I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1267

To grant State status to Indian tribes for purposes of enforcement of the

Solid Waste Disposal Act.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 9, 1993

Mr. RICHARDSON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Energy and Commerce

A BILL

To grant State status to Indian tribes for purposes of

enforcement of the Solid Waste Disposal Act.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. AUTHORITY TO GRANT STATE STATUS TO IN4 DIAN TRIBES FOR ENFORCEMENT OF SOLID

5 WASTE DISPOSAL ACT.

6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—(1) Section 1004 of the Solid

7 Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6903) is amended by add8 ing at the end the following new paragraphs:

9 ‘‘(42) The term ‘Indian country’ means—
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1 ‘‘(A) all land within the limits of any Indian

2 reservation under the jurisdiction of the United

3 States Government, notwithstanding the issuance of

4 any patent, and including rights-of-way running

5 through the reservation;

6 ‘‘(B) all dependent Indian communities within

7 the borders of the United States whether within the

8 original or subsequently acquired territory thereof,

9 and whether within or without the limits of a State;

10 and

11 ‘‘(C) all Indian allotments, the Indian titles to

12 which have not been extinguished, including rights13 of-way running through the same.

14 ‘‘(43) The term ‘Indian tribe’ means any Indian

15 tribe, band, group, or community, including any Alaska

16 Native village, organization, or regional corporation as de17 fined in or established pursuant to the Alaska Native

18 Claims Settlement Act, recognized by the Secretary of the

19 Interior and exercising governmental authority within In20 dian country.’’.

21 (2) Paragraph (13) of such section is amended by

22 striking out ‘‘or authorized tribal organization or Alaska

23 Native village or organization,’’ and inserting in lieu there24 of ‘‘not treated as a State under section 1009,’’.
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1 (3) Paragraph (15) of such section is amended by in2 serting after ‘‘State,’’ the following: ‘‘Indian tribe,’’.

3 (b) TREATMENT OF INDIAN TRIBES AS STATES.—

4 Subtitle A of the Solid Waste Disposal Act is amended

5 by adding at the end the following new section:

6 ‘‘SEC. 1009. INDIAN TRIBES.

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the provisions of sub8 section (b), the Administrator—

9 ‘‘(1) is authorized to treat Indian tribes as

10 States under this Act;

11 ‘‘(2) may delegate to such tribes primary en12 forcement responsibility for programs and projects

13 under this Act; and

14 ‘‘(3) may provide such tribes grant and contract

15 assistance to carry out functions provided by this

16 Act.

17 ‘‘(b) EPA REGULATIONS.—

18 ‘‘(1) The Administrator shall, not later than 18

19 months after the date of the enactment of this sec20 tion, promulgate final regulations that specify how

21 Indian tribes shall be treated as States for the pur22 poses of this Act. Such treatment shall be authorized

23 only if—
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1 ‘‘(A) the Indian tribe has a governing body

2 carrying out substantial governmental duties

3 and powers;

4 ‘‘(B) the functions to be exercised by the

5 Indian tribe pertain to land and resources

6 which are held by the Indian tribe, held by the

7 United States in trust for the Indian tribe, held

8 by a member of the Indian tribe if such prop9 erty interest is subject to a trust restriction on

10 alienation, or are otherwise within Indian coun11 try; and

12 ‘‘(C) the Indian tribe is reasonably ex13 pected to be capable, in the Administrator’s

14 judgment, of carrying out the functions to be

15 exercised in a manner consistent with the terms

16 and purposes of this Act and of all applicable

17 regulations.

18 ‘‘(2) For any provision of this Act where treat19 ment of Indian tribes identically to States is inap20 propriate, administratively infeasible, or otherwise

21 inconsistent with the purposes of this Act, the Ad22 ministrator may include in the regulations promul23 gated under this section means for the direct imple24 mentation of such provision by the Environmental

25 Protection Agency in a manner that will achieve the
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1 purpose of the provision. Nothing in this section

2 shall be construed to allow Indian tribes to assume

3 or maintain primary enforcement responsibility for

4 programs under this Act in a manner less protective

5 of human health and the environment than such re6 sponsibility may be assumed or maintained by a

7 State. An Indian tribe shall not be required to exer8 cise criminal jurisdiction for purposes of complying

9 with the preceding sentence.

10 ‘‘(c) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—In order to en11 sure the consistent implementation of the requirements of

12 this Act, an Indian tribe and the State or States in which

13 the lands of such Indian tribe are located may enter into

14 a cooperative agreement, subject to the review and ap15 proval of the Administrator, to jointly plan and administer

16 the requirements of this Act.

17 ‘‘(d) REPORT.—(1) The Administrator, in coopera18 tion with the Secretary and the Director of the Indian

19 Health Service, shall submit to Congress a report contain20 ing the following:

21 ‘‘(A) Recommendations for addressing hazard22 ous and solid wastes and underground storage tanks

23 within Indian country.
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1 ‘‘(B) Methods by which the participation in and

2 administration of programs under this Act by Indian

3 tribes can be maximized.

4 ‘‘(C) The amount of Federal assistance that

5 will be required to carry out the purposes of this sec6 tion.

7 ‘‘(D) A discussion of how the Administrator in8 tends to provide assistance to Indian tribes for the

9 administration of programs and projects under this

10 Act.

11 ‘‘(2) The report required by paragraph (1) shall be

12 submitted not later than 24 months after the date of the

13 enactment of this section.

14 ‘‘(e) TRIBAL HAZARDOUS WASTE SITE AND OPEN

15 DUMP INVENTORY.—(1) The Administrator shall under16 take a continuing program to establish an inventory of

17 sites within Indian country at which hazardous waste has

18 at any time been stored or disposed of. Such inventory

19 shall contain the information required by section 3012 and

20 shall include sites at Federal facilities within Indian coun21 try. The Administrator also shall establish an inventory

22 of open dumps within Indian country at which solid waste

23 has been disposed of at any time.
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1 ‘‘(2) The requirements of paragraph (1) shall be car2 ried out not later than 24 months after the date of the

3 enactment of this section.

4 ‘‘(f) UPGRADING OF TRIBAL OPEN DUMPS.—The

5 Administrator shall assist Indian tribes to upgrade open

6 dumps to upgrade such facilities to comply with the re7 quirements of this Act.’’.

8 (c) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents

9 for subtitle A of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (contained

10 in section 1001 of such Act) is amended by adding at the

11 end the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 1009. Indian tribes.’’.

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