Marren Sanders has posted “Clean Water in Indian Country: The Risks (and Rewards) of Being Treated in the Same Manner as a State” on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
This article examines the “Treatment as a State” (TAS) provision of the Clean Water Act and the requirements that Native nations must satisfy in order to exercise their sovereign right to environmental regulation within the reservation. To gain TAS status and set their own water quality standards (WQS), Native nations must prove that they have a functioning tribal government with authority and capacity to regulate. Therefore, tribes considering taking the TAS step must critically evaluate their internal capacity to do so. The establishment of tribal WQS offers significant advantages to Native nations, but also very real risks as they face legal and legislative uncertainty and jurisdictional challenges. It concludes that despite a history of colonization and assimilation, tribes can and are playing a critical role in the sustainability of clean water in Indian country. Building infrastructure is not an easy task. However, for many tribes the challenge may be worth the risks.
Turtle Talk 