The Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation (the Tribes) have timely appealed an April 22, 2004, letter of the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) which partially declined the Tribes’ “best and final offer” for an Annual Funding Agreement (AFA) for fiscal year (FY) 2004. The proposed AFA was for $2,075,313 in funding for construction on the Fort Berthold Rural Water Supply Project (FB Project) under an Indian Self-Determination and Educational Assistance Act contract between the parties (Parties’ Contract), with an additional $69,000 to be retained by the BOR to cover its technical and oversight costs. The proposed AFA included a provision that the Tribes may use the funds to repay the principal and interest owing on a loan obtained by the Tribes from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and used to fund construction on the FB Project. The BOR approved only $902,000 of the requested $2,075,313 in funding, retaining $148,000 to cover its technical and oversight costs, and refused to authorize the Tribes’ use of the funds for repayment of the loan.
