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LETTER
Region 10 Tribal
Newsletter
Vol. X No. VI
June 1, 2002
Work Shops and Conferences
June 3-7. Sixth National Tribal Environmental Conference, Sparks, NV. Primary EPA contacts: Felicia
Wright 202/260-4410, Claudia Walters 202/564-6762 and Clara Mickles 202/260-7519.
June 4-7. Water Quality Workshops for Tribal Environmental Managers, Worley, ID. For information
contact Lillian Wilmore at 617/232-5742 or NAEcology(a)aol. com
June 25-28. National Community Involvement Conference, Portland OR. For information contact: Helen
DuTeau at 703/603/8761 or duteau.helen(a)epa.gov
October 20-23. 69th Annual Pacific Northwest Pollution Conference, Yakima WA Info 503/579-1472
Coming this Fall 2002. A 5-day training course on Sustainability for Tribal Lands. Free For additional
information watch this newsletter or httv://www. hud. sov/local/chi/chienv2. html
Region 10 Tribal
Newsletter is published
monthly at no churge
To receive a copy call:
AKJean 907/271-6558
ID..Arlene 208/378-5749
OFLDon 503/.326-5015
WA..AIison 360/753-8185
Tribal Office. Judi. 800/424-4372
ext. 4011
New RIO Tribal Director
Sandra L. Johnson has been selected
for the Tribal Office Director position,
to succeed Scott Sufficool, who's four
year term ends this July. She is the
current Vice Chair of the Jamestown
S'Klallam Tribe, located on the
Olympic Peninsula area. Sandy brings
18 years of experience as an elected
tribal official (tribal council). In that
capacity, Sandy has worked on and
guided development of national,
regional and local policy as it affects
tribal governments. In addition to
filling an elected tribal leadership role,
Sandy works as an Environmental
Liaision with the Jamestown
S'Klallam Tribal Natural Resources
Department. She also represents the
Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe as a
Tribal Environmental Policy
Commissioner with the Northwest
Indian Fisheries Commission.
In addition, Sandy was serving as
an alternate on EPA's National
Tribal Operations Committee (which
meets with EPA Administrator,
Deputy Administrator, AA's and
RA's on a quarterly basis), and was
selected as the Washington Tribal
Representative for the Region 10
Regional Tribal Operations
Committee. Sandy is also providing
leadership in increasing tribal
participation with the Statement of
Cooperation (Geographically-
focused International Air/Watershed
Puget Sound and Georgia Basin
Region). Sandy sits on an EPA
National Workgroup for developing
Agency guidance to implement the
Executive Order on Tribal
Consultation. Please welcome her
on board as the next Tribal Office
Director.
We also extend our sincere
appreciation to out-going Tribal
Office Director Scott Sufficool,
and wish him well in his future
endeavors. Scott has
accomplished many objectives
during his 4 year tenure,
including developing the Region
10 Tribal Strategy that outlines
how we plan to incorporate
addressing tribal concerns and
needs in all of our program
offices. Scott has consistently
reminded us as we do our work,
that we have statutory
obligations, as well as a trust
responsibility, in working with
tribal governments on a
partnership basis.
New AIEO Director
Diane Regas announced at the
April 24 Tribal Caucus meeting
that Carol Jorgensen will be the
new Director of AIEO. Carol
currently is the National Tribal
Program Manager for the USDA
U.S. Forest Service. She is a
Tlingit Indian from Southeast
Alaska and has held extensive
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Region 10 Tribal Newsletter
positions at the state and federal
government level, including stints
overseas.
Watershed Training
EPA has just published an updated
EPA Watershed Training
Opportunities booklet that describes
watershed-training opportunities
sponsored by the Office of Water and
the watershed Academy.
The Watershed academy is a focal
point in the Office of Water for
providing training and information on
implementing watershed approaches.
This training is provided to federal,
state, tribal, and local officials, as well
as private practitioners of watershed
management. The Watershed
Academy has a Web-based training
program, sponsors its own training
courses, and develops training
materials; it also publicizes watershed-
related training materials and Web
sites developed by others, including
other departments in the Office of
Water.
