WRITTEN TESTIMONY OF JONNY BEARCUB STIFFARM

ENROLLED MEMBER OF THE FORT PECK ASSINIBOINE & SIOUX TRIBES A CLASS 1 AIR REGION & DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, NATIVEENERGY , INC.

BEFORE THE EPA FOR THE PUBLIC HEARINGS: CLEAN

POWER PLAN PROPOSED RULE
JULY 29, 2014 — DENVER, COLORADO

Thank you members of the committee for the opportunity to provide this oral and written testimony regarding the proposed rule. I come before you in two capacities, first and foremost, as a tribal member who lives on one of the few American Indian Reservations with a Class 1 Air Region designation and secondly, as an individual employed by one of the leaders in the voluntary carbon market.
These public hearings along with the numerous global warming related bills considered over the past few years, all demonstrate the importance and timeliness of our actions on combating and mitigating global climate change happening to our World. The proposed rule provides great flexibility which can be beneficial but also causes guarded optimism in many individuals.
I speak first as an individual who is a tribal member:
The Fort Peck Indian Reservation covers approximately 2,093,318 acres of rolling prairie land in northeastern Montana. The major portion of the reservation lies within the boundaries of Roosevelt County, with smaller segments in Daniels, Valley, and Sheridan Counties. Rivers form natural boundaries on three sides of the reservation, with the Missouri as the southern border, Big Muddy Creek to the east, and Porcupine Creek to the west. The northern

Page 1 of 5 1.13.Stiffarm Testimonyboundary runs parallel to, and 25 miles south of, the Canada-Montana

border.
The Reservation environment is typical of the unique beauty found in the short-grass prairies of the Northern Great Plains region. The fertile bottom land along the Missouri River allows for excellent irrigated farming while the timbered main water-course provides shelter for livestock and wildlife during diverse weather conditions. The natural "breaks" areas along the Missouri, with rugged, sandstone cliffs rising above the water, offer scenic testimony to the power of this mighty river.
The valleys of the Poplar River and Big Muddy Creek are broad and flat, with occasional rolling and broken terrain. Land contours rise gently to the north and west and are drained by several streams. The elevated bench lands at the edge of the valleys generally have steep slopes but are relatively level on top and suitable for farming. The isolated badland areas scattered throughout the reservation provide marginal rangeland. Elevations throughout the reservation vary from 1900 to 3100 feet.

The remoteness of the Fort Peck Reservation has so far protected the natural environment and rural lifestyle of its people. Careful planning and foresight will ensure the maintenance of this valuable heritage for the generations to come.
Air quality monitoring established baseline air quality conditions on the reservation which reflected a very pristine environment,
Tribal air quality goals include:
Protect and enhance the quality of the air of the Fort Peck Reservation, so as to protect and enhance human health, welfare, and safety.
Protect and enhance the agricultural productivity of the Reservation.

Page 2 of 5 J.B.Stiffarm TestimonyProtect and enhance the aesthetic and environmental quality of the

Reservation.
Foster economic development on the reservation in a manner consistent with preservation of the air quality of the reservation.
Fort Peck Reservation is a Class I air region and visibility is a valued aspect of the reservation's re-designation intent Visibility monitoring is necessary for establishing baseline conditions to be used in evaluating impacts of any proposed sources or controls, assessing the relative impacts of man-made pollution and natural sources that contribute to visibility impairment
To that end the Tribes have initiated IMPROVE monitoring as part of our overall air shed monitoring for long term visibility trends. Class I redesignation allows for only degradation of the air shed by Class I increments which are more restrictive. The Tribes have received and reviewed increment consumption analysis completed by EPA for coal fired power plants in the state of North Dakota. To date, the increment for Fort Peck has not been consumed. However developing oil and gas interests in the Bakken are expected to affect that increment and the Tribes will expect that EPA will continue to monitor increment consumption in mandatory and other Class I areas in this Region. While we are aware that CO2 regulation is not primarily about air quality, it is well known that heat waves, which we can expect more of in a warming world, make any given level of air quality impairment worse. Just as we seek to minimize emissions of criteria pollutants, we should also seek to minimize circumstances that increase the adverse results of those emissions. As such, we applaud the EPA for its efforts to minimize the impacts of global warming by reducing CO2 emissions

Page 3 of 5 J.B.Stiffarm TestimonyWhile EPA has expertise in many types of pollutants, carbon

pollution regulation is new. Add to this, the burdens on tribal leadership to make the decision to retain Class 1 designation or allow for change in the face of developing economic opportunity from fossil fuel extraction is heart breaking from every direction. Will we have a choice or even have the opportunity to voice our opinion in the future? While I am cautiously optomististic, I am also a realist. The proposed rule is flexible and industry can live with it, but will it be enough to provide protection to those areas, especially tribes, with Class 1 designations? I speak secondly as an individual employed by one of the leaders in the voluntary carbon market. NativeEnergy, Inc. has been an active participant in the voluntary and mandatory carbon offsets and renewable energy credit (REC) market for 13 years.
In the US, both the voluntary and mandatory carbon markets have emerged and matured over the past 15 years. Methodologies and standards have been developed ensuring the environmental integrity of the certified offsets from renewable projects that the market players are confident do not have ancillary adverse environmental impacts. The market has improved in quality through the availability and use of credible third party certification. Today carbon neutrality is becoming the rule among businesses, a mandate from shareholders, and the goal for many households.
The proposed rule is flexible and this flexibility allows the creation of multi-state plans to achieve regional compliance with a multi-state emissions goal. Importantly, Section 111(d) allows emission averaging or trading among affected electrical generating units and expressly contemplates that state plans can include trading programs incorporating flexible compliance mechanisms, such as California's A.B. 32 cap-and-trade program. Collaboration among states and the ability to rely on existing state climate mitigationprograms such as renewable portfolio standards (RPSs) and cap-andtrade means that those states that are already well positioned to

Page 4 of 5 J.B.Stiffarm Testimonyachieve their own emissions goals can reach out to partner with other

states in achieving theirs.
This flexibility is critical in achieving emissions goals at the lowest cost. It allows for existing and new carbon markets to encourage the development of less carbon intensive energy sources and drives innovation, creating new jobs in the industries of the future, here at home.

Page 5 of 5 J.B.Stiffarm Testimony