All federal agencies have a trust responsibility to federally-recognized Indian tribes that arises from treaties, the historical relationship, statutes, case law, and executive orders. The trust responsibility requires EPA, among other things, to protect the sovereignty of each tribal government. Courts have distinguished between the general trust responsibility, which applies to all federal agencies, and a more specific kind of trust responsibility which involves
comprehensive federal authority to manage a resource for the benefit of a tribe and which includes full fiduciary responsibilities. This latter kind of trust responsibility, generally exercised by the Secretary of the Interior, may be judicially enforceable.
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