Opinion ID: 726058
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Ability to Advance its Own Regulations

Text: 44 MSG's final argument is that OSHA will affect tribal self-governance by precluding the promulgation of its own safety regulations. We are not persuaded. 45 First, protesting the application of a federal statute because it affects the tribe's sovereign power to adopt a different regulatory scheme proves too much. Indeed, [a]ny federal statute applied to an Indian on a reservation or to a Tribe has the arguable effect of eviscerating self-governance since it amounts to a subordination of the Indian government. Smart, 868 F.2d at 935. The question is not whether the statute affects tribal self-governance in general, but rather whether it affects tribal self-governance in purely intramural matters. As already discussed in Section III. A., the nature of MSG's activities, its employment of non-Indians, and its construction at Foxwoods renders its conduct extramural. 46 Second, there is nothing to prevent the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe from adopting its own safety regulations, as long as those regulations do not conflict with the application of OSHA. The government concedes that tribes are not states under OSHA, see 29 U.S.C. § 652(7), and thus, OSHA does not preempt tribal safety regulations in the same manner in which it preempts state laws. See Gade v. National Solid Wastes Mgmt. Ass'n, 505 U.S. 88, 96-104, 112 S.Ct. 2374, 2381-86, 120 L.Ed.2d 73 (1992) (describing OSHA's preemption of state laws). Thus, the Tribe is free to adopt any additional regulations, consistent with OSHA, which it deems necessary. 47 We conclude, therefore, that application of OSHA will not affect exclusive rights of self-governance in purely intramural matters. MSG's activities do not fall within the Coeur d'Alene exception to the application of federal statutes.CONCLUSION 48 We adopt the Ninth Circuit's method of analysis in Coeur d'Alene as the appropriate test to determine whether a statute, silent as to Indians, applies to tribes. 49 We disagree with the OSHRC that OSHA's application will interfere with tribal self-governance over purely intramural matters. 50 Given our holding that OSHA does not fall within one of the Coeur d'Alene exceptions to the application of federal statutes, it is unnecessary to address the Secretary's additional argument that the Indian Self-Determination and Education Act, 25 U.S.C. § 450 et seq., provides clear Congressional intent of OSHA's applicability to tribes. We also reject amicus's argument that the Secretary's enforcement action is barred unless there is a clear and unequivocal waiver of tribal sovereign immunity. Tribal sovereign immunity does not bar suits by the United States. See Quileute Indian Tribe v. Babbitt, 18 F.3d 1456, 1459-60 (9th Cir.1994). 51 Accordingly, we reverse the decision of the OSHRC.