Qualifications_of_Applicants.docx

BLM Cultural Resource Use Permitting: Qualifications of Applicants (BLM Manual 8150)

Qualifications of Applicant.

Applications shall be reviewed by an appropriately qualified cultural resource specialist to determine whether or not applicants are adequately qualified for work proposed, except that among criteria in .12B, only the requirement to name a project administrator qualified to obligate the applicant organization shall apply to an application filed by the Governor for a permit on behalf of the State (16 U.S.C. 470cc(j)). Applicants may be disqualified on the basis of failure to meet qualifying criteria, which may include documented history of inadequate performance under a previous permit (e.g., revocation for cause). Similarly, individuals named in applications may be excluded from a permit or have their intended roles changed for insufficient qualifications or documented inadequate performance under a previous permit (see .33C).

a. Organizational Qualifications. Applications must show the applicant's organizational capability to accomplish work of the type and scope proposed. An organizational resume or summary of organizational experience should be submitted to provide the following minimum information:

1. Statement of applicant's organizational ability to accomplish work, including:

(a) Location(s) of facilities and equipment.

(b) Description of facilities and equipment.

(c) Organizational structure and staffing.

(d) Specification of which and to what extent facilities, equipment, and staff listed would be involved in the proposed work.

2. Statement of applicant's organizational history in completing type of work proposed, including:

(a) Similar past projects.

(b) Past Government contracts.

(c) Selected bibliography of project or contract reports and/or publications resulting from (a) and (b).

(d) Federal permits held in the last 3 years, effective dates of permits currently in force, and applications pending or planned (information on current permits and applications is important for interagency or intrabureau coordination under .2).

3. Other pertinent organizational experience, such as research and special studies.

4. If the applicant is a newly formed entity, any information that might take the place of information about similar past projects and past Government contracts should be provided. In such cases, individual capabilities of personnel will carry greater weight in evaluation of organizational qualifications. Lack of an organizational history should not be the principal factor in a recommendation for permit denial.

b. Individual Qualifications.

1. Permit Administrator. Applications must show the name of the individual proposed to be responsible for carrying out the conditions of the permit and otherwise complying with legal requirements applicable to the permitted activity. This individual must be legally empowered to obligate the applicant organization and must sign the application and other official correspondence such as permit amendments. Unless this individual is also named under 12B2b(2) or (3), this individual need not be professionally qualified as a field investigator.

2. Principal Investigator. Applications must include the name of any individual(s) proposed to be responsible for planning, supervising, and overseeing field projects, including responsibility for the professional quality of evaluations and recommendations.

Principal investigators shall have primary accountability for technical completeness and competence of work conducted under the permit. They shall be responsible for development of work plans and/or research designs, for performance of crew chiefs, for selection standards and limitations on work assignments of crew members, for analysis and interpretation of field data, for integration of fieldwork results into comparative regional perspectives, and for preparation of reports. For each such individual, information must be included with the application to demonstrate that the individual has achieved the following:

(a) Adequate professional instruction. This may be obtained in either of the following two ways:

(i) Formal education resulting in a graduate degree in the appropriate discipline.

(ii) Formal education resulting in a bachelor's degree in the appropriate discipline for the permitted activity plus at least 24 months of professionally supervised experience including similar duties as proposed in the application.

(b) Competence in theory and methods, and in recording, collecting, handling, analyzing, evaluating, and reporting cultural property data, relative to the type and scope of work proposed.

(c) Ability to plan, equip, staff, organize, and supervise activity of the type and scope proposed.

(d) Ability to carry research to completion, as evidenced by timely completion of theses, research reports, and similar documents.

(e) Completion of at least 16 months of professional cultural resource management experience including similar duties as proposed in the application. This experience must include at least 4 months of experience with comparable cultural resources in similar cultural contexts and environmental settings. The State Director may reduce the 4-month geographical experience requirement, as appropriate, if the proposed work is a narrow technical study independent of culture or location, such as research focused on a particular aspect of lithic technology. If equivalency is claimed under .12B2b(2)(a)(ii), the 16 months of experience required in this paragraph is to be included in, not in addition to, the required 24 months.

3. Crew Chief. Applications must include the name of any individual(s) proposed to be responsible for carrying out field projects. Crew chiefs shall be responsible for the technical quality of field work, for the direct on-the-ground supervision of all aspects of field work and data gathering, for proposing resource evaluations and recommendations for further treatment, and for preparing field records and descriptive reports. For each such individual, information must be included with the application to demonstrate that the individual has achieved the following:

(a) Adequate professional instruction, obtained in either of the following two ways:

(i) Formal education resulting in a baccalaureate degree in appropriate discipline (anthropology/archaeology, history, architecture) and at least 12 months of pertinent professionally supervised experience, with increasing responsibility leading to duties similar to those proposed in the application.

(ii) Equivalent training and experience, including at least 30 months of professionally supervised experience including increasing responsibilities leading up to responsibilities equivalent to those proposed in the application.

(b) Competence in recording, collecting, handling, analyzing, evaluating, and reporting cultural property data, relative to the type and scope of work proposed.

(c) Demonstrated ability to supervise activity of the type and scope proposed.

(d) Completion of at least 4 months of professional cultural resource management experience with comparable cultural resources in similar cultural contexts and environmental settings. This may be part of the experience required in .12B2b(3)(a)(i) and (ii).

4. Individual qualifications can be documented by information such as the following, with greater weight being given to field experience that corresponds to work proposed in the application:

(a) Survey and excavation reports of cultural resource management or Section 106 (or other compliance) projects that the individual carried out or supervised.

(b) National Register documentation based on the individual's field work, resulting in property listings or determinations of eligibility.

(d) Publications including articles in professional journals, monographs, books, or chapters in edited books, related to the preservation of cultural properties.

(c) Materials such as presentations, booklets, brochures, lesson plans, or videos that interpret the results of the individual's cultural resource investigations for the general public.

(e) Presentations at regional, national, or international professional conferences related to the preservation of cultural properties.

(f) Professional service on boards or committees of regional, national, or international professional organizations concerned with the preservation of cultural properties.

(g) Awards, research grants, research fellowships, or invitations to teaching posts.

5. The same individual may be proposed to perform any combination of permit administrator, principal investigator, and crew chief duties; if evidence is submitted to show that all pertinent qualifications are met for those position.