Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources
Native American Resources Committee
Highlights
Upcoming National Tribal Conference on Environmental Management
The Eighth National Tribal Conference on Environmental Management (NTCEM) will be held in Billings, MT, June 24th through June 26th, 2008. This major event includes a wide variety of session topics and provides training opportunities that benefit human health and protect the environment in Indian country. The 8th NTCEM is being co-sponsored by EPA and the Montana/Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council. Additional information available at: http://www.ntcem8.org/.
Posted 06/03/08
BIA Requests Nominations for the Tribal Energy Policy Advisory Committee
The Department of the Interior’s Assistant Secretary–Indian Affairs is forming a Tribal Energy Policy Advisory Committee. The Committee, which will consist of tribal officials and Federal representatives, will provide advice on implementing regulations promulgated under the Indian Tribal Energy Development and Self-Determination Act of 2005 and other Indian energy resource development matters. Nominations are requested by June 27, 2008, for tribal representatives from federally recognized Indian Tribes from all BIA regions except Alaska. Up to 11 tribal representatives will be selected. Additional information is available at 73 Fed. Reg. 27552 (May 13, 2008).
Posted 06/03/08
National Park Service’s Programmatic Agreement for Section 106 Compliance Open for Public Comment
The National Park Service (NPS) has been developing a new Nationwide Programmatic Agreement (PA) to address compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and implementing regulations. The PA will address activities within the national parks that may affect properties of historic or cultural significance. Comments on the new PA are due by June 20, 2008. Additional information is available at: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?parkId=461&projectId=13356&documentID=22916.
Posted 06/03/08
Polar Bear Declared a Threatened Species under the Endangered Species Act
On May 15, 2008, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published in the Federal Register notice that the polar bear would be listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The listing is based on the best available science, which shows that loss of sea ice threatens and will likely continue to threaten polar bear habitat. This loss of habitat puts polar bears at risk of becoming endangered in the foreseeable future, the standard established by the ESA for designating a threatened species. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is also proposing a 4(d) rule that states that if an activity is permissible under the stricter standards of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, it is also permissible under the ESA with respect to the polar bear. The Interim Final Rule for the polar bear under Section 4(d) of the ESA was also published in the Federal Register on May 15, 2008. Comments from interested parties will be accepted until July 14, 2008. Additional information is available at http://www.doi.gov/issues/polar_bears.html
Posted 06/03/08
EPA Launches New Tribal Portal Web site
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched the first-of-its-kind portal website to help the tribal community and the public find tribal environmental information and data through a single web-based access point. The new tribal portal site allows EPA to consolidate and share environmental information through a central, easy-to-navigate structure. Various EPA programs, such as enforcement, waste, underground storage tanks and water, are also consolidating their tribal information through this website. Visit the tribal portal: http://www.epa.gov/tribalportal/.
Posted 08/08/07
Federal Agencies Sign Agreements on Tribal Access to Water Infrastructure
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and four other federal agencies signed two important tribal infrastructure agreements to improve water infrastructure on tribal lands and focus efforts to increase access to safe drinking water and basic wastewater facilities to tribes. The first agreement promotes coordination between federal tribal infrastructure programs and financial services. The second agreement was created to improve access to safe drinking water and wastewater facilities on tribal lands. The agreements were signed by EPA, the Department of the Interior, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Additional information at: http://www.epa.gov/tribalportal/mous.htm.
Posted 08/08/07
Comments on the EPAct Section 1813 Report Available Online
Comments received by the Department of Interior and Department of Energy on the revised Draft Report to Congress: Energy Policy Act of 2005, Section 1813 Indian Land Rights-of-Way Study and accompanying appendix, Historic Rates of Compensation for Rights-of-Way Crossing Indian Lands, 1948-2006 are available online:
http://1813.anl.gov/documents/docs/draftcomments/index.cfm
Posted 04/09/07
The California Indian Energy Symposium; January 30 & 31
San Francisco State University, San Francisco
Program summary from the San Francisco State University website: http://www.sfsu.edu/~cies/
Rotating black-outs and questionable financial practices have made the energy crisis in California well-known. It has impacted virtually every aspect of California's legislative debates, economy, and development requirements and it continues to effect all aspects of debates over the immediacy of energy development needs and the long-term challenges for responsible use and conservation.
What is not well-understood is how these issues impact California Indian tribes. What challenges do the tribes confront in meeting their current energy needs and in planning responsibly for the future? What kinds of partnerships with state agencies and among tribes are currently available and possible? What specific conservation plans have been working for tribes in California and neighboring states? What kinds of renewable energy options and rebates are available from the state of California and federal agencies? How can tribes become better self-sufficient in their energy use, development, and conservation plans?
The California Indian Energy Symposium will address both the legal and economic issues confronting California Indians in light of not only state policy and programs but the national energy crisis. It will offer a forum for discussion about and practical assistance in tribal energy development, including attention to what is already working for tribes and what specific programs can be more fully taken advantage of by tribes.
The symposium will include an overview of pertinent national and state energy law to provide tribes with the legal and regulatory framework that they need to understand the energy arena in both the US and California. The symposium will also include a review of specific California state programs and opportunities that are available to tribes for renewable energy, conservation, and upgrades. Several representatives from state agencies will be present to discuss these programs and share their expertise on the practical options and funding available to tribes to generate electricity, secure funding and rebates for responsible energy use, and develop alternative energy sources. The overall goal of the symposium is to provide a forum for open discussion of energy issues and concrete assistance to tribes on responsible energy and economic energy related development.
