Yesterday, the Department of Interior, acting through the Office of Self-Governance at the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) issued a notice in the Federal Register indicating that the deadline for Indian Tribes and consortia to submit completed applications to begin participation in the Tribal self-governance program in either fiscal year or calendar year 2024 would be March 1, 2023.
According to the notice, this “application deadline is predicated upon providing the parties enough time to complete funding agreement negotiations in advance of the FY or CY start date of the 2024 funding agreement.” Federal law stipulates that copies of funding agreements must be sent at least 90 days before the proposed effective date, and initial negotiations with a Tribe/ consortium that have not previously undertaken self-governance agreements are estimated to take about two months to complete. “Agreements for an October 1 to September 30 funding year need to be signed and submitted by July 1, 2023. Agreements for a January 1 to December 31 calendar year need to be signed and submitted by October 1, 2023.”
According to the notice, “Application packages for inclusion in the applicant pool should be sent to Sharee M. Freeman, Director, Office of Self-Governance, Department of the Interior, Mail Stop 3624-MIB, 1849 C Street NW, Washington, DC 20240.”
