The Bureau of Indian Affairs at the Interior Dept. plans to publish a notice in the Dec. 20 Federal Register that it is soliciting grant proposals from federally recognized Indian tribes and tribal energy resource development organizations for projects that promote use of energy and mineral resources on Indian lands.
Grant awards are subject to the availability of funds appropriated by Congress. Awards must be used by an Indian tribe to develop a tribal energy and mineral resource inventory, a tribal energy and mineral resource on Indian land, or a report necessary to develop energy and mineral resources on Indian lands.
Energy and mineral resources may include conventional energy resources (like oil, gas, coal, uranium, and coal bed methane) or renewable energy resources (e.g., wind, solar, biomass, hydro and geothermal).
“We want to encourage energy resource development for the nation as a whole, and at the same time help tribes achieve economic benefits from their energy resources,” said the notice. “We seek to expand not only tribal knowledge of their energy resources, but the ability to bring those resources to market in an environmentally acceptable manner.”
BIA also will publish in the Dec. 20 Federal Register a separate notice that the Secretary of the Interior, through the Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development (IEED), is soliciting grant proposals from Indian tribes for projects to build tribal capacity for energy resource development under the Tribal Energy Development Capacity grant program.
Under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Congress appropriates funds on a year-to-year basis to Interior for grants of funds to Indian tribes for use in assessing, developing, and obtaining the managerial and technical capacity needed to develop energy resources on Indian land and properly account for energy resource production and revenues.
