- Assist with navigating the regulatory processes impacting fishing, water, forest, and other natural resource rights, such as those impacted by the following federal laws:
- Endangered Species Act
- Clean Water Act
- Clean Air Act
- Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
- Safe Drinking Water Act
- Comprehensive Environmental Response, Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act
- National Environmental Policy Act
- Administer and maintain treaty rights activities, such as hunting, fishing and gathering roots and berries on tribal reservation land.
- Advise tribes on the scope of treaty-based rights outside of reservation boundaries, such as designated lands set aside by state and local governments for such purposes.
- Facilitate permits for construction, power and other economic development projects.
- Negotiate real estate agreements, including monitoring compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act by working with federal agencies during the Environmental Assessment process leading to a Finding of No Significant Impact or commenting on Environmental Impact Statements.
- Help tribal governments acquire “treatment as state” status under federal environmental laws, like the Clean Water Act, to help tribes develop and set their own environmental standards.
- Assist tribes with exercising their tribal authorities before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under the Federal Power Act during re-licensing of non-federal hydroelectric projects to set conditions for mitigation and protection of treaty resources.
- Prepare Natural Resource Damage Claims under the Compensation and Liability Act (“CERCLA” or Superfund).
- Provide technical oversight and preparation responsibilities for environmental compliance in fee-to-trust land acquisitions.
- Work with appraisers and other experts in assigning value to tribal land, timber, coal and mineral deposits.
- Conduct workshops on environmental and cultural preservation issues for tribal governments.
Environmental & Natural Resources Law
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