# Notice for Public Comment on Administration for Native Americans' Program Policies and Procedures
**AGENCY:**
Administration for Native Americans (ANA), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
**ACTION:**
Notice for public comment.
**SUMMARY:**
ANA is required to provide members of the public an opportunity to comment on proposed changes in interpretive rules and general statements of policy and to give notice of the proposed changes no less than 30 days before such changes become effective. ANA herein describes proposed interpretive rules and general statements of policy that relate to ANA's Notices of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs) in fiscal year (FY) 2026.
**DATES:**
Comments are due by April 20, 2026. If ANA does not receive substantial comments within the 30-day comment period, ANA will proceed with the proposed changes in the respective published NOFOs. The NOFOs will serve as the final notice of these proposed changes.
**ADDRESSES:**
Comments may be submitted to: Carmelia Strickland, Administration for Native Americans, 330 C Street SW, Washington, DC 20201 or via email to: *[email protected].*
**FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:**
Carmelia Strickland, Administration for Native Americans, 330 C Street SW, Washington, DC 20201 or via email to: *[email protected].*
**SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:**
Section 814 of the Native American Programs Act of 1974 (NAPA), as amended (42 U.S.C. 2992b-1), incorporates provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act that require ANA to provide notice of its proposed interpretive rules and statements of policy and to seek public comment on such proposals. This notice serves to fulfill the statutory notice and public comment requirement. The proposed interpretive rules, statements of policy, and rules of ANA practice and procedure reflected in new text will appear in the FY 2026 NOFOs for Economic Advancement Grants for Local Empowerment (EAGLE), AI <sup>3</sup> Action Institute—Artificial Intelligence for American Indians (AI <sup>3</sup> Action Institute), and the National Center for Native Training and Technical Assistance (NCNTTA). There will be no significant changes to the following ANA NOFOs: Environmental Regulatory Enhancement; Native American Language Preservation and Maintenance-Esther Martinez Immersion; and Native American Language Preservation and Maintenance.
*Interpretive rules, statements of policy, procedures, and practice.* The proposals in this subsection reflect ANA's proposed updates in rules, policy, or procedure that will take effect in the FY 2026 EAGLE NOFO, AI <sup>3</sup> Action Institute NOFO, and NCNTTA NOFO
**1. Programmatic Update**
A. The Social and Economic Development Strategies (SEDS) and SEDS-Alaska (SEDS-AK) NOFOs will be replaced by EAGLE and the AI <sup>3</sup> Action Institute. This will not impact any existing SEDS or SEDS-AK awards.
The EAGLE NOFO will reflect the Administration's pro-growth agenda, strengthen both socioeconomic and cultural success, and bridge ANA's past with new approaches and opportunities to empower communities and underwrite self-determination. EAGLE will place a greater emphasis on economic development, a priority that was identified at numerous conferences ANA attended in 2025 and reinforced during ANA's 2025 Tribal Economic Development Consultation. EAGLE will embrace thoughtful human capital development, strategic infrastructure reform, family stability efforts, and innovative business creation. EAGLE will include greenhouses to promote healthy diets. It will focus on welding skills to boost employability and reduce high unemployment. It will help native communities adopt microgrids to boost energy reliability and help underpin socioeconomic development. It will embrace tribal elder mentorship of youth to promote success in education, strengthen the future workforce, and boost cultural rootedness. Moreover, EAGLE will further self-determination by accepting project proposals conceptualized by native communities. The EAGLE NOFO will be the intersection of native communities' needs and priorities, ANA's commitment to self-determination, and Administration priorities. EAGLE is a strategic empowerment framework with multiple project areas (PAs), and applicants will be allowed to apply to one or more PAs.
The AI <sup>3</sup> Action Institute will empower native communities by facilitating the adoption of cutting-edge technologies. The recipient of this award will support tribes by reducing the AI learning curve; identifying the best technologies and facilitating deployment; optimize benefits of AI; and acting as a knowledge manager to accumulate lessons learned.
