[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 286 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 286

 To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to grant State status to Indian 
   tribes for purposes of the enforcement of such Act, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

             January 26 (legislative day, January 10), 1995

Mr. McCain (for himself, Mr. Inouye, Mr. Campbell, Mr. Thomