by Robert Imrie

Wausau, Wisconsin (AP)

A northern Wisconsin Chippewa tribe has again applied to the federal government for authority to set its own standards for keeping reservation waters free of pollution, a request that has some groups nervous about the change’s possible ramifications.

If the government agrees, the Lac du Flambeau Band of Chippewa could set stricter clean water standards than under state laws.

That could perhaps force off-reservation groups, such as a sanitary district, to pay more to clean its treated water that eventually flows through the reservation, officials said.

“Frankly, at this point it appears that the livelihood and economic viability of the region are threatened,” U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Wis., wrote to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency .

But the tribe said its goal is to make sure its waters are protected against polluters, a concept it says is good for the area’s economy.

On Green’s request, the EPA extended a deadline by 30 days for getting public comments on the proposal.

Congress passed legislation in 1989 permitting tribes to apply for so-called “treatment as a state” status, which allows them to set air and water standards on their reservations.

Only 32 of the nation’s 290 federally recognized tribes have obtained that authority regarding water quality, said Don DeBlasio of the EPA’s Midwest region. One Wisconsin tribe – the Mole Lake Band of Chippewa – was granted the authority in 1995.

According to the EPA, under provisions of the U.S. Clean Water Act, tribes with the authority can enforce stricter standards than under state laws, subject to the agency’s approval.

Larry Wawronowicz, Lac du Flambeau’s deputy administrator for natural resources, said the tribe applied for the authority several years ago and it was approved – along with applications from the Oneida and Menominee tribes. The approval was withdrawn in 2000 after the state sued over the decision and it was learned an EPA official had falsified some documents, he said.

The tribe submitted a new application in October.

“Water is a vital resource to the tribe. It is not only a natural resource but a cultural resource,” Wawronowicz said. “Clean water is vital. It is as simple as that.”

As for Green’s worries, Wawronowicz said, “People have some misinformation and it is snowballing.”

The Lac du Flambeau Reservation has 261 lakes and 71 miles of creeks, river and streams, Wawronowicz said.

According to the state Department of Natural Resources, two entities – the Lakeland Sanitary District and a DNR fish hatchery in Woodruff – discharge into the Tomahawk River that flows through a corner of the Lac du Flambeau Reservation. They would be subject to any new tribal standards.

The Oneida County Board passed a resolution opposing the tribe’s plan.

The board is concerned the tribe could set cleaner standards than now exist on waters flowing onto the reservation, which would force people who discharge into those waters to meet them, raising costs without a voice in establishing the higher standards, corporation counsel Larry Heath said.

Wawronowicz, though, said the tribe has not made any decisions about possible new standards.

The DNR has not yet taken a position on the tribe’s application, said Mike Lutz, the agency’s chief deputy counsel in Madison.

The DNR opposed past applications on grounds that Wisconsin retained sovereignty to regulate all state waters when it was granted statehood in 1848, Lutz said. But a federal appeals court rejected that contention in the Mole Lake case.

On the Net:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: www.epa.gov