Cooperative Agreement ApplicationInstructions...Nov 28, 2017  · These instructions apply specifically to tribes interested in partnering with the Program via cooperative agreements.

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Cooperative Agreement Application Instructions These instructions are to assist tribes with preparing their cooperative agreement applications for participation in the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program or Program). The Buy-Back Program partners with tribes via cooperative agreements to gain their direct participation in landowner outreach,1 though other activities may also be identified, during implementation of land consolidation efforts at the tribe’s location. Tribes may also partner with the Program via memoranda of agreement. Program agreements will generally last for 7-9 months. Cooperative agreements are legal instruments similar to grants, representing the relationship between the Federal government (in this case the Buy-Back Program) and a recipient of funds (in this case a tribe). A cooperative agreement’s principle purpose is to transfer a thing of value (e.g., funding- in this case funding from the implementation portion of the Trust Land Consolidation Fund) to a recipient to carry out a public purpose of support or stimulation, as authorized by the Federal government. A cooperative agreement is distinguished from a grant in that it provides for substantial involvement between the Federal awarding agency and the recipient in carrying out the activities contemplated by the Federal award. Memoranda of agreement are used when there is an agreement to exchange information or coordinate programs, but no funding is provided. These instructions apply specifically to tribes interested in partnering with the Program via cooperative agreements.2 Tribes interested in partnering with the Program via a memorandum of agreement should contact the Buy-Back Program for more information. A tribe’s cooperative agreement application package must include the following documents to be considered for funding:

1. Application Narrative & Budget 2. Required SF-424 Application Forms:

a. The SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance b. The SF-424(A) Budget Information for Non-

Construction Programs c. The SF-424(B) Assurances for Non-

Construction Programs

Tribes may also need to submit the following, if applicable: 3. Automated Standard Application for Payments (ASAP) Enrollment Forms (if applicable) 4. Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (if applicable)

While not required, tribes are strongly encouraged to submit the following documents with the application, if they have not already been submitted to the Program: 1 Outreach refers to the process of communicating with landowners regarding the potential opportunity to sell their fractional interests. 2 The Indian Land Consolidation Act authorizes the Buy-Back Program to enter into agreements with tribal governments to carry out Program activities; however, the provisions of the Indian Self Determination and Education Assistance Act do not apply to these agreements.

Contact Us - Tribes should contact the Buy-Back Program before beginning application preparation. It is important to note that a tribe is not required to enter into a cooperative agreement to participate in the Buy-Back Program.

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5. Tribal Priority Tract Listing 6. Tribal Authorization

These instructions provide additional information about each of these 6 documents and guidance on how to complete them. Tribes should contact the Buy-Back Program before beginning application preparation. The Program’s Senior Advisors - Tribal Relations (Senior Advisors) serve as the first point of contact for tribes. Senior Advisors work one-on-one with tribes to assist them through the application process which generally involves several months of close collaboration from the beginning of the process to when an agreement is finalized. Tribes are encouraged to designate an official to work with the Program’s Senior Advisors throughout the application process. This designated official often serves as the tribal point of contact for the agreement as well (see page 7 for more information on identifying a tribal point of contact in the application to be listed in the cooperative agreement). Prior to application preparation, the Senior Advisors will share informational tools and reports with the tribe, which will describe the reservation and the landowners. These reservation-specific tools and reports will assist the tribe in determining how best to conduct tailored outreach for the reservation’s landowners. The Senior Advisors remain involved throughout implementation, providing tribes with a central point of contact for Program-related matters. For additional information about the Program, tribes are encouraged to visit the Program’s website, and particularly the Program’s detailed Frequently Asked Questions which will be a key resource for tribal staff when performing landowner outreach under a cooperative agreement. 1. Application Narrative & Budget Tribes are required to prepare a detailed application narrative and budget as part of the cooperative agreement application process. Similar to a grant proposal, an application narrative is a detailed description of the activities proposed for funding via the cooperative agreement. An application budget is a detailed listing that describes the costs associated with the proposed activities. The application narrative and budget are further described below. To facilitate the cooperative agreement application process, the Buy-Back Program has developed optional worksheets (an application narrative worksheet and a budget worksheet) that tribes may use to prepare the application narrative and budget. The Senior Advisors can provide these worksheets upon request. Application Narrative The application narrative is the tribe’s detailed written description of the activities it will perform during implementation of the Buy-Back Program at the tribe’s location. Once completed, it essentially serves as the tribe’s outreach plan. There is no minimum or maximum length requirement for the application narrative; however, tribes are encouraged to be as concise as

