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 m y verbal comments to the Proposed Federal Plan for Certifying Restricted Use Pesticide Applicators within Indian Country as yo u 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 b y the Yurok L egal Department in light of the short time frame between your consultation letter of October 25 and the conference calls y ou scheduled. In order for s taff 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 b y 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 y our 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 "inIndian Country ." An example of where it is needed is in section I II 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 re sponsibility 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; Wh ereas , 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 wil l 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 per tinent ordinances, codes, laws, and regulations. In section VIII Applicator Requirements; A. Private Applicators; bullet 2) Submits documentation of ph ys ical attendance and completion of an EPA approved training and self

study evaluation... that includes e xamples 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 P rocedures. 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 cer tification to apply in Indian Country. Thank y ou for y our 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 t ime to respond formall y. If there an y questions or concerns that I might help with, please feel free to contact me. Respectfully , Dr. Suzanne Fluhart y

Wo k

- hlaw' Suzanne Fluharty Environmental Specialist Envir. Health and Pesticides Yurok Tribe Environmental Program15900 Hwy 101 N.

Klam ath, CA 95548

Phone (707) 482

- 1822 ext 1013 Cell (707) 954

- 9290
Em ail sfluharty@yuroktribe.nsn.us