimates of the Secretary in response to
concerns raised, or information provided by, the Indian tribe or tribal organization;
(4) A negotiation session during
which the Secretary and the Indian
tribe or tribal organization shall seek
to develop a mutually agreeable contract proposal; and
(5) Upon the request of the Indian
tribe or tribal organization, the use of
alternative dispute resolution to resolve remaining areas of disagreement

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