TWRAP Steering Committee

Tribal Waste and Response Assistance Program

TWRAP Steering Committee

Meeting Notes

January 27-29, 2015

Crystal City, Arlington, VA

Important Upcoming Dates

March 31, 2015: Steering Committee Conference Call (9:00 am Alaska; 10:00 am Pacific; 11:00 am Mountain; 12:00 pm Central; 1:00 pm Eastern)
May 5-7, 2015: Steering Committee In-Person Meeting, Minneapolis, MN
August 17-20, 2015: Tribal Lands and Environment Form, Minneapolis, MN
September 14, 2015: Steering Committee Conference Call (9:00 am Alaska; 10:00 am Pacific; 11:00 am Mountain; 12:00 pm Central; 1:00 pm Eastern)

Steering Committee Members:

Katie Kruse, chair

Victoria Flowers

Alexander James

Tim Kent

Victoria Kotongan

Virginia LeClere

Rob Roy

Elliott Talgo

John Wheaton

EPA StaffITEP Staff

Janice SimsTodd Barnell

Julie Jurkowski

Mehrdad Khatibi

Tuesday, January 27

The meeting was called to order at 8:45 am

Elliott Talgo provided the invocation.
Janice Sims, OSWER and Mehrdad Khatibi, ITEP welcomed the steering committee.
Roll call was taken –All nine members present.
As this was the first in-person meeting for some committee members, Katie Kruse asked all members to briefly introduce themselves.

TWRAP 2015 Program Overview

Presentation: Todd Barnell provided an overview of program activities for the new year, including plans for the 2015 Tribal Lands and Environment Forum (TLEF), which will take place in Minneapolis, MN, August 17 through 20. This year’s TLEF will be different from the past in that tribal water program activities will be included. It is anticipated that the inclusion of theseprograms will increase attendance significantly, so plans are being made to accommodate upwards of 550 participants. As the TLEF will be held in downtown Minneapolis, ITEP staff is currently reaching out to area tribes in order to schedule presentations by their staff and officials, as well as set up field trip opportunities for the attendees during the forum.
Discussion: Steering committee members asked a series of specific questions regarding plans for the TLEF (including plans to add tribal water issues to the forum), as well as making suggestions for potential collaborations with inter-tribal organizations and other federal agencies located in Minneapolis. The suggestion was made to reach out to these entities so they could participate as both exhibitors and potentially speakers during breakout and plenary sessions.Steering committee members also expressed their desire to see breakout sessions and trainings that help bring together those working in OSWER-related programs with their colleagues working in water programs.
Action Item: Katie Kruse and Victoria Flowers will provide ITEP staff with a list of organizations they are familiar with who could be potential collaborators at the TLEF.
Action Item: ITEP staff will investigate offering special regional focused meeting opportunities for some media areas. UST/LUST programs should be kept national in scope, but it may be beneficial for some other media (e.g. Brownfields) to have regionally focused meetings.
Action Item: ITEP staff will meet with USEPA Office of Water personnel to coordinate the inclusion of water related topics at the TLEF and in reaching out to tribal professionals working in water programs.

Meeting with the Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation (OSRTI) and Federal Facilities Restoration and Reuse Office (FFRRO)

Discussion: Charlotte Bertrand, Acting Office Director, and Paul Leonard, Acting Deputy Director of FFRRO, and Jim Woolford, Office Director of OSRTI, along with several of their staff members, participated in a discussion with the steering committee members. Issues raised by the steering committee included:
Addressing the challenges with the consultation process when multiple federal agencies are involved (and perhaps are even Potentially Responsible Parties);
Improving communication and collaboration between tribes and the many federal agencies involved at these types of sites;
Fostering the development of tribal capacity, including project oversight, cleanup activities, and training tribal members so they may more effectively compete for cleanup jobs on their own lands;
Recognizing that many tribes dealing with these types of sites are in the process of “nation building”, developing their own capacity to effectively interact with the federal government and play a primary role in the process;
Jurisdictional issues with activities taking place on lands falling into various categories (such as ceded lands);
Developing consistency with how various federal agencies define “Usual and Customary” when applied to tribal lands
Action Item: At a future meeting counsel from USEPA will be invited to talk with the steering committee, so issues concerning the definition of “Usual and Customary” can be discussed.
Action Item: Given the many Alaskan specific issues raised, USEPA staff will set up a special meeting between steering committee member Alex James and representatives from other involved federal agencies to continue conversation.
Action Item: Janice Sims will provide the steering committee with the contact information for the various staff from these departments as well as contact information for staff during all meetings this week.