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possible while providing all of the necessary details. Although there are no strict formatting requirements for the application narrative, the document should include the following sections (further described below):

⋅ Introduction and Tribal Vision ⋅ Description of Proposed Activities ⋅ Timeline ⋅ Tribal Capacity ⋅ Tribal Point of Contact

Introduction and Tribal Vision. The first part of the application narrative should summarize the scope, timeline and budget of the proposed activities. In addition, the introduction should provide the tribe’s vision - a brief statement describing the plan(s) or goal(s) the tribe has for the lands that are consolidated through implementation of the Buy-Back Program – as appropriate. For example:

“Tribe A submits this cooperative agreement application to perform landowner outreach in partnership with the Buy-Back Program during implementation of land consolidation activities on its reservation. Tribe A is requesting $X for a period of X months to perform the outreach activities detailed herein.

Tribe A envisions utilizing the lands consolidated through the implementation of the Buy-Back Program at the reservation to create opportunities (e.g., cultural, residential, governmental, economic) for the tribal community by X (e.g., building housing units, developing a tribal business, etc.).

Description of Proposed Activities. This section of the application narrative is where the tribe describes, in detail, the activities it proposes to perform under the cooperative agreement. Cooperative agreements are primarily intended as a vehicle through which the Program and tribes can collaborate to perform landowner outreach activities. While additional activities may be proposed for funding, such as land research activities, tribes should first discuss any additional activities with the Program’s Senior Advisors before including them in the project proposal. Outreach refers to the continuous process of communicating with landowners regarding the potential opportunity to sell their fractional interests, both prior to offers being mailed (pre-offer) and after offers have been mailed (post-offer). The success of the Buy-Back Program will depend largely on the number of the landowners who voluntarily decide to sell their fractional interests and return their completed purchase offer packets in a timely manner. Tribal involvement, leadership, and support of outreach efforts are especially critical to facilitating informed landowner decision making and ensuring the success of the Program.

The goals of landowner outreach are to:

⋅ educate owners about the Buy-Back Program;

Worksheet Available - To facilitate the development of the application narrative, tribes may use the Program-provided (upon request) optional application narrative worksheet to complete this section.

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⋅ facilitate updates of owner information via Trust Beneficiary Call Center (TBCC), such as current mailing addresses for owners, including those whose whereabouts are unknown (WAU);

⋅ notify all eligible owners of the opportunity to sell their interests; ⋅ identify owners interested in selling; and ⋅ answer questions and provide consistent information and support to owners completing

offer packets.

The key purpose of the application narrative is to describe how the Tribe will conduct landowner outreach to facilitate collaboration with the Buy-Back Program during implementation. The application narrative must describe in detail how a tribe intends to conduct landowner outreach both pre-offer and post-offer outreach.

1) Pre-Offer Outreach: Pre-offer outreach is outreach that occurs prior to offers being

mailed to landowners. It will publicize and explain the Buy-Back Program in order to successfully educate landowners about upcoming offers. Tribes must describe in the Application Narrative how they propose to conduct pre-offer outreach, in detail. This includes but is not limited to describing how landowners will be made aware of the opportunity to sell their fractionated interests, describing how the tribe will communicate the limited response time to owners once offers are mailed, and describing the frequency and type of activities (such as placing monthly radio advertisements and holding landowner workshops) the tribe plans to conduct. Pre-offer outreach can be accomplished in a number of ways, however, core components of pre-offer outreach include updating owner contact information, notifying WAU owners and identifying interested sellers. These 3 core components of pre-offer outreach are further described below. The application narrative must not only describe how the tribe proposes to conduct pre-offer outreach, but must also specifically detail how it will perform these 3 core components of outreach.

