NTEC Holds National Forum
THimFields,
JL Jr., Acting
Assistant Administra-
tor for the EPA's
Office of Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (OSWER),
led the OSWER
senior management
team to Albuquerque,
NM to participate in
the National Tribal
Environmental
Council's (NTEC)
National Forum to
Discuss Impediments
to the Implementation
of Waste Programs,
February 10-11,
1998. The forum
was held in response
to a recommendation
made by the Waste and Facility Siting
Subcommittee of the National Envi-
ronmental Justice Advisory Council
(NEJAC) in FY 96. The Waste and
Facility Siting Subcommittee recom-
mended that OSWER arrange a
discussion between tribes and EPA
senior management focused on waste
management issues in Indian Country.

Over 250 participants registered for
this meeting, including: Kathy
Gorospe, Director of the EPA Ameri-
can Indian Environmental Office
(AIEO); senior managers from the six
OSWER programs; OSWER Tribal
Program staff; representatives from
"/ believe EPA has entered into a
new era; a new era in terms of
how we will work together to
engage in a collaborative,
decision-making process, not
telling people how we are going
to do things, but working together
to develop solutions to these
problems."
Tim Fields, Jr., 2/10/98
the EPA Regional
offices; and represen-
tatives from the
Bureau of Indian
Affairs (BIA) and
Indian Health Service
(IMS). Meeting
participants were also
treated to an unplanned
address by Assistant
Secretary for Indian
Affairs, Kevin Gover,
who stopped by after
lunch on the first day
to convey his under-
standing of the issues
and to pledge en-
hanced BIA participa-
tion in waste manage-
ment, despite the
challenges imposed by
BIA budget issues.
The timing of the national forum could
not have been better, following up on
the Tribal Operations Committee
(TOC) - Tribal Caucus' FY 99 budget
request, which identified waste
management as the second highest
environmental priority in Indian
Country. In response to the Tribal
Caucus' priority of waste issues and in
anticipation of additional resources for
waste programs on tribal lands,
OSWER developed a Draft Strategy
for Implementing Waste Programs
on Tribal Lands for FY 98-99 to
articulate the program's direction. In
Continued on page 7
pVelcome
Eau Kola! I hope that this ninth issue
of the Native American Network finds;
rpli in good spirits. Spring 1998 is packed
ctivity in Indian Country, with
Jjsejings, conferences and U.S. Senate field
learings on tribal sovereignty.
,t the .QQIS. of activity is what tribes are
ioing to exercise their powers as sovereign
f|6vernments. The theme for the Fourth
iNational Tribal Conference on Environ-
|Ijlehtal Management is "Promoting
gppigth, Unity and Self-Determination to
f]|rotect Indian Country." From May 19-
§§ 1,1998, government and community
pgpresentatives will focus on what tribes
^p, doing to protect citizens hi Indian
Country, sharing experiences from the past
nplyears of the EPA-Tribal relationship "_
!ln
-------
Compliance Assistance Centers
Offering Small Business Environmental Information
Small businesses face so many
challenges — not the least of
which is complying with environmental
requirements. Many small businesses
want to comply with the law, but don't
know where to begin. That, in a
nutshell, is the rationale behind EPA's
efforts — in cooperation with industry,
tribes, states, universities and other
groups—to develop Compliance
Assistance Centers.

Five of these "virtual" Centers are
already underway, covering agricul-
ture, automotive service and repair,
metal finishing, printing, and printed
wiring boards. Several more Centers
are scheduled to open later this year to
handle the compliance needs of local
governments, the chemical industry,
paints and coatings, and transportation.

