Environmental/Cultural Resources Lead

ENVIRONMENTAL/CULTURAL RESOURCES LEAD (ECR Lead)

Montech Inc. is seeking a full time Environmental/Cultural Resources Leadin support the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Office of Trust Services (OTS), Division of Environmental Services and Cultural Resources Management (DECSRM), headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Overview
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Office of Trust Services (OTS), Division of Environmental Services and Cultural Resources Management (DECSRM), headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico, require services to assist with timely and efficient environmental reviews and authorizations for FAST-41 and other infrastructure projects. This work supports the implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act Section 70007, Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council’s Environmental Review Improvement Fund, (ERIF), 42 U.S.C. § 4370m-8(d), which funds the administration, implementation, and enforcement of Title 41 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST-41). FAST-41 establishes procedures, governance mechanisms, and funding structures for federal environmental review and permitting for certain infrastructure projects.

Project locations are in the contiguous United States which consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the District of Columbia of the United States of America. The project area also consists of one non-contiguous state, Alaska. A total of 12 Regional offices and 83 agencies are located in the project locations for this ERIF project. The twelve regional offices are located in the heart of Indian Country, with the agencies at the reservation level.

The Deputy Regional Director for Trust Services oversees a staff of specialists responsible for natural resources (water resources, forestry and fire, irrigation and safety of dams), agriculture, (farm, pasture, and range), fish, wildlife and parks and real estate services (land acquisition and disposal land title records office, probate, rights-of-way, and lease/permit).

The Deputy Regional Director for Indian Services oversees a staff of specialists responsible for transportation (planning, design, construction, and maintenance) and Indian services (tribal governments, human services, housing improvement).

Purpose
Montech Inc. is recruiting a team of cultural resource project review professionals in support of the National BIA Environmental Review and Permitting Support contract for FAST-41 projects and other infrastructure projects to will improve the efficacy of the Federal environmental review and authorization process by contracting additional capacity to address the permitting workload in an accurate and timely manner. Increasing capacity will improve consistency, efficiency, and coordination with Tribes, Tribal offices, state agencies, and other Federal agencies.

Scope of Work
The Government requires environmental and cultural resource project review services will provide timely and highly accurate work. The Contractor shall provide project management and technical support to BIA Central Office and Regions in environmental analysis and decision making and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) activities. Priority will be given to the processing of FAST-41 Projects before all other permitting projects.

Place of Performance
Work can be conducted at the employee’s home office. Physical attendance at technical meetings and site visits may be required from time-to-time.

Hours of Operation
Work will be performed 40 hours per week during regular business hours, Monday-Friday, excluding Federal holidays. Overtime is not authorized.

SUMMARY OF RESPONSIBILITIES
Services will fall into two main categories:

• Category 1: Reviewing already prepared NEPA packages that are submitted by project proponents for BIA decision. After review, contractor will provide recommendations and associated draft documents to the respective Region to support their review and decision making process.
• Category 2: Preparing original draft NEPA documents and packages on behalf of BIA for direct service tribes. These draft documents and packages would be submitted to the respective Region for their finalization and subsequent decision making.

Category 1: Review of Already Prepared NEPA Packages
Personnel shall review documents submitted by project applicants to ensure compliance with all applicable law. This 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.

After completed review of NEPA packages and associated documents submitted by the applicant, personnel shall prepare written review findings and recommendations to the BIA. BIA will communicate permitting decisions to the applicant.

Review of documents will require specific expertise in:

• Air quality
• Climate change, carbon, and greenhouse gas emissions
• Cultural and heritage resource surveys and studies
• Development of Communication Site and Transmission Line Corridor Designation Plans
• Endangered species, environmental justice
• Fisheries and wildlife surveys, analyses, and consultation processes
• Lands and Special Uses
• Landscape Analysis and Watershed Assessments
• NEPA processes, procedures, and Administrative Review and Objections processes
• Road Services and Road Analysis
• Inventoried Roadless Areas
• Mitigation
• Minerals and geology
• National Forest Management Act (NFMA) land and resource management plans and compliance
• Natural resource studies
• Rangeland management
• Recreation
• Wilderness
• Wild and Scenic Rivers
• Scenery Management
• Socio-economic studies, soil resources
• Terrestrial and Aquatic Invasive Species
• Tribal engagement and Government-to-Government consultation
• Vegetation management (timber, silviculture, botany, fuels)
• Water resources
• Public and agency comment analyses, organization, consideration and response
• Public law, regulations, manuals, and handbooks referenced (subject to change)
• Any new legislation or changes to existing documentation

Personnel shall have documented expertise in evaluating compliance with the:

• National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
• Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA)
• Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (BGEPA)
• Comprehensive Environmental Response Business Support Service (BSS) IDIQ RFQ Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA / Superfund)
• Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act (CWA)
• Endangered Species Act (ESA) 7 (a)(2)
• Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act (FWCA)
• Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA)
• National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) Section 106
• Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA)
• Roadless Area Conservation Rule
• Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act
• Code of Federal Regulations, BIA Handbook and Manuals
• Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations and other environmental laws, including 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 infrastructure projects compliance.