⋅ Updating Owner Contact Information: Updated contact information is critical to the Buy-Back Program, as it needs to provide purchase offers and other information to owners during implementation. Tribes performing outreach via a cooperative agreement with the Program will be responsible for encouraging landowners interested in selling to update their names, mailing addresses, dates of birth* and telephone numbers (to the extent possible) by facilitating communication between landowners and the Trust Beneficiary Call Center or the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians, to formally update account information. The application narrative must describe how the tribe will fulfill this core component of outreach. In other words, what specific activities or steps will the tribe take to facilitate landowners updating their contact information?

Protect Information - Note that all activities involving Personally Identifiable Information (PII), such as landowner names and addresses, must be conducted in accordance with the Privacy Act.

Tribal Vision - Tribes are encouraged to consider sharing their vision or plans for the consolidated lands with landowners as a part of pre- and post-offer outreach.

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⋅ Notifying WAU Owners: This component of outreach is intended to help

identify owners with Individual Indian Money (IIM) accounts coded as WAU. The Program will endeavor to provide the tribe with a list of the landowners that are WAU that could potentially receive an offer. The application narrative needs to describe how the tribe will seek to identify and notify these WAU owners of their opportunity to sell. In other words, what specific activities or steps will the tribe take to notify WAU owners?

⋅ Identifying Interested Sellers: This core component of outreach supports the

land acquisition process by assisting the Buy-Back Program in identifying interested sellers. Tribes performing outreach will be responsible for identifying interested sellers and facilitating communication between interested sellers and the Trust Beneficiary Call Center to formally log their willingness to sell. The Application Narrative needs to describe how the tribe will fulfill this core component of outreach.

While these three core components of outreach are particularly crucial pre-offer, tribes are encouraged to continue these activities for their enduring value towards other land consolidation efforts (such as co-owner purchases) for the duration of the cooperative agreement, including during the post-offer phase.

The tribe is the expert on what activities will contribute to successful pre-offer outreach on its reservation. Outreach activities can include but are not limited to:

⋅ Holding regular walk-in office hours; ⋅ Placing calls; ⋅ Direct mailing informational literature (such as letters or brochures); ⋅ Door-to-door visits; ⋅ Creating an internet presence (e.g., develop a website, create a social media

presence or send informational emails to landowners); ⋅ Attending community meetings; ⋅ Distributing flyers; ⋅ Placing print and electronic ads; ⋅ Placing local radio announcements; ⋅ Having information booths at local events; and ⋅ Hosting pre-offer outreach events or landowner workshops.

Dates of Birth – Purchase offers cannot be sent to landowners that do not have dates of birth recorded in the Department of the Interior’s Trust Asset and Accounting Management System (TAAMS). As a part of updating owner contact information, tribes are expected to encourage landowners to confirm or update their dates of birth when contacting TBCC or the OST to update account information.

Frequently Asked Questions - A key aspect of successful outreach is educating owners about the Program by answering their questions. The Program’s FAQs should serve as a key resource tribal staff to help explain Program policies and processes during outreach.

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2) Post-Offer Outreach: Once the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) mails offer packets to landowners, the tribe will begin activities that support landowners’ understanding of the offer packet. Tribes must describe in the application narrative how they propose to conduct post-offer outreach. Specifically, they must describe how they how they will ensure that follow-up questions from landowners receive prompt responses, how information (such as about offer deadlines) will be conveyed and the activities (such as post-offer outreach events) that will occur. Note that tribes performing post-offer outreach under a cooperative agreement must provide notary services to landowner for completion of the offer packets. The application narrative must discuss how the tribe will ensure that notary services are provided (including the number of notaries to be made available). As with pre-offer outreach, the tribe is the expert on what activities will contribute to successful post-offer outreach on its reservation. These activities can include but are not limited to:

⋅ Providing notary services; ⋅ Holding regular walk-in office hours; ⋅ Placing calls; ⋅ Direct mailing informational literature (such as letters or brochures); ⋅ Door-to-door visits; ⋅ Maintaining an internet presence; ⋅ Attending community meetings; ⋅ Distributing flyers; ⋅ Placing print and electronic ads; ⋅ Placing local radio and/or TV public service announcements ⋅ Having information booths at local events; and ⋅ Hosting post-offer outreach events or landowner workshops.

