Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education

Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education operation of indian programs (including transfer of funds) For expenses necessary for the operation of Indian programs, as authorized by law, including the Snyder Act of November 2, 1921 (25 U.S.C. 13), the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 (25 U.S.C. 450 et seq.), the Education Amendments of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 2001–2019), and the Tribally Controlled Schools Act of 1988 (25 U.S.C. 2501 et seq.), $2,429,236,000, to remain available until September 30, 2016, except as otherwise provided herein; of which not to exceed $8,500 may be for official reception and representation expenses; of which not to exceed $74,809,000 shall be for welfare assistance payments: Provided, That in cases of designated Federal disasters, the Secretary may exceed such cap, from the amounts provided herein, to provide for disaster relief to Indian communities affected by the disaster: Provided further, That federally recognized Indian tribes and tribal organizations of federally recognized Indian tribes may use their tribal priority allocations for unmet welfare assistance costs: Provided further, That not to exceed $606,690,000 for school operations costs of Bureau-funded schools and other education programs shall become available on July 1, 2015, and shall remain available until September 30, 2016: Provided further, That not to exceed $48,553,000 shall remain available until expended for housing improvement, road maintenance, attorney fees, litigation support, land records improvement, and the Navajo-Hopi Settlement Program: Provided further, That notwithstanding any other provision of law, including but not limited to the Indian Self-Determination Act of 1975 (25 U.S.C. 450f et seq.) and section 1128 of the Education Amendments of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 2008), not to exceed $62,395,000 within and only from such amounts made available for school operations shall be available for administrative cost grants associated with ongoing grants entered into with the Bureau prior to or during fiscal year 2014 for the operation of Bureau-funded schools, and up to $500,000 within and only from such amounts made available for administrative cost grants shall be available for the transitional costs of initial administrative cost grants to grantees that assume operation on or after July 1, 2014, of Bureau-funded schools: Provided further, That any forestry funds allocated to a federally recognized tribe which remain unobligated as of September 30, 2016, may be transferred during fiscal year 2017 to an Indian forest land assistance account established for the benefit of the holder of the funds within the holder’s trust 128 STAT. 2408 fund account: Provided further, That any such unobligated balances not so transferred shall expire on September 30, 2017: Provided further, That in order to enhance the safety of Bureau field employees, the Bureau may use funds to purchase uniforms or other identifying articles of clothing for personnel. construction (including transfer of funds) For construction, repair, improvement, and maintenance of irrigation and power systems, buildings, utilities, and other facilities, including architectural and engineering services by contract; acquisition of lands, and interests in lands; and preparation of lands for farming, and for construction of the Navajo Indian Irrigation Project pursuant to Public Law 87–483, $128,876,000, to remain available until expended: Provided, That such amounts as may be available for the construction of the Navajo Indian Irrigation Project may be transferred to the Bureau of Reclamation: Provided further, That not to exceed 6 percent of contract authority available to the Bureau of Indian Affairs from the Federal Highway Trust Fund may be used to cover the road program management costs of the Bureau: Provided further, That any funds provided for the Safety of Dams program pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 13 shall be made available on a nonreimbursable basis: Provided further, That for fiscal year 2015, in implementing new construction or facilities improvement and repair project grants in excess of $100,000 that are provided to grant schools under Public Law 100–297, the Secretary of the Interior shall use the Administrative and Audit Requirements and Cost Principles for Assistance Programs contained in 43 CFR part 12 as the regulatory requirements: Provided further, That such grants shall not be subject to section 12.61 of 43 CFR; the Secretary and the grantee shall negotiate and determine a schedule of payments for the work to be performed: Provided further, That in considering grant applications, the Secretary shall consider whether such grantee would be deficient in assuring that the construction projects conform to applicable building standards and codes and Federal, tribal, or State health and safety standards as required by 25 U.S.C. 2005(b), with respect to organizational and financial management capabilities: Provided further, That if the Secretary declines a grant application, the Secretary shall follow the requirements contained in 25 U.S.C. 2504(f): Provided further, That any disputes between the Secretary and any grantee concerning a grant shall be subject to the disputes provision in 25 U.S.C. 2507(e): Provided further, That in order to ensure timely completion of construction projects, the Secretary may assume control of a project and all funds related to the project, if, within 18 months of the date of enactment of this Act, any grantee receiving funds appropriated in this Act or in any prior Act, has not completed the planning and design phase of the project and commenced construction: Provided further, That this appropriation may be reimbursed from the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians appropriation for the appropriate share of construction costs for space expansion needed in agency offices to meet trust reform implementation.128 STAT. 2409 indian land and water claim settlements and miscellaneous payments to indians For payments and necessary administrative expenses for implementation of Indian land and