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Tribal Science
Bulletin

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3
FALL 2016

NATIONAL EPA-TRIBAL SCIENCE COUNCIL (TSC)

INSI

DE THIS ISSUE

Welcome to the latest issue of the bulletin. I am Curtis Munoz, the Kiowa Tribe
I of Oklahoma Environmental Director and TSC Tribal Co-Chair, This issue has
an "air" theme; as such, I wanted to share a few thoughts with you about the
| 2016 National Tribal Forum on Air Quality held at the Seneca Nation Resort
I in Niagara Falls, New York, during the week of May 16, 2016. Several TSC
' members, including myself, participated in the forum. Jeff Mears, Region 5
"ribal Representative, was part of a discussion panel on opening day that
addressed air quality, and I presented during the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)

Breakout Session about the impact of mold and mycotoxins on tribal health.

This topic is a continuation of the national tribal science priority identified by the TSC in 2006. Ten
years since the TSC identified mold and mycotoxins as a high-priority tribal issue, I am pleased to
see that IAQ is being recognized as an environmental issue eligible for General Assistance
Program funding.

I can be reached at nethkuplega@yahoo.com.O

TSC Member Named "White House Champion of Change for Climate Equity'

Science Update	2-3

Key Dates & Events	2

National Tribal Air	4
Association Update

Mike
Durglo, a
member
of the
Confed-
erated
Salish

and Kootenai Tribe [CSKT]
and Region 8 Tribal
Representative to the TSC,
was recognized on July 15
as a White House Champion
of Change for Climate
Equity. Mike earned this
honor by overseeing a wide

variety of environmental
initiatives and leading his
tribe in developing a
climate change strategic
plan to address climate
change effects on the
Flathead Reservation. The
strategy includes a tribal
ecological knowledge
component derived from
extensive input from CSKT
elders. He has set an exam-
ple for other tribes as they
work to develop strategies
to protect their cultural

and environmental
resources. Mike works
closely with his
community's youth on
sustainability projects and
helped to establish the
Environmental Advocates
for Global Logical
Ecological Sustainability
Program.

Mike has served his tribe in
a number of vital
capacities—including tribal
police officer, wildlife

conservation officer,
wetland conservation
coordinator and water
quality regulatory
specialist—before serving
in his current capacity as
Environmental Protection
Division Manager. He also
was elected to the CSKT
Tribal Council and served
from 1996 to 1999.0

TSC Member Spotlight: Region 8 EPA Representative

Patti Tyler is the Science
Advisor and Science Liaison
to the Office of Research
and Development in EPA's
regional office in Denver,
Colorado. She has
represented EPA Region 8
on the TSC since 2003. Patti
holds a B.S. and M.S. in
botany and has worked for
EPA for more than 25 years.

She has 20 years of field
and laboratory experience
and taught a wetlands
ecology course for 10 years
at Shoals Marine
Laboratory. Patti finds
great pleasure in
environmental problem
solving through
establishing collaborative
partnerships, such as the

support she provided to
the American Indian
Environmental Office with
the implementation of its
Tribal ecoAmbassador
program. She held an
integral role coordinating
with EPA's Office of
Chemical Safety and
Pollution Prevention and
Region 8's tribal programs

to establish the Center of
Excellence for Tribal
Environmental Health at
Salish
Kootenai
College. O

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EPA Tribal Science Bulletin

SCIENCE UPDATE

2016 White House Tribal Nations Conference

The White House hosted
the 2016 White House
Tribal Nations Conference
on September 26-27, 2016,
in Washington, D,C. Tribal
leaders from the 567
federally recognized tribes
had the opportunity to
interact directly with high-
level federal government
officials and members of
the White House Council on
Native American Affairs
(WHCNAA], Each federally
recognized tribe could to
send one representative to
the conference, which
builds on President
Obama's commitment to
strengthen the government-
to-government relationship
with tribes, support self-
determination for tribes,
and improve the lives of

American Indians and
Alaska Natives.

Similar to previous
conferences, this year's
conference consisted of
plenary sessions. New this
year was the opportunity
for tribal representatives to
attend WHCNAA Subgroup
meetings. These subgroups
comprise high-level inter-
agency officials who work
on ini tiatives, policies and
deliverables to promote
and sustain prosperous and
resilient tribal nations. The
subgroups address health,
economic development and
infrastructure, energy
development, public safety
and justice, energy,
education, and climate
change and natural

resources as referenced in
Executive Order 13647.