Activities in Addition to Outreach (if applicable). In addition to describing the landowner outreach activities it will perform, and how it will accomplish pre-offer and post-offer outreach, the application narrative needs to also detail any other land consolidation activities that the tribe proposes to perform, such as land research activities. Proposed activities should be discussed with the Senior Advisors before being included in the application narrative to ensure that no duplication will occur. For example, base mapping activities are being efficiently performed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Land Management, thus, cooperative agreements will not fund these activities. However, the Program may fund other mapping-related work by tribes that support the land research and valuation efforts that will be completed as a part of implementation. Timeline. The application narrative must also include a monthly timeline of pre- and post-offer outreach events and activities. This will help to facilitate close collaboration between the Buy-Back Program and the tribe during implementation. The application timeline also supports the performance period, or length, of the cooperative agreement. It is important that the timeline

Notary Activities - Costs associated with providing required notary services to landowners during the post-offer phase, such as notary certification costs for tribal staff, should be included in the application.

Outreach to International Landowners – It is important for tribes to consider how to conduct outreach to international landowners as part of their outreach efforts. The application narrative should detail how outreach will be conducted for international landowners in both phases of outreach.

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align with the Buy-Back Program’s implementation schedule, which the Program’s Senior Advisors will provide, to maximize the effectiveness of the outreach activities performed. The Senior Advisors will work with tribes to ensure that a cooperative agreement is finalized to fully maximize the timeline for landowner outreach at each location. However, the timely submission of the tribe’s cooperative agreement application is critical to this process.

There are no specific format or length requirements for the timeline, however, it must encompass the entire period of performance being requested, and it must provide month-by-month information on the activities to be undertaken. This can be easily accomplished via a chart, such as the illustrative examples below. To facilitate development of the application timeline, the Program has developed an optional application narrative worksheet that tribes may elect to use. The Program’s Senior Advisors can provide this worksheet upon request. Example 1:

Month 1 Activity 1 Activity 2 Activity 3

Month 2 Activity 2 continued Activity 3 continued Activity 4 Activity 5

Month 3 Activity 3 continued Activity 4 continued Activity 5 continued Activity 6 Activity 7

Example 2:

Month 1 Month 2 Month 3

Activity 1 Activity 2 Activity 3

Tribal Capacity. The application narrative must also include a description of the tribe’s capacity to implement land consolidation activities as well manage federal cooperative agreement. Specifically, this section should discuss:

Agreement Duration - In general, cooperative agreement awards will not exceed 9 months for locations where implementation has not yet occurred. Awards are not expected to exceed 7 months for locations where implementation has previously occurred as they benefit from prior outreach activities. While much can be accomplished through these agreements, cooperative agreement funding should be viewed as a short-term resource to achieve the much larger and more valuable goal of land consolidation.

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⋅ Any previous experience with similar land consolidation activities (e.g. a tribal acquisition program or the Indian Land Consolidation Act program);

⋅ Any previous experience with managing federal financial assistance awards (either grants or cooperative agreements); and

⋅ Whether it has the financial management standards in place required by 2 CFR § 200.302.

If the Tribe has not had a satisfactory history of performance on other Federal financial assistance awards, it should describe the violations that occurred and any steps taken to rectify them in this section.

