Region 7 Tribal Programs

The air program in EPA Region 7 works with nine tribes in their efforts to protect their air quality.

• Kansas Prairie Band of Potawatomi Indians
• Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas
• Sac & Fox of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska
• Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska
• Nebraska Omaha Tribe of Nebraska
• Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska
• Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska
• Ponca Tribe of Nebraska
• Iowa Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa (Meskwaki Nation)-- a settlement and not a reservation.

All the Tribes in the region are fairly small; ranging from about 30 to 5,200 resident tribal members. Indian Land is heavily checkerboarded. A significant portion of land within the reservation boundary is owned by non-Indians.

Tribes are sovereign nations and can choose to resolve their air pollution concerns individually by using their own tribal authority to pass ordinances to control air pollution or they can become eligible to run CAA programs in a flexible, modular, fashion and on their own timeline.

Air quality concerns usually mentioned by Region 7's tribes include particulates, diesel trucks and train engines, road dust emissions from upwind power plants and releases from chemical plants.

The potential major sources of pollution in Indian Country include utilities, small manufacturing companies, sand and gravel operations. The potential minor sources of pollution in Indian Country are service stations and automobile emissions.

The rule was authorized in 1990 and promulgated in February 1998. It authorizes tribes to conduct Clean Air Act (CAA) Programs on their Land and sets forth provisions for which Tribes can become eligible to implement federally enforceable CAA programs. Tribes can use their own ordinances or CAA regulations.

Tribes with eligible air programs have jurisdiction over air sources within exterior boundaries (the same as states) and have opportunity to claim jurisdiction over sources outside the boundaries in their air shed. Overall, the rule provides a modular approach which means that tribes may adopt parts of the CAA that apply to them. It also provides flexibility as tribes may adopt as much as their resources allow. There is no requirement that a tribe develop an air program. Each tribe is individual in its environmental concerns.

If any tribal environmental offices would like their names or links to websites listed here, please provide any you would like referenced using the contact information above.

• EPA American Indian Environmental Office
• Haskell Indian Nations University
• Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP) at Northern Arizona University
• Mni Sose Intertribal Water Rights Coalition, Inc

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