APPLICABILITY OF THE CLEAN WATER ACT TO INDIAN TRIBES—MAY TRIBES STOP OR CONSTRAIN A CLEANUP?1

ABSTRACT Indian tribes retain their sovereign rights of self-government and self-determination unless it is specifically waived by the tribe or abrogated by the U. S. Congress, through treaty or statute. The Clean Water Act does not specifically abrogate tribal sovereignty. This raises the issue of what would occur if an on-scene coordinator decides that cleanup of tribal lands is necessary to protect the public health and welfare, but the tribe does not want the cleanup activities to proceed? May a tribe impede cleanup efforts? During the cleanup of the barge Nestucca oil spill, this occurred when the Quinault Tribe did not allow the OSC to clean lands that the tribe holds sacred. This issue with the Clean Water Act has not been decided by Congress, nor by the courts. Recently, courts have applied at least three different approaches to determine if a statute of general application, such as the Clean Water Act, applies to Indian tribes. The different tests do not always yield the same result. An on-scene coordinator, when confronted with this scenario, might handle the situation in several different ways, or perhaps move to prevent such an occurrence. The different approaches used by the courts can be taken together to gain a sense of whether the Clean Water Act may preempt tribal sovereignty.

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The Public Health Aspects of Environmental Enforcement

Pittsburgh Journal of Environmental and Public Health Law ◽

10.5195/pjephl.2010.17 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 4 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Robin Kundis Craig

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Environmental Protection ◽

Environmental Regulation ◽

Clean Water Act ◽

Health Benefits ◽

Clean Air Act ◽

Clean Water ◽

Environmental Enforcement ◽

The Public ◽

Clean Air

Beyond being an environmental concern, pollution is a public health problem. As a result, enforcement of anti-pollution statutes, such as the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act, not only protects the environment, but also furthers fundamental public health goals. Moreover, public health benefits provide politically salient arguments for continuing and even strengthening environmental protection that can counteract any political opposition that can arise as a result of the costs of environmental regulation and compliance to regulated entities and the taxpayers.Thus, it is worth examining the extent to which the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) considers the public health in its environmental enforcement priorities and decisions. Focusing on the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act, this Article undertakes such an examination by: (1) outlining the statutory connections between public health considerations and environmental regulation; (2) examining the EPA’s enforcement priorities and guidance; and (3) criticizing the EPA’s presentation of its own enforcement effectiveness over the last decade.This Article concludes that public health considerations do play a significant role in environmental enforcement policies and decisionmaking. However, the EPA’s commitment to presenting the public health benefits of its enforcement actions has varied considerably over the last decade. With the release of its FY2009 enforcement assessment, however, the EPA has both expanded its analysis of the connection between environmental pollution enforcement and public health benefits and created new tools to enhance the transparency of these benefits to the affected public.

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Picking Up Where the TMDL Leaves Off: Using the Partnership Wild and Scenic River Framework for Collaborative River Restoration

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13041878 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 1878

Author(s):

Alan R. Hunt ◽

Meiyin Wu ◽

Tsung-Ta David Hsu ◽

Nancy Roberts-Lawler ◽

Jessica Miller ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Environmental Protection Agency ◽

Bacterial Contamination ◽

Resource Constraints ◽

Clean Water Act ◽

The United States ◽

Clean Water ◽

Private Land ◽

The Public ◽

Wild And Scenic Rivers

The National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act protects less than ¼ of a percent of the United States’ river miles, focusing on free-flowing rivers of good water quality with outstandingly remarkable values for recreation, scenery, and other unique river attributes. It predates the enactment of the Clean Water Act, yet includes a clear anti-degradation principle, that pollution should be reduced and eliminated on designated rivers, in cooperation with the federal Environmental Protection Agency and state pollution control agencies. However, the federal Clean Water Act lacks a clear management framework for implementing restoration activities to reduce non-point source pollution, of which bacterial contamination impacts nearly 40% of the Wild and Scenic Rivers. A case study of the Musconetcong River, in rural mountainous New Jersey, indicates that the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act can be utilized to mobilize and align non-governmental, governmental, philanthropic, and private land-owner resources for restoring river water quality. For example, coordinated restoration efforts on one tributary reduced bacterial contamination by 95%, surpassing the TMDL goal of a 93% reduction. Stakeholder interviews and focus groups indicated widespread knowledge and motivation to improve water quality, but resource constraints limited the scale and scope of restoration efforts. The authors postulate that the Partnership framework, enabled in the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, facilitated neo-endogenous rural development through improving water quality for recreational usage, whereby bottom-up restoration activities were catalyzed via federal designation and resource provision. However, further efforts to address water quality via voluntary participatory frameworks were ultimately limited by the public sector’s inadequate funding and inaction with regard to water and wildlife resources in the public trust.

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Public health impacts of an imminent Red Sea oil spill

Nature Sustainability ◽

10.1038/s41893-021-00774-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Benjamin Q. Huynh ◽

Laura H. Kwong ◽

Mathew V. Kiang ◽

Elizabeth T. Chin ◽

Amir M. Mohareb ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Red Sea ◽

Oil Spill ◽

Health Impacts ◽

Clean Water ◽

Humanitarian Crisis ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Sea Ports ◽

Oil Tanker ◽

Urgent Action

AbstractThe possibility of a massive oil spill in the Red Sea is increasingly likely. The Safer, a deteriorating oil tanker containing 1.1 million barrels of oil, has been deserted near the coast of Yemen since 2015 and threatens environmental catastrophe to a country presently in a humanitarian crisis. Here, we model the immediate public health impacts of a simulated spill. We estimate that all of Yemen’s imported fuel through its key Red Sea ports would be disrupted and that the anticipated spill could disrupt clean-water supply equivalent to the daily use of 9.0–9.9 million people, food supply for 5.7–8.4 million people and 93–100% of Yemen’s Red Sea fisheries. We also estimate an increased risk of cardiovascular hospitalization from pollution ranging from 5.8 to 42.0% over the duration of the spill. The spill and its potentially disastrous impacts remain entirely preventable through offloading the oil. Our results stress the need for urgent action to avert this looming disaster.