Tribal Point of Contact. Finally, tribes must provide the name, title, address (physical and mailing, if different), telephone number, and email address for one designated tribal point of contact in the application narrative. This must be someone who the Buy-Back Program may contact regarding any questions about the application. The identified tribal point of contact will also be listed in the cooperative agreement award as required by the applicable regulations. While only one tribal point of contact may be identified for cooperative agreement purposes, tribes may designate as many officials as necessary to work with the Program on land consolidation activities. The cooperative agreement award will be sent to the tribal point of contact identified in the application narrative, and to tribal leadership for review and signature. Application Budget The application budget details the cost of the land consolidation activities proposed in the application narrative. While there are no formatting requirements for the application budget, it must provide a detailed breakdown of the costs by cost category. Tribes are encouraged to develop a budget breakout chart by category, (e.g., personnel, equipment, supplies, outreach activities, etc.) or to use the optional budget worksheet, provided by the Program’s Senior Advisors upon request, to facilitate development of the application budget. Individual categories of cost must be thoroughly explained. For example, if “equipment” is a proposed cost category, list and describe the type of equipment the tribe will procure and why it is necessary. A simple budget chart is provided below as an example:

Outreach Personnel Costs TOTAL: $X for 6 months (full time new hires) - Outreach Specialist 1 for 6 months = $X (Salary: $X, Benefits: $X) - Outreach Specialist 2 for 6 months = $X (Salary $X, Benefits: $X)

Outreach Supplies Costs TOTAL: $X - Portable Printer (1) =$X - Printing Paper (20 packets at $X each) = $X - Printer Cartridges (4 at $X each) = $X

Outreach Media Costs TOTAL: $X - 4 half page notices in the local newspaper, the X Times, $X each = $X - 4 thirty second radio ads on Station 99.9FM, $X each = $X

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As part of the budget development process, tribes should expect to research local costs for supplies, equipment, travel, newspaper ads, and other items depending on the activities the tribe is seeking to perform. This helps ensure that the funding amounts requested for the activities proposed are realistic and reasonable. Some examples of the types of landowner outreach costs tribes may want to consider when preparing their budgets include personnel and fringe costs, advertising costs (such as for newspaper ads), printing and mailing costs, office space costs, notary certification fees for staff, outreach event costs (such as rental space, refreshments and mileage for staff to travel to and from), printing and mailing costs, etc. To the extent feasible, the application budget should identify how costs were calculated as in the example above. Tribes are encouraged to utilize and attach Microsoft Excel spreadsheets for their budget section if not using the Program provided optional budget worksheet. Funding Parameters. The applicable regulations (2 CFR Part 200, Subpart E – Cost Principles) limit the costs that may be charged against a cooperative agreement. For example, the applicable regulations state that the costs promotional items and memorabilia (such as gifts, souvenirs or “giveaway” items such as magnets, key chains, gift cards etc.) cannot be charged against a federal grant or cooperative agreement. Thus, such costs are unallowable and should not be included in the budget. In addition to regulatory limits, Program policy also limits the costs that may be charged against a cooperative agreement. For example, cooperative agreement funding is primarily limited to landowner outreach activities, though other complementary activities may be proposed as previously noted. The Program has also developed specific funding parameters to help ensure that agreements are cost-efficient and cost-effective. These funding parameters apply to the number of personnel and the number of stand-alone outreach events that may be funded via a cooperative agreement, and they prohibit funding for vehicle purchases. These funding parameters are further described below. Personnel Costs The number of employees, or full time equivalent positions (FTE) that may be funded under a cooperative agreement is determined by the number of unique individuals that own fractional

Budget Description - The application budget must provide enough cost details to enable the Buy-Back Program to determine whether the costs are allocable, allowable, and reasonable, as required by the applicable regulations (2 CFR Part 200, Subpart E – Cost Principles). Tribes should contact the Buy-Back Program if they have specific questions regarding what costs may be charged to a cooperative agreement.

Costs of Office Space in Tribally-Owned Buildings – If the costs of the office space to be used are included in a Tribe’s indirect cost rate, its Indian Self-Determination and Assistance Act, P.L. 93-638 agreement, or otherwise funded by a Federal program (i.e., grant), those costs cannot also be included in the application as a direct cost. The regulations governing rental costs, including less-than-arm’s-length rental costs, can be found here.

