Robert **Sh~ph~rd.** Sr . C hairman UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY WASHINGTON . D . C . 20460 

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## 9 2015 Sis s eton- Whapeton Oyate of thl;! Lake Tra, ·erse Rc s cn ·ation P.O. Box 509 Agenc y Village. South Dakota 57262 Dear Tribal Leade r : OF F ICE OF AIR Af JO RADIATION On De<.:cmber 31. 201-+. the U.S. Environmental

**Pr t~ction**  Agency's Administrator. Gina McCarthy. signed a proposed rule to strengthen the .. llealth and E nvironment al Protecti o n Standards for Uranium and Thorium Mill Tailing s... (40 Code of redera l Regulations Part 192 or 40 CFR 192) by adding ne\\' ground water protection standards fur in- s itu recovery (ISR) of uranium . The purpo se of this lette r is to invite yo u to consult on thi s propo s al. In thi s propo s ed rulemaking. EPA would **~stablish** ground **\\at~r** restoration and mo nitoring requirement s at **f~tcilities** that extract uranium using the in-situ recovery process. the pr edo min ant method of uranium extraction in the Unitl;!d States. Although the ranium Mill Tailing Radiation Co ntro l Act ( UMT RCA) requires restoration of ground water chemistry to the state that existed prior to commencement o f milling operations. **curr~nt** regulatory requirements do not explicitly address ISR ope rati ons. A copy of the propo sed re, · ision to the -+ 0 CF R 192 regulation is on our web s ite. '' ,, · w.epa.gm · / radia tion . The proposa l describes how ground ,, ·ater **ch~mistry** i s to be characteri zed before operations begin and also se ts groundwater standard s for 1 3 contaminants: their concentrations mu st remain below th e mo st protec tive sta ndard under Safe Drinking Water Act (S DW A). the Re source Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRJ\) or UMTRCA. The proposed rule would specifY condit i ons for obtaining Alternate Concentration Limits. The proposed po st -re s toration monitoring requirement s are wnsistent with RCRJ\. with a thirty-year post-re storation mon itoring period that may be s hortened if monitoring and geochemical modeling demon s trate long-term s tab ility o f the aquifer. T he EPA docs not bclie, ·e the proposed rule will ha\'e ad\'Crse implications for Tribes because it increases the le\'d of cnvironmcntal protection in areas where ISR operations are conducted. To ensure that \\'e are aware or your concerns and that your land s and interes ts arc protected. we in\'ite you to cons ult ,, ·ith us a nd \\'elcome any additional information about the s tandard s o r potential impacts of the proposed regulatory re v is io ns you \\'auld like to s ha r e. It' you \\'auld like to initiate a lorin al consultation "ith the EP I\ on this rule. please contact Ingrid Rosencrantz of my s ta ff at ro se ncrantz.ingrid l{/• epa.!!O\'. phone (202) 3 4 3 -9286 or me at cdwards.jonathan f ti ' epa.!2.ov . **phon~** (202) 3-B-9-+37 . l" l

•·tl'd **A,ldr~;s,** 1URL 1 • 1 111p :. :.:. ep,l yJv **Rccycled Rccycl~bfc**  • l'll'llt··t :,oil\ Ve,tl'loiiJ'o: Ool **o~""j Ink~**  on 100 **Po~ICOnSlllllCI** Pt.X.c'' CI<IOI•I\C Ft.,(: fkqlit;d PaperIn add iti o n. the EP/\ will accep t f o rmal co mm ent s ror 90 day s after the proposed rule is published in the Federal R eg ister. The EP/\ anticipates holding public hearing s in f-ebruary and March. \Ve will be m ·ailab le to di sc u ss the pr oposed revi s ion s in other se tting s as well. such as during th e next ati ona l Tribal Air Associat i on / EPA joint conference call on air q uali t y and ,, ·ith Regional Tribal Operations Committee s . We want your input to e nsu r e that we develop the best rule possible. We endcan>r to conduct our efforts with se n s iti vity t o the n eeds and culture o f Tribe s and , , ·ith att entio n to the impact of our actions on Tribal so, ·cre ignty. We look forward to recci, · ing yo ur input. <.:c: In grid Roscncrantz. EPA be<.:: Tom Peake. EPA Dan Schulthci sz. EPA Jessica Wieder. EPA Pat C hi lders . EPA Tony ' e sky . EP/\DATA BASE MAILING LIST FOR TR IB AL LEITER DATED JANUARY 9