The booklet provides brief
information on live training courses,
Web-based training opportunities,
training materials such as documents
and videos, and watershed-related
Web sites. The booklet is available on
the EPA Watershed Academy's Web
site at: www.epa.gov/owow/
watershed/wacademy/wtopps. html.
Copies of the booklet are also
available at no charge from National
Service Center for Environmental
Publications (NSCEP) at 800/490-
9198 (document # EPA841-B-01-002)
Funding Greenways
The Eastman Kodak American
Greenways Awards, a partnership
involving Kodak, the Conservation
Fund, and the National Geographic
Society, provides small grants to
stimulate the planning and design of
greenways in communities throughout
America. In general, grants can be
used for all appropriate expenses
needed to complete a greenway
project, including planning, technical
assistance, legal, and other costs.
For more: http://www.
conservationfund. org?article=2106
Groundwater Awards
The Groundwater Foundation, a
national nonprofit organization
dedicated to educating the public
about the nature and value of
groundwater, is now accepting
nominations for its three national
awards, sponsored in part by the
Chevron Corporation. These awards
honor community residents,
educators, and public officials who
create a legacy of groundwater
protection through local action,
education, and government service.
Applications are due no later than
July 14, 2002. For more:
http://www. groundwater. org
PowerPoint Presentation
Smart Growth America has created
the "Introduction to Smart Growth"
PowerPoint Presentation, providing a
general overview of the new
approach to growth, development
and community quality of life. The
presentation was designed to help
communities effectively
communicate the objectives of smart
growth, and can be customized to
meet a community's needs through
the addition of local photographs,
statistics, and other smart growth
information. For more:
http://www. smartgrowthamerica. org
Energy Department Guidelines
The U.S. Department of Energy
(DOE) released its "Energy Design
Guidelines for High Performance
Schools: Hot and Dry Climates,"
which is the first in a series of
guidelines to help elementary and
high (K-12) schools save
millions of dollars on their
annual energy costs. DOE
hopes that these guidelines will
help schools reduce operating
costs and improve the learning
environment. For more:
http://www. eren. doe.
gov/energysmartschool
Tribal Website?
A cooperative agreement
between the General Services
Administration (GSA) and the
Department of the Interior's
pOI) Indian Affairs
e-Govemment initiative will
allow Federally recognized
Indian tribes to participate in a
program that will provide a
domain name suffix identifying
the tribe on the World Wide
Web as a government entity.
"This has been an idea bantered
around for quite some time, for
it to happen now affirms
President Bush's policy of
treating American Indian tribes
as sovereign governments,"
Assistant Secretary-Indian
Affairs Neal McCaleb said.
The General Services
Administration is the
government agency that grants
the .gov domain name suffix to
government entities. Suffixes
are used to identify the function
of a specific organization such
as .com representing a
commercial venture, .org for
organization, usually a
non-profit, and .gov meaning a
Federal government entity. A
tribe's domain name suffix will
include a dash, the letters nsn
and the .gov designation. The
nsn acronym stands for native
sovereign nation, when
combined with www and the
tribe's name it will look like,
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Region 10 Tribal Newsletter
www. tribesname-nsn. gov.
President Bush's Management and
Performance Agenda sets e-
Government as a top priority. The
Office of the Assistant
Secretary-Indian Affairs seeks to
utilize e-Government technologies to
transform its business and enhance its
relationship with tribes and individual
Indians. Designating Federally
recognized tribes on the web as
government entities is the first step in
implementing e-Government that will
provide pertinent information about
Native American programs and
agencies, to be fully capable of
business transactions, and to provide
individual services over the Internet on
a twenty four hours, seven days a week
basis to Indian Country.
A tribe will need to apply to the
Office of Assistant Secretary-Indian
Affairs to receive the domain name
suffix. The process includes a letter
application, tribal resolution, or
minutes of the meeting giving
authority to the person making the
written request. A tribe can also
register at www.gov-registration.gov.
For an example of an application and
web content guidelines contact Paul
Marsden, e-Government Officer at
703/390-6308.
Protect America's Waterways
EPA recently announced a new
initiative to protect, preserve, and
restore waterways across the country.
