Groups sue over Alaska NPDES delegation

Native villages on Bristol Bay and on the lower Kuskokwim River have joined with conservation organizations to appeal the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s October decision to allow the State of Alaska to take over administration of the federal Clean Water Act, Trustees for Alaska, the law firm representing the petitioners, announced Dec. 4. Trustees for Alaska said that it has told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit that Alaska’s enforcement regime does not meet federal requirements for administrating the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, or NPDES, a key part of the Clean Water Act provisions.

NPDES controls water pollution by regulating sources that discharge pollutants to waters in the United States.

“Alaska doesn’t have the expertise or the capacity to carry out the goals of the NPDES program,” said Vicki Clark, legal director of Trustees for Alaska. “Under the state’s enforcement rules, ordinary citizens will have less chance to be heard, the state will have fewer enforcement options than EPA and Alaska’s water quality will suffer.”

Bob Shavelson, executive director of Cook Inletkeeper, one of the organizations involved in the appeal, said that Alaska’s enforcement rules were introduced by the administration of Gov. Frank Murkowski without consultation with Alaska Native tribes and ordinary citizens. And Native tribes are concerned about their future ability to influence decisions vital to the survival of villages and subsistence cultures, Trustees for Alaska said.

“The state does not treat Alaska tribes as governments, which means we have no voice in determining issues,” said Mike Williams, chairman of the Alaska Inter-Tribal Council.

Although NPDES is a federal program, EPA has already delegated authority for administrating the program to 45 states besides Alaska.

—Alan Bailey