Tribal Waste and response assistance program National Steering Committee

Quarterly Meeting: Conference Call

Tuesday, March31, 2015

9:00 am – 10:30 am (Alaska)

10:00 am – 11:30 am (Pacific/Arizona)

11:00 am to 12:30 pm (Mountain)

12:00 pm – 1:30 pm (Central)

1:00 pm – 2:30 pm (Eastern)

Call in: 1-800-309-2350

Access code: 5233840#

Steering Committee Members

  • Victoria Flowers
  • Alexander James
  • Tim Kent
  • Victoria Kotongan, Vice Chair
  • Katie Kruse
  • Virginia LeClere, Chair
  • Rob Roy
  • Elliott Talgo- absent
  • John Wheaton

OSWER and ITEP Staff

  • Janice Sims
  • Todd Barnell
  • Julie Jurkowski
  • Mehrdad Khatibi
  • John Mead

The meeting was called to order at 10:08 am.

I.Update/Discussion on the 2015 Tribal Lands and Environment Forum (TLEF)

  • Presentation: Todd Barnell updated the steering committee on registrations, proposals, field trips, and plans for the plenary at the 2015 TLEF.
  • Discussion: Steering committee members asked about extending invitations to local tribal artists to participate at the TLEF as vendors. Todd Barnell discussed outreach ITEP has been conducting, primarily through staff at the various tribal urban offices in Minneapolis, to ensure that local artists are present at the TLEF. Steering committee members also expressed their interest in seeing a session at the TLEF that would focus on the work being done by the Inter Agency Task Force.

II.Discussion on the May 5-7, 2015 Meeting in Minneapolis

  • Discussion: Steering committee members presented ideas for their in-person meeting, scheduled for May 5-7 in Minneapolis. Suggestions for the agenda included:
  • Meet with staff from USEPA’s Office of Water early in the meeting, so they can discuss ideas for including tribal water programs in this year’s TLEF.
  • Discuss the agenda for the TLEF, meet with facility staff and tour the facility.
  • Have SC members involved in the Inter Agency Task Force provide an update on the solid waste work groups activities and discuss how the SC can aid in the work being done.
  • Meeting with local tribal representatives
  • Field trip to Mille Lacs restoration projects
  • Priority document and future TWRAP SC activities
  • Charter revisions
  • Special guests: personnel from USEPA Office of Water

III.NTC Call and Priority Document (30 minutes)

At 3:00 pm (Eastern) on March 31 – following the TWRAP SC call – there will be a special call to discuss the FY2017 budget recommendations from the NTC dealing with waste and response issues. Virginia LeClere, as the TWRAP SC chair, will be participating on this call, along with Gerald Wagner (Goal 3 Lead for the NTC), Paige Ingram from AIEO, Janice Sims, and Todd Barnell. Katie Kruse has also agreed to participate on the call, given her experience representing the TWRAP SC last year during discussions with the NTC.

Due to the NTC call occurring so close to the TWRAP SC call we will be forgoing the information exchange.