미국 환경보호청(EPA)은 뉴멕시코주(New Mexico) 산타아나(Santa Ana) 프에블로족(Pueblo)이 수질오염방지법(Clean Water Act, CWA) 하에 수질기준 및 인증프로그램을 관리할 권한을 얻었다고 발표했다. 이는 수질기준 및 인증 프로그램에 대한 권한을 받을 수 있는 567개 연방제의 전국적인 부족 중 50번째이다.

프에블로족은 Rio Grande·Rio Jemez의 수공간 부분을 포함하는 7만8천 에이커 지역에 공중보건, 수생생물 및 야생동물 보호를 실시 수 있게 됐다. 수질오염방지법에 따르면 부족은 연방전부가 인정해야 하며, 관활권을 통해 수질기준 프로그램을 관리할 수 있다.

Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that the Pueblo of Santa Ana in New Mexico has gained authority to administer its own water quality standards and certification programs under the Clean Water Act (CWA). Santa Ana is the 50th tribe of 567 federally recognized tribes nationwide to receive authority over the water quality standards and certification programs.

The Pueblo will protect public health, aquatic life and wildlife on the 78,000 acre area that includes portions of the Rio Grande, the Rio Jemez and other waterbodies. Under the CWA, a tribe must be federally recognized and have a governing body, jurisdiction and capability in order to administer a water quality standards program. EPA's approval of Pueblo's application is not an approval or disapproval of the tribe's standards. EPA will review and take action on them in a separate agency action.

"This is an important achievement for the Pueblo of Santa Ana as they protect waters on their lands, which are integral to daily life and their rich cultural heritage," said EPA regional administrator Ron Curry. "EPA's 1984 Indian Policy continues to represent a bold statement on the commitment to our partnership with federally recognized Indian tribes and to tribal self-governance in implementing environmental protection programs. EPA remains fully committed to engaging tribes as sovereign governments with a right to self-governance."

The goal of the CWA includes restoring and protecting the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the nation's waters. Water quality standards established under the Act set the tribe's expectations for reservation water quality. These standards also serve as water quality goals for individual surface waters, guide and inform monitoring and assessment activities, and provide a legal basis for permitting and regulatory pollution controls.

[출처 = Water World / 2015년 7월 22일]