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Bad River Band approved to run water standards program

Release Date: 07/02/2009
Contact Information: Phillippa Cannon, 312-353-6218, [email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
No. 09-OPA120

(Chicago, Ill. - July 2, 2009) EPA has granted authority to the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians to run its own water quality standards program on its northern Wisconsin reservation. This authority is for the standards programs only. The tribe will have to submit the actual water quality standards developed to EPA for another round of review and approval.

Since 1989, 45 tribes in the United States have been authorized to administer the water quality standards program. These include five tribes in EPA Region 5: the Sokaogon Chippewa Community (Mole Lake), the Lac du Flambeau Band of Chippewa and now the Bad River Band of Chippewa in Wisconsin; and the Fond du Lac Band of Chippewa and the Grand Portage Band of Chippewa in Minnesota.

The band's application and the decision documents will be posted on EPA's Web site: https://www.epa.gov/region5/water/wqs5/wqstribes.htm