§300j–11 Indian Tribes

Summary

The EPA Administrator can treat Indian tribes like States under this part of the law. The Administrator can let tribes take the main role in enforcing rules for public water systems and for underground injection control. The Administrator can also give tribes grants and contracts to help them do those jobs. The Administrator had to write final rules within 18 months after June 19, 1986, to say which parts of the law apply to tribes. To get treated like a State, a tribe must be recognized by the Secretary of the Interior, have a governing body doing real government work, have jurisdiction over the functions, and be judged able to carry them out consistently with the law and rules. If treating a tribe exactly like a State does not fit, EPA can set other ways to run the program that still meet the law’s goals. Tribes may not run water or injection programs in ways that are less protective of people’s health than a State, and they are not required to use criminal authority to meet that protection.