403(c) Program or Nexus Program means a non-BIA program eligible under 25 U.S.C. 5363(c) and, specifically, a program, function, service, or activity that is of special geographic, historical, or cultural significance to a self-governance Tribe/Consortium. These programs may also be referred to as “nexus programs.”
Act means title IV of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975, Public Law 93-638, as amended by Public Law 103-413, Public Law 104-109, and Public Law 116-180.
BIA means the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the Department or any successor bureau. For purposes of this part, BIA shall include the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, BIE, and BTFA, or any successor bureau, unless specified otherwise.
BIA Program means any program, service, function, or activity, or portion thereof, that is performed or administered by the Department through the BIA. For purposes of this part, BIA Program shall also include any PSFA performed or administered by the Department through the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, BIE, or BTFA which are eligible for inclusion in a compact or funding agreement under the Act unless specified otherwise.
BIE means the Bureau of Indian Education of the Department, or any successor bureau.
BIE Program means any program, service, function, or activity, or portion thereof, that is performed or administered by the Department through the BIE and is eligible for inclusion in a compact and funding agreement under the Act.
BTFA means the Bureau of Trust Funds Administration of the Department, or any successor bureau, to which the Department has transferred fiduciary programs, services, functions, and activities from the Office of Special Trustee for American Indians, as it is referenced in 25 U.S.C. 5361, et seq., as amended.
Bureau means a bureau, service, office, agency, and other such subsidiary entity within the Department.
Compact means a self-governance compact entered under 25 U.S.C. 5364.
Consortium means an organization of Indian Tribes that is authorized by those Tribes to participate in self-governance under this part and is responsible for negotiating, executing, and implementing funding agreements and compacts.
Construction management services (CMS) means activities limited to administrative support services, coordination, oversight of engineers and construction activities. CMS services include services that precede project design: all project design and actual construction activities are subject to subpart K of these regulations whether performed by a Tribe subcontractor, or consultant.
Construction program or construction project means a Tribal undertaking relating to the administration, planning, environmental determination, design, construction, repair, improvement, or expansion of roads, bridges, buildings, structures, systems, or other facilities for purposes of housing, law enforcement, detention, sanitation, water supply, education, administration, community, health, irrigation, agriculture, conservation, flood control, transportation, or port facilities, or for other Tribal purposes.
Days means calendar days, except where the last day of any time period specified in this part falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or a Federal holiday, the period must carry over to the next business day unless otherwise prohibited by law.
Director means the Director of the Office of Self-Governance (OSG).
DOI or Department means the Department of the Interior.
Funding agreement means a funding agreement entered into under 25 U.S.C. 5363.
Funding year means either fiscal or calendar year.
Gross mismanagement means a significant violation, shown by a preponderance of the evidence, of a compact, funding agreement, or statutory or regulatory requirement applicable to Federal funds for a PSFA administered by an Indian Tribe under a compact or funding agreement.
Indian means a person who is a member of an Indian Tribe.
Indian Tribe or Tribe means any Indian Tribe, band, nation or other organized group or community, including pueblos, rancherias, colonies and any Alaska Native village, or regional or village corporations as defined in or established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, that is recognized as eligible for special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians.
Indirect costs means costs incurred for a common or joint purpose benefitting more than one program and that are not readily assignable to individual programs.
Indirect cost rates means the rate(s) arrived at through negotiation between an Indian Tribe/Consortium and the appropriate Federal agency.
Inherent Federal function means a Federal function that may not legally be delegated to an Indian Tribe.
Non-BIA Bureau means any bureau within the Department other than the BIA, the BIE, the BTFA, or the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs.
Non-BIA bureaus director/commissioner means the director of Non-BIA bureaus and the commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation.
Non-BIA Programs means all or a portion of a program, function, service, or activity that is administered by any bureau other than the BIA, the BIE, the BTFA, or the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs within the Department.
Office of Self-Governance (OSG) means the office within the Office of the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs responsible for the implementation and development of the Tribal Self-Governance Program.
Program or PSFA means any program, service, function, or activity (or portions thereof) within the Department that is included in a funding agreement.
Public Law 93-638 means sections 1 through 9 and title I of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975, as amended.
Reassumption means the Secretary, without consent of the Tribe/Consortium, takes control or operation of the PSFAs and associated funding in a compact or funding agreement, in whole or in part, and assumes the responsibility to provide such PSFAs.
Residual Funds means funding that is necessary for the Department to carry out inherent Federal functions that cannot be delegated to a Tribe/Consortia by law.
Retained Tribal shares means those funds that were available as a Tribal share but under the funding agreement were left with BIA to administer.
Retrocession means the voluntary full or partial return by a Tribe/Consortium to a bureau of a PSFA operated under a funding agreement before the agreement expires.
Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior or his or her designee authorized to act on the behalf of the Secretary as to the matter at hand.
Self-determination contract means a self-determination contract entered into under 25 U.S.C. 5321.
Self-governance means the Tribal Self-Governance Program established under 25 U.S.C. 5362.
Self-governance Tribe/Consortium means a Tribe or Consortium that has been selected to participate in self-governance. May also be referred to as “participating Tribe/Consortium.”
Subsequent funding agreement means a funding agreement negotiated after a Tribe's/Consortium's initial agreement with a bureau.
Tribal share means the portion of all funds and resources determined for that Tribe/Consortium that supports any program within BIA, the BIE, the BTFA, or the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs and are not required by the Secretary for the performance of an inherent Federal function.
(a) Purpose. This part codifies uniform and consistent rules for the Department implementing title IV of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, Public Law 93-638, 25 U.S.C. 5361 et seq., as amended by title II of Public Law 103-413, the Tribal Self-Governance Act of 1994 (108 Stat. 4250, October 25, 1994) and title I of Public Law 116-180, the PROGRESS for Indian Tribes Act (134 Stat. 857, October 21, 2020).
