Tribes and Federal Facilities
Key Tribal Links
EPA's American Indian Environmental Office
coordinates the agency-wide effort to strengthen public health and environmental protection in Indian Country, with a special
emphasis on building tribal capacity to administer environmental programs.
Department of Defense (DoD) Activites and Native American Environmental Tracking System tracks information regarding DoD environmental impacts on tribal lands.
Department of Energy (DOE) State and Tribal Working Group ensures facilities are cleaned-up in compliance with all laws and tribal rights are met.
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Tribal Affairs Office strives to address environmental health issues unique to tribes.
Tribal governments have distinct roles in cleanups of federal facilities under treaties with the U.S. government. Accordingly, FFRRO works in partnership with tribal governments, both at the facility level and at the national policy-making level. The framework for FFRRO tribal involvement is a tribal strategy that is designed to address the needs of and mitigate impacts to American Indian tribes, including Alaskan Native villages, living on or near federal facilities. It includes:
- Working with tribes on a government-to-government basis consistent with EPA's trust responsibility to protect tribal health and environments.
- Involving tribes in the cleanup process through meaningful dialogue that respects the unique needs of each community.
- Developing partnerships that will enhance capacity and participation in the environmental decision-making process at federal facilities.
Communication with Tribes
An important focus of the tribal strategy is improved communication with American Indians living on or near federal facilities regarding
progress made throughout the environmental restoration process. To strengthen this communication, FFRRO is working to involve tribes
in the cleanup process through various forums. Talking Stick (PDF) (2 pp, 113K,
About PDF) is a general brochure about EPA's involvement at federal facilities sites around Indian Country.
Technical Assistance to Tribes
Technical Outreach Services for Native American Communities (TOSNAC)
provides technical assistance to American Indians dealing with federal facilities cleanup issues. This program is national in scope
and coordinated through the Haskell Environmental Research Studies Center at Haskell Indian Nations University. It provides first contact, needs assessment,
initial support and long-term technical support.
National Tribal Organizations
National Tribal Environmental Council (NTEC)
is a national tribal organization that provides outreach and conducts research on a variety of hazardous substance contamination
issues that impact tribes.