# SAN CARLOS APACHE TRIBE

Terry Rambler Tribal Chairman

Irina Myers 

### San Carlos Avenue P.O

. Box 0 San Carlos, Arizona 85550

Phone (928) 475 -2361

Fax (928) 475-2560

December I 0, 2015
Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) U.S. Env ironmental Protection Agency 1200 Penns ylva nia Avenue, NW Mail Code: 7408M Washington, DC 20460 Tao Etpison Vice-Chairman

RE: Response to Tribal Consultation, August 27, 2015, Notificati on of Consultation and Coordination on TSCA Work Plan Chemical Problem Formulation & Initial Assessment and Data Needs Assessment for Flame Re tardant s (FR) Clusters
Dear Ms. Myers: On behalf of the San Carlos Apache Tribe ("Tribe"), the San Carlos Council, and the Tribe's memb ers, 1 submit the following r espo nse to the Env ironmental Protec tion Agency's ("EPA " or " Agency") request for comments regarding the Toxic Substances Control Act ("TSCA") Work Plan chemicals as identified in the following tabl e with the correspondi n g docket numbers.
Che m ica l Cluste r Docket N u m ber Tetrabromob i sphe n o l A EPA- HQ -O PPT -20 1 4-0730 Chlo ri nated P hosp h ate Este r s EPA- H Q-O PPT -2015-0068 Cyclic A liph at ic B r o mi des EPA- H Q-OP PT -20 1 5-0081 Brominated P h t h a l ates EP A
- H Q-O PP T-2014-0491 EPA Notice of Cons u ltation and Coordination, En closu r es, "Consu l tat i on I n fo rm at i on," 08/27/2015, pp. 4.Irina Myers 

### Re: Chemical Clusters Decemb e r 10 , 2015 P age 2 of 5

The Tribe acknowledges E PA 's efforts to include the high-level of fish co n s umption rates by triba l people, or "subsiste nce fishers" as described in preparin g the ri sk assessments for the four sub ject -flame retard a nt cl u ste rs. How eve r , we hope E P A realizes t here is s till a lon g way to go in considering the high risk to health and life ofthe first peoples of triba l n atio n s by chemicals regulated under As a pr e liminary m atter, the Trib e a lways s upport s th e efforts of any federal agency to e n sure g r eater co ll aborativ e ef forts with trib es and other indi ge no u s groups a nd p e oples. Meaningful gove rnm e n t-to-gove rnm e nt co nsultation Execut ive Order No. 1 3 I 75 requires direct government-to-government co n su ltati o n in the developme nt of regulatory policie s that have tribal implicates. In my lette r of February 1 5, 2 01 3 to Dann y Goga l at the E PA 's Office ofEnvironmental Ju s tic e and Dona Harri s of the E P A's Ame ri ca n Indi an Environment O ffice, I pro v ided co mmen ts rega rding th e E P A 's Draft P o li cy on Environme nt al Justice. The Tribe's re spo n se today in co rp orates by reference the concerns l raised then, which do not appear to have been addressed given the manner in whic h yo u have requested a response from tr ib es. Na mely, th e proposed ac ti on, even tho u gh in m ay larg ely occur outs id e of the b o und ari es of o ur Re servat ion, does affect off-Reservatio n aboriginal-use a reas th at continue to hold important c ultural , sp iritu al and traditional s ign ifi ca nc e today. Without more infonn ation from the Agency , it is impo ss ib le for the Tr ibe do d e termine how tho se areas or the areas withi n the boundarie s of our R eservation would be affected without furth e r guidance a nd data from the Age ncy . Fo r th is reason , at thi s time I cannot co n s ider y our re qu es t as meaningful wit h respect to our Tribe , unles s we h ave further direct t echnica l ass istance and g uidanc e from th e Agency. That being sa id , we co ncur with the comments provide d b y the Na ti onal Tribal To x ics Counci l, which we re- s tat e b e low. Che mi ca l C lus te rs The Tribe supports EPA's inclu sio n of fish consumption amount s by subsistence fishers and thei r chi ldren whe n evaluat in g expos ure pathways of the "CPE" flame reta rdant clusters. We specifica ll y highlight E PA 's co mmitm e nt to acco unt for the hi g h-end fis h conswnption of subs i stence fishers-including pregnant women, c hildren and adu lts-t h e majority of whom are the tr iba l population
. We agree with the need to eval u ate the hazard endpoints that go be yond cancer risk and includ e target organ effects, reproductive and developmental effects and neurotoxicity. (CPE Problem Formulation, 08115, pp . 32 and 34) Howe ver, the Tribe requests EPA to also includ e fish consumption rates of s ub s iste nce fi s h ers in the risk assessme nt work on the three other flame retardant clusters. For instance, in the TBBPA Problem Formulation, E PA plans to only use consumption rates for recreational fishers, but does not consider exposure from backyard ope n burning, espec ially plastics and Styrofoam, which isI r in a Mye r s 

