Odanah, Wisconsin (AP)

The Bad River Lake Superior Chippewa Band has been granted more authority over controlling industrial air pollution within 50 miles of its reservation.

The so-called “treatment as a state” designation requires industries in that area to notify the tribe of their applications for air emission permits from the state Department of Natural Resources. The state then must respond to any concerns the tribe raises.

“This gives us what we’ve been striving for all these years,” Tribal Chairman Don Moore said in his speech at the ceremony marking the designation. “This gives us better control of what we need to do on the reservation and near the reservation.”

Congress adopted legislation in 1998 allowing tribes to apply for the treatment-as-a-state status.

Only 20 of the nation’s 535 tribes have that status, said Bharat Mathur, Environmental Protection Agency administrator for the six-state Midwest region.

He signed the treatment-as-state agreement at a ceremony during February at the Bad River Casino and Convention Center.

“You have my commitment to work with you on not only additional air responsibilities, but also on water,” Mathur said.

Tribal leaders said attaining treatment-as-a-state status for water quality has proven to be a much more difficult task.

Ervin Soulier, the tribe’s natural resource director, said the EPA has rejected four draft applications for that status so far. He said the state government has resisted granting the authority to the tribe.

Mathur said giving the tribe the extra authority could affect the state’s ability to regulate water.

“The state’s concern is that they may have water quality standards that are looser, upstream from the tribe,” he said. “If the tribe were to get tighter standards, then the state would have to regulate all the sources in the state to a tighter limit.”

One benefit of the treatment-as-state status for air quality is the EPA pledge to cut the tribe’s matching requirements for any grants related to air quality monitoring programs from 40 percent to 5 percent, Mathur said.