### MEMORANDUM

TO: Record

FROM: Lisa Biddle, U.S. EPA, Office of Water (OW)

DATE: March 31 , 2015

SUBJECT: Summary of EPA Outreach and Coordination with Indian Trib es for the

Proposed Pretreatment Standards for Unconventional Oil and Gas

Extraction Wastewater (DCN SGE 00785 )

EPA Office of Water (EPA OW) collected information to evaluate the possible effects of the proposed rule on Indian Tribes. The q uestions EPA sought to answer regarding t ribal

considerations for the proposed pretreatment standard included :

 How is UOG wastewater generated on tribal lands managed?

 Are there UOG extraction activities on tribal lands that discharge wastewater to municipal wastewater treatment plants?

 Are there any tribes operating municipal wastewater treatment plants that accept UOG

wastewaters?

 Are there ways in which the rulemaking would impose any costs on Indian tribes?

 Do Indian tribes support a rulemaking to add pretreatment standards for unconventional oil and gas (UOG) extraction wastewater?

EPA used the following data sources and forums to collect information to answer these questions :

 Conversations with, and utilizing references from

, the Department of Interior, Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development (see DCN SGE 01123 , DCN SGE00771 )

.

 Review of a nation wide database of well and drilling information ( Drillinginfo’s (DI) Desktop® Well File Database ) (see DCN SGE00963 and DCN SGE00963.A1 )

– including cross reference of Indian Tribe names and Operator names.

 Review of information disclosures regarding hydraulic fracturing in FracFocus © (DCN SGE00585)

.

 Speaki ng with tribal representatives through presentations at the National Tribal Water Council ( May 14, 2014 ) and the National Tribal Caucus ( June 4, 2014 )

.

 Direct coordination with EPA regional o ffices , including c onsulting with pretreatment experts and those that have inspected wastewater treatment facilities on Indian

reservations

.

 Contacting specific tribes involved in UOG extraction or operating municipal treatment plants ( i.e., Publicly Owned Treatment Works ( POTWs ) ) located near major UOG basins (e.g., Osage, Jicarilla Apache, Southern Ute, Ute Mtn Ute, Navajo) . Contacts were made through OW’s National Tribal Program Coordinator and EPA’s regional T ribal Assistance program s.Memorandum

March 25 , 2015
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Based on these data collection efforts, EPA is not aware of any Indian tribes discharging

UOG extraction wastewater to municipal wastewater treatment plants and we are not aware of any tribes operating municipal wastewater treatment plants that accept UOG extraction

wastewaters. UOG wastewater generated on tribal lands is typically disposed of in Class II

und erground injection for disposal wells. Therefore we are not aware of a way in which the rulemaking would impose costs on Indian tribes since it would not involve a change in practice. Some tribal representatives from the National Tribal Water Council encou raged EPA to develop pretreatment standards that are sufficiently stringent and clear to ensure POTW assets are protected and that it is clear to the POTWs what is required of these industrial users to be in compliance with the ELG.