Each Center offers a range of com-
munications services, including Web
sites, e-mail groups, fax-back sys-
tems, and old-fashioned telephone
assistance lines. What kinds of
information are available through the
Centers? The Web sites offer easy-
to-understand summaries and plain
English versions of federal regulations
that apply to the industry; the latest
regulatory actions; recent guidance
documents and other publications;
compliance tools (such as platers'
calculators for metal finishers);
pollution prevention techniques and
case studies; and links and lists of
Compliance Assistance Centers
Up andliunning:

Metal Finishing:
National Metal Finishing Resource Center
www.nmfre.org
* pi 1 1 i,1 ill1"'"" '" ' '' it MI
i.i; ..... l| ........................ . ......... II III | j 1 1 I 1 1 I „ In
Automotive Service and Repair:
...... :: , : ..... ppCAR-Grcei}linkife:'theAuitomot've
3 '•' - ........ i!! ..... ........... bompjiance Information Assistance Center
. ...... jiit" -.i ...... • www.ccar-greenlink.org
I-S88-GRN-UNK(476-5465)
......... •" ........... ;• ........... j ..... t ........ !| ........... ............. • .......... •• ........... ..........
-"'.,, ....' Printing:
• ..... "/ ..... t . ...... ^ Printer's National Compliance Assistance
..... .......... ....... "' ..... ~ ..... ....... 1 " .......... ....... ""
!|| :; ;,; '" 'Agriculture:
" V;;; |'* Hitjonal AgncuftuFe^inpiianc e" Xs'sis-
in "'-. " tance Center
www,epa.gov/oeca/ag/aghmpg.html
l-888-&>3-2155or913-55l-7207
:,: I:; in
Printed Wiring Boards:
Printed Wiring Board Resource Center
www.pwbrc.org

Coming Soon;

'! CheniAlu'ance: The Compliance Assis-
tance Center lor^the Chemical Industry
"^EmilyChow,2(S-564-7071 "" ^m^_

Local GovernmentEnvironmental
Assistance Network
JohnDombrowski, 202-564-7036 .

Paints and Coatings Resource Center
"Contact through HMFRC (www.nnifrc.org)

Transportation Compliance Assistance
Center ',,'. " ", '",. 1
www.epa.gov/oeca/tcac/lcac.litml (test site)
VirginiaLathrop, 202-564-7057
useful contacts in state environmental
agencies and elsewhere.

Several of the Centers are experi-
menting with other resources that their
member companies would find helpful.
These include:

• Vendor listings and directories;

• Environmental management
software and benchmarking tools
that can be downloaded from the
Internet;

• "Expert help desk" features that
allow a small business person to
type in compliance questions and
be guided to information that can
help;

• "Virtual shops" that allow a user
to click on any facet of an opera-
tion and see what regulations
apply; and

• Online access to relevant state
regulations.

EPA staff are pleased with how well
the Centers are catching on within the
trades and hope that over time other
industries will step forward to create
similar resources. LynnVendinello,
program manager at EPA, notes, "The
Centers have the potential to change
the way that small businesses relate to
the environment. Not only do they
help small businesses comply with
environmental regulations, they also
make it quite painless to locate and
understand the necessary informa-
tion." For more information on the
Centers, contact Lynn Vendinello
at 202-564-7066, vendinello.lynn
@epamail.epa.gov.
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.."SV^^Sfe.*^ MJ
l*rjr $ r.
*"» '1?ivtk> ^ * f^fA^M^", ».*•.«« \ ; "^e-'wl t'-fc,
1 "i
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Nunagpet/Chugachmiut Environmental
Protection Consortium (CEPC)
rT"'he Nunagpet/Chugachmiut
X Environmental Protection Consor-
tium is a coalition of seven Alaska
native villages and two Alaska Native
Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA)
corporations located in the Cook Inlet
and Prince William Sound regions.
Representatives from each village and
from the Cook Inlet and ANCSA " _
corporations make up the CEPC
board, which plans environmental
strategies and develops regulations for
the region. CEPC recently signed a
Memorandum of Agreement (MO A)
with the Alaska Department of
Environmental Conservation and EPA
Region 10 to devise and implement
environmental work plans that address
numerous environmental concerns,
including solid waste management.