Native youths who have
taken the Generation
Indigenous (Gen-I)
Challenge were broadly
represented and
participated in the
conference. Gen-I,
announced at the 2014
White House Tribal Nations
Conference, is a Native
youth initiative focused on
removing the barriers that
stand between Native
youths and their
opportunity to succeed.
The initiative uses a
comprehensive, culturally
appropriate approach to
help improve the lives and
opportunities for Native
youth. O

THE CONFERENCE
PROVIDES TRIBAL LEADERS
FROM THE 567 FEDERALLY
RECOGNIZED TRIBES
WITH THE OPPORTUNITY
TO INTERACT DIRECTLY
WITH HIGH-LEVEL
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
OFFICIALS AND MEMBERS
OF THE WHITE HOUSE
COUNCIL ON NATIVE
AMERICAN AFFAIRS.

Sensor Technologies: EPA's Ongoing Efforts in Discovery and Application

EPA's Emerging
Technologies Research
Program is determining
how the Agency can use
low-cost sensors and move
technology forward for
stakeholders such as tribes,
states and citizen scientists.
The program is
investigating emerging
technologies and their
potential to meet future air

quality monitoring needs
as well as facilitating
knowledge transfer
through hands-on sensor
deployment activities. The
program has engaged in a
number of activities to
accomplish its goals,
including holding
workshops, creating tools
such as the Citizen Science
Toolbox, and developing

sensor data tools. The
program also works with
local, tribal and state
governments to evaluate
sensors.

For more information,
contact Ron Williams at
919-541-2957 or
williams.ronald@epa.gov
or visit EPA's online Air
Sensor Toolbox for Citizen
Scientists. Q

EPA'S EMERGING
TECHNOLOGIES
RESEARCH PROGRAM
WORKS WITH TRIBESTO
DEVELOP AND RELEASE
TOOLS.

_ Air
Sensor

r\

Cititta Science Toolbox

Measure • Learn • Share

Key Dates & Events

•	Region 1 Tribal Leaders Meeting and
Tribal Environmental Conference,
October 18-20, Falmouth, MA

•	Region 9 Fall RT0C Meeting, October 24,
San Francisco, CA

•	USET Sovereignty Protection Fund
Annual Meeting. October 24-26,
Cherokee, NC

•	Region 9 Annual Tribal/EPA Conference.

October 25-27, San Francisco, CA

•	National Tribal Toxics Council Meeting,
October 25-27, Anchorage, AK

•	National Atmospheric Deposition
Program 2016 Annual Meeting. October
31-November 4, Santa Fe, NM

•	Region 6 RT0C Meeting, November 30,
Tulsa, OK

Volume 1, "ssue 3 ••• Page 2

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SCIENCE UPDATE

National EPA-Tribal Science Council

	p

Coldwater Fish Habitat Monitoring in Michigan's Upper Peninsula

THE RESEARCH
FINDINGS WILL HELP
THE KEWEENAW BAY
INDIAN COMMUNITY TO
GUIDE FUTURE FISH-
STOCKING EFFORTS
AND HARVEST TIMES
FOR BROOK TROUT AND
WALLEYE,

SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT EPA'S SMART CITY AIR CHALLENGE!

EPA is conducting the Smart City Air Challenge, which encourages communities, including tribal communities, to
collect data using hundreds of air quality sensors and make the resulting data open. To qualify for the challenge,
communities will need to submit plans for deploying hundreds of air quality sesonsor and managing the data they
collect, Local and tribal governments will partner with sensor manufacturers, data management companies and
others. Together, they'll create strategies for collecting and using the data. EPA will award prizes of up to $40,000
to two communities based on their strategies, including their plans to share their data management methods so
others can benefit. The prizes are intended to be seed money, so the partnerships are essential. After a year, EPA
will evaluate the accomplishments and collaboration of the two communities and award up to an additional
$1 0,000 to each community. The challenge is open until October 28. Please spread the word.

For more information, visit the Smart City Air Challenge website or write smartcityairchallenae@epa.aov.O

I	Page 3 ••• Fall 2016 ^

The community members
also have benefited from
the research. Fishing is an
important tradition for
KBIC families, many of
whom rely on productive
fisheries for income or
sustenance. Furthermore,
fishing represents an
exercise of treaty rights,
and fisheries management
represents an expression of
sovereignty.