, 2015

Fir s t Nam e last Name Ti t le T r ibe Address City State State Z I P Randal V1cente Governor Pueblo of Acoma P .O

. Box 309 Acoma New Mexico NM 87034

Jln1 Shakespear Chairman Arapahoe Tribe of the Wind River P.O

. Box 396 Fort Washakie Wyoming WY 82514Reservation Tony Secatero President Canoci t o Navajo Chapter E x1t 131 RR 56 Laguna New Mexico NM 87026

Bill John Baker Principal Chief Cherokee Nat ion of Oklahoma P.O

. Box 948 Tahlequah Oklahoma OK 74465

Kevin Keckler, Sr. Chairman Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe P

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. Box 590 Eagle Butte Sou th Dakota so 57625 Darrin Old Coyo te C hairma n Crow Tribe of Montana P.O

. Box 159 Cro w Agency Montana MT 59022 Anthony Reider President Flandreau Santee Sioux P.O

. Box 283 Flandreau Sou th Dakota so 57028 LeRoy Shmgoitewa Chairman Hopi Tnbe of Anzona P

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. Box 123 Kykotsmov Arizona AZ 86039

Wil fr ed Whatoname, Sr. C hairman Hualapai Tribe P.O

. Box 179 Peach Spr i ngs Arizona AZ 86 43 4 Frank E

. Lujan Governor Pueblo of Isleta P .O .Box 1 270 Isle t a New Mexico NM 87022

Mi c hael Toledo, Jr. Governor Pueblo of Jemez P

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. Box 100 Jemez Pueblo New Mex ic o NM 87024 Richard B

. luarkie Gove rn or Pueb l o of Laguna P

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. Box 194 laguna New Mexico NM 87026 Michael Jandreau Chairman Lower Brule Sioux 187 Ova te Circle Lower Brule South Dakota SD 57548

M a rk C hino President Mesca l ero Apache Tribe P.O .Box 227 Mescalero New Mex ico NM 88340

Ben Shelly President N ava j o Nati on P

. O Box 7440 Window Rock Arizona AZ 86515 Jason Walker Chairman Northwestern Band of Shoshone Nat ion 707 N

. Ma10 Street Brigham City Utah UT 84302-1449

Joh n S t eele President Oglala Sioux Tribe P.O

. Box 2070 Pine Ridge South Dakota so 5 7770 Rebecca White Chai rperso n Ponca Tribe of Nebraska P

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. Box 288 N 1 obra ra Nebraska 68760 Harry Yawe, Sr. President Ramah Navajo HRC 62, Box 13 Ramah New Mex1co NM 87321 Malcolm Montoya Governor Pueblo of Sandia 48 1 Sand1a Loop Bernalillo New M exico NM 87004 Robert Shepherd, Sr

. C hairman Sisseton-Whapeton Oya t e of the Lake P

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. Box 509 Agency V11lage South Dakota so 57262

Traverse Reservation Dave

Ar c hambault, II Chairman S tand ing Rock Sioux P.O. Box D Fort Yates North Dakota NO 58538 Raymond Secate r o President To hajul ee Navajo Chap t e r (Canonc1to) P

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. Box 3398 Tohajii l ee New Mexico NM 87026 Manuel Heart Chairman Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute P.O

. Box 2 48 Towaoc Colorado co 81334-0248

Reservation Ronnie

Lupe Chairman White Mountain Apache Tribe P.O. Box 700 Wh1ter i ve r Arizona AZ 85941 Robert Flying Hawk Chairman Yankton S1oux Tnbe of South Dakota P

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. Box 1153 Wagner South Dakota so 57380-1153 Thomas Beauty Chairman Yavapai Apache Tribe of Camp Verde 2400 W. Datsi Camp Verde Anzona AZ 86322 Ernest Jones. Sr

. President Yavapai Prescott Indian Tribe 530 E. Merritt Prescott A n zona AZ 86301-2038
Arlen Quetawki, Sr. Go v e rnor Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reserva ti on P.O. Box 339 Zuni New MeXI CO NM 87327