CEPC was instrumental in the devel-
opment of household hazardous waste
(HHW) storage facilities near comnm-:
nity landfills. Community members"
are encouraged to drop off HHW
materials such as paint cans, batteries,
and used oil, which are safely stored
until they can be transported to an
appropriate disposal facility in Anchor-
age. In addition, CEPC distributed
"green cleaning kits" to the communi-
ities of Chenega, Tatitlek, Port Gra-
ham, and Nanwalek. The kits con-
\T " • . - ' • • - -
tained cleaning products that are
better for the. health of the; conimuriity
and the environment than commercial
cleaning products. Products in the kit
included baking soda and liquid castile
soap, which can be used for sink, tub,
.. and,tQil§t;clearier; and vinegar, which
can be combined with water ,and;used
as a window,or floor cleaner.. Volun-
teers from the communities distributed
the kits to individual! personally,
explaining the importance of reducing
household waste's,.- -• ;'*
- •Vt'"' ''
CEP^Qfupports three environmental
. health professionals who develop and
lead environmental programs and
educational workshops for CEPC
member communities. The commu-
nity of Eyak, with educator Kate
Williams, has established a clothes
recycling program, including a semian-
nual clothing swap. Eyak is also
researching antifreeze recycling.

Initiating recycling programs poses a
considerable challenge for all
Chugachmiut native villages, because
recyclables must be transported to the
Anchorage Recycling Center, which
ships or flies the recyclables to Seattle
for processing. .Since native villages
'spenct most recycling revenue on
:^transportation costs, they need a
significant commitment from commu-
nity members to remain viable. The
success of CEPC's recycling pro-
grams reflects a commitment to
environmental protection on the part of
these Alaska native villagers.

CEPC's Declaration of Intent covers
all aspects of environmental protection
for the region and provides a firm
foundation for expanding solid waste

Continued on page 8
Publications and Resources Available continued from page 3
into such an agreement. The tip
sheet provides a list of other
partnership resources and a case
study describing the partnership of
the Eastern Band of Cherokee
Indians with Swain County, North
Carolina.

Also available from EPA's Office of
Solid Waste (OSW) is the Municipal
Solid Waste Factbook. The
Factbook is available on the Internet
or as a stand-alone application and
contains a wealth of data on municipal
solid waste and its management. It
offers national and international data
on waste prevention, recycling, waste-
to-energy combustion, and land
disposal. Extensive data on state solid
waste management programs also are
included. To view the Internet version
or download the application, visit
www.epa.gov/factbook. To order the
application on diskette (EPA530-C-97-
001), contact the RCRA Hotline as
described below. The application
version requires an IBM-compatible
computer equipped with a mouse and
Microsoft Windows.

All RCRA publications are available at
no charge from EPA. You can call
the RCRA Hotline at 800-424-9346 or
(TDD 800-553-7672 forbearing
impaired). When ordering, please
mention the order number for each
publication you wish to receive. You
can also order documents by sending
an e-mail request to rcra-docket
@epamail.epa.gov or a postal mail
request to RCRA Information Center
(5305W), U.S. EPA, 401 M Street,
SW, Washington, D.C. 20460. Finally,
many more documents from OSW can
be viewed on the Internet at EPA's
Office of Solid Waste web site
www.epa.gov/osw.
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OSWER UPDATE. . .TASWER Launch Underway
Only a few steps remain to com-
plete the startup of the Tribal
Association on Solid Waste and
Emergency Response (TASWER).
This association, chartered in July
1997, opens another avenue for tribal
involvement in Federal legislative and
regulatory actions. TASWER will
enhance tribes' understanding of EPA
regulations and help tribal govern-
ments be more effective partners in
environmental protection. The
Association's organization is patterned
on the Association of State and
Territorial Solid Waste Management
Officials (ASTSWMO). Since our
report in the September 1997 newslet-
ter, TASWER has continued to build
its organization.

