I
103D CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4229
To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to enable Indian tribes to enforce
provisions of the Act relating to leaking underground storage tanks
on Indian lands, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 14, 1994
Mr. RICHARDSON (for himself and Mr. THOMAS of Wyoming) introduced the
following bill; which was referred jointly to the Committees on Energy
and Commerce and Ways and Means
A BILL
To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to enable Indian
tribes to enforce provisions of the Act relating to leaking
underground storage tanks on Indian lands, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANKS IN INDIAN
COUNTRY.
(a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 9001 of the Solid Waste
Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6991) is amended by adding at
the end the following new paragraphs:
‘‘(9) The term ‘Indian country’ means—
‘‘(A) all land within the limits of any In-
dian reservation under the jurisdiction of the
United States Government, notwithstanding the
issuance of any patent, and including rights-of-
way running through the reservation;
‘‘(B) all dependent Indian communities
within the borders of the United States, wheth-
er within the original or subsequently acquired
territory thereof and whether within or without
the limits of a State; and
‘‘(C) all Indian allotments, the Indian ti-
tles to which have not been extinguished, in-
cluding rights-of-way running through such al-
lotments.
‘‘(10) The term ‘Indian tribe’ means any Indian
tribe, band, nation, pueblo, group, or community, in-
cluding any Alaska Native village, organization, or
regional corporation as defined in or established pur-
suant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act,
which is recognized by the Secretary of the Interior
and exercising governmental authority within Indian
country.’’.
(b) PRIMARY ENFORCEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES OF
INDIAN TRIBES.—Subtitle I of the Solid Waste Disposal
Act is amended by redesignating section 9010 as section
9011 and by inserting after section 9009 the following new
section:
‘‘SEC. 9010. INDIAN TRIBES.
‘‘(a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—Subject to the provi-
sions of subsection (b), the Administrator—
‘‘(1) may delegate to Indian tribes described in
subsection (b) primary enforcement responsibility for
programs and projects under this subtitle in Indian
country;
‘‘(2) may provide Indian tribes grant and con-
tract assistance to carry out functions under this
subtitle in Indian country; and
‘‘(3) may enter into cooperative agreements
with Indian tribes in carrying out this section.
‘‘(b) CONDITIONS.—The Administrator may make a
delegation under subsection (a)(1) to an Indian tribe only
if—
‘‘(1) the Indian tribe has a governing body car-
rying out substantial governmental duties and
powers;
‘‘(2) the functions to be exercised by the Indian
tribe pertain to land and resources which are held
by the Indian tribe, held by United States in trust
for the Indian tribe, held by a member of the Indian
tribe if such property interest is subject to a trust
restriction on alienation, or are otherwise within In-
dian country; and
‘‘(3) the Indian tribe is reasonably expected to
be capable, in the Administrator’s judgment, of car-
rying out the functions to be exercised in a manner
consistent with the terms and purposes of this sub-
title and of all applicable regulations.
‘‘(c) EPA REGULATIONS.—(1) The Administrator
shall, not later than 12 months after the date of the enact-
ment of this section, promulgate final regulations that
specify how Indian tribes may exercise primary enforce-
ment responsibility under this subtitle.
‘‘(2) For any provision of this subtitle where the exer-
cise of primary enforcement responsibility by Indian tribes
is inappropriate, administratively infeasible, or otherwise
inconsistent with the purposes of this subtitle, the Admin-
istrator may include in the regulations promulgated under
this section means for the direct implementation of such
provision by the Environmental Protection Agency in a
manner that will achieve the purpose of the provision.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to allow Indian
tribes to assume or maintain primary enforcement respon-
sibility for programs under this subtitle in a manner less
protective of human health and the environment than such
responsibility may be assumed or maintained by a State.
An Indian tribe shall not be required to exercise criminal
jurisdiction for purposes of complying with the preceding
sentence.
‘‘(d) COST SHARE.—An Indian tribe shall not be re-
quired to pay any portion of the cost of corrective actions
undertaken by either the Administrator or by the Indian
tribe under a cooperative agreement if, in the judgment
of the Administrator, such requirement would impose an
undue burden on the Indian tribe or be inappropriate, ad-
ministratively infeasible, or otherwise inconsistent with the
purposes of this subtitle or the Federal trust responsibility
to Indian tribes.
‘‘(e) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—In order to en-
sure the consistent implementation of the requirements of
this subtitle, an Indian tribe and the State or States in
which the lands of such Indian tribe are located may enter
into a cooperative agreement, subject to the review and
approval of the Administrator, to jointly plan and admin-
ister the requirements of this subtitle in Indian country.