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Risky business : the role of risk perception in the Ontario source water protection planning process

10.32920/ryerson.14656629 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Mary K Rollinson-Lorimer

Keyword(s):

Drinking Water ◽

Risk Perception ◽

Planning Process ◽

Clean Water Act ◽

Clean Water ◽

Source Water ◽

Water Protection ◽

The Public ◽

Related Risk ◽

Source Water Protection

The purpose of this research was: 1. to investigate whether the perception of drinking water-related risk differs between the public and a Source Protection Committee established under Ontario's new Clean Water Act to make decisions about source water protection, 2. to explore how the public makes risk-based decisions about drinking water-related risk, and, 3. to estimate how any differences in drinking water-related risk perception and decision making between the Committee and the public may affect the implementation of the Clean Water Act. Mail and telephone surveys were conducted in a Southern Ontario Region of Study, and were given to samples of the public and the Committee. The two groups had different perceptions of water risk, which could pose challenges for making collective decisions about water risks. Successful source water protection depends on the ability of the Committees and the public to make appropriate decisions about risks to drinking water sources.

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Public health impacts of an imminent Red Sea oil spill

10.1101/2021.04.08.21255129 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Benjamin Q Huynh ◽

Laura H Kwong ◽

Mathew V Kiang ◽

Amir M. Mohareb ◽

Aisha O Jumaan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Red Sea ◽

Oil Spill ◽

Health Impacts ◽

Clean Water ◽

Water Access ◽

Oil Tanker

The FSO Safer, a deteriorating oil tanker containing 1.1 million barrels of oil, has been deserted off the coast of Yemen since 2015, and the risk of a massive oil spill is increasingly likely. Here we model public health impacts of the Safer spilling and predict severe disruption to fuel, food, and clean water access, stressing the need to address this impending disaster.

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How psychiatrists can contribute to the public health

Advances in Psychiatric Treatment ◽

10.1192/apt.3.4.188 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 3 (4) ◽

pp. 188-196 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Robert Kendell

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Host Resistance ◽

Viral Diseases ◽

Clean Water ◽

Polio Virus ◽

Dramatic Effect ◽

The Public ◽

Wide Range ◽

Micro Organisms ◽

Cancer Of The Lung

Public health has traditionally been concerned with the primary prevention of disease, either by eliminating its causes or by enhancing host resistance. Clean water supplies, efficient sewage and rubbish disposal, and refrigeration of food have largely eliminated the micro-organisms responsible for a wide range of infectious diseases, while anti-smoking campaigns have reduced mortality from cancer of the lung and coronary heart disease. Immunisation programmes have had a similarly dramatic effect on the incidence of many bacterial and viral diseases. Indeed, they have completely eliminated smallpox, and the polio virus seems likely to follow it into oblivion.

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HOW TO LIST A NEW PRODUCT ON THE NATIONAL OIL AND HAZARDOUS POLLUTION, SUBPART J PRODUCT SCHEDULE

International Oil Spill Conference Proceedings ◽

10.7901/2169-3358-2008-1-657 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 2008 (1) ◽

pp. 657-660 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Leigh DeHaven ◽

Rebecca Tirrell

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Oil Spill ◽

Oil Spills ◽

Clean Water Act ◽

New Products ◽

New Product ◽

The United States ◽

Background Information ◽

Clean Water ◽

Hazardous Substance

ABSTRACT In light of the recently updated U.S. Coast Guard Regulation for Vessel Response Plans, which include requirements for vessel dispersant response capabilities and with the recent expansion of many U.S. Coastal Dispersant ?reauthorization Zones, it is important that both alternative oil spill chemical countermeasure product manufacturers and oil spill responders have an understanding of the National Oil and Hazardous Substance Pollution, Subpart J Product Schedule (NCP Product Schedule). The NCP Product Schedule lists alternative chemical countermeasures which may be used in oil spills in the United States if authorized by a Federal On-Scene Coordinator with consultation from the Regional Response Team including local Trustees. The product types currently listed on the NCP Product Schedule include dispersants, surface washing agents, bioremediation agents and miscellaneous oil spill control agents. Sorbents are also defined in the NCP Product Schedule, but they may or may not be required to be listed on the NCP Product Schedule depending upon their composition. The unauthorized use of oil spill chemical countermeasure products listed on the NCP Product Schedule on an on water oil spill is a violation of the Clean Water Act. In addition, the use of chemical products that are not listed on the NCP Product Schedule on oil spills on waters of the United States is also a violation of the Clean Water Act. Before a chemical countermeasure product is used during an oil spill in waters of the United States, new products must meet the data requirements stated in Subpart J of the NCP Product Schedule regulation (40 Code of Federal Regulations Part 300.900). The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) maintains and updates the NCP Product Schedule. The EPA reviews the required data packages for new products and regularly updates the NCP Product Schedule and Technical Notebook on the NCP Product Schedule website (www.epa.gov/emergencies). This paper and poster will outline the steps to list a new product and provide background information on the NCP Product Schedule.

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