The following action items are intended to strengthen EPA's Indian program by supplementing current activities. The public may have additional ideas about actions we should take and there may be refinements in our thinking. However, consultation with the Tribal Operations Committee members and responses received to a mailing to Tribal Leaders in June suggest we are generally on the right track. Recognizing that many of these actions are new or were not previously identified as priorities, each Assistant and Regional Administrator will need to make some difficult resource allocation decisions to provide the necessary people and resources to begin to meet the challenge of strengthening EPA's Tribal operations. These individuals have a great deal of information on Tribal needs and priorities.
Tribes face and then formulate specific workplans for responding to the problems.
Each Regional Administrator has the flexibility to determine, in consultation with Tribes, the most appropriate way to develop these workplans. To focus and facilitate Program and Regional efforts for effective Tribal environmental protection each Assistant and Regional Administrator should begin to establish strategies for achieving the goals outlined in the Tribal environmental workplans. These Workplans should include the specific program implementation and management activities, technical assistance and education that wiIl be undertaken by each Region and National Program Office. While these plans should address the problems identified in the Tribal workplans, they may be developed at the same time, in close consultation with the Tribal plans, so as to ensure the completion of Regional and National Program plans prior to the FY 1997 budget development process. The plans may be flexible and allow for future revisions as more is learned about the Tribes' environmental problems and priorities.