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Tribal Initiatives
The Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response has several ongoing initiatives which include:
Completing a Report to Congress on how the Underground Storage Tank program is Implementing the Underground Storage Tank (UST) Tribal Strategy: The Energy Policy Act of 2005 addresses the UST release prevention program to minimize future releases from USTs and provides additional emphasis on remediation of LUSTs. The Office of Underground Storage Tanks, in coordination with Indian tribes, will implement the 2006 strategy and develop a report to Congress, due August 8, 2007, on the EPA's progress in implementing the strategy, as required by the Energy Act.
Formalizing EPA's Approach to Tribal Training: OSWER is developing a training strategy to guide OSWER's investment in tribal training venues and improve training outcomes and measurement. The strategy will also benefit tribes by providing a "career roadmap" of available training venues and recommended curricula to certify or otherwise fully develop the tribal environmental professional in OSWER program-related fields.
Establishing a new OSWER tribal outreach model: OSWER is seeking to establish, over the next fiscal year, a new framework in the form of an OSWER Tribal Council for dialogue between EPA and tribes on policy matters, promote information exchange on OSWER program actions and to facilitate capacity building of tribal waste programs, and coordinate with the National Tribal Operations Committee.
Enhancing federal collaboration to achieve results across agencies on solid waste management in Indian country: Building upon the current Memorandum of Understanding with the Interagency Workgroup on Solid Waste Management, OSWER is seeking to engage senior managers from various federal agencies on a more regular basis.