The Administration's 2003 budget for
EPA proposes $20 million in grants for
community-based watershed
approaches. These funds would
support efforts in up to 20 local
watersheds and technical assistance for
other communities.
The initiative will focus on
high-value watershed resources where
strong and diverse partnerships exist,
and where clear objectives are aimed
at cleaner water. The initiative will
support innovative use of programs
like pollutant trading, watershed
permits under the Clean Water Act,
enforcement, local education, and
other creative approaches.
EPA will seek the views of
Congress, states, local governments,
agricultural groups, environmental
groups, industry, and watershed
practitioners in designing and
implementing this initiative. A
Federal Register Notice announcing
a 60-day comment period will be
issued soon.
For more information, visit
http://www. epa.gov/owow/watershed
/initiativefs. html. Or, call Bevin
Reid, EPA, 206/553-1566 or
800-424-4372, or e-mail
reid. bevin(a)epa.gov.
Waste Water Treatment
EPA Office of Water has
developed a fact sheet that highlights
EPA-funded programs that provide
financial assistance, technical
assistance, and training to small
communities to construct and
operate wastewater treatment
facilities. Programs include the
following: ^Alaskan Native
Villages Sanitation Grant Program
^ Clean Water Tribal Grant Program
^ Colonias Program ^National
environmental training Center for
small Communities ^National
Onsite Demonstration Program
^National Small flows
clearinghouse ^Operator Onsite
technical Assistance Program 104(g)
^ Rural Community Assistance
Program ^ Small Communities
Outreach and Education Network.
Contact information and hotlines
are provided. This four-page fact
sheet may be useful to local and state
officials, managers, general public,
researchers, state regulatory
agencies, planners, public health
officials, operators, contractors,
developers, and finance officers.
The cost is 70 cents plus
shipping.
To order, call the NSFC at
800/624-8301 or 304/293-4191,
and request Item
#WWFSGN157. You also may
e-mail nsfc_orders(a)mail.
nesc.wvu.edu
Solid Waste Training
The National Environmental
Training Center for Small
Communities (NETCSC): West
Virginia University has
developed three comprehensive
training packages for those
working in the solid waste field.
These courses address the
training needs of solid waste
and recycling professionals
working with small
communities or Tribes. The
three packages are: Reducing
Commercial & Industrial solid
Waste; Economics &
Marketing of Recyclables; and
Managing Groups & Conflict
for Solid Waste Officials. Each
package contains a trainer's
guide, participant's manual, and
master transparency copies. To
order and for more information
contact Craig Mains at
NETCSC 800/624-8301.
Brownfields Training
ICMA has published "Getting
the Job Done: Strategies and
Lessons Learned in Facilitating
Brownfields Job Training," to
help local governments face
challenges in brownfields
redevelopment job training. The
report examines the role of local
government in establishing
job-training programs in
coordination with brownfields
redevelopment efforts.
httv .-//bookstore, icma.
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Region 10 Tribal Newsletter
org/obs/showdetl. cfm?DID=7&Produ
ct_ID=776&CATID=4
Brownfields
On January 11, 2002 new
Brownfields Legislation or also known
as an amendment to CERCLA was
enacted. This legislation expands the
brownfield activities EPA can support
and will result in increased funding for
grants and other programs. EPA is
currently working to understand and
implement all the new program
changes, which is an opportunity for
you to let us know your ideas and
concerns.
Examples of how Tribes may
benefit from the new Brownfields
legislation: •The expanded definition
of a Brownfields site may more closely
describe the types of sites of concern
in Indian country. •The potential to
address indoor hazardous
substances/contaminants and
pollutants, including bio-hazards, may
allow tribes to address a common
problem of decaying BIA school
buildings with high potential re-use.
•Ability to address petroleum
releases for cleanup in some
circumstances. •Re-use opportunities
for mine-scarred lands. •The
opportunity to develop and implement
tribal response programs.
•Opportunity for tribes to create
inventories of Brownfields sites.
•New, more flexible authorities for
Brownfields training and research.
These programs are going to be in
place by the 2003 Fiscal Year with
plans for the various application
guidelines to be available in the late
summer/early fall. Feel free to contact
them with questions on funding
opportunities, how the new legislation
could affect your activities, or how
you would like to participate.
