RESPONSE TO COMMENTS - FY 2023-2024 NATIONAL PROGRAM GUIDANCE
Office of International and Tribal Affairs

The EPA Publication number for this item is 160S22001

Commen
ter(s)

Location
in Draft
Guidance

National Program Offices Response

Action Taken in
Final Guidance

The US EPA can provide the best
service to federally recognized Indian
tribes in implementing environmental
programs in the Indian country if an
office is designated to carry out that
mission. Currently the Office of
International and Tribal Affairs (OITA)
focuses on international initiatives and
tribes across the United States.
Recommendation to establish a stand-
alone office to carry out tribal
initiatives.

The
Navaho
Nation

Introducti
on

EPA's American Indian Environmental Office
(AIEO) was created to ensure implementation of
EPA's Indian Policy and all necessary related
actions across EPA offices and regions. Its sole
focus is tribal matters. AIEO is located in the
larger Office of International and Tribal Affairs
(OITA) and is a separate office from the Office of
Internation Affairs (OIA) which is also located in
OITA. The OITA NPG has separate sections for its
tribal and for its international offices.

No NPG change
necessary

What is an "NPM"? Unfortunately there
is no specific definition in the
document

The
Navaho
Nation

Pg 3 of 22,

2nd
paragraph

"NPM" is an acronym for National Program
Managers which are leads for the major EPA
program offices. Each NPM develops a National
Program Guidance [NPG],

Change to:

National Program
Manager [NPM]

Which "federal Indian law"? The US
EPA can strive to be specific and list
which laws they would implement
However, the US EPA's laws and
regulations are not all uniform or
current to principles established
through federal Indian law.

The
Navaho
Nation

Pg 3 of 22,

3rd
paragraph

EPA administers EPA programs in compliance
with federal environmental laws and Federal
Indian law. The reference in the NPG is to the
body of Federal Indian Law as a whole.

No NPG change
necessary

1


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Comment

Commen
ter(s)

Location
in Draft
Guidance

National Program Offices Response

Action Taken in
Final Guidance

Navajo Nation supports the "Cross-
Agency Strategy" to strengthen tribal
partnerships. The "Cross-Agency
Strategy" should also be at a federal
level to ensure that complex problems
endured by tribes receive a
comprehensive response from all
federal partners.

The
Navaho
Nation

Pg 8 of 22,
bullet
#3

EPA agrees that Agency actions to strengthen
tribal partnerships will at times require the
involvement of other federal agencies. At those
times, EPA actively engages those agencies to
formulate a coordinated response. Two notable
EPA efforts in this regard are EPA's work with
the Indian Health Service on tribal solid waste
cleanups and EPA's work with several other
federal agencies to ensure a coordinated effort on
water and wastewater infrastructure in Indian
country.

No NPG change
necessary

There are only 4 Acts that tribes can
pursue to receive the delegation of the
US EPA. Is OITA or US EPA working for
additional programs to be delegated to
tribes? The recommendation is that
other US EPA Acts be opened to tribes
for delegation. The federal Indian
policy of late has been self-
determination. In that spirit, most US
EPA programs should be considered for
delegation to tribes to implement on
sovereign lands. On that note, tribes are
also not states. The current TAS
process allows tribes to exercise
sovereignty, but the US EPA cannot
treat tribes as states, especially when
the Federal government does not

The
Navaho
Nation

Pg 9 of 22,
second to
the last
paragraph

Several EPA statutes, and subparts of those
statutes, are legally available for delegation of
authority from EPA to tribes. Over 100 such
programs have been delegated since EPA worked
with Congress and tribes in the 1990's to allow
tribes to receive delegated programs under EPA
Administered statutes. OITA continues to support
efforts by tribes to received delegated program
authority.

No NPG change
necessary

2


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Comment

Commen
ter(s)

Location
in Draft
Guidance

National Program Offices Response

Action Taken in
Final Guidance

NOTE: Comment directed to OECA for
response

Are there baseline statistics to show
the number of inspections per tribe for
the OITA office to share?

The
Navaho
Nation

Pg 10 of

22,
second
paragraph

OECA response

EPA can provide information on the number of
inspections conducted in Indian country. EPA is
not currently able to provide baseline statistics
on the number of inspections conducted per
tribe.

No revision to the
National Program
Guidance.

Cultural sensitivity training would be
helpful. All DI programs that carry out
an inspection or enforcement should
coordinate with the tribe and their
environmental departments.

The
Navaho
Nation

Pg 10 of
22, third
paragraph

OITA is currently training EPA headquarters and
regions on its direct implementation efforts.
Cultural sensitivity is an important aspect of all
EPA work with tribes, and EPA continues to
weave this awareness into its tribal trainings.

EPA coordinates with the tribal governments as
appropriate on the wide range of EPA direct
implementation efforts either under the EPA
Tribal Consultation Policy or as other
engagements.

No NPG change
necessary

Many tribes, including the Navajo
Nation, have favored revising the
ETEPs requirements. Nevertheless, for
example, discussions in RTOC meetings
do not support the idea that "ETEPs set
the stage for stronger environmental
and human health protection in tribal
communities.

