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 

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boundary 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. 

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Protect 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 

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While 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 mitigation 

programs such as renewable portfolio standards (RPSs) and cap-andtrade means that those states that are already well positioned to 

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achieve 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. 

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