Tanana Chiefs' Conference, Inc. v. Juneau Area Director, 14 IBIA 87 (1986)

Appeal from a denial of a fiscal year 1985 Indian Child Welfare Act grant application.

Dismissed.

1. Bureau of Indian Affairs: Administrative Appeals: Filing: Mandatory Time Limit

Regulations promulgated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 25 CFR 2.10 establish a 30-day period for filing notices of appeal.

On June 17, 1985, the Board of Indian Appeals (Board) received a motion to assume jurisdiction over an appeal filed with the Deputy Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs (Operations) (Deputy Assistant Secretary). The appeal, filed by the Tanana Chiefs' Conference, Inc. (appellant), sought review of a March 1, 1985, decision of the Juneau Area Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA; appellee), denying appellant's application for fiscal year 1985 grant funding under the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), Nov. 8, 1978, P.L. 95-608, Title II, 92 Stat. 3075, 25 U.S.C. §§ 1931-1934 (1982). 1/ For the reasons discussed below, the Board dismisses this appeal as untimely filed.

Background

Appellant is the regional Native nonprofit corporation for interior Alaska and serves 43 interior Athabascan villages as the contracting consortium for BIA services under the Indian Self -Determination and Education

_______________________________ 1/ All citations to U.S.C. are to the 1982 edition.

IBIA 85-38-A

Assistance Act, Jan. 4, 1975, P.L. 93-638, 88 Stat. 2203, 25 U.S.C. §§ 450-450n. On February 1, 1985, appellant applied for a fiscal year 1985 grant under the ICWA. The application was filed with the Fairbanks Agency, BIA, and was forwarded to the Juneau Area Office (Area Office) for review.

A grant selection committee was appointed by appellee to review all ICWA applications received. The use of such a grant selection committee for initial review of applications is authorized by 25 CFR 23.31(a)(3). 2/ According to the notice of availability of fiscal year 1985 funds, published in 49 FR 44606, 44607 (Nov. 7, 1984):

The BIA's Assistant Secretary or his/her designated representative shall select for grants under the Indian Child Welfare Act those proposals which will in his/her judgment best promote the purposes of the ICWA. Such selection will be made through a review process in which each application will be scored competitively using the BIA review criteria listed below at the appropriate Bureau Social Service Office referred to in 25 CFR 23.30, 23.31, or 23.33. Grant applications will be reviewed by a panel of reviewers qualified by training and/or experience in human services to Indian populations.

The Area Office grant selection committee consisted of five individuals. One committee member, the Coordinator for the Alaska Native Education Program of the FairbanksNorthstar Borough School District, also served on the Board of Directors of the Fairbanks Native Association (FNA). FNA also applied for a fiscal year 1985 ICWA grant. The committee member disclosed the association with FNA, and was prohibited from considering FNA's grant application, but was permitted to review the applications of other organizations that were competing with FNA for the same limited grant funds. 3/

_________________________ 2/ Section 23.31(a)(3) states: "Upon receipt of an application for a grant requiring Area Office preliminary approval, the Area Director shall * * * [a]ssess the completed application for appropriateness and priority of purpose as prescribed in § 23.22, and for overall feasibility, through a selection committee process."

3/ Because of the Board's disposition of this case, it does not reach the merits of appellant's claim that this situation constituted a conflict of interest. BIA apparently believed that no conflict of interest existed because the committee member received no compensation for services on FNA's Board of Directors, and consequently there was no direct financial incentive for the committee member to be influenced in evaluating other ICWA applications. The Board notes that in his answer brief, appellee admitted that it would have been better if BIA had employed a more realistic definition of conflict of interest and this particular...