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interests3 (eligible landowners) at a given location, which can be found in Appendix B of the Program’s most recent Status Report. Tribes may utilize part-time employees (PTEs) as long as the FTE limit is not exceeded (for example, 4 PTEs working 20 hours a week would be the equivalent of 2 FTEs). The chart below outlines the parameters for FTEs under a cooperative agreement:

Eligible Landowners

# of Employees

6,500 or more Up to 7 FTEs 5,500 to 6,499 Up to 6 FTEs 4,500 to 5,499 Up to 5 FTEs 3,500 to 4,499 Up to 4 FTEs 2,500 to 3,499 Up to 3 FTEs 2,499 or fewer Up to 2 FTEs

Note that no funding for administrative positions will be provided as all positions are expected to assist with landowner outreach. Tribes should discuss any proposed positions that are not related to outreach with the assigned Senior Advisor before including them in application. The regulations governing personnel costs under a cooperative agreement can be viewed here. Hiring must be done in accordance with the tribe’s laws and/or written policies as further detailed in the regulations. Personnel costs, such as salaries, must be reasonable and comparable to similar positions. Position titles and position descriptions should conform to the tribe’s policies. Stand-Alone Outreach Events The number of eligible landowners at a given location also determines the number of stand-alone outreach events that a tribe may receive funding for under a cooperative agreement. The chart below outlines the parameters for stand-alone outreach events:

Eligible Landowners

# of pre-offer outreach events # of post-offer outreach events

2,499 or fewer 2 2 2,500 to 3,499 3 3 3,500 to 4,499 4 4 4,500 to 5,499 5 5 5,500 to 6,499 6 6 6,500 or more 7+ 7+

3 Number of distinct owners that own fractional interests for the Land Area Code. This includes all types of owners (WAU, minors, etc.) for any land that is not 100 percent owned within the location, and individual owners that are deceased. For example, a tract is owned by minors (e.g., two individuals, age 16 and 15, each own 50 percent), the tract would be included in this preliminary count even though it is not technically purchasable once the Program develops offers at a particular reservation.

Staff Must be Notaries - All staff positions funded by a cooperative agreement must become notaries in order to assist landowners with offer packets post-offer. The application narrative should include language confirming that all funded position will become notaries and provide notary services to landowners.

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It is important to note that this limit on stand-alone events does not apply to attendance at community events, powwows, or other local events where landowners would likely be present and where it would be beneficial for outreach to be conducted, such as via informational booths. Rather, this limit only applies to stand-alone outreach events organized by the tribe for the specific purpose of conveying information about implementation of the Buy-Back Program. Finally, while the Program will not fund the purchase of vehicles to conduct landowner outreach activities via cooperative agreements, tribes may include necessary transportation costs for mileage, rental vehicles or leased vehicles (if reasonable) in the application. Pre-Award Costs. Funding awarded by the cooperative agreement may only be utilized for costs incurred during the award period, with the exception of approved pre-award costs. Pre-award costs are costs that are incurred prior to the award of the cooperative agreement. They are limited by regulation to costs directly pursuant to the negotiation, and in anticipation of the cooperative agreement, where such costs are necessary for the efficient and timely performance of the funded activities. Pre-award costs may only be incurred before the cooperative agreement is finalized with prior written approval from the Buy-Back Program. A written request, via email or letter from the authorized tribal POC, for pre-award costs must be submitted to the Buy-Back Program for approval prior to any costs being incurred. The Application Narrative should identify and include any pre-award costs approved. Approved pre-award costs can only be reimbursed to a tribe once a cooperative agreement award has been finalized.

Indirect Costs. The Cobell v. Salazar Settlement Agreement limits the funding the Program has available for administrative expenses to maximize the amount available for purchasing fractional interests. Because cost-efficiency is a key component of the Program’s success, the Program has capped the amount of indirect costs it will pay as a part of agreements at no more than 15% of the modified total direct costs (MTDC)4.