‘‘(f) STUDY
OF UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANKS
WITHIN
INDIAN
COUNTRY.—(1) Not later than 12
months after the date of enactment of this section, the
Administrator shall complete a study and inventory of all
underground storage tanks located within Indian country.
The study shall include—
‘‘(A) an assessment of the ages, types (includ-
ing methods of manufacture, coatings, protection
systems, the compatibility of the construction mate-
rials and the installation methods) and locations (in-
cluding the climate of the locations) of such tanks;
‘‘(B) soil conditions, water tables, and the
hydrogeology of the tank locations;
‘‘(C) the relationship between the factors speci-
fied in subparagraphs (A) and (B) and the likelihood
of releases from underground storage tanks;
‘‘(D) the effectiveness and costs of inventory
systems, tank testing, and leak detection systems;
and
‘‘(E) such other factors as the Administrator
deems appropriate.
‘‘(2) Upon completion of the study required by para-
graph (1), the Administrator, in cooperation with the Sec-
retary of the Interior and the Director of the Indian
Health Service, shall submit to Congress a report contain-
ing the findings of the study and recommendations for ad-
dressing underground storage tanks within Indian coun-
try.
‘‘(g) TRIBAL LEAKING UNDERGROUND STORAGE
TANK TRUST FUND.—(1) The Administrator shall estab-
lish a Tribal Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust
Fund (hereafter in this subsection referred to as the ‘trust
fund’) and shall use such funds for payment of costs in-
curred for corrective action within Indian country under
this subtitle.
‘‘(2) The trust fund shall consist of amounts depos-
ited pursuant to section 9508(c)(1)(B) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986.
‘‘(3) The Administrator may provide funds from the
trust fund for the reasonable costs of an Indian tribe’s
actions under a cooperative agreement between the Ad-
ministrator and such Indian tribe setting out the correc-
tive actions and enforcement activities to be taken by the
Indian tribe.
‘‘(4) The Administrator shall allow an Indian tribe
to recover from the trust fund its reasonable costs in-
curred before the enactment of this section for corrective
and enforcement actions related to releases into the envi-
ronment from underground storage tanks located within
Indian country under its jurisdiction if—
‘‘(A) the Indian tribe notified the Environ-
mental Protection Agency and Bureau of Indian Af-
fairs of the release from an underground storage
tank; and
‘‘(B) the Environmental Protection Agency and
the Bureau of Indian Affairs failed—
‘‘(i) to require the owner or operator of the
underground storage tank to undertake correc-
tive action with respect to the release; or
‘‘(ii) to undertake corrective action with re-
spect to such release when such action was nec-
essary, in the judgment of the Administrator,
the Secretary of the Interior, or the Indian
tribe, to protect human health and the environ-
ment.’’.
(c) APPROPRIATIONS.—(1) Section 2007(f)(1) of the
Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6916(f)(1)) is
amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘Not less
than 11⁄2 percent of the amount appropriated under this
paragraph shall be used by the Administrator to carry out
section 9010 of this Act (relating to the regulation of un-
derground storage tanks within Indian country).’’.
(2) Section 2007(f)(2) of the Solid Waste Disposal
Act (42 U.S.C. 6916(f)(2)) is amended by adding at the
end the following: ‘‘Not less than 11⁄2 percent of the
amount appropriated under this paragraph shall be used
by the Administrator to make grants to Indian tribes for
purposes of assisting Indian tribes in the development and
implementation of approved tribal underground storage
tank release detection, prevention, and correction pro-
grams under subtitle I.’’.
(d) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of
the Solid Waste Disposal Act, contained in section 1001
of such Act, is amended by redesignating the item relating
to section 9010 as 9011 and by inserting after the item
relating to section 9009 the following new item:
‘‘Sec. 9010. Indian tribes.’’.
SEC. 2. SET ASIDE FOR TRIBAL LEAKING UNDERGROUND
STORAGE TANK TRUST FUND.
Section 9508(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986 is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘Except as provided’’ and in-
serting the following:
‘‘(A) PURPOSES.—Except as provided’’;
and
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraph:
‘‘(B) SET
ASIDE
FOR
INDIAN
TRIBES.—
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for
each of the fiscal years 1995 through 1999, the
Secretary shall deposit an amount equal to not
less than 3 percent of the amounts made avail-
able to States pursuant to subparagraph (A) in
the Tribal Leaking Underground Storage Tank
Trust Fund to be administered by the Adminis-
trator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Such amounts shall be used only by Indian
tribes (as defined in section 9001(10) of the
Solid Waste Disposal Act) to carry out the pur-
poses referred to in subsection 9010(g) of the
Solid Waste Disposal Act.’’.
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