Ceritfication in Indian Country_Yurok feedback

Suzanne Fluharty 

to: Nicole Zinn

12/20/2010 07:36 PM

Cc: Mary Powell, Kathleen Sloan

Greetings,

I'm sending you my verbal comments to the Proposed Federal Plan for Certifying Restricted Use 

Pesticide Applicators within Indian Country as you requested during the Dec 13th conference 

call.

The first being that the Yurok Tribe reserves the right to one on one consultation as per 

Executive Order 13175. I must declare this to you as directed by the Yurok Legal Department in 

light of the short time frame between your consultation letter of October 25 and the conference 

calls you scheduled. In order for staff to formally represent the Yurok Tribe in any Government 

to Government communication requires Tribal Council approval of the comments. To begin this 

process staff must draw up a review of the item and make recommendations, then an internal 

review and comment by any effected Yurok Departments is required, they are then reviewed by

the Yurok Executive Director who decides if the comments are appropriate and ready to submit 

as a Council Action Item. Then they are placed on the Council docket which may take from 2 

weeks to a month before a Council Meeting where they can be discussed and any action 

decided.

I am sure that if you consider and compare the time it took your office to draw up the plan and 

the general timing of Federal legislative action, you too will realize the time period that you have 

given for consultation and comment to be inadequate. 

Regardless, as I am the Environmental Specialist with the Yurok Tribe assigned to 

Environmental Health and Pesticide issues, concerns, and education, I am able to give general 

feedback and one of the most glaring issues is that despite its title that includes "in Indian 

Country," there is very little language that differentiates the application of RUPs in Indian 

Country as compared to the States in general.

The Plan needs to include the language "in Indian Country" through out the document and also 

address explicitly the meaning, responsibilities, enforcement, and penalties to applicators "in 
Indian Country." An example of where it is needed is in section III Background; bullet 2)...the 

proper use of RUPs in Indian Country (italics to be added language).

If the Plan is adopted, you will be certifying applicators as competent to apply in Indian 

Country. As such, it must be explicitly stated that it is the responsibility of the applicators to 

know the applicable tribal ordinances, codes, laws, and regulations of the tribes in the Region for 

which they are being certified, otherwise they are blatantly NOT competent to apply RUPs in 

Indian Country! This should be made clear in Section V Applicability of the Plan; Whereas, 

some Tribes may also choose to further restrict or prohibit the use of RUPs, it is the 

responsibility of the applicator to know...etc. 

In section VII Lead Agency, first bullet; EPA Regions will administer routine maintenance 

activities, including application processing, database management, recordkeeping, and program 

oversight...including a publicly available database containing Tribes by EPA Region, along with 

contact information, and any pertinent ordinances, codes, laws, and regulations. 

In section VIII Applicator Requirements; A. Private Applicators; bullet 2) Submits 

documentation of physical attendance and completion of an EPA approved training and selfstudy evaluation...that includes examples of a range of pertinent Tribal regulations and how to 

obtain contact information for the Tribes within their EPA Region.

This sort of explicit language, training, and enforcement should be carried out throughout, 

including section X Certification Procedures. Also some clause should be in section XI 

Enforcement of the Plan to the effect that should Certified Applicators be found to be applying 

RUPs in contradiction of pertinent Tribal ordinances, codes, laws, and regulations EPA will 

revoke their certification to apply in Indian Country.

Thank you for your time in considering these issues and I look forward to seeing how they will 

be incorporated into the Plan. Please contact me when the next draft is completed so the Yurok 

Tribe can have sufficient time to respond formally. If there any questions or concerns that I 

might help with, please feel free to contact me.

Respectfully,

Dr. Suzanne Fluharty

Wok-hlaw'

Suzanne Fluharty

Environmental Specialist 

Envir. Health and Pesticides

Yurok Tribe Environmental Program
15900 Hwy 101 N. 

Klamath, CA 95548

Phone (707) 482-1822 ext 1013

Cell (707) 954-9290

Email sfluharty@yuroktribe.nsn.us