Underground Injection Control Tribal Activities

As an agency of the Federal government, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has trust responsibilities toward Native Americans. The Region 5 Underground Injection Control (UIC) Branch is responsible for directly implementing the federal UIC program for all Indian Country in the region.

Region 5 has 35 recognized tribes in three of six regional states—Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. We regulate any injection wells located on these Indian Lands, even those located in primacy states. The inventory of wells located on Region 5 tribal lands consist of Class II wells on the Saginaw Chippewa reservation in Michigan and Class V wells throughout all tribal lands. For Class II, the UIC Branch must review permit applications, issue decisions to approve or deny permits, review monitoring reports, review and assess well test results, conduct inspections, identify violations with permit conditions or regulatory requirements, and take appropriate enforcement action against violators. Class V, however, is the largest part of the UIC Branch’s tribal program which involves gathering Class V well inventory and closing high priority Class V wells found.

We also work with tribal leaders and representatives to help carry out the UIC program on tribal lands and to build tribal capacity and partnerships. Joint projects include cooperative agreements to inventory Class V wells on tribal lands, education and outreach to well operators, and closing abandoned drinking water wells. EPA participates in Native American Water Association (NAWA) meetings, provides training to tribal staff, and has even worked with tribal colleges on various projects.

Tribes can apply for “treatment as a state” status which recognizes the tribe as a sovereign body for the UIC program and gives them the right to seek primacy to implement their own tribal UIC program. Region 5 works with tribes in these instances to develop a complete application to apply for treatment as a state status, and submits final packages to the Regional Administrator for final determination. Tribes with treatment as a state status can then apply for primacy. Region 5 then works with the tribes in these instances to develop a complete application and submits final packages to EPA Headquarters for a final determination.

UIC Tribal Well Inventory

The known universe of UIC wells in Region 5 Indian Country consists of Class II wells (located on the Saginaw Chippewa

reservation) and Class V wells which are located throughout viritually all Region 5 tribal lands. The Inventory of Underground Injection Wells in Region 5 web page includes the latest annual inventory numbers for Indian Country.

An ongoing effort of the Underground Injection Control (UIC) Branch is to develop and maintain an updated inventory of all injection wells in Indian Country. Most of these injection wells are Class V wells, which are usually septic systems and drywells. Since disposal of certain fluids into some of these systems could contaminate underground sources of drinking water, federal UIC regulations require that these systems be inventoried and evaluated. It is the responsibility of facility owners to provide the EPA with inventory information about any Class V wells.

Since many facility owners do not know about the UIC well inventory requirement, EPA staff and circuit riders have been searching business databases, meeting with tribal environmental staff, and conducting inspections to identify facilities with Class V wells on Indian lands. This information is then used to update the Class V well inventory for the Tribe. This inventory can be provided to Tribes upon request for drinking water and ground water protection efforts and other purposes. Some Tribes have entered into Direct Implementation Tribal Cooperative Agreements (DITCAs) with EPA to develop an inventory of facilities with potential Class V wells on their reservation. Facilities from these DITCAs are then inspected by EPA circuit riders to verify the existence of any Class V wells.

The EPA recognizes that tribal governments are the primary parties for environmental management on reservations. We will work with tribal nations to help them build their capacity through the UIC program to protect underground sources of drinking water from contamination by injection wells.

Closure of Motor Vehicle Waste Disposal Wells in Indian Country

The UIC Branch is seeking information on any potential motor vehicle waste disposal wells that may be located in Indian Country. Floor drains and shop sinks that could receive fluids from motor vehicle maintenance and service activities are not allowed to drain into drywells or septic systems for underground disposal, according to a federal rule, and have a deadline for their closure. Since these kinds of discharges are known to contaminate underground sources of drinking water, EPA is interested in seeing that these systems are closed as soon as possible. More information about the closure of these systems is available on the Motor Vehicle Waste Disposal Wells web page.

Technical Assistance to Tribes

The UIC Branch provides technical assistance to tribes using circuit riders. These circuit riders can assist tribes with inventorying Class V wells on tribal lands. To request their assistance, please contact Eva-Marie Rowe.