(b) Scope. These regulations are binding on the Secretary and on Tribes/Consortia carrying out programs, services, functions, and activities (PSFAs) (or portions thereof) under title IV except as otherwise specifically authorized by a waiver under 25 U.S.C. 5369(b) and this part.
(c) Information Collection. The information collection requirements contained in this part have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3507(d), and assigned control number 1076-0143. A Federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and you are not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.
(a) Congressional findings. In the Act, the Congress found that:
(1) The Tribal right of self-governance flows from the inherent sovereignty of Indian Tribes and nations;
(2) The United States recognizes a special government-to-government relationship with Indian Tribes, including the right of the Tribes to self-governance, as reflected in the Constitution, treaties, Federal statutes, and the course of dealings of the United States with Indian Tribes;
(3) Although progress had been made, the Federal bureaucracy has discouraged, to some degree, the further compacting of Indian programs or hindered negotiations between the Department and Tribes for renewing self-governance compacts and funding agreements;
(4) Tribal Self-Governance was designed to improve and perpetuate the government-to-government relationship between Indian Tribes and the United States and to strengthen Tribal control over Federal funding and program management; and
(5) Congress further finds that:
(i) Transferring control over funding and decision making to Tribal governments, upon Tribal request, for Federal programs is an effective way to implement the Federal policy of government-to-government relations with Indian Tribes; and
(ii) Transferring control over funding and decision making to Tribal governments, upon request, for Federal programs strengthens the Federal policy of Indian self-determination.
(b) Congressional declaration of policy. It is the policy of the Act to permanently establish and implement self-governance:
(1) To enable the United States to maintain and improve its unique and continuing relationship with, and responsibility to, Indian Tribes;
(2) To permit each Tribe to choose the extent of its participation in self-governance;
(3) To coexist with the provisions of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act relating to the provision of Indian services by designated Federal agencies;
(4) To ensure the continuation of the trust responsibility of the United States to Indian Tribes and Indian individuals;
(5) To permit an orderly transition from Federal domination of programs and services to provide Indian Tribes with meaningful authority to plan, conduct, redesign, and administer PSFAs that meet the needs of the individual Tribal communities; and
(6) To provide for an orderly transition through a planned and measurable parallel reduction in the Federal bureaucracy.
(c) PROGRESS Act policy. As reflected in H. Rept. 116-422 and S. Rept. 116-34, it is the policy of the PROGRESS for Indian Tribes Act, Public Law 116-180:
(1) To clarify and streamline the Department's process for approving self-governance compacts and funding agreements;
(2) To create similarities and administrative efficiencies between title IV and title V of Public Law 93-638, as amended; and
(3) To minimize delays to self-governance compacting or funding.
In carrying out Tribal self-governance under title IV, it is the policy of the Secretary:
(a) To fully support and implement the foregoing policies to the full extent of the Secretary's authority.
(b) To recognize and respect the unique government-to-government relationship between Tribes, as sovereign governments, and the United States.
(c) To have all bureaus of the Department work to further and protect the trust responsibility of the United States with respect to Tribes and individual Indians that exists under treaties, Executive orders, other laws, or court decisions.
(d) To have all bureaus of the Department work cooperatively and pro-actively with Tribes/Consortia on a government-to-government basis within the framework of the Act and any other applicable provision of law, so as to make the ideals of self-determination and self-governance a reality.
(e) To have all bureaus of the Department work to streamline the process for Tribes/Consortia participating in or applying to participate in self-governance to establish administrative efficiencies and consistency with the processes under title IV and title V of Public Law 93-638, as amended.
(f) To have all bureaus of the Department actively share information with Tribes and Tribal Consortia to encourage Tribes and Tribal Consortia to become knowledgeable about the Department's programs and the opportunities to include them in a funding agreement.
(g) To interpret each Federal law and regulation, including this part, in a manner that facilitates the inclusion of programs in funding agreements and the implementation of funding agreements.
(h) That all bureaus of the Department will negotiate in good faith, to maximize implementation of the Self-Governance policy and carry out title IV and this part in a manner that maximizes the policy of Tribal self-governance.
(i) That, subject to Public Law 116-180, title I, § 101(a), Oct. 21, 2020, 134 Stat. 857, (25 U.S.C. 5361 Note), each provision of title IV and each provision of a compact or funding agreement shall be liberally construed for the benefit of the Tribe or Consortium participating in self-governance, and that any ambiguity be resolved in favor of the Tribe or Consortium to facilitate the inclusion of programs in each funding agreement authorized.
(j) To timely enter into funding agreements under title IV, whenever possible.
(k) To afford Tribes and Tribal Consortia the maximum flexibility and discretion necessary to meet the needs of their communities consistent with their diverse demographic, geographic, economic, cultural, health, social, religious, and institutional needs. This includes recognition of and support for Indigenous Knowledge, and the Tribes' and Tribal Consortia's authority to apply such knowledge when performing PSFAs under this part. These policies are designed to facilitate and encourage Tribes and Tribal Consortia to participate in the planning, conduct, and administration of those Federal programs, included, or eligible for inclusion in a funding agreement.
(l) To the extent of the Secretary's authority, to maintain active communication with Tribal governments regarding budgetary matters applicable to programs subject to the Act, and that are included in an individual funding agreement.
(m) To implement policies, procedures, and practices at the Department to ensure that the letter, spirit, and goals of the Act are fully and successfully implemented to the maximum extent allowed by law.
(n) To ensure that Executive Order 13175 on Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments and any subsequent Executive Orders regarding consultation will apply to the implementation of these regulations.