Indigenous Peoples Outreach Calls on EPA’s Tribal Treaty Rights Document – October 7 and 22

The EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice invites indigenous peoples (tribal members, indigenous grassroots organizations, state-recognized tribes, Native Hawaiians, etc.) to participate in a discussion on the draft EPA Policy on Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribes: DRAFT Guidance for Discussing Tribal Treaty Rights, which can be found at:http://epa.gov/tribal/consultation/pdf/consultation-version-guidance-discussing-treaty-rights.pdf. Two conference calls are scheduled for this discussion: Wednesday, October 7, and Thursday, October 22, both from 1:00 – 2:00 ET, call in number 1-866-299-3188, access code 202-564-2576. [Please note the Agency is engaged in a separate process for consulting with federally recognized tribal governments on the document.] The Administrator for EPA, Gina McCarthy, called upon the Agency to develop a document to help the Agency consider tribal treaty rights in our work, as noted in her memo of December 2014, which can be found at:http://www.epa.gov/tribal/pdf/indianpolicytreatyrightsmemo2014.pdf. Please feel free to inform others of these conference calls who you think would be interested in providing input on the Agency’s draft document on discussing tribal treaty rights. The Agency is holding these conference calls in light of the EPA Policy on Environmental Justice for Working with Federally Recognized Tribes and Indigenous Peoples, which states, in addition to other principles, “EPA consults with federally recognized tribes and provides meaningful involvement opportunities for indigenous peoples throughout the United States, and others living in Indian country, and considers the potential impact of Agency actions that may affect their human health or environmental interests.”

For Questions call:
Daniel (Danny) E. Gogal
Senior Environmental Protection Specialist
Tribal and Indigenous Peoples Program Manager
EPA Lead for International Human Rights Agreements

Office of Environmental Justice, USEPA
MC (2201-A)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
(202) 564-2576, (202) 501-0740 – Fax