A regional administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week equated the authority of tribes to set standards of water and air quality on the reservation as similar to that of the states.
The EPA, under the authority of the Clean Water Act, approved applications to develop water quality standards by several tribes, including Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Indian Reservation, Karuk Tribe, Quartz Valley Indian Reservation, San Carlos Apache Tribe, and Yerington Paiute Tribe.
This decision by John Busterud, EPA’s Pacific Southwest regional administrator affects the 24 tribes in the EPA’s Pacific Southwest Region. They can now develop water quality standards for waters within their reservations.
