Opinion ID: 2799544
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Other Grounds to Affirm

Text: Although we cannot affirm the Board’s dismissal on either of the grounds it found, a dismissal for failure to state a claim can be affirmed on any ground supported by the record. See AquaTex Indus., Inc. v. Techniche Solutions, 479 F.3d 1320, 1328 (Fed. Cir. 2007). Accordingly, we affirm because this case presents a pre-award dispute that the Board cannot review. Under the ISDA, there are two steps to creating a contract: approval and award. 25 U.S.C. § 450f(a)(2) (“[T]he Secretary shall, within ninety days after receipt of the proposal, approve the proposal and award the contract . . . .”). The regulations also recognize this distinction. 25 C.F.R. § 900.18 (“A proposal that is not declined within 90 days . . . is deemed approved and the Secretary shall award the contract . . . .”). It is undisputed that the Secretary did not decline the Tribe’s proposal within 90 days of either the October or February letters, but it also did not award a contract. As the government argued below and in its supplemental briefing to us, this case presents a pre-award dispute. Because the Secretary has not yet awarded the Tribe a contract, the Board properly dismissed this case for failure to state a claim. Engage Learning, 660 F.3d at 1353. YUROK TRIBE v. INTERIOR 13 The Tribe strains to argue that a contract has been awarded. The Tribe argues that a deemed approved Title I proposal “results in the award of a self-determination contract.” Appellant’s Supp. Br. at 1. It argues that approval and award are one in the same because the statute and regulations state that both must occur within 90 days. Id. at 2–3 (citing 25 U.S.C. § 450f(a)(2); 25 C.F.R. § 900.18). Even if the proposal was deemed approved after the Secretary failed to meet the 90-day deadline, however, the Secretary must still award a contract. That has not happened here, as demonstrated by the Tribe’s requests in this case. The Tribe prayed that the Board “[o]rder the Bureau to enter into a Title I contract,” J.A. 80, and asks us to remand the matter “for a determination of the terms of the deemed contract,” Appellant’s Br. at 37. These are requests for pre-award actions. In support of its argument that a contract arises as a matter of law, the Tribe points to two statements made by the Bureau. First, it identifies a letter from the Bureau in an unrelated case. In that letter, the Bureau stated that because a proposal was not declined within 90 days, the contract was deemed approved and it was not necessary for the contract to be signed to be effective. Appellant’s Supp. Br. at 3 (citing Del. Tribe of Indians v. Bureau of Indian Affairs, IBIA 02-65-A, at 10 (July 26, 2002), available at http://www.oha.doi.gov/IBIA/IbiaDecisions/isda/ 20020726-0265a.PDF)). From this statement, the Tribe argues that a deemed approved contract is awarded by operation of law. In context, however, the Bureau’s statement in that case distinguishes between approval and award: The Tribe submitted a proposed [Consolidated Tribal Government Program] contract on or about June 1, 2000. As you know, the contract was not declined within 90 days. Accordingly, the contract 14 YUROK TRIBE v. INTERIOR is deemed approved by operation of law. 25 U.S.C. § 450f(a)(2) and 25 C.F.R. § 900.18. On November 29, 2000, the Contracting Officer sent an award letter on your contract and shortly thereafter the full amount of funds requested un- der the contract were disbursed to the Tribe (with the exception of contract support funds which you have been assured will be disbursed to the Tribe when available). Under these circumstances, it is not necessary for your contract to be signed to be effective. Del. Tribe, IBIA 02-65-A, at 10 (emphasis added). It was not the approval that resulted in the contract being effective, it was the award and payment. Here, there was no award or payment to the Tribe. Second, the Tribe points to a handbook published by the Departments of the Interior and Health and Human Services that states that the “failure of agency personnel to act within the 90-day period . . . results in the award of a contract.” Appellant’s Supp. Br. at 4 (citing DOI/HHS INTERNAL HANDBOOK, at 39). Even if such a statement were binding on the government, the handbook does not state that a contract arises by operation of law or that a contract is awarded automatically. Rather, the statement emphasizes the importance of responding to proposals within 90 days because if a proposal is not declined, the Secretary will be required to award a contract. The use of the term “results” also indicates that the award occurs after, not concurrently with, the approval. Neither of these statements support the Tribe’s assertion that a deemed approved contract is awarded by operation of law. Even though the Board lacks authority to review this case as it is still a pre-award case, the Tribe is not without recourse. The Tribe’s case before the IBIA is pending and the Tribe acknowledges that the IBIA “retains jurisdiction over ‘pre-award decisions.’” Appellant’s Supp. Br. at 2. YUROK TRIBE v. INTERIOR 15