WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today announced that the Indian Affairs Office of Acquisition and Property Management (OAPM) will conduct tribal consultation with the federally recognized tribes on draft regulations to implement the Buy Indian Act (25 U.S.C. 47), which provides authority to set aside procurement contracts for qualified Indian-owned businesses. A letter announcing the meetings was sent to tribal leaders on March 26, 2010. A notice announcing the meetings was published in the Federal Register also on March 26.
“The Buy Indian Act is vital to building sustainable tribal economies, creating jobs and stimulating entrepreneurship throughout Indian Country,” Echo Hawk said. “It is imperative that we move forward to develop these regulations so that the American Indian and Alaska Native people can benefit from this landmark legislation.”
While the Buy Indian Act was enacted in 1910 to promote the employment of American Indians and the sale of American Indian-made products, it languished until the 1960s when it was included in federal anti-poverty efforts to increase economic development and job opportunities on Indian reservations.
The OAPM is developing the rule to describe uniform administrative procedures that Indian Affairs will use in all of its locations to encourage procurement relationships with eligible Indian economic enterprises in the execution of the Buy Indian Act. The draft includes revisions to address input received from earlier draft publications and from three separate consultation sessions held during 2001 in Tulsa, Okla., Scottsdale, Ariz., and Portland, Ore. The rule will supplement the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and the Department of the Interior Acquisition Regulations (DIAR).
The tribal consultation meetings on the draft regulations will be held on the following dates:
Date: Monday, April 26, 2010
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (local time)
Location: Holiday Inn Portland Airport, 8439 NE Columbia Blvd., Portland, Ore., 97220. 503-914-5251
Date: Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (local time)
Location: Holiday Inn Rushmore Plaza 505, North Fifth St., Rapid City, S.D., 57701. 605-348-8000
Date: Friday, April 30, 2010
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (local time)
Location: Tulsa Marriott, Southern Hills, 1902 East 71st, Tulsa, Okla., 74136. 918-493-7000
The deadline for submitting written comments to the OAPM is no later than May 15, 2010. Comments will be accepted via email, the U.S. Postal Service or overnight carrier.
Additional information can be found on the “Current Tribal Consultations” page of the Indian Affairs website at http://www.indianaffairs.gov/WhoWeAre/AS-IA/Consultation/index.htm.
