WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today announced that the Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development (IEED) Division of Energy and Mineral Development is soliciting grant proposals from Indian tribes and Alaska Native corporations for projects that promote the processing, use or development of energy and mineral resources on Indian lands.
“Indian tribes are key participants in President Obama’s ‘all-of-the-above’ energy strategy, and Indian Affairs is working to help tribes maximize their energy and mineral resource potential,” Washburn said. “The grants issued under this solicitation will empower tribes to find and assess their resources and get them to market.”
Energy and mineral development on federal Indian lands plays a critical role in creating jobs and generating income throughout Indian Country, while also contributing to the national economy. The Division of Energy and Mineral Development, through its Energy and Mineral Development Program, is soliciting proposals from federally recognized tribes and Alaska Native regional and village corporations for energy and mineral development projects that explore for energy and mineral resources, inventory or assess known resources, or perform feasibility or market studies about the use and development of known energy and mineral resources on Indian lands.
Energy and mineral resources may include conventional or renewable energy resources. Mineral resources include industrial minerals such as sand and gravel; precious minerals such as gold, silver and platinum; base minerals including lead, copper and zinc; and ferrous metal minerals such as iron, tungsten and chromium.
The Department of the Interior is issuing the grant proposals under the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (25 USC 3501 et seq.), which required the Secretary of the Interior to “establish and implement an Indian energy resource development program to assist consenting Indian tribes and tribal energy resource development organizations…[and]…provide grants…for use in carrying out projects to promote the integration of energy resources, and to process, use, or develop those energy resources, on Indian land….”
The Energy and Mineral Development Program is funded under the non-recurring appropriation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs budget and is based on available funds. It is an annual program, and uses a competitive evaluation process to select proposed projects to receive an award.
The Department published a Notice of Solicitation of Proposals in the Federal Register on Dec. 20, 2013. Proposals must be submitted on or before Feb. 18, 2014, to be considered. Proposals may be mailed or hand-carried to the Department of the Interior, Division of Energy and Mineral Development, Attention: Energy and Mineral Development Program, c/o Dawn Charging, 13922 Denver West Parkway, Suite 200 (#253), Lakewood, Colo., 80401-3124, or emailed to Dawn.Charging@bia.gov.
The Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs oversees the Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development, which implements the Indian Energy Resource Development Program under Title V of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. IEED’s mission is to foster stronger American Indian and Alaska Native communities by helping federally recognized tribes with employment and workforce training programs; developing their renewable and non-renewable energy and mineral resources; and increasing access to capital for tribal and individual American Indian- and Alaska Native-owned businesses. For more information about IEED programs and services, visit the Indian Affairs website at http://www.indianaffairs.gov/WhoWeAre/AS-IA/IEED/index.htm