TASWER is guided by an eight-
member interim Board of Directors,
chaired by Cassidy Williams, Chair-
man of the Walker River Paiute Tribe
(NV), and a steering committee. The
steering committee includes one
representative from nine of the ten
EPA Regions. It has adopted a
mission statement, approved and
initiated items on a six-step action
plan, and approved goals for
TASWER. Some key goals include:

• Establish a staff of experts to
provide technical and legal
services;

• Act as an information hub to
include a database and clearing-
house, information on funding and
program opportunities, a network
of tribal programs, and a research
center with technically advanced
computer equipment;

• Assist tribes in drafting tribal solid
waste and emergency response
regulations that incorporate tribal
definitions and culture;
VON STATEMENT.^
- '' •• •' •"" ' *
ie Tribal Association on Solid ;
(Waste and Emergency Response '(
TASWER) recognizes and advo-
iglgllhe^sovereign relationship of 4
;all tribal nations with the U.S.
overnment and is proactively
'olved in the national decisipn-
:g and regulatory process, :
airing tribal participation on an I
|pual level and as decision-makers )
JSlLall solid waste and emergency
tresponse issues.
Seek cooperation from other
Federal agencies on tribal solid
waste and emergency response
issues; and

Create partnerships among tribes,
states, and local governments.
pending as a 501(c)(6) organization
under the Internal Revenue Code to
permit the Association to engage in
certain lobbying activities. When the
membership is established, the mem-
bers will elect a full board of 12
directors. Americans for Indian
Opportunity, Inc. (AIO) secured initial
funding for the Association and
recently acquired temporary office
space with the law firm of Hobbs,
Straus, Dean, and Walker in Washing-
ton, D.C.

Following a nationwide search,
TASWER anticipates having an
executive director in place by spring
1998. The executive director will be
charged with assembling a staff
including environmental and legal
experts, promoting the Association,
and building the membership base.
TASWER will be a membership,
nonprofit organization. Certification is
Voting membership is open to all
Federally-recognized tribal govern-
ments. For more information on
TASWER, visit the AIO Web site at
http://indiannet.indian.com/
taswer.html.
EPA to Hold Meeting on Water Quality

Standards: Criteria and Implementation
The meeting is open to anyone inter-
ested.in water quality-based pollution
control, incWdingrepresentatiyes'from _
States, Indiajijjibes, Federal agencies,
EPA's Office of Water (OW) will
hold a meeting August 24-28,
:9J, in Philadelphia, PA at the
gpjjjladelphia Marriott Convention
Matel. The objective of the meeting is
,f to provide for an exchange of scien-
|itifie, technical and policy information
fggn water quality standards, water
«.quality criteria, and implementation,
(•' including water quality-based permit-
rfing. The meeting will focus on the
"" .Quality Criteria and Stan-
Plan, a vision and strategy for
|i|ttpqrtant new initiatives to improve
iyv|ttl?quality, better protect human
|^alth,(aijd,mamt|in and enhance the
Kq^lity of the nation's water.
i.- • i.r.,... «. ... ,„„.., ,
environmentaljgrougs, industrial
'"
community and others. There is no
cost to attend this meeting. Attendees
must pref egister in order to attend.

Please contact EPA's contractor, The
Cadmus Group, for registration and
other logistical information. The
Cadmus Group can be reached at
703-998-6862 (then press 2190) or by
e-mail:, mrm98@cadmusgroup.com.
-r
-------
Working To Clean Up a Cold War Legacy
DOEandSTGWG
The process of cleaning up the
entire nuclear weapons complex is
an enormous job requiring the Depart-
ment of Energy (DOE) to seek input
from tribal, state, and local stakehold-
ers. The State and Tribal Government
Working Group (STGWG), a vital
instrument to dialogue on DOE site
cleanup, provides the only forum for
interaction between all states and
tribes affected by DOE cleanup
activities.

