Mr. Slade is past chair of the Committee on Native American Natural Resources of the ABA Section of Natural Resources, Energy, and Environmental Law. Mr. Stern is chair of that Section's Public Lands Committee. Native American tribes play an increasingly critical role in regulating the environment on Indian lands. In addition, the regulated community must be mindful that, as the power of tribes to regulate increases, so will the potential for overlap and conflict among tribal, state, and federal regulations. A Balance of Powers Tribal environmental regulation potentially can affect all businesses in and around Indian lands or reservations.
Tribes have comprehensive power over their members on reservations or on other tribal lands.
However, while tribes may have regulatory powers over non-Indians and Indian members of other tribes in certain circumstances, those powers are not clearly defined. Federal power over tribes, their lands, and non-Indians dealing with tribes is broad. Consequently, an express federal statute allocating governmental authority over specific activities will control. State power over activities on Indian reservations generally is narrow. States may exercise power conferred by express federal delegation or when, under a balancing analysis, state regulatory interests are strong and federal or tribal interests are comparatively weak.