The next steps for the
project are to collect and
analyze critical warm-
weather data from summer
2016 and re-deploy the
instruments to collect data
during the fall of 2016. The
goal is to expand the
project to include a greater
emphasis on offshore and
nearshore monitoring. For
more information, please
contact Andrew Kozich at
andrew.kozich@kbocc.edu. O

The Keweenaw Bay Indian
Community (KBIC), located
in the Upper Peninsula of
Michigan, is a federally
recognized Ojibwa
(Chippewa) tribe. Many
coldwater streams are
present in the heavily
wooded area surrounding
the reservation. The tribal
community has undertaken
a water temperature
monitoring project because
of the cultural, recreational
and economic importance
of its fisheries. Coldwater
species are very sensitive
to temperature increases,
which can be caused by
climate change and
upstream land-use
activities.

Long-term continuous
water temperature
profiling devices have been
deployed in water bodies
throughout the
community's home
territory near Lake
Superior's Keweenaw Bay.
Valuable data have been
collected, and the findings
will help to guide future
fish-stocking efforts and
harvest times for brook
trout and walleye.

An additional outcome of
the research is student
engagement; students from
the Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa
Community College
(KB0CC) earn stipends and
internship credits for their
work on the research
project, have been able to
develop their required
Capstone projects, and
have presented their work
at a conference. The
research has contributed to
the development of
curricula for several
courses at KB0CC,
including a fisheries
biology and management
course.

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EPA Tribal Science Bulletin
<	

NATIONAL TRIBAL AIR ASSOCIATION (NTAA) UPDATE

NTAA has been busy working on several tribal air quality issues in 2016, providing a strong voice for
tribes.

VW Settlement. On June 28, 201 6, the United States lodged with the court a settlement with a
collective of Volkswagen (VW) automakers. The settlement partially resolves allegations that VW
violated the Clean Air Act by the sale of motor vehicles containing engines equipped with "defeat
devices." In response, NTAA and the Tribal Air Monitoring Support Center wrote a letter to EPA
recommending how settlement funds can be distributed to tribal air programs. Tribes will be eligible
for more than $50 million as beneficiaries. NTAA created a policy response kit for tribes to help them
understand the settlement and to respond to requests for comments and consultation from the U.S.
Department of Justice. NTAA also is establishing a VW Settlement Work Group to ensure that tribes
maintain an important voice in shaping the rollout of the VW Settlement. A webinar on the settlement is
available at www7.nau.edu/itep/main/ntaa/Resources/NtaaVideo.

Clean Energy Incentive Program (CEIP). EPA has been active in moving forward with the CEIP, which
was developed as a mechanism to encourage early investment in zero-emitting renewable energy
generation to help achieve Clean Power Plan (CPP) goals. The CEIP will provide incentives for states
and tribes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by developing renewable sources of energy; the
incentives are in the form of Emission Reduction Credits (ERCs) for eligible renewable energy and
energy efficiency projects. Tribes with affected sources (e.g., power plants affected by the CPP) may
develop plans and elect to participate in the program. Tribes without affected sources may also
participate in the CEIP; however, this depends on their states first implementing a State Implementation
Plan and opting-in to the CEIP. NTAA has prepared a policy response kit on the 201 6 CEIP for tribes to
use to provide comments to EPA by November 1, 201 6. In 2015, NTAA provided early comments to
EPA about the CEIP. A webinar on the CEIP is available at
www7.nau.edu/itep/ main/ ntaa /Resources/NtaaVideo.

Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Needs Assessment. IAQ is a growing concern for Native American
communities, as Native Americans are more likely to have compromised health resulting from asthma
and other respiratory ailments. Good IAQ practices are critical to protecting public health in tribal
communities. NTAA formed an IAQ Work Group, which conducted the National IAQ Needs Assessment
for Indian Country to provide federal and tribal policy makers with a national snapshot and better
understanding of the IAQ needs of tribal communities. The needs assessment was released to all
federally recognized tribes on December 3, 2015. In May, a report was published on the results from
83 tribes. The national needs assessment has been reopened, and federally recognized tribes will be
sent the second needs assessment. It is open for tribes to submit their information until January 31,
2017. For more information, please visit

www7.nau.edu/itep/main/ntaa/Resources/IAQNeedsAssessment.

Moving forward, NTAA will continue to address air policy needs for tribes in 2017 with more policy
response kits, NTAA work group meetings and efforts, and publication of the annual Status of Tribal Air

Do YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE TSC OR THE NEWSLETTER? CONTACT MONICA RODIA, TSC EXECUTIVE SECRETARY,
EPA Office of Science Policy, at rodia.monica@epa.gov or (202) 564-8322.

Volume 1, Issue 3 ••• Page 4

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