NATIONAL TRIBAL WATER COUNCIL 

May 22, 2014 

Sarah Furtak 

USEPA Office of Water, Watershed Branch 

1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW 

Mail code: 4503T 

Washington, DC 20460 

Ms. Furtak: 

The National Tribal Water Council (NTWC) is pleased to provide comments on the USEPA's "Rulemaking 

to Provide More Opportunities to Fully Engage Tribes in the Clean Water Act Section 303(d) Impaired 

Water Listing and Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Program." It is gratifying to see EPA respond to the 

NTWC's expressed concerns and request for addressing this critical gap in tribal authorization to 

implement a key part of the Clean Water Act, and to move forward with this consultation and 

rulemaking process. 

As the number of tribes with TAS approval for various Clean Water Act programs (§106, §319, §303(c)) 

has grown, it has become apparent that tribes can successfully exercise those authorities to monitor, 

assess and protect their water resources. But without a clear process for identifying impaired waters, 

and to establish and enforce the regulatory and non-regulatory means for restoring beneficial uses, we 

have not been able to fully address the range of water resource needs in Indian Country. In some 

Regions, EPA has taken the lead to develop TMDLs for waters in Indian Country, or helped facilitate a 

cooperative approach between tribes and states, with the state water quality standards being applied. 

In some instances tribes were invited to participate in pollutant loading studies and to help implement 

the necessary practices for restoring beneficial uses alongside their state partners, but tribal priorities 

for addressing water resource impairments may not necessarily align with states, nor do tribes currently 

have clear authority to initiate such actions. 

It would be desirable to see a streamlined TAS process defined for this CWA authority, such that a tribe 

may be able to apply for both CWA §303(c) and §303(d) concurrently. For those tribes that already have 

secured TAS approval for their water quality standards program, the TAS determination for this 

additional CWA program authority should be expeditious and not require substantial new information, 

as their capacity and administrative authorities should already have been clearly established. EPA will 

also need to carefully consider how tribes that pursue this new CWA authority can be provided with the 

programmatic (financial, technical) support to successfully implement it. Finally, it should be noted that 

711 Stewarts Ferry Pike, Nashville, TN 37214 

Ph.: (615) 467-1705 Fax: (615) 872-7417 

Steve Terry, Sr. Project Coordinator, sterry@usetinc.org 
Sarah Furtak 

May 22, 2014 

Page 2 

once tribes obtain the 303(d) authority and create their own impaired water bodies list, they will need 

to be rectified with State and EPA lists that may contain tribal water bodies. 

It is especially noteworthy that this initiative from EPA comes at the 30 th anniversary of Administrator 

Browner's 1994 action memo establishing EPA's Indian Policy and actively promoting tribal capacity for 

environmental programs. Tribal nations are anxious to engage with our EPA partners in broader 

implementation of the Clean Water Act, and to exercise our sovereign authorities to protect the water 

resources that have sustained our communities for many generations as well as continue to protect our 

water resources for all future generations. We appreciate the opportunity this represents for our ability 

to expand our tribal water programs, and to extend our partnership with EPA in a substantial and 

meaningful way. We look forward to continuing to provide input and support to EPA during the 

rulemaking process. 

Sincerely, 

e-'7 

Ken Norton, Chairman