United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Enforcement
and Compliance
Assurance (2201 A)
EPA/300-F-04-001C
August 2004
Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ)
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Environmental Justice
Fact Sheet
Interagency Working Group
Native American Task Force
BACKGROUND
Executive Order 12898, entitled "Federal Actions to
Address Environmental Justice in Minority
Populations and Low-Income Populations," issued
February 11, 1994, focuses federal attention on the
environmental and human health conditions of
minority populations, low-income populations, and
tribal populations with the goal of achieving
environmental protection for all communities. One
provision of Executive Order 12898 established an
Interagency Working Group (IWG) on
Environmental Justice
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/environmentaljusti
ce/interagency/index.html
NATIVE AMERICAN TASK FORCE
The Native American Task Force (Task Force) of
the Interagency Working Group on
Environmental Justice (IWG) was established in
November 1999, due to the unique political status
of tribes as sovereigns and the existence of the
"federal trust responsibility." The Task Force
works to address environmental justice issues (e.g.
environmental, health and economic) of concern to
federally-recognized tribes, non-federally
recognized tribes, tribal organizations, and tribal
members. The Task Force is comprised of
representatives from many federal agencies (DOJ,
DOE, DOD, USD A, HUD, HHS, DOI, Commerce,
and EPA). The membership is open to all federal
agencies.
One of the first activities of the Task Force
was the sponsoring and coordination of the
"American Indian and Alaskan Native
Environmental Justice Roundtable" meeting, held
August 2000. This meeting brought together, for
the first time, tribal leaders, tribal community and
national organizations, federal, state and local
government agency representatives, academia, and
business/industry to discuss environmental justice
in Indian country and among Alaska Natives. A
wide range of recommendations were developed
during this meeting and submitted to the IWG for
consideration (Final Report, January 31, 2001.
http://pico.library.musc.edu/np/nativeroundtable.ht
ml
The Task Force is currently focusing on the
following set of issues:
Enhancing the protection of tribal cultural
resources and sacred places.
The protection of sacred places and cultural
resources is a significant concern for many
tribes. The difficulties in protecting these
places and resources and the lack of
understanding of the legal requirements to
protect them have been identified by some
tribes as environmental justice issues. The
Task Force is supporting the efforts of tribes
and tribal organizations to bring attention to
these concerns. The Task Force coordinated
the showing of a film, "In the Light of
Reverence" at various federal agencies,
which effectively discusses the challenges in
protecting sacred and cultural sites. The
film was shown in conjunction with the "DC
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Sacred Lands Forum" held March 18-22,
2002. The Task Force also co-sponsored an
interagency meeting, held August 14, 2002
titled, "Informational Meeting for Federal
Agencies with Functions Regarding
American Indian Sacred Places and
Traditional Cultural Properties," to discuss
current federal roles and responsibilities. In
preparation for this meeting, the Task Force
created a compendium of existing federal
policies/documents on Native American
sacred places and cultural properties
(http://www.codetalk.fed.us/SacredSites_gui
des_EO_Policy_Memranda.htm). The Task
Force held a subsequent federal interagency
meeting to discuss these issues on
September 22, 2003. To further the
understanding of the importance of this
issue to tribes, and identify ways these
resources can be better protected, the Task
Force is working with a variety of tribal
organizations and other interested groups to
develop a training module on cultural
resources and environmental justice.
IWG Revitalization Demonstration Projects
The Task Force has the primary
responsibility to work with tribes to identify
potential interagency EJ demonstration
projects. The Task Force members are
working with their regional counterparts to
encourage greater interagency coordination
to address the environmental, public health
and economic concerns of tribes. Four tribal
projects were selected in the latest round of
IWG projects.
• Rosebud Wind Power
Development Project
• Cheyenne River Tribal Park
• Native Village of Selawik
Waste Management
• Enhancing Consultation to
Protect Tribal Sacred Places
and Cultural Resources
Contacts:
Quentin Pair, DOJ/ENRD, Task Force Co-Chair
(Quentin.Pair@usdoj .gov)
Daniel Gogal, EPA/OEJ, Task Force Co-Chair
(Gogal. Danny@epa.gov)
Charles Lee, EPA/OEJ, Chair Interagency Working
Group EJ Liaison (Lee.Charles@epa.gov)
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