(a) Filing an appeal. A Tribe/Consortium may elect to file a dispute under § 1000.2345 with either the bureau head/Assistant Secretary or IBIA in accordance with this subpart. However, the Tribe/Consortium may not avail itself to both paths for the same dispute.

(b) Bureau head/Assistant Secretary appeal. Unless the initial decision being appealed is one that was made by the bureau head (those appeals are forwarded to the appropriate Assistant Secretary—see § 1000.2360(c), of this subpart), the bureau head will decide initial appeals relating to these pre-award matters, that include but are not limited to disputes regarding:

(1) Eligibility to participate in self-governance;

(2) Decisions declining to provide requested information as addressed in subpart H;

(3) Allocations of program funds when a dispute arises between a Consortium and a withdrawing Tribe; and

(4) Inherently Federal functions and associated funding.

(c) IBIA. The Tribe/Consortium may choose to forego the administrative appeal through the bureau or the Assistant Secretary, as described in paragraph (b) of this section, and instead appeal directly to IBIA.