Tribal Waste and Response Assistance Program
National Tribal Steering Committee
Conference Call Meeting Notes
February 21, 2014
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Steering Committee Members:
· Katie Kruse, chair – Absent
· Peter Reuben, vice-chair – Present
· Victoria Flowers – Present
· Alex James - Present
· Tim Kent - Present
· Victoria Kotongan - Present
· Virginia LeClere - Present
· Rob Roy - Absent
· Elliott Talgo – Absent
· John Wheaton - Absent
ITEP Staff:
· Mehrdad Khatibi - Present
· Todd Barnell - Present
EPA OSWER Staff
· Janice Sims - Present
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The meeting was called to order at 12:15 pm Mountain Time
Steering Committee Information Exchange
· Victoria Flowers informed the committee about a special training she, along with other staff from the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin and the Menominee Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin, attended which was focused on environmental enforcement issues. The training provided some exceptional information, and also allowed for very good networking opportunities with state colleagues. She will provide the committee members with information about this type of training that may be offered in other sections of the country.
· Tim Kent talked about the Quapaw Tribe’s cleanup work at the Catholic 40 section of the Tar Creek Superfund site. This is a very exciting development, as this cleanup work is being led by the Quapaw Tribe, which is a first. All previous cleanup work at Superfund sites has been led by either federal or state agencies. Tim has also been invited to do a presentation about this work at this year’s conference of the National Association of Remediation Project Managers.
· Victoria Kotongan has been selected to serve on the National Tribal Caucus (NTC). She has been busy speaking with her colleagues in Alaska, including the RTOC, and familiarizing herself with various issues and the work being done by the NTC.
· Peter Reuben discussed a new project taking place in New York focused on invasive species issues. He is particularly interested in pesticide use and has been working hard to involve area tribes in this discussion.
Program Activities: Updates and Discussion
· Presentation: Todd Barnell informed the committee that the next issue of the Full Circle newsletter will feature a story, from committee member Tim Kent, on work being done at the Tar Creek Superfund site. He asked that other committee members let him know about story ideas and resources they know about that could potentially be included in future issues of the newsletter. Todd also revisited the issue of accepting new applications for the steering committee, which was initially discussed at the December meeting.
· Action: Victoria Flowers made a motion that, given the new five year cooperative agreement will not be in place until later this year, that the acceptance of new applications for the steering committee be postponed until the spring of 2015. Current steering committee members whose terms are set to expire in 2014 will have their terms extended to 2015 and those whose terms are set to expire in 2015 will have their terms extended to 2016. This will maintain the staggered approach where half of the steering committee member seats are open each year. The motion was seconded by Alexander James.
· Result: The motion was passed unanimously by the steering committee.
· Presentation: Todd Barnell revisited the issue, raised at the December meeting, of planning for some type of webinar series to take place during the third week of August. Since a new five year cooperative agreement will not be in place in time to hold a Tribal Lands Forum in 2014, the steering committee expressed their desire to have some sort of webinar series take place in its stead.
· Discussion: Steering committee members expressed their desire that each proposed webinar take place on its own, rather than have multiple webinars happen at the same time, so that all interested parties can participate in each one. Given the fact that a great deal of the planning for these webinars will need to take place before a grantee is selected for the new five year cooperative agreement, the steering committee members themselves will need to work closely with OSWER in coordinating and delivering the webinars. Another consideration offered was finding ways to coordinate with any other tribal-oriented conferences that may be taking place. Given the fact that only six of the ten steering committee members were present on the call, the decision was made to continue this discussion on the May conference call.
· Discussion: Steering committee members asked about the status of the RFP for a new five year cooperative agreement and if any changes had been made regarding the steering committee. Janice Sims suggested a special call be scheduled between her and the steering committee members.
· Action: Janice Sims will contact steering committee members directly and set up a special call between her and them, without ITEP involvement, to discuss these issues.
Update on Conversations Between OSWER and IHS
· Presentation: Janice Sims informed the steering committee that a meeting between senior staff at OSWER and IHS had been planned for January. However, they had wanted to include representatives from other federal agencies involved in solid waste management in Indian Country and Alaska; those individuals were not available for the January meeting. In order to include all the decision-makers possible, the January meeting was postponed, and a new meeting is being scheduled for March. She will keep the committee informed on how those plans progress.
Next Meeting of the Steering Committee
· Action Item: Todd Barnell will poll the members of the steering committee to find an appropriate day for the May meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:15 pm Mountain Time.
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