Election of New Chair and Vice Chair

Chair Election: Katie Kruse nominated Virginia LeClere, which was seconded by Alex James. Virginia was elected the new chair unanimously.
Vice Chair Election: Victoria Flowers nominated Victoria Kotongan, which was seconded by Katie Kruse. Victoria was elected the new vice chair unanimously.

TWRAP Steering Committee Priority Document

Discussion: Katie Kruse has been in communication with members of the National Tribal Caucus (NTC) and personnel from various offices in the USEPA about the steering committee’s priorities. The steering committee has decided to create a priorities document, which will aid their work and help communicate those priorities to the NTC, USEPA, and other federal agencies and organizations (e.g. National Congress of American Indians). The NTC wants to hear from various Tribal Partnership Groups, including the TWRAP steering committee, prior to their submission of their annual budget priorities document in June. The priorities document created by the steering committee will be used for this task, as well as other outreach activities.The steering committee spent the next two hours brainstorming ideas for the priorities document.
Action Item: The steering committee felt that additional information on the federal budget process may be helpful as they work on their priorities. Janice Sims will investigate resources that can be made available to the committee members.

Meeting with Mathy Stanislaus, Assistant Administrator of USEPA’s OSWER

Discussion: Mathy Stanislaus provided the steering committee with an update on the proposed changes to subpart J of the National Contingency Planas well as work being done to help align solid waste resources across various federal agencies. He stressed how important it was to him to hear from the TWRAP steering committee about their priorities for OSWER and how these priorities may assist other federal agencies. Members of the steering committee also discussed the work of the Inter-Agency Task Force, the status of the final UST rules, challenges involved in dealing with federal facilities near tribal lands, and concerns dealing with treaty rights and programs that are delegated to States. During a discussion of the TLEF, Mathy Stanislaus stressed his hope that the forum could provide an opportunity to bring together multiple federal agencies so they can discuss these issues directly with their tribal colleagues. This approach was strongly endorsed by the steering committee.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:30 pm

Wednesday, January 28

The meeting was called to order at 8:45 am

TWRAP Steering Committee Priority Document

Discussion: The steering committee members continued work on their priority document. Examples of other Tribal Partnership Group priority documents were provided to them by ITEP. As part of the work conducted during this period, the steering committee revised their mission statement, which will be included in the priority document. Key issues under consideration by the steering committee include:
This document should provide programmatic input, in addition to budgetary input;
This document will be used to help inform the NTC and USEPA, but will also be utilized in outreach to other agencies and organizations;
This document should assist the committee in their work conducting information between the tribal professionals doing the work on the ground and the policy makers.

Meeting with the American Indian Environmental Office and the Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery

Discussion: Luke Jones and David Jones from AIEO, and Michelle Wilson from ORCR, participated in a discussion with the steering committee. Collaboration with other federal agencies involved in solid and hazardous waste management were discussed, as was the ranking of waste issues below water and wastewater concerns in the SDS. Steering committee members were provided with copies of the memo dealing with a proposed deviation in how inter-tribal consortia can apply for GAP funds, as well as a table providing guidance on allowable and unallowable tribal solid waste program activities under GAP. Steering committee members discussed these two issues in depth with AIEO and ORCR staff, as well as providing them with specific case studies of how GAP funds have advanced solid waste management activities on the ground and the struggles they are facing. The issue of tribes developing their own internal capacity and legal structure (e.g. solid waste ordinances and enforcement mechanisms) to combat illegal dumping was also discussed.
Action Item: Upon the request of the steering committee, ITEP and USEPA will set up special calls between the committee and Luke Jones at AIEO to continue this conversation.

Meeting with the Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization

Discussion:David Lloyd, Office Director of OBLR and Joe Bruss, with OBLR, participated in a discussion with the steering committee. David Lloyd gave the committee an update on OBLR activities and funding, and Joe Bruss provided an overview of the environmental workforce development and job training program. Some of the issues brought up by the committee included consistency of brownfield grant funding guidelines between USEPA headquarters and the regional offices, the importance of tribal-specific technical assistance, Alaskan-specific challenges in dealing with brownfields, and tribal involvement in workforce development projects, as well as increasing their chances to secure funding to initiate their own workforce development training.