Posted 01/16/04
Supreme Court Rules in Inyo County Case
Posted 05/22/03
Supreme Court Breach of Trust Cases
Press Release: New Mexico Files Brief In Inyo County Case
Attorney General Madrid and Governor Richardson Join U.S. Supreme Court Legal Battle
(Santa Fe, NM) New Mexico Attorney General Patricia Madrid and Governor Bill Richardson are filing a friend of the court brief before the U. S. Supreme Court in a case brought by a California Indian tribe against a California Sheriff's department. Joining New Mexico in this brief are Washington State Attorney General Christine Gregoire, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard and Montana Attorney General Michael McGrath.
"In New Mexico, the experience is one of Tribes and State and local authorities working together for the mutual benefit of all New Mexicans. The California law enforcement agency in this case raised a specter of Indian reservations becoming havens for criminals. Our legal brief informs the United States Supreme Court about the level of cooperation between Indian Tribes and the States of New Mexico, Washington, Arizona, and Montana with respect to law enforcement matters that cross state tribal borders. The experience of our states is in sharp contrast to the portrayal in the sheriff's brief. We must object to the sheriff's generalization from its experience with the Paiute-Shoshone Indians to other states. New Mexico's experience has been one of mutual respect between the State and Tribes," Attorney General Madrid said.
"It is important that the U.S. Supreme Court be told the whole story about tribal-state relations. In New Mexico, we do not use bolt cutters and search warrants against Indian tribes to conduct our criminal investigations," Governor Bill Richardson said. "We have had great success using intergovernmental agreements with Indian tribes to ensure that there is adequate law enforcement for all New Mexicans. We felt compelled to bring to the Supreme Court's attention the reality that states and tribes do work together cooperatively and share the same interest of protecting their citizens and bringing criminals to justice. The filing of this amicus curiae brief is unprecedented and long overdue. I am proud that New Mexico is at the forefront of this issue and that our sister states of Montana, Washington and Arizona have joined us."
Governor Denny Gutierrez, who is in his fourth term as Governor of the Pueblo of Santa Clara, said today that he had "nothing but praise and gratitude for the courageous action" by New Mexico Attorney General Patricia Madrid and Governor Bill Richardson in filing a brief on behalf of the State in the Inyo County case in the United States Supreme Court.
"The Supreme Court needs to hear from those states like New Mexico, that have established many constructive, positive relationships with the tribes within their borders by means of intergovernmental agreements, in the areas of law enforcement, assessment and collection of taxes, and others," said Santa Clara Pueblo Governor Denny Gutierrez. "I am very gratified that New Mexico has taken the lead among the states in undertaking this unprecedented filing, and I congratulate Attorney General Madrid and Governor Richardson. And I am confident that this gesture will not only be highly persuasive to the Court, but also will greatly improve state-tribal relations in New Mexico for some time to come, as it demonstrates that New Mexico really takes its relationships with the tribes seriously."
Santa Ana Pueblo Governor Myron Armijo said "We are amazed and very pleased at the truly historic action of Attorney General Patricia Madrid and Gov. Bill Richardson, in taking the lead in filing this brief," Gov. Armijo said. "Although we have certainly had our differences with the State from time to time, it is true that New Mexico has been a leader in dealing with the Tribes within its borders on a government-to-government basis, and that attitude of mutual respect has ultimately been to the benefit of all New Mexicans."
"The Pueblo of Laguna applauds this historic gesture by the State of New Mexico in support of tribal sovereignty and constructive tribal-state relations. The State's brief strongly demonstrates that the State of New Mexico understands that is better for all of us when we work together on issues of mutual concern," said Governor Roland Johnson of the Pueblo of Laguna.
The case before the U.S. Supreme Court is Inyo County v. Paiute-Shoshone Indians.
Posted 03/05/03
Distinguishing the Supreme Court decision in Dept. of the Interior v. Klamath Water Users Assn., 532 U.S. 1 (2001), a U.S. Magistrate Judge in New Mexico ruled on December 2nd that documents prepared by a BIA consultant in connection with an adjudication of Indian reserved rights were exempt from disclosure under Exemption 5 of the Freedom of Information Act. Ruling for the court in Citizens Progressive Alliance v. Bureau of Indian Affairs, Civ. No. 01-1044, the judge found that the documents qualified as inter-agency or intra-agency documents within the meaning of FOIA Exemption 5, and that the sharing of these documents by a Justice Dept. attorney with an attorney for the Southern Ute Tribe did not waive any privileges, including the attorney-cleint privilege. To View the full version of this case via pdf
Indian law experts panel discuss breach of trust cases
Posted 01/13/03
U.S. v. Navajo Nation and U.S. v. White Mountain Apache Tribe in the U.S. Supreme Court: When is the Government Liable for Breach of Trust in the Management of Indian-Owned Natural Resources?
On December 3, 2002, the ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, Native American Resources Committee partnered with the Georgetown University Law Center and the D.C. Chapter of the Native American Bar Association to present a web cast Program. This webcast can be viewed from the Georgetown University Law Center web site at http://www.law.georgetown.edu/sci/events/2002/1203/.
President Bush Proclaims November National American Indian Heritage Month
Posted 11/15/02
Skull Valley - Environ Justice Decision
On October 1, 2002, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ruled that the 1994 Executive Order on Environmental Justice may not be raised by tribal dissidents to oppose a license application on the ground that the tribal leadership is not fairly distributing the revenues from the project to be licensed. The NRC held: "Our agency's environmental decision-making under NEPA does not require us to intervene in what is, at bottom, a political dispute inside the Skull Valley Band." The Commission also held that the fact that the Skull Valley Band intervened in the licensing proceeding did not waive its tribal sovereign immunity.
Posted 10/31/02
Norton Summit on Tribal Economies
Posted 9-25-02