### Re: Chemical Cluster s December I 0 , 2015 Page 3 of 5

common on o ur Reservation and vi ll ages. Nor has the EPA a nd co n side red oth er traditional su b s iste nce foo d s known to bioaccumulate these c he mical s, s u c h as fish and birds
. The main sources for pollutants on our R ese rvation co me from open dumps , backyard open burning (burn barrel s), off-gas from mate r ials , an d others. Open dumps and backyard burning by ind ividual resident s a re part icular iss ue s for the Trib e. According to our Sanitatio n Trac kin g and Rep orting System, th e re are currentl y 62 so l id waste sys tem s in the Rese rvation. Two sys tem s are managed by the Mt. Turnb ull Sanitation and the re m ai nin g sys tem s are co n s idered " open dump s"
. We unders tand that flame retardant s are fou nd in many household ite m s (e
. , electro n ic s, furn iture) and the m ajo ri ty of these items are fou nd in op e n

**du~np s,**  but we h ave no d ata o n the e xtent of the pollution or th e c h e mi cals involved
. P lease consider the following additional po int s : 

### •

• Add itiona ll y, rega rdi ng fish cons umpti o n a nd the popu lation sce n ario, the Trib e believes the tribal population scena ri o is the mo s t ap propriate to u se for ri sk assessme nts by E PA , becau se EPA's own rul es indicat e that they are to protect the population of hi g hest risk. As identified in the problem formul atio n for the HB CD clu s ter, fish co n s umption rates fo r s ub s is tence fi s he rs at 142.5 g ra m s p e r day need to b e u se d in aggregate ex po s ure for tho se who r e l

y heav i ly on loca ll y so urced fish. Tribal p eo pl e are at the high est ri s k due to their known high-level co n s umption of fi s h , marine mammal s, and b ird s. In te rm s of c umul ative risk , the Tribe insists that EPA look at the overall body burden of che mi cals and the i nte raction of the flame re ta rdants with other c h e mical s. Our me mbers are es p ec ially exposed to large r vo l um es of chem ica ls du e to chemica l waste from surrou ndin g mines, which ha ve e nte re d our waterways and la ke s, and our traditional di e ts a nd geographic locations in relati o n to indu s trial pollutant depo sitio n . Studies on PCB 's, a nothe r ty p e of flame retardant , s howed the ir synergi s m with othe r bromine-based c he micals
.
• Finally , the Trib e rem inds EPA that resou rce use- both types of resources and volume of use- are important factors in risk assessments that EPA must not ove rl ook any longer. For examp le, native food s th at are consumed by Apache s th at are harvested , gathered or hunt ed o n or off our Reservation , s uc h a s, fi s h , elk , deer, acorn , manz anita , s umac b e rri es, juniper b e rri es, mescal, pinon s, century pl a nt , b lack walnut , mes quite bean s, and devil's claw, all may have been i mpacte d by the se c he mical s especia ll y o ff the R eserva tion. Th e hi gh- leve l u se of local plants by Apaches may put us at risk due to dermal exposure when harvesting the plants andIrina Myers 

### Re: Chemical Clusters D ecemb e r I 0, 2015 Page 4 of5

exposure by inge s tion or inhalation when eating , mouthing or burni n g the plants for traditional u ses. Th e Tribe does not ha ve any documentation specific to our Reservation on flame retardant contamination , or any information as to the ir presence thereon , co ntaminated sites on tri b al land s, or the imp act of these chemicals on tribe s or re s idents of Indi a n Country. Gi ve n th e trust respon s ibility of the Un ited States to the Trib e, it wo uld seem that the Agency s hould be assisting u s wit h that determination. Conclusion The San Carlos Apache Tribe supports the develo p ment of a dialogue betwee n the EPA , this Tribe and other trib es and indigenou s peop les to enhance t he development of policies and procedure s fo r e n s urin g env ironmen ta l protection on our land s. Fundame nta ll y, the Tribe s upp orts the Agency's eff orts. However , the Tribe be l ieves that the m eth od for co n su lta ti o n which yo u have utili zed is fundamenta ll y flawed without th e Agency' s ass i stance to determine whether or not there exists a ny docum e ntation specific to our Re servation. G iven the trust responsibility of the United States to the T rib e, it would see m that the Agency s hould be assisting us with that determination. The Tribe look s forward to work in g with EPA direc tl y, p erhap s with the Agency's s taff from Re g ion I X , and further commenti n g o n thi s important concern. Th e ability of the Trib e to work in partnership w ith the EPA is import a nt to the T ri be. The Tribe hopes to improve thi s partnersh ip with the EPA and e ncourage s the development of consultatio n protocols between the Tribe and EPA. But to do that, we ne e d more information spec ifi c to o ur R eservati on and Abor i ginal Te rritory . Thank you for the opportunity to submit this comment. If I or the Tribe can be of further assistance or responsive to a ny questions regarding this comment, o r on the gathering of data and preparation of problem formulations for th ese four flame re tardant cluster s, p lease contact o ur Dir ecto r of the T r ibe's Environmental Protection Agency, Loretta Stone at (928) 475-2218 , or scatepa @s ca tcom. net. Since re ly ,

### Irina Mye rs Re: C h emical Clusters 

### December I0 , 2015 Page 5 of 5

Cc: Tao E tp ison. Vice Chairman Members of the Council Dec Randnll, Fores t Manager , Fore st

**Rc~ourccs** Lorena Stone. Director. TEPA A. B
. Rit chie. TOAG File