JOY WIECKSFOND DU LAC AIR QUALITY TECHNICIAN

EPA’S “WORKING EFFECTIVELY WITH TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS” TRAINING

JUNE 19, 2014

Tribal Air Quality Programs

Location, Fond du Lac Reservation

Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa

Roughly 4,400 Band members, with 1,500 living on the Reservation

Reservation is 100,000 contiguous acres - heavily wooded, with many wetlands. Has 108 water bodies, including 843 acres of wild rice waters

5-member Tribal Council elected to staggered four-year terms

Band has two casinos, a hotel complex with a golf course, various enterprises

FdL (Continued)

Resource Mgmt Division: Forestry, Wildlife, Natural Resources, Environmental

Ceded Territories covers another 8 million acres

Local industry includes: taconite (iron ore) mines; pulp and paper facilities; shipping and rail; natural gas and oil pipelines; EGU’s; refinery; traffic from major highway; unpaved roads

Resource Management Building

Netting

Sturgeon Study

Sturgeon Release

Baby Sturgeon

Wild Rice Harvest

Winter Moose Survey

Moose, Ceded Territories

Water Quality Studies

Stream Shocking

What Tribes Do Under AQ Programs

Complete emission inventories

Monitor ambient airReview and comment on

local permits and Environmental Impact Statements

Review proposed regulatory actions

Perform educational outreach

Serve on committees and workgroups

Continued, Tribal AQ Programs

Perform on-Reservation special studies

Expand authorities on-Reservation (permitting, TIPs, etc)

Designate attainment/non-attainment on Reservations

Do on-Reservation Indoor Air Quality work

Work on climate change adaptation plans

Why Do Tribes Pursue Environmental Quality?

Protect on- and off-Reservation resources for cultural, religious, and substance purposes

To build Self-determinationExpand authorities and

build capacityTo supplement tribal

economic development plans

FdL AQ Program

We have two staff members, sharing 1.8 FTE

Have completed an emission inventory Monitoring Program: currently monitor

mercury deposition and ozone. In the past, PM2.5, NADP, NOx, dioxin

Doing a short-term monitoring study on emissions from bus idling

Active in: permit review, EIS review, regulatory review, regional haze, greenhouse gas mitigation, mercury issues

Work on state, local, regional, national workgroups

Have experience in indoor air quality (lead, radon, mold, secondhand smoke, asthma triggers)

Tribal Air Programs Today

There are 117 tribal air programs receiving support from EPA

There are 78 tribes performing monitoring with 52 of them reporting to AQS

Twenty-two tribes are performing toxics programs in their communities

Fifty-seven tribes have completed Reservation emission inventories, with 13 more underway

Thirty-two TAS’s and 2 Tribal TIP’s have been approved

Tribes have visible involvement in some RPO’s and on the CAAAC

National Tribal Air Association

Challenges Facing Tribal Air Programs

Stagnant funding or loss of “project” funding

Some tribes have jurisdictional and/or political issues with surrounding states

In rural areas it can be hard to attract/keep technically trained staff

Small staff trying to do everythingTraining is available, but limited

Communicating with Tribal Air Staff

We like to cast a broad netSometimes we don’t know what we want

to be notified about til we hear about itTechnically, important communication

should go the Tribal Chair, but…Please carbon copy environmental staffInstitute for Tribal Environmental

Professionals/National Tribal Air Assoc. are great contacts

OAQPS/Regions/Tribal Contacts also very good at this

Continued…

For many tribes, air staff qualified to do “information” calls, not “consultation”

Often we are more concerned with effects on the environment than economics or mandates

But economics are a concern, tooWe would rather be informed about

too many items than too few

For More Information

www.ntaatribalair.orgwww4.nau.edu/itepwww.epa/gov/air/tribal/backgrnd.htmlwww.epa.gov/indian/www.epa/gov/aieo/

Conclusions

Consult early and often

Be respectfulUnderstand our

resource limitationsRemember unique

legal statusRemember what we

want to protect