UIC Direct Implementation Tribal Cooperative Agreements

A DITCA is a tool that authorizes a Tribal Government to assist EPA in implementing federal programs in Indian Country. Instead of delegating a federal program to a Tribal Government, DITCAs allow tribal staff to act as agents or representatives of the EPA, assisting the agency in performing certain tasks. Funding is placed into a DITCA to offset the costs of the Tribal Government, and appropriate training and instruction is provided to tribal staff.

Current DITCAs

On April 25, 2006, the Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan (MITC) on behalf of Keweenaw Bay Indian Community , Saginaw Chippewa Tribe and the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa , submitted a grant application for a Direct Implementation Tribal Cooperative Agreement (DITCA) to Region 5 to initiate UIC well inventories and assessments on Indian land. The application has received its initial review by the Water Division's UIC and State/Tribal programs and is currently being assessed by Region 5's Resource Management Office.

The DITCA with MITC is for the purpose of developing an inventory of facilities on the reservations that may have UIC Class V wells. Final project reports to EPA will include a list of field verified potentially regulated facilities located within the boundaries of the reservations, maps showing the locations of these facilities, and any additional information collected. EPA will use the inventory of potentially regulated facilities for planning outreach and compliance assurance activities which will be coordinated with the Tribes.

Completed DITCAs

The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe

entered into a Cooperative Agreement with EPA Region 5 in 2001 which includes assisting EPA with updating and improving the inventory of Class V wells for tribal lands in Minnesota. The agreement includes obtaining training and credentials to assist with conducting site visits and inspections, reviewing documentation and providing education and outreach about the UIC program.

The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians each signed Direct Implementation Tribal Cooperative Agreements (DITCAs) with EPA Region 5 in October 2004. These DITCAs were for the implementation of a one time UIC Class V well inventory project on their reservations. The tribes agreed to prepare a inventory of facilities on their reservation that may have UIC Class V wells. Both tribes have completed their projects and submitted final reports to EPA. Red Lake's report identifies at least 23 facilities that are believed to have a Class V well. These facilities have been prioritized by the Band for follow-up based on the types of fluids that may be disposed of onsite and by their proximity to drinking water wells. Leech Lake's report identified approximately 300 potential facilities with Class V wells within reservation boundaries. EPA is currently planning follow-up UIC inspections of the identified facilities to be coordinated with the tribes.

Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed in February, 1998 by US EPA Region 5, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Department of Natural Resources and Environment to work together in administering the UIC Program for the non-Indian owned portions of the Mille Lacs Reservation.

UIC Projects

Tribal Colleges

Other Class V well inventory development activities have involved working directly with tribal environmental staff and through special projects utilizing tribal college interns, such as the 2001 - 2002 project with Lac Courte Oreilles

Tribal College.

Abandoned Well Closures

Through training and technical assistance by Dean Johnson, a former circuit rider, tribes have been developing their own capacity to permanently plug abandoned water wells on their lands. Abandoned drinking water wells often serve as a direct conduit for contaminants to reach underground sources of drinking water. Representatives for the St. Croix Band

and Bad River Band

have completed training and developed independent programs to plug these potential sources of drinking water contamination. The Region 5 Water Division sent a letter to the St. Croix Band (PDF) (2 pp, 59kb) in February 2003 and a letter to the Bad River Band (PDF) (2 pp, 56kb) in July 2003 recognizing their progressive ground water protection efforts.

You will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these two letters. See EPA's PDF page to learn more.

More Information

The Region 5 Indian Environmental Office web page has information about Region 5 EPA staff working with the tribes, lists the Regional workgroups and has links to all 35 tribes in the Region and to other relevant web pages.

For more information about the Water Division's Tribal programs,please see the State and Tribal Program web page.

The US EPA headquarters American Indian Environmental Office maintains a web page devoted to many environmental issues in Indian Country

For more information about the Federal government's relation to tribes, please see the Department of the Interior (DOI) web page and Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) homepage. In addition, two other DOI sites related to tribal matters are the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians and Indian Trust web site.

Phone Numbers to Get BIA-Related Information
For general BIA information	(202) 208-3710
For BIA Enrollment Information/Requirements (Tribal)	(202) 208-5513
For Tribal Leaders Directory	(202) 208-3711