STGWG was formed in 1989 in
response to a letter from 10 state
governors who were concerned about
cleanup of DOE sites in or near their
states. Former Secretary of Energy,
Admiral James Watkins, invited these
states, the Yakama Indian Nation, and
the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes to
appoint representatives to STGWG.
Admiral Watkins also invited the
National Governors' Association
(NGA), the National Association of
Attorneys General (NAAG), and the
National Conference of State Legisla-
tures (NCSL) to participate in
STGWG. Since 1989, STGWG has
grown to include representatives from
16 States, eight tribes, NGA, NAAG,
and NCSL. Tribes currently repre-
sented on STGWG include the Con-
federated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation, the Isleta Pueblo, the
Navajo Nation, the Nez Perce Tribe,
the Pueblo de San Ildefonso, the
Seneca Nation, the
Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, and the
Yakama Indian Nation.
STGWG meetings, held semiannually,
offer a unique opportunity for the
states and tribes to present policy
analysis and comments directly to
DOE representatives. Meetings
typically involve STGWG members,
high-level representatives from DOE's
Environmental Management (DOE/
EM) program, and representatives
from other DOE program offices and
sites.

Recently, STGWG has enjoyed a
rebirth of sorts. Beginning in 1996, a
lack of funds forced the group to
suspend meetings for almost two
years. STGWG reconvened, however,
in November 1997, with DOE's
reaffirmation of its support for
STGWG as a necessary vehicle for
continued on page 7
May 19-21, 1998

Hosted by:
Prairie Island Indian..
Community
Welch, Minnesota
at the Treasure Island
Resort and Casino
Fourth Notional Tribal Conference

On Environmental Management

The Prairie Island Indian Community is hosting the Fourth
National Tribal Conference on Environmental Management
from May 1 9 to May 21 /;1998. The Conference agenda
includes the following topics: grant writing, water quality, air
quality, casino waste management, emergency response,
municipal solid waste management, ecological risk assess-
ment and tribal cultural values, underground storage tanks,
environmental justice, pollution prevention, and more. Pro-
ceedings will be available after the conference. Contact
Stephen B. Etsitty, OSW's National Native American Program
Manager at 703-305-3194 or send an e-mail to
etsitty.stephen @epamail.epa.gov.
-------
DOE and STGWG continued from page 6
state, and especially tribal, involvement
in the DOE cleanup process. At the
November 1997 meeting, Assistant
Secretary for DOE/EM, Alvin Aim,
declared his support for STGWG and
promised to recommend its continua-
tion to his successor.

STGWG has made valuable contribu-
tions to DOE's cleanup process. The
group commented on DOE's original
five-year plans and provided the
impetus for the former 30-year
cleanup plan developed under Admiral
Watkins' administration. Now
STGWG is focusing on DOE's newest
plan, Accelerating Cleanup: Paths to
Closure, which calls for cleanup of
over 90 percent of DOE sites by 2006.
In 1998, STGWG plans to address five
main issues that relate to this plan.
These include tribal cultural resources,
transportation planning, "Paths to
Closure" and budget events, steward-
ship, and nuclear waste and material
disposition. A state, tribe, or organiza-
tion interested in joining STGWG may
contact DOE with a statement of
interest explaining how it is affected
by the cleanup of a DOE facility.

For more information on STGWG,
please contact Catherine Volk,
STGWG's Project Coordinator at
DOE/EM (202-586-5275; e-mail:
catherine.volk@em.doe.gov), or
Amelie Welden, STGWG Coordinator
at NCSL (303-830-2200; e-mail:
amelie.welden@ncsl.org).
NTEC Holds National Forum continued from page l
addition to issues brought by the tribal
government and community represen-
tatives, the OSWER Draft Strategy
for Implementing Waste Programs on
Tribal Lands served as a foundation
for the discussions during the national
forum.

