305 



As individual jurisdictions, the participating tribes face the necessity to begin prepar- 

 ing themselves with the staff and staff support to take on a full role in dealing with 

 water quality concerns on a watershed basis. The pljin the tribes present here for a 

 Coordinated Tribal Water Quality Program recogt\izes that until 1991 most of the 

 tribes had little money and small or no staffs for handling nonpoint source and other 

 water quality problems. 



Tribsd Governments: 



The framework for the Coordinated Tribal Water Quality Program rests upon the 

 sovereign status of each tribe. The basic unit of the program is and must be the 

 individual tribe. Each tribe will exercise its sovereignty over its efforts to control and 

 eliminate water pollution. In interviews and intertribal forums, the tribes have 

 expressed that in their individual areas of governance, the Coordinated Tribal Water 

 Quality Program shall reflect these principles: 



• Each trit)e intends to staff, develop, implement and administer its own 

 measures to control water pollution. 



• Each tribe intends to begin to ir\stitute its water quality progrsim Jis 

 soon as it receives from EPA the funding to hire at least one staff 

 member with the expertise to begin developing a minimum level 

 water quality prognun. Tribes may agree to pool staff or jointly 

 contract for staff. 



• As part of its water quality program, each tribe intends to inventory its 

 waters, assess nonpoint and other sources and prepare a plan 

 targeting and prioritizing source controls within its waters of concern. 



• Each tribe may institute or expand its own facilities for water quality 

 monitoring, assessment and testing. For the sake of efficiency and 

 reduced costs, such water testing progRims as far as possible shall 

 complement tribal water testing programs for drinking water, fisheries 

 and shellfisheries. 



• Each tribe shall establish its own on-reservation policies emd decide for 

 itself the form of the water quality program it chooses to adopt to meet 

 tribal goals. 



Under EPA regulations, a tribe may request EPA to administer water 

 pollution control measures for the tribe. A tribe may adopt Jind seek to 

 enforce all or part of the State of Washington's water quality 

 standards; or it may agree to let the state enforce authority in tribal 

 mcinagement areas. It may adopt and seek to enforce standards of its 

 own that are congruent with the requirements of the Clean Water Act. 



• Each tribe adopting on-reservation water quality standards and an 

 implementing program shall ensure that it has in place a tribal 

 administrative code. The code will delineate hearing, appeal and other 

 procedures governing adoption of standards and the implementing 

 progRim and other tribal ordinances. These procedures are necessary 

 to give full legal foundation to the adoption and enforcement of water 

 quality standards and progrctms. 