Additionally, personnel will provide specific expertise regarding the protection of cultural resources and various laws and regulations, relating to archaeological resources, historic preservation, paleontology, reviewing applications for non-collection survey authorizations, Archaeological Resources Protection Act Permits and Antiquities Act Permits. This includes evaluating the qualifications and proposed research of the applicants and making recommendations for issuing these authorizations and permits.

Personnel must hold demonstrated expertise and experience in the following areas:

• Technical writing
• Travel management
• Litigation risk
• Public engagement, outreach, and meeting facilitation
• Interdisciplinary team (IDT) support
• Records management
• Coordination with Tribes, Tribal offices, state agencies, and other Federal agencies
• Reporting

Personnel must be familiar with the Alaska Region and have experience with field work in remote Alaska and must have the knowledge and capacity to arrange and implement fieldwork safely and effectively with consideration to remote locations, logistics, and weather (limited field season for survey work). They must also have internal capacity to arrange lodging, transportation, airfare and all ground activities and shall be reliable in producing the finished product within the specifications requested by BIA. Accessibility and timely delivery of the finished product immediately after completion are required for BIA in completing its mission.

Category 2: Prepare Original NEPA Documents and Packages for Direct Service Tribes

Consistent with BIA’s mission and trust responsibility, BIA will 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.

In addition to all expertise and experience requirements listed above, Category 2 requires:

• All work must be completed following the National Historic Preservation Act’s (NHPA) Section 112 and the Section 106 regulations, at §800.2(a)(1), which require agencies responsible for protecting historic properties to ensure that all actions by contractors meet professional standards as determined by the Secretary of the Interior Professional Qualifications Standards.

TASKS
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. Personnel 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.

• Personnel 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:

-- 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
-- January 19, 2001: Secretarial Order No. 3225, “Endangered Species Act and Subsistence Uses in Alaska (Supplement to Secretarial Order 3206)”
-- 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:

• Personnel are 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.
• Personnel must not release data or information gathered under contract order to parties outside of the Government without advance written permission from the contracting officer.

Volume of Work
Roughly, BIA expects to review or prepare NEPA packages for 442 FAST-41 and other infrastructure projects, including for broadband/telecommunications, transportation, water lines, and other priorities. Of this total number, it is estimated about 200 packages will require assistance during the period of performance. Some of those packages may require a few days of review while larger projects will require a longer-term effort. Exact volume of projects cannot be provided given individual project timing will change, new projects may be funded, and some planned endeavors may not move forward at all.

Travel
Travel is required and the personnel shall adhere to approved travel policy. Travel authorization requests must be submitted in writing and in advance and approval must be provided prior to travel commencing.

Security
All personnel assigned under this contract will be required to successfully pass a background investigation. All personnel shall comply with Federal laws, regulations, standards, regarding information and information system security.

Personnel shall be responsible for safeguarding all Government property provided for contractor use. At the end of normal duty hours and/or after normal duty hours, all government facilities, equipment and materials must be secured.

Professionalism, Responsiveness, and Quality
The ECR Lead must demonstrate the following abilities: Sound judgment, foresight, and problem solving skills, possess excellent oral and written communications, and customer service skills, able to adapt to fast-paced work/office environment with accuracy under pressure, demonstrated competency managing schedules, documentation, and automated systems, demonstrate leadership, excellent research and data gathering skills and ability to interpret/analyze complex information, ability to work independently within the bounds and guidelines of the contract requirements and client, knowledge of and experience using the Microsoft Office Suite, and the ability to work and communicate with diverse group of customers and clients within and outside the Federal Government. All personnel are required to wear the prescribed uniform while on duty. They shall maintain a clean and neat appearance and not wear dirty or wrinkled clothing. Uniforms will be sized correctly for each employee and not show signs of excessive wear. The goal is to present a positive image to the public.

The ECR Lead must present a professional demeanor at all times while on site. The ECR Lead shall treat all persons with courtesy and respect; striving to earn positive feedback of customers.

Any notification from Government to Montech notifying that the employee has compromised the security requirements will warrant immediate termination from employment on the contract.

Equal Opportunity Employer
Montech Inc. is dedicated to the principles of equal employment opportunity (EEO) in any term, condition, or privilege of employment. The Company prohibits unlawful discrimination against applicants or employees on the basis of age (40 and over), race, color, religion, national origin, disability, genetic information, sexual identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy, veteran status, marital status, or any other status protected by federal, state or local laws.

This job description is not all inclusive of the tasks that may be assigned the ECR Lead.

This PWS is going through the validation process with the BIA and is subject to change.

Job Type: Full-time

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift

Education:

• Bachelor's (Required)

Experience:

• Climate policy: 4 years (Preferred)
• Recreation/Wilderness/Rangeland Mgmt.: 4 years (Preferred)
• Minerals/Geology: 4 years (Preferred)
• Invasive species management: 4 years (Preferred)
• Tribal Engagement: 4 years (Preferred)
• Government-to-Government consultation: 4 years (Preferred)
• :ublic Law, Regulations, Legislation: 4 years (Preferred)
• Technical Writing: 4 years (Preferred)
• Travel Management: 4 years (Preferred)
• Public engagement/Outreach: 4 years (Preferred)
• Litigation Risk: 4 years (Preferred)
• Environmental policy: 4 years (Required)
• Natural resources law: 4 years (Required)
• Bureau of Indian Affairs: 4 years (Required)

Work Location: Remote