The agenda for the day and a half
meeting was ambitious and empha-
sized the use of small workgroups to
focus on every aspect of OSWER's
Tribal Program in a constructive
manner. "We (NTEC and OSWER)
are pleased that for the first time we
are bringing together people who have
a keen interest from all walks of life
on tribal issues impacting waste
management programs," Tim Fields
stated in his opening remarks. Issues
discussed by the working groups
included municipal solid waste man-
agement, underground storage tanks,
Federal facilities, Emergency Planning
and Community Right-to-Know Act
(EPCRA), hazardous waste, and the
Comprehensive Environmental Re-
sponse, Compensation, and Liability
Act (CERCLA or Superfund). The
desired outcomes of the national
forum included the identification of
impediments to implementation of
waste programs, initial development of
implementation strategies, and the
establishment of a framework for
Federal agency commitments to
implement waste programs in Indian
Country.

After one full day of small workgroup
sessions, tribal government and
community representatives and
OSWER senior managers identified an
array of barriers and developed a
number of proposals to address the
barriers. The following major commit-
ments were made by OSWER's
senior management:

• OSWER will involve senior
management in more national
tribal meetings;

• OSWER will improve the target-
ing of resources for waste issues
on tribal lands to priority issues
raised by tribes;

• OSWER will work closely with
the new Tribal Association for
Solid Waste and Emergency
Response (TASWER) to define its
appropriate role in addressing
waste management barriers;
• OSWER will work with tribes in
addressing the legislative barriers
in RCRA that are the basis for
many of the tribal issues; and

• OSWER will work with the other
EPA program offices on tribal
program issues that cut across all
EPA programs, e.g. air, water,
toxics, enforcement.

Each office in OSWER is currently
developing action plans that respond to
the issues and recommendations
produced at the national forum. The
action plans will also be incorporated
into the OSWER Draft Strategy for
Implementing Waste Programs on
Tribal Lands document.

The national forum was a good
indicator of EPA's ability to work with
other Federal agencies and the tribal
governments and community members
directly to enhance tribal govern-
ments' capacity to protect human
health and the environment.

To learn more about the national
forum and to place yourself on the
mailing list to receive copies of the
forthcoming meeting report, call
NTEC at 505-242-2175.
-------

OSW Announces New Hazardous Waste
Publication
D
o you know whether or not your
business produces hazardous
waste? If it does, do you know the
regulations you are required to
jj5s, follow? Simple answers to
HllJx some of the most com-
mon questions about
the hazardous
waste regulations
are presented in
a new publica-
tion, called
RCRA in Focus,
produced by
EPA's Office of
Solid Waste
(OSW). The
publication is
geared toward
hazardous waste
generators in specific
industries that are
regulated by the Re-
source Conservation and
Recovery Act (RCRA).
Intended as a quick reference tool, it
repackages existing hazardous waste
requirements for more convenient use
and presents pollution prevention
options. For the first time, RCRA
regulations and pollution prevention
options for specific industries will be
available in one place.

The premier edition (January 1998)
features the printing industry. Future
issues of RCRA in Focus will feature
other industries such as textile manu-
facturing, dry cleaning, chemical
manufacturing, metal manufacturing,
and others. Later issues might focus
on tribal, EPA regional, or state
programs, featuring news in hazardous
waste management. OSW anticipates
publishing 10 to 12 issues per year.

If you are interested in receiving a
copy of the newest hazardous waste
publication, contact the RCRA Hotline
at 800-424-9346 or TDD 800-553-
7672 (for hearing impaired). RCRA in
Focus (EPA530-K-97-007) is also
available on the Internet at
www.epa.gov/osw.

Environmental

Protection

Consortium
continued from page 4
management and recycling efforts.
For more information, please contact
Christine Celentano, Environmental
Health Program Director, at the
following address:

Nunagpet/Chugachmiut Environmental
Protection Consortium
4201 Tudor Center Drive #210
Anchorage, AK 99508

Phone: 907-562-4155
Fax: 907-563-2891
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Solid Waste (5303W)
401 M Street, SW
Washington. D.C. 20460

Official Business
Penalty for Private Use
S300
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