Title 25—Indians--Volume 1
PART 142—ALASKA RESUPPLY OPERATION
§ 142.1   Definitions.
Area Director means the Area Director, Juneau Area Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Bureau means Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Department means Department of the Interior.
Manager means Manager of the Seattle Support Center.
Must is used in place of shall and indicates a mandatory or imperative act or requirement.
Indian means any individual who is a member of an Indian tribe.
Indian tribe means an Indian or Alaska Native tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, or community that the Secretary of the Interior acknowledges to exist as an Indian tribe pursuant to Public Law 103-454, 108 Stat. 4791.
Alaska Native means a member of an Alaska Native village or a Native shareholder in a corporation as defined in or established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, 43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.
§ 142.2   What is the purpose of the Alaska Resupply Operation?
The Alaska Resupply Operation provides consolidated purchasing, freight handling and distribution, and necessary transportation services from Seattle, Washington to and from other points in Alaska or en route in support of the Bureau's mission and responsibilities.
§ 142.3   Who is responsible for the Alaska Resupply Operation?
The Seattle Support Center, under the direction of the Juneau Area Office, is responsible for the operation of the Alaska Resupply Operation, including the management of all facilities and equipment, personnel, and procurement of goods and services.
(a) The Seattle Support Center is responsible for publishing the rates and conditions that must be published in a tariff.
(b) All accounts receivable and accounts payable are handled by the Seattle Support Center.
(c) The Manager must make itineraries for each voyage in conjunction with contracted carriers. Preference is to be given to the work of the Bureau.
(d) The Area Director is authorized to direct the Seattle Support Center to perform special services that may arise and to act in any emergency.
§ 142.4   For whom is the Alaska Resupply Operation operated?
The Manager is authorized to purchase and resell food, fuel, clothing, supplies and materials, and to order, receive, stage, package, store and transport these goods and materials for:
(a) Alaska Native Tribes, Alaska Natives, Indian or Native owned businesses, profit or nonprofit Alaska Native corporations, Native cooperatives or organizations, or such other groups or individuals as may be sponsored by any Native or Indian organization.
(b) Other Federal agencies and the State of Alaska and its subsidiaries, as long as the ultimate beneficiaries are the Alaska Natives or their communities.
(c) Non-Indians and Non-Natives and commercial establishments that economically or materially benefit Alaska Natives or Indians.
(d) The Manager must make reasonable efforts to restrict competition with private enterprise.
§ 142.5   Who determines the rates and conditions of service of the Alaska Resupply Operation?
The general authority of the Assistant Secretary—Indian Affairs to establish rates and conditions for users of the Alaska Resupply Operation is delegated to the Area Director.
(a) The Manager must develop a tariff that establishes rates and conditions for charging users.
(1) The tariff must be approved by the Area Director.
(2) The tariff must be published on or before March 1 of each year.
(3) The tariff must not be altered, amended, or published more frequently than once each year, except in an extreme emergency.
(4) The tariff must be published, circulated and posted throughout Alaska, particularly in the communities commonly and historically served by the resupply operation.
(b) The tariff must include standard freight categories and rate structures that are recognized within the industry, as well as any appropriate specialized warehouse, handling and storage charges.
(c) The tariff must specify rates for return cargo and cargo hauled between ports.
(1) The rates and conditions for the Bureau, other Federal agencies, the State of Alaska and its subsidiaries must be the same as that for Native entities.
(2) Different rates and conditions may be established for non-Indian and non-Native commercial establishments, if those establishments do not meet the standard in § 142.4(c) and no other service is available to that location.
§ 142.6   How are the rates and conditions for the Alaska Resupply Operation established?
The Manager must develop tariff rates using the best modeling techniques available to ensure the most economical service to the Alaska Natives, Indian or Native owned businesses, profit or nonprofit Alaska Native corporations, Native cooperatives or organizations, or such other groups or individuals as may be sponsored by any Native or Indian organization, without enhancing the Federal treasury.
(a) The Area Director's approval of the tariff constitutes a final action for the Department for the purpose of establishing billing rates.
(b) The Bureau must issue a supplemental bill to cover excess cost in the event that the actual cost of a specific freight substantially exceeds the tariff price.
(c) If the income from the tariff substantially exceeds actual costs, a prorated payment will be issued to the shipper.
§ 142.7   How are transportation and scheduling determined?
(a) The Manager must arrange the most economical and efficient transportation available, taking into consideration lifestyle, timing and other needs of the user. Where practical, shipping must be by consolidated shipment that takes advantage of economies of scale and consider geographic disparity and distribution of sites.
(b) Itineraries and scheduling for all deliveries must be in keeping with the needs of the users to the maximum extent possible. Planned itineraries with dates set as to the earliest and latest anticipated delivery dates must be provided to users prior to final commitment by them to utilize the transportation services. Each shipping season the final departure and arrival schedules must be distributed prior to the commencement of deliveries.
§ 142.8   Is economy of operation a requirement for the Alaska Resupply Operation?
Yes. The Manager must ensure that purchasing, warehousing and transportation services utilize the most economical delivery. This may be accomplished by memoranda of agreement, formal contracts, or cooperative arrangements. Whenever possible joint arrangements for economy will be entered into with other Federal agencies, the State of Alaska, Alaska Native cooperatives or other entities providing services to rural Alaska communities.
§ 142.9   How are orders accepted?
(a) The Manager must make a formal determination to accept an order, for goods or services, and document the approval by issuing a permit or similar instrument.
(b) The Seattle Support Center must prepare proper manifests of the freight accepted at the facility or other designated location. The manifest must follow industry standards to ensure a proper legal contract of carriage is executed, upon which payment can be exacted upon the successful delivery of the goods and services.
§ 142.10   How is freight to be prepared?
All freight must be prepared in accordance with industry standards, unless otherwise specified, for overseas shipment, including any pickup, delivery, staging, sorting, consolidating, packaging, crating, boxing, containerizing, and marking that may be deemed necessary by the Manager.
§ 142.11   How is payment made?
(a) Unless otherwise provided in this part, all regulations implementing the Financial Integrity Act, Anti-Deficiency Act, Prompt Payments Act, Debt Collection Act of 1982, 4 CFR Ch. II—Federal Claims Collection Standards, and other like acts apply to the Alaska Resupply Operation.
(b) Payment for all goods purchased and freight or other services rendered by the Seattle Support Center are due and payable upon final receipt of the goods or services. If payment is not received within the time specified on the billing document, interest and penalty fees at the current treasury rate will be charged, and handling and administrative fees may be applied.
(c) Where fuel and other goods are purchased on behalf of commercial enterprises, payment for those goods must be made within 30 days of delivery to the Seattle Support Center Warehouse. Payment for freight must be made within 30 days from receipt of the goods by the shipper.
§ 142.12   What is the liability of the United States for loss or damage?
(a) The liability of the United States for any loss or damage to, or non-delivery of freight is limited by 46 U.S.C. 746 and the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act (46 U.S.C. 1300 et seq. ). The terms of such limitation of liability must be contained in any document of title relating to the carriage of goods by sea. This liability may be further restricted in specialized instances as specified in the tariff.
(b) In addition to the standards of conduct and ethics applicable to all government employees, the employees of the Seattle Support Center shall not conduct any business with, engage in trade with, or accept any gifts or items of value from any shipper or permittee.
(c) The Seattle Support Center will continue to function only as long as the need for assistance to Native village economies exits. To that end, a review of the need for the serve must be conducted every five years.
§ 142.13   Information collection.
In accordance with Office of Management and Budget regulations in 5 CFR 1320.4, approval of information collections contained in this regulation is not required.