[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] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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] BILLING CODE 4310-02-P