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YUROK TRIBE 

190 Klamath Boulevard • Post Office Box 1027 • Klamath, CA 95548 

Irina Myers 

USEPA Office of Pollution Prevention and Taxies (OPPT) 

1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW 

Mail Code: 7408M 

Washington, DC 20460 

RE: Response to Tribal Consultation, August 27, 2015, Notification of Consultation and Coordination on TSCA 

Work Plan Chemical Problem Formulation & Initial Assessment and Data Needs Assessment for Fl ame 

Retardants (FR) Clusters 

Dear Ms. Myers: 

I am writing as Chairman of the Yurok Tribe, whose mission is to exercise the aboriginal and sovereign rights 

of t he Yurok People to continue forever our Tribal traditions of self-governance, cultural and spiritual 

preservation, stewardship of Yurok lands, waters and other natural endowments, balanced social and 

economic development, peace and reciprocity, and respect for the dignity and individual rights of all persons 

living within the juri sd iction of the Yurok Tribe, while honoring our Creator, our ancestors and our 

descendants. As the largest Native American Tribe in California, this includes the health and welfare of over 

6,000 enrolled members and many others living in t he numerous communities on our Reservation and 

Ancestra l Territory. 

The Yurok Tribe is submitting comments regarding the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Work Plan chemicals 

as identified in the following table with the corresponding docket numbers. 

Chemical Cluster Docket Number 

Tetra bromobisphenol A EPA-HQ- OPPT -2014-0730 

Chlorinated Phosphate Esters EPA-HQ-OPPT - 2015-0068 

Cyclic Aliphatic Bromides EPA-HQ- OPPT - 2015-0081 

Brominated Phthalates EPA-HQ-OPPT -2014-0491 

EPA Notice of Consultation and Coordination, Enclosures, "Consultation Information," 0?/27/2015, pp. 4. 

The Yurok Tribe acknowledges EPA's efforts to include the high-level of fish consumption rates by tribal 

people, or "subsistence fishers" as described in the risk assessments for th e four subject flame retardant 

clusters. However, we hope EPA rea lizes there is still a long way to go in considering the high risk and 

potential negative impacts to the health (physical, mental and spiritual) and life of our tribal members and 

communities by chemicals in t he environment and the multiple pathways of chronic exposure that our 

members experience in their practice of traditional, ceremonial, and subsistence activities. 

The Yurok Tribe su pports EPA's inclusion of fish consumption amounts by subsistence fishers and their 

children when evaluat ing exposure pathways of the "CPE" flame retardant clusters. We specifically highlight 

EPA's commitment to account for the high-end fish consumption of subsistence fishers-including pregnant 

women, children and adults-the majority of whom are tribal populations. Furthermore, the Yurok Tribe 
agrees with the need to evaluate the hazard endpoints that go beyond cancer risk and include target organ 

effects, reproductive and developmental effects and neurotoxicity. (CPE Problem Formulation, 08/15, pp. 32 

and 34) · 

However, the Yurok Tribe impels EPA to also include fish consumption rates of subsistence fishers in the risk 

assessment work on all the flame retardant clusters. For instance, in the TBBPA Problem Formulation, EPA 

plans to only use consumption rates for recreational fishers, does not consider exposure from backyard open 

burning which is common in rural reservations and communities, and does not consider other traditional 

subsistence foods known to bioaccumulate these chemicals, such as non-commercial fish species such as 

lamprey and sturgeon, fresh water mussels, marine mammals and birds. 

• Additionally, regarding fish consumption and the population scenario, the Yurok Tribe bel ieves the tribal 

population scenario is the most appropriate to use for risk assessments by EPA, because EPA's own rules 

indicate that they are to protect the population of highest risk. For example, as identified in the problem 

formulation for the HBCD cluster, fish consumption rates for subsistence fishers at 142.5 grams per day 

need to be used in to be protective of aggregate exposure for those who rely heavily on locally sourced 

fish. Tribal people are at the highest risk due to their known high-level consumption of fish, marine 

mammals, and birds as well as extended time spent in the natural environment, all of which increases 

their potential exposure to environmental chemicals. 

• In terms of cumulative risk, the Yurok Tribe insists that EPA look at the overall body burden of chemicals 

and the interaction of the flame retardants with other chemicals. Tribal people are especially exposed to 

larger volumes of chemicals due to their traditional diets, lifeways and their geographic locations that are 

often in areas of endpoint aggregation and pollutant deposition. 

• Finally, the Yurok Tribe reminds EPA that tribes and subsistence communities have resource use-in both 

types of resources and volume of use-that are important factors in risk assessments that EPA must not 

overlook any longer. For example, high-level use of local plants by tribal people may put them at risk 

due to dermal exposure when harvesting the plants and exposure by ingestion or inhalation when 

eating, mouthing or burning the plants for traditional uses. 

Of special concern for the Yurok Tribe are the levels of persistent organic pollutants detected in our heavily 

utilized subsistence species that were analyzed in an EPA NCER 2010 grant and although our staff ca nnot afford 

ongoing tissue analysis, we feel that it is a justified and probable concern that if those common chemicals of 

concern had made their way through the environment into our foods, these newer chemicals in your docket 

today have a high probability of reaching these same endpoints. For example of 11 species tested (Chinook 

salmon, Coho, steelhead, Oungeness crab, lamprey eel, freshwater mussels, marine mussels, clams, seaweed, 

sturgeon, and whale) all had detections of dioxin/furans, PAHs, and PCBs; 9 had residues of organochlorine 

pesticides; and 5 had detections of the earlier flame retardants, the PBDEs in their tissues. As a Tri be, our 

members are experiencing disproportionate adverse hea lth effects and strongly advise the EPA to utilize tribal 

lifeways in their risk exposure scenarios. 

Thank you for allowing the Yurok Tribe the opportunity to provide meaningful input on the gathering of data 

and preparation of problem formulations for these four flame retardant clusters. 

~~ 

s;nmely, ~ 

r 

Tribal Chairman 

Yurok Tribal Council