Tribal Consultation
EPA’s Draft Fiscal Year 2025-2026 National Program Guidances
Deadline: June 18, 2024
EPA will be available for consultation and coordination with federally recognized Indian Tribes on the draft FY 2025-2026 National Program Guidances (NPGs). The consultation period begins April 23, 2024, and continues through June 4, 2024.
The consultation period is in parallel with a six-week public review and comment period, in which Tribes also may elect to participate. The draft NPGs will be posted on EPA’s
National Program Guidances website.
EPA will be hosting a national informational teleconference on May 16, 2024. The information for the teleconference is as follows:
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May 16, 2024 (2:00-4:00 PM EDT)
To join the meeting: Click HERE.
Meeting ID: 286 907 719 762 | Passcode: BLoAUY
The deadline to submit a comment is
June 18, 2024. Consultation materials are available on EPA’s Tribal Consultation Opportunities Tracking System (TCOTS) website located at:
https://tcots.epa.gov.
EPA’s Sixth Proposed Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 6) for Public Water Systems
Deadline: June 20, 2024
EPA is initiating consultation and coordination with federally recognized Indian Tribes on the development of the sixth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR) for public drinking water systems. Under the UCMR, EPA collects data for contaminants suspected to
be found in drinking water, but that do not have health-based standards set under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
EPA will be holding upcoming webinars to describe potential approaches for developing UCMR 6, which includes prospective drinking water analytical methods and contaminants, possible sampling design, and other monitoring considerations. The webinar schedule is as follows:
The deadline to request for a one-on-one consultation meeting is June 10, 2024. The deadline to submit a comment is
June 20, 2024. Consultation materials are available on EPA’s Tribal Consultation Opportunities Tracking System (TCOTS) website located at:
https://tcots.epa.gov. For additional information, please visit:
https://www.epa.gov/dwreginfo/information-about-public-water-systems.
Proposed Establishment of the National Tribal Caucus (NTC) Under the Federal Advisory Committee Act
Deadline: August 9, 2024
The U.S. EPA is proposing to reorganize the National Tribal Caucus (NTC) as a Federal Advisory Committee (FAC) under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) and to increase the proportion of elected or traditionally appointed Tribal leaders that serve on the group.
In conjunction with this proposal, EPA is reviewing the characteristics of the NTC to strengthen the operations of the group and increase collaboration with the other EPA Tribal Partnership Groups. These proposed changes will clarify the process by which EPA receives
Tribal leadership recommendations on technical programs and budget planning, elevate the NTC as the preeminent group of Tribal representatives that provides advice directly to EPA leadership on items of national significance under EPA’s purview, and strengthen EPA’s
ongoing commitment to collaboration and partnership with Tribes and the government-to-government relationship. This proposal reflects the commitment of the EPA to engage directly with Tribal leaders and ensures that Tribal leaders engage at the highest levels of
the Agency on environmental issues that impact Indigenous communities.
Learn more about the current NTC, including the current 2012 Charter, on the
NTC website. Learn more about the Federal Advisory Committee Act on EPA’s
FACA website.
Please reach out to Daniel Vaught, AIEO, at
vaught.daniel@epa.gov, if you have any questions regarding this Tribal consultation opportunity, if you would like to request government-to-government consultation with EPA on this matter,
or if you would like to provide written input to EPA. The deadline to request for a consultation meetings is May 17, 2024.
The deadline to submit a comment is August 9, 2024. Consultation materials are available on EPA’s Tribal Consultation Opportunities Tracking System (TCOTS) website located at:
https://tcots.epa.gov.