B. ANA will consolidate four existing Training and Technical Assistance (TTA) contracts into a single cooperative agreement, which will enable integration of services, strengthen the quality and impact of TTA delivered, by creating a unified, more agile framework for delivering TTA services. This change will focus TTA support to strengthen recipient capacity, performance, and sustainability. For ANA, the cooperative agreement will enhance operational integration, reduce administrative burden, provide cost savings, and more efficiently respond to the Administration priorities. It will also increase flexibility to respond to the needs of ANA's community of grant recipients. This structure will increase oversight, improve quality and outcomes, and support a more agile and sustainable operational framework that is not possible under a traditional contract.
**Eligibility and Funding Information**
A. ANA intends to fully fund FY 2026 EAGLE awards for 3 years, and the new NOFO will be comprised of multiple PAs included below.
• Seventh-Generation Greenhouses ($800,000 ceiling per award)
○ Increase the quantity and quality of food.
○ Decrease the cost of high-quality foods.
○ Promote healthy diets and good nutritional habits.
○ Provide a weatherproof way of producing food.
○ Foster business creation through produce sales.
○ Promote regenerative agriculture.
• Microgrids ($1,000,000 ceiling per award)
○ Increase energy reliability while reducing costs.
○ Boost tribal and Native community resilience.
○ Promote economic growth.
○ Underwrite tribal energy independence.
○ Provide continuity of energy services in the event of a disaster or disruption.
• Welders to Elders ($500,000 ceiling per award)
○ Promote job growth.
○ Promote personal and professional growth.
○ Disrupt negative cycles linked to high unemployment.
○ Provide individuals with a sense of purpose and direction.
○ Build community resilience.
• Tradition in Action—A Native Elder Program ($500,000 ceiling per award)
○ Boost academic and cultural education.
○ Support intergenerational knowledge transfer and cultural rootedness.
○ Increase more productive and invested community members.
○ Establish additional community-centered activities for elders.
○ Establish long-horizon leadership pipelines.
• Indigenous Designs to Empower and Advance Self-Determination (IDEAS) ($900,000 ceiling per award)
○ Native communities will design projects that identify their community's most pressing needs and the proposed responses.
Applicants may apply for this award even if they have an active ANA award for SEDS or SEDS-AK.
ANA intends to fully fund the FY 2026 AI <sup>3</sup> Action Institute at $3,500,000 (ceiling).
B. ANA intends to fund one FY 2026 NCNTTA cooperative agreement with incremental funding for a 36-month project period with three 12-month budget periods. The total funding for the NCNTTA cooperative agreement is $3,100,000 (ceiling).
**2. Changes to Required Application Requirements**
A. The following PAs will be included in the NOFO: PA 1: Seventh Generation Greenhouses; PA 2: Microgrids; PA 3: Welders to Elders; PA 4: Tradition in Action—A Native Elder Program; and PA 5: Indigenous Designs to Empower and Advance Self-Determination. Applicants will be required to include information on how they plan to sustain the project after the federal funding ends.
B. The NCNTTA cooperative agreement will focus on three capacity building service pillars. The first pillar will provide Comprehensive Capacity Building Services, which includes sharing resources and developing tools to strengthen organizational and programmatic capacity and support sustainability. The second pillar is Focused Capacity Building Services, which will promote knowledge sharing and build networks among ANA award recipients and their partners. The third pillar is Customized Capacity Building Services, which will provide tailored TTA through customized plans.
Applications will be accepted from both for-profit and non-profit entities that satisfy the eligibility criteria set forth in the TTA NOFO.
*Statutory Authority:* Sections 803, 804, and 814 of NAPA, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2991b, 2991c, 2992b-1).
Hope MacDonald Lone Tree,
Deputy Commissioner, Administration for Native Americans, Administration for Children and Families.