Tribes with negotiated indirect cost rates over 15% of the MTDC may request no more than 15% of the MTDC as part of their cooperative agreement application to the Buy-Back Program. Tribes with negotiated indirect cost rates of less than 15% MTDC can request no more than their current or most recent negotiated rate. Modified total direct costs are calculated by excluding distorting items, such as equipment, capital expenditures, contracts or subawards for $25,000 or more, from the total request amount and then multiplying the indirect cost rate against the resulting amount. For example:

4 Modified Total Direct Costs are defined as costs excluding capital expenditures and distorting items such as pass through funds, major Subcontractors, etc. http://www.doi.gov/ibc/services/indirect_cost_services/FAQs.cfm. Please also see 2 CFR § 200.68.

“A Federal awarding agency may use a [indirect cost] rate different from the negotiated rate for a class of Federal awards or a single Federal award…” 2 CFR § 200.414.

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$200,000 Total Amount Requested in Application - 15,000 Less Capital Expenditure (X) - $5,500 Less Capital Expenditure (Y) $179,500 Modified Total Direct Costs

x 15% Buy-Back Program Indirect Cost Rate Cap $26,925 Requested amount of Indirect Costs

If a tribe is requesting indirect costs as a part of its cooperative agreement application, the application narrative must detail how the amount requested was calculated in the application budget, and a copy of the tribe’s most recent Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement must be submitted with the application.

2. The SF-424 Application Forms The SF-424 forms are standard financial assistance application forms that are required by regulation and utilized government-wide. Tribes must complete the following three forms and include them in their cooperative agreement application packages in order to be considered for funding.

i. The SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance The SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance form is considered the “core” SF-424 form and it provides key information to the awarding agency about the applicant. Tribes should complete the form and contact the Buy-Back Program with any questions. The information below is provided to assist with completing the fields:

o Field 1 Type of Submission: Application o Field 2 Type of Application: New o Field 3 Date Received: Leave Blank o Field 5(a) Federal Entity Identifier: Leave Blank o Field 5(b) Federal Award Identifier: Leave Blank o Field 10 Name of Federal Agency: Department of the Interior o Field 11 Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number and Title: 15.152, Land Buy-Back

Program for Tribal Nations o Field 12 Funding Opportunity Number5: LBBP-2018-1 o Field 13 Competition Identification Number: LBBP-2018-1 o Field 19 Is this Application Subject to Review by State under Executive Order 12372?

c. Program is not covered by E.O. 12372 o Field 20 Is the Applicant Delinquent on Any Federal Debt? Check the appropriate box

5 The “Funding Opportunity Number” comes from Grants.Gov.

Aligning Budgets - The application budget informs the completion of the SF- 424A Budget Information for Non Construction Programs form that must be submitted as part of the application. The two should align.

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An authorized tribal official must sign this form.

ii. The SF-424A Budget Information Non-Construction Programs As its name implies, this form is used to provide summary information on funding being requested. The information provided on this budget form should align with the application budget.

iii. The SF-424B Assurances Non-Construction Programs

This form lists a number of requirements that by signing the tribe agrees to comply with, to the extent applicable, upon receipt of a cooperative agreement award. Tribes must carefully read this form to understand the requirements and then have the authorized tribal official sign it.

3. ASAP Enrollment Forms (if applicable) The awarded funds will be available for drawdown, via the U.S. Treasury Department’s Automated Standard Application for Payments (ASAP) system, once the obligation process has been completed by the Program. Unless a tribe is already enrolled in ASAP under Agency Location Code (ALC) 14010001, it will need to complete the ASAP enrollment process before cooperative agreement funds can be made available. While many tribes are already enrolled in ASAP for various other federal programs under different ALCs, most will need to complete the enrollment process again to receive access to Program awarded funds under ALC 14010001. To enroll in ASAP under ALC 14010001, tribes must complete and submit to the Program the following 3 enrollment forms, even if already enrolled in ASAP for other programs:

⋅ ASAP Banking Information Form ⋅ ASAP Organization Enrollment and User ID Request Form ⋅ User Responsibility Statement

Upon receipt of the completed forms, the Program will initiate ASAP enrollment for the tribe. The tribal officials listed on the enrollment forms will then receive an automated email prompting them to complete the ASAP enrollment process by logging into the system. Awarded funds cannot be made available until the ASAP enrollment process has been completed by the Tribe. Tribes may request advance payments via ASAP on an as-needed basis, limited to the amount needed and timed according to their immediate cash requirements per applicable regulations. 4. Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (if applicable)

ASAP Enrollment Status - To determine their ASAP enrollment status under ALC 14010001, tribes can contact the ASAP helpdesk: 855-868-0151 (option 2, option 3).