water claim settlements pursuant to Public Laws 99–264, 100–580, 101–618, 111–11, and 111–291, and for implementation of other land and water rights settlements, $35,655,000, to remain available until expended. indian guaranteed loan program account For the cost of guaranteed loans and insured loans, $7,731,000, of which $1,045,000 is for administrative expenses, as authorized by the Indian Financing Act of 1974: Provided, That such costs, including the cost of modifying such loans, shall be as defined in section 502 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974: Provided further, That these funds are available to subsidize total loan principal, any part of which is to be guaranteed or insured, not to exceed $100,496,183. administrative provisions The Bureau of Indian Affairs may carry out the operation of Indian programs by direct expenditure, contracts, cooperative agreements, compacts, and grants, either directly or in cooperation with States and other organizations. Notwithstanding 25 U.S.C. 15, the Bureau of Indian Affairs may contract for services in support of the management, operation, and maintenance of the Power Division of the San Carlos Irrigation Project. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no funds available to the Bureau of Indian Affairs for central office oversight and Executive Direction and Administrative Services (except executive direction and administrative services funding for Tribal Priority Allocations, regional offices, and facilities operations and maintenance) shall be available for contracts, grants, compacts, or cooperative agreements with the Bureau of Indian Affairs under the provisions of the Indian Self-Determination Act or the Tribal Self-Governance Act of 1994 (Public Law 103–413). In the event any tribe returns appropriations made available by this Act to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, this action shall not diminish the Federal Government’s trust responsibility to that tribe, or the government-to-government relationship between the United States and that tribe, or that tribe’s ability to access future appropriations. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no funds available to the Bureau of Indian Education, other than the amounts provided herein for assistance to public schools under 25 U.S.C. 452 et seq., shall be available to support the operation of any elementary or secondary school in the State of Alaska. No funds available to the Bureau of Indian Education shall be used to support expanded grades for any school or dormitory beyond the grade structure in place or approved by the Secretary of the Interior at each school in the Bureau of Indian Education school system as of October 1, 1995, except that the Secretary of the Interior may waive this prohibition to support expansion of up to one additional grade when the Secretary determines such waiver is needed to support accomplishment of the mission of the 128 STAT. 2410 Bureau of Indian Education. Appropriations made available in this or any prior Act for schools funded by the Bureau shall be available, in accordance with the Bureau’s funding formula, only to the schools in the Bureau school system as of September 1, 1996, and to any school or school program that was reinstated in fiscal year 2012. Funds made available under this Act may not be used to establish a charter school at a Bureau-funded school (as that term is defined in section 1141 of the Education Amendments of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 2021)), except that a charter school that is in existence on the date of the enactment of this Act and that has operated at a Bureau-funded school before September 1, 1999, may continue to operate during that period, but only if the charter school pays to the Bureau a pro rata share of funds to reimburse the Bureau for the use of the real and personal property (including buses and vans), the funds of the charter school are kept separate and apart from Bureau funds, and the Bureau does not assume any obligation for charter school programs of the State in which the school is located if the charter school loses such funding. Employees of Bureau-funded schools sharing a campus with a charter school and performing functions related to the charter school’s operation and employees of a charter school shall not be treated as Federal employees for purposes of chapter 171 of title 28, United States Code. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including section 113 of title I of appendix C of Public Law 106–113, if in fiscal year 2003 or 2004 a grantee received indirect and administrative costs pursuant to a distribution formula based on section 5(f) of Public Law 101–301, the Secretary shall continue to distribute indirect and administrative cost funds to such grantee using the section 5(f) distribution formula. Funds available under this Act may not be used to establish satellite locations of schools in the Bureau school system as of September 1, 1996, except that the Secretary may waive this prohibition in order for an Indian tribe to provide language and cultural immersion educational programs for non-public schools located within the jurisdictional area of the tribal government which exclusively serve tribal members, do not include grades beyond those currently served at the existing Bureau-funded school, provide an educational environment with educator presence and academic facilities comparable to the Bureau-funded school, comply with all applicable Tribal, Federal, or State health and safety standards, and the Americans with Disabilities Act, and demonstrate the benefits of establishing operations at a satellite location in lieu of incurring extraordinary costs, such as for transportation or other impacts to students such as those caused by busing students extended distances: Provided, That no funds available under this Act may be used to fund operations, maintenance, rehabilitation, construction or other facilities-related costs for such assets that are not owned by the Bureau: Provided further, That the term “satellite school” means a school location physically separated from the existing Bureau school by more than 50 miles but that forms part of the existing school in all other respects.128 STAT. 2411