Meeting with the Office of Underground Storage Tanks

Discussion: Carolyn Hoskinson, Office Director of OUST, participated in a discussion with the steering committee. She stated that two of her priorities are collaboration, communication, and partnerships with tribal partners, and focusing on prevention first, and then cleanup. Work on the office’s final regulations will soon be completed. Their initial focus was on prevention issues, but as the process progressed they decided to address other issues which have not been updated since the 1980s. OUST is also making frequent inspections a priority, as well as continuing to develop resources that help owner/operators avoid problems in the first place. Carolyn Hoskinson stated that UST concerns often do not come up when tribal leaders are discussing issues with policy makers. This can make it difficult for her office when budget decisions are being made. Steering committee members discussed their work on their priority document and how they might use this document to help enhance communication on UST/LUST issues. Other issues discussed included the need for training, both for owner/operators and compliance assistance officers, and the effects of increasingly severe weather events on USTs.
Action Items: Carolyn Hoskinson asked the committee members for any feedback they may have on potential training needs to assist the compliance process.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:30 pm.

Thursday, January 29

Update From Steering Committee Members Involved with the Inter-Agency Task Force

Discussion: Janice Sims provided an overview of the Waste Program Workgroup operating as part of the Inter-Agency Task Force, as well as a handout which gave details of the three work teams focusing on specific solid waste issues. Rob Roy is serving as the co-lead of work team one, which is assessing barriers to sustainability and developing resources to assist tribes. Janice Sims is serving as the co-lead of work team two, which is developing an “off the shelf” tool to assist tribes in creating effective community engagement projects. Many of the issues and challenges raised by the steering committee over the years are now being addressed by these work teams. A wide variety of federal agencies are involved in this process, and they are receiving information on the TLEF in the hopes they may attend and be able to interact with a wider audience of tribal professionals. Committee members discussed the work of this group and provided additional input on a variety of issues. John Wheaton stated that he has joined work team three (dealing with illegal dumping issues, health assessment methodology, and mapping open dumps) and encouraged other steering committee members to participate as well.
Action Item: ITEP will reach out to federal staff involved in the three solid waste work teams and encourage their attendance at the 2015 TLEF. They will also be encouraged to submit a proposal for a breakout session so they can inform attendees of their work and progress.

TWRAP Steering Committee Priority Document

Discussion: The steering committee continued work on their priority document, creating a draft chart detailing their priorities by OSWER program.

Overview of Draft Outline of the TWRAP Steering Committee Priority Document

Discussion: The steering committee members went over their completed chart with ITEP and OSWER staff. They explained their thinking behind all the elements and went over their preferences for how the final document would be organized and designed. The steering committee also stated they will review the current charter at the next in-person meeting.
Action Item: Katie Kruse will send ITEP a copy of the draft document.
Action Item: Julie Jurkowski will then work on organizing their materials into a draft priority document. Once completed this will be sent to the steering committee for their review.
Action Item: Todd Barnell will finalize the draft changes to the steering committee’s mission statement and prepare a new document outlining all TWRAP activities which the steering committee can use as part of their outreach activities.

Planning of Future TWRAP Steering Committee Meetings

The next steering committee conference call was scheduled for March 31 at 10:00 am Pacific. It was decided that this call should take place after the next NTC budget call on March 4. The TWRAP steering committee chair and vice-chair will be on that call and will report back to the steering committee.
Discussion: While planning for the next in-person meeting, steering committee members expressed their interest in potentially holding future meetings at the home tribes of committee members. This would allow the rest of the committee to have a better idea of the issues faced by their fellow committee members. ITEP will investigate the logistical possibilities of this for future meetings. In the meantime, the next in-person steering committee meeting will take place May 5-7 in Minneapolis, MN at the facility which will be used for the 2015 TLEF. Committee members will meet with hotel staff and potentially with personnel from area inter-tribal consortia and federal agencies. ITEP will also look into arranging field trip opportunities for the steering committee, which will be repeated at the TLEF.
The next steering committee conference call was scheduled for September 14 at 10:00 am Pacific.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:30 pm.