For information: Susan Morales,
206/553-7299, or e-mail:
morales. susan(a)epa, gov: Tamara
Langton, 206/553-2709,
langton. tamara(a)epa. gov ; Tim
Brincefield, 206/553-2100,
brincefleld. timothy(a)epa.gov; or
800/424-4372 and ask for any of the
above
Visit the EPA Brownfields web
site at:
http://www. epa.gov/brownftelds
For more information & text of the
legislation: http://www.epa.
gov/swerosps/bf/sblrbra, htm
There will be a panel at the Sixth
National Tribal Environmental
Conference, Sparks, NV, June 3-7.
Brownfields Web Site
EPA has launched a new Web site
to promote the cleanup and reuse of
brownfield properties across the
nation that are regulated by the
Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act (RCRA). Called the
RCRA Brownfields Prevention
Initiative Web site, it will provide
easy access to useful information
about the reuse of brownfield
properties where hazardous waste
was generated, treated, stored or
disposed. The new Web site
includes information on success
stories, upcoming events, pilot
programs, as well as general
information about the initiative and
other EPA laws and regulations. For
more: http://www.epa.gov/swerops/
rcrabf/index. html
EPA's Fine Particle
The D.C. District Court has
rejected all remaining challenges to
the EPA's 1997 protective ambient
air standards, which toughened
federal standards for smog and set a
standard for soot equal to 2.5
micrometers in diameter. This
decision clears the way for EPA to
move ahead in partnership with state
and local governments to develop
and implement programs that meet
these fine particle and ozone
standards. For more:
http://www. epa. gov/oar
Training on Public Health
On August 5-9, 2002, the
National Environmental
Training Center for Small
Communities (NETCSC) is
hosting its third annual
Environmental Training
Institute for Small
Communities, tilled Public
Health and Environmental
Quality - Small Communities in
the 21st Century, in
Morgantown, West Virginia.
The sessions will address
financial, managerial, and
regulatory issues critical for
managing small drinking water
and wastewater systems. The
conference will help small
community decision makers
provide high-quality drinking
water and adequate water
treatment to citizens. For more:
http://ww. nesc. wvu. edu/netcs
Financial Ombudsman
The Region 10 Grants
Administration Unit is pleased
to announce that Paul Steele, an
accountant from the EPA
Finance Unit, has joined the
staff for a four-month detail.
During his detail, Mr. Steele
will act as a "Financial
Ombudsman." and will be
available to help grantees with
administrative and financial
questions related to their
assistance agreements. This
support may include, for
example, information on how to
request payments under the
Electronic Funds Transfer or
ASAP systems, how to fill out a
Financial status Report, general
advice on how to establish
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Region 10 Tribal Newsletter
accounting systems, recommendations
on record keeping systems, etc. Mr
Steele has an exceptional background
for the Financial Ombudsman role,
having served as an accountant with
EPA for eleven years, and teaching
accounting in his spare time. Mr.
Steele can be reached at 206/553-0311
or steele.paul(a)/epa, gov with your
inquiries.
We hope you will take advantage of
this limited time opportunity to have
your financial and administrative
grants management questions answer
by Mr. Steele. Questions regarding
programmatic aspects of your
assistance agreement should continue
to be directed to your EPA project
officer.
Climate Change
EPA, in partnership with the
National Park Service and U. S. Fish
and wildlife Service, has released an
award-winning outreach kit for
teachers and interpreters, including
rangers at national parks and wildlife
refuges, to use when talking with the
public about how climate change
might affect wildlife and public lands.
The kit, portions of which are online
at: www.epa.gov/
globalwarming/publications/outreach
/onvkithtml. contains four
components: 1)-A video for showing
at visitor centers (narrated by actor
Tom Skerritt); 2)-a CD-ROM with
case studies on national parks, refuges
and other wildlands in four regions of
the United States: fact sheets,
interactive activities, visual aides a
slide show for presentations to large
audiences, and a Quick Time movie or
a ranger giving a sample trail talk
about climate change at Glacier
National Park. 3)-A hand-held wheel
that enable people to calculate their
household greenhouse gas emissions
and explore how they can reduce those
emissions and explore how they can
reduce those emissions. 4)-A set of 12
baseball card-sized trail cards
showing how individual wildlife
species and ecosystems might be
affected by climate change.