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Tribes requesting funding for indirect costs as a part of their applications must include a copy of their most recent negotiated indirect cost rate agreement. If indirect costs are not being requested, this does not need to be submitted with the application. 5. Tribal Priority Tract Listing (optional) The Program works in conjunction with tribes to understand their acquisition priorities as part of the implementation process. Tribes are encouraged to submit a tribal priority tract listing to the Program as soon as possible but no later than with their cooperative agreement applications. Tribes that have previously submitted priority tract listings may submit a new one with the application if they would like to make changes to the previously submitted tribal priorities. Tribal priority tract listings are an important resource as they can inform the Program’s implementation activities such as mapping and appraisal work, and can help to focus landowner outreach activities on tribal priority tracts. Tribes are encouraged to discuss the submission of a tribal priority tract listing with one of the Program’s Senior Advisors during application development. 6. Tribal Authorization (optional)

While not a required component of the application, tribes are encouraged to submit a tribal authorization approving implementation of the Program at the reservation, if one has not already been submitted to the Program. Ideally, the tribal authorization will also indicate whether the tribe requests the Program make offers on fractionated trust tracts that have structures, but no recorded lease (if no such request is provided, the Program will not make offers on such tracts). The formats of tribal authorizations vary and should take the form of the means by which tribal business is conducted, typically a council/committee resolution or letter from the tribal leader. Tribes are encouraged to discuss the submission of a tribal authorization with one of the Program’s Senior Advisors during application development. Senior Advisors can provide sample language on request. Application Submission Tribes are encouraged to utilize the Cooperative Agreement Application Submission Checklist (see page 16) to ensure that their applications are complete. Tribes should e-mail PDF copies of their completed applications to the Buy-Back Program. E-mailed copies must be sent to the Senior Advisor the tribe has been working with and the Program’s agreements team (the Senior Advisor can provide the necessary email addresses). Hard copies of the application (not required) may be sent to:

The Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations 801 North Quincy Street Room 316 Arlington, VA 22203

Application Review & Approval

Plan Ahead - Timely submission of the cooperative agreement application is critical to ensuring that an agreement is finalized in time for the tribe to perform sufficient outreach to landowners.

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The Buy-Back Program will work as quickly as possible to review and, as appropriate, approve the submitted application package. For submissions that cannot be approved (e.g., incomplete packages, clarification needed on certain items, etc.), the Senior Advisors will contact the tribal point of contact to address concerns or discuss any items as expeditiously as possible. The Cooperative Agreement Award The Buy-Back Program will complete the Cooperative Agreement Template, which is the award document, with information from the tribe’s submitted application package once the application package has been approved. The Buy-Back Program will send the Cooperative Agreement Template to the authorized tribal official for signature via e-mail. Once signed by the authorized tribal official, the signed Cooperative Agreement Template must be returned to the Buy-Back Program (a clear and readable PDF copy of the signed agreement may be e-mailed to the Program) for signature by the Program Director and fund obligation. A copy of the final award package will be provided to the tribal point of contact after the fund obligation process has been completed.

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Cooperative Agreement Application Submission Checklist

Cooperative agreement application packages must include all of the following items in order to be considered complete:

Detailed application narrative and budget SIGNED and completed SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance Completed SF-424A Budget Information - Non-Construction Program SIGNED SF-424B Assurances - Non-Construction Program

If requesting indirect costs as a part of the cooperative agreement application:

Copy of the tribe’s most recent Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement

If the tribe is not already enrolled in ASAP under Agency Location Code 14010001: Completed ASAP Enrollments Forms (3)

If not already submitted, tribes are strongly encouraged but not required to submit:

Tribal Authorization Tribal Priority Tract Listing