Archaeologist with Security Clearance

NEPA review/document preparation activities include: • Serve as experts on complying with National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations and other environmental laws, including Departmental, and Bureau guidelines, procedures, and other Executive directives concerning environmental issues pertaining to FAST 41 and other permitting projects on Indian trust lands nationwide, as well as the interpretation and application of regulations, executive orders, or policies specific to Division programs that occur on Indian trust lands nationwide to ensure FAST-41 and other permitting project compliance
• Review NEPA packages submitted by project applicants for completeness and compliance which may include review of Environmental Assessments, Environmental Impact Statements, Categorical Exclusion Exception Review (CEER) checklists, Section 106 and Section 7 compliance documents, survey plats/drawings, tribal approval documents and other project proposal documents
• Prepare original NEPA documents for those direct service Tribes who need or request BIA to do so
In this category of work, the contractor will prepare original draft documents on behalf of the Tribe and BIA, and will submit to the respective BIA region for their finalization of draft documents and subsequent decision making.
• Communicate with applicants, Tribes, other agencies and necessary parties through the review process, in coordination with the BIA.
• Prepare written responses to the applicant
Recommendations for formal determination or decision shall be submitted to BIA for decision-making
BIA will communicate decisions to the applicant
• Provide national coordination amongst BIA environmental program staff and compile data for reporting Section 7 (a)(2) (ESA) activities include: • Compliance, section 7(a)(1) of the ESA charges federal agencies to aid in the conservation of listed species, and section 7(a)(2) requires the agencies to ensure their activities are not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of federally listed species or destroy or adversely modify designated critical habitat
The Contractor shall provide a literature review and ensure that the documentation provides a means to conserve the ecosystems upon which endangered and threatened species depend and provide a program for the conservation of such species
• Contractor must possess and apply knowledge of how the Endangered Species Act applies to trust lands and Tribal lands has been defined by the Secretary of the Interior secretarial orders, legal decisions and policy, including familiarity with:
o January 14-15, 2022: Department of the Interior Office of the Solicitor Memo No
37063 "Withdrawal of Solicitor Opinion M-36936, 'Application of Eagle Protection and Migratory Bird Treaty Acts to Reserved Indian Hunting Rights;' Solicitor Opinion M-36926, 'Application of the Endangered Species Act to Native Americans with Treaty Hunting and Fishing Rights;' and Solicitor Opinion M-27690, 'Migratory Bird Treaty Act'" and "Applicability of the Endangered Species Act and Migratory Bird Treaty Act to Reserved Tribal Hunting and Fishing Rights" o January 19, 2001: Secretarial Order No
3225, "Endangered Species Act and Subsistence Uses in Alaska (Supplement to Secretarial Order 3206)" o June 5, 1997: Secretarial Order No
3206, "American Indian Tribal Rights, Federal-Tribal Trust Responsibilities, and the Endangered Species Act" NHPA Section 106 activities include: • Assist the BIA in initiating the Section 106 process in considering the effects of their undertakings on historic properties.
• Assist the BIA in identifying and coordinate with who should be involved with consultation; tribes, interested parties, and the public.
• Assess effects on historic properties upon consultation.
• Assist the BIA in minimizing effects to historic properties by avoiding, minimizing, or mitigating adverse effects.
• Serve as subject matter experts concerning cultural resources matters using various cultural resources laws and regulations, relating to archaeological resources, historic preservation, and paleontology
• Review cultural resources narratives, (literature reviews, archival records, field inventories, archaeological survey site cards/forms), research designs, oral history interviews, site monitoring, project implementation and post-implementation monitoring reports, site condition assessment reports, mitigation recommendations, and treatment plans.
• Review Historic and Cultural Landscape Assessments.
• Review methods used by the applicant to identify and describe various landscape characteristics and the major processes, uses, and physical components visible in the landscape and how they relate to one or more historic context over time.
• Review applications for non-collection survey authorizations, Archaeological Resources Protection Act Permits and Antiquities Act Permits.
• Evaluate the qualifications and proposed research of the applicants and making recommendations for the issuance of these authorizations and permits
• Communicate with applicants, Tribes, other agencies and necessary parties through the review process, in coordination with the BIA.
• Prepare written responses to the applicant
Recommendations for formal determination or decision shall be submitted to BIA for decision-making
BIA will communicate decisions to the applicant
• Provide national coordination amongst BIA cultural resources program staff and compile data for reporting
Administration activities include: • The Contractor is responsible for all other data collection and reports that will be used as the basis for deliverables resulting from the orders
The Bureau of Indian Affairs retains approval authority for these documents
• All planning data, maps, files, reports, computers, audio or videotapes, disks and other records will be collected, compiled and made available to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, upon request, for possible inclusion in the permanent administrative record
Once requested and delivered, all information and data collected by the Contractor and any subcontractors becomes the property of the Government regardless of the author
This information and data will be considered non-proprietary, non-confidential and subject to the Freedom of Information Act
Information exempt from disclosure under the FOIA must not be disclosed
Any data provided in support of the NEPA analysis by the non-Federal Party which they feel is confidential must be marked as such
• The Contractor must not release data or information gathered under contract order to parties outside of the Government without advance written permission from the contracting officer
Document format activities include: • The Contractor shall review the NEPA project proposals and associated already prepared documents, which will include review of Environmental Assessments, Categorical Exclusion Exception Review (CEER) checklists, Environmental Impact Statements, Section 106 and Section 7 compliance documents, survey plats/drawings, tribal approval documents and other project proposal documents
Contractor shall ensure Right-Of-Ways were surveyed along existing or proposed centerlines, show all relevant curve data and land boundaries and the proposed project survey plats/drawings are consistent with the project location by Section, Township, and Range
• After completing a review, the Contractor will prepare the final NEPA documents for review and processing by the respective Region such as a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), Determination of NEPA Adequacy (DNA) or preparation of a letter to the proponent to inform them what further data or information must be included in a resubmittal for a decision to be made
• Contractor will also prepare original NEPA documents for those direct service Tribes who need or request BIA to do so
In this category of work, the contractor will prepare original draft documents on behalf of the Tribe and BIA, and will submit to the respective BIA region for their finalization of draft documents and subsequent decision making
This could include original preparation of draft Environmental Assessments, Categorical Exclusion Exception Review (CEER) checklists, Environmental Impact Statements, Section 106 and Section 7 compliance documents, survey plats/drawings, tribal approval documents and other project proposal documents
Contractor shall ensure Right-Of-Ways were surveyed along existing or proposed centerlines, show all relevant curve data and land boundaries and the proposed project survey plats/drawings are consistent with the project location by Section, Township, and Range
• All environmental review documents ) shall have an accuracy level of 99%-100%
The documents will meet Section 508 for accessibility and will be formatted as follows: Shall include a cover page with the name of the project, date, project description, location of project, map, additional supporting documentation, and identification of applicant
Subsequent pages should each include a header with the project name and a footer with the page number
• For Category 1, the Contractor shall provide all environmentally reviewed documents within 40 business hours from assignment or other agreed upon deadline, due to the high priority infrastructure projects and deadlines under FAST-41 and other initiatives
• For Category 2, deadlines for original document preparation will be determined by the BIA Project Officer or Contracting Officer, who will coordinate with the Region to determine those dates.
• All deliverables shall be submitted in an electronic format and shall generally be in Microsoft Word unless otherwise specified
Documents must be editable by BIA
• All documents shall be made available on a secure (encrypted), reliable, and user-friendly computer-based shared site to be accessed by BIA staff
Contractor shall create or identify, as well as maintain the Site
Environmental

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