The kit received a 2001 Bronze
anvil Award of Commendation from
the Public Relations Society of
America. To order the full Climate
Change, Wildlife, and Wildlands
outreach kit, contact Karen Scott
Gibbons at EPA 202/564-3482 or
gibbons. karen(a)epa. gov
Poison Control
The American Association of
Poison Control Centers has recently
launched a new national toll-free
telephone hot line for poison
emergencies 24 hours a day, seven
days a week - 800-222-1222.
The poison center can answer
questions about household products,
chemicals at work or in the
environment, drugs (prescriptions,
over-the counter, herbal, illegal or
animal medicines), snake bites,
spider bites, plants and mushrooms.
You can call the hot line for
poison-prevention information and
for stickers to post the new hot line
number in your home.
Positions
Water Quality Specialist
Department of Natural Resources,
Umatilla Indian Reservation,
Pendleton, Oregon. Bachelors or
higher degree in Geology,
Hydrology, or Environmental
Sciences or related field with two
years work experience.
Application: Paul Quaempts,
Personnel Manager, Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation, P.O. Box 638,
Pendleton, OR 97801.
ALASKA
DJoin environmental educators from
around Alaska at the 2002 Alaska
Environmental Education
Conference to be held
November 7-10 in Anchorage.
Alaska Natural Resource and
Outdoor Education (ANROE)
association is excited to sponsor
this gathering of educators and
has received financial support
from National Audubon Society
and the Alaska Conservation
Foundation. It will be a great
time to recharge your EE
batteries, connect with old
friends, meet new folks, hone
your skills and learn how to
promote and advocate
environmental education in
Alaska.
Planning efforts are moving
ahead with the assistance of a
great team of educators, but
much work is still to be done.
Don't miss the opportunity to be
a part of this first time effort for
ANROE. If you would like to
share your ideas about this
upcoming conference, or
volunteer to help out on one of
the planning committees, please
contact Eric Wade at
admin(a)anroe. org 907/
376-2561 or Nathan Spees at
spees.Nathan(a)epa.gov Dates,
locations, agendas and special
events will be posted on the
ANROE website
(www. anroe. org} as they
become available, so watch for
new developments as they
happen.
If you would like to submit a
proposal for a presentation at
the conference, fill out the
online survey at the following
address
http://www. surveymonkey.
com/s. asp ?u=944 72106064 or
contact us and we can fax you a
hard copy.
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Region 10 Tribal Newsletter
OREGON
DOn April 30, 2002, the Coquille
Indian Tribe and EPA signed a Tribal
Environmental agreement (TEA). A
picture was taken of both Edward
Metcalf, chairman of the Coquille
Indian Tribe and Dan Opalski,
Director of the EPA Oregon
Operations Office signing the TEA.
For the sake of volume (Kb) in the .pdf
version of this newsletter, it has been
taken out. You may view it on our
Tribal Office website under Monthly
newsletter, html version.
DOn April 27th the Cow Creek Band
of Umpqua Tribe of Indians celebrated
their 20th anniversary of their federal
restoration. During this 20 year
period, Cow Creek have been the
"first" for several things, two of
which are, the first tribe to negotiate
a gaming compact with the state of
Oregon and have the first tribal-
owned and operated utility in the
Northwest (the Umpqua Indian
Utility Cooperative).
Congratulations.
DApril was also the time of the
fourth meeting of the Oregon Tribal
Environmental Forum (OTEF) at
Coos Bay. The meeting was hosted
jointly by the Coquille Indian Tribe
and the Confederated Tribes of Coos
Lower Umpqua & Siuslaw. There
were 20 attendees and the topics
covered included grants, Oregon
Senate bill 1010, wetland issues,
Brownfield redevelopment, and
Endangered Species Act to name a
few.
QPortland State University
broke ground, on April 5, 2002,
for an 11,000 square foot Native
American Student and
Community Center. The center
is scheduled to open in 2003.
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