The
Navaho
Nation

Pgll of
2 2, first
paragraph

EPA disagrees with the comment and believes
that working with tribes on a government-to-
government basis that purposefully allows for
each government to express their priorities and
for the parties to work together to meet the
mutually identified environmental priorities
within EPA's authorities promotes stronger
environmental and human health protection for
each individual tribe. Over time, EPA has worked
to improve and refine the ETEP process and will
continue to do so.

No NPG change
necessary

3


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Comment

Commen
ter(s)

Location
in Draft
Guidance

National Program Offices Response

Action Taken in
Final Guidance

The OITA must keep in mind that there
are different interpretations of
Traditional Ecological Knowledge
among tribes, and all documents or
knowledge shared in TEK discussion
should be protected and tribes allowed
to be owners of any TEK knowledge.

The
Navaho
Nation

Pg 12 of

22,
bulleted
items

The United States government's position on
TEK/IK is currently undergoing final
development by the White House Council on
Native American Affairs (WHCNAA) after tribal
consultation. EPA eagerly awaits receiving
direction from the WHCNAA to federal agencies
to allow these efforts to continue and for
coordination across federal agencies.

Change to:

Incorporate
Indigenous
T raditional
Ecological
Knowledge
(ITEK) into
Agency decision

making
as guided by the

White House
Council on Native
American Affairs
(WHCNAA)
Interagency
Workgroup and
provide training
to EPA staff.

Keep in mind that all tribes are in
different stages of development. For
some tribes, climate change is a
priority when many tribal members do
not have running water, to begin with.
Tribes are also not the largest
greenhouse gas producers, and finding
viable projects on reservations will be
difficult.

The
Navaho
Nation

Pg 12 of

22,
bulleted
items

EPA is aware of the uniqueness of each tribe and
the various levels of development a tribes'
environmental program may be in at any point in
time. EPA strives to make our resources,
technical assistance, and other activities
accessible to all tribes for the shared goals of
human health and environmental protection.

No NPG change
necessary

4


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Comment

Commen
ter(s)

Location
in Draft
Guidance

National Program Offices Response

Action Taken in
Final Guidance

Technical assistance will be needed.

The
Navaho
Nation

Pg 12 of

22,
bulleted
items

EPA believes technical assistance is an important
and effective manner of interaction with tribes.
EPA supports continued use of technical
assistance by OITA and other program offices for
this and other program areas as appropriate.

No NPG change
necessary

The Navajo Nation would need
assistance to take advantage of the IIJA.

The
Navaho
Nation

Pg 12 of
22,
Infrastruct
ure

EPA believes IIJA is a unique and beneficial
opportunity for tribes. EPA has ensured that
tribal participation in the IIJA funded EPA
programs is available and known to tribes.
Specific questions can be directed to the
individual programs or OITA.

No NPG change
necessary

The communication with tribes should
begin early and continue throughout
the duration of a project or action.

The
Navaho
Nation

Pg 13 of
22, tribal
partnershi
P

In addition to EPA's Tribal Consultation Policy
which encourages early meaningful involvement
with tribes on matters that may affect tribes, EPA
encourages close communication and
engagement with tribes on all EPA activities
affecting tribes and of tribal interest

No NPG change
necessary

In favor of the cross Agency Strategy
and recommends that the US EPA
should look at their guidance
documents, regulations, and other
relevant documents and align them
with tribal treaty rights.

The
Navaho
Nation

Subject
Area:
T ribal
Treaty
Rights

As evidenced in the EPA's new Strategic Plan and
OITA's NPG, EPA is working to provide the EPA
staff with the knowledge and tools to be able to
properly consider tribal treaty rights during EPA
tribal consultations and as EPA conducts its
activities.

No NPG change
necessary

5


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Comment

Commen
ter(s)

Location
in Draft
Guidance

National Program Offices Response

Action Taken in
Final Guidance

The document has hotlinks for various
relevant topics and sites. This is good if
the document will be strictly electronic.
But because some may receive the
document in a paper form, all hotlink
URLs should be provided as reference
either within the text itself, or be
footnoted, and have then have the
provided URL be hot-linked.

Mille Lac
Band of
Ojibwe

Througho
utNPG

Appreciate the feedback.

URLs were added
to footnotes

There is a sentence that begins, "At the
same time,, OITA works to protect
human health..." where the extra
comma needs removal.

Mille Lac
Band of
Ojibwe

Pg 3 of
Introducti
on

Thank you

Comma removed

In the discussion regarding how OITA
would ensure domestic environmental
and human health objectives would be
met, it states that OITA work with
international partners is essential to
successfully address transboundary
pollution adversely impacting the
United States. However, nowhere in the
discussions is how OITA would
facilitate discussions on how the United
States can successfully address
transboundary pollution adversely
impacting international partners. There
should be a proactive statement on
this.

Mille Lac
Band of
Ojibwe

Pg 4,

Section II.
Program
Priorities,
Strategies,

and
Activities.

How OITA plans to successfully address
transboundary pollution is described in Section
II, subsection titled "Addressing Transboundary
Pollution in North America and Around the
Globe". The section now includes language about
addressing transboundary pollution in shared
watersheds such as Kootenai.

Modified NPG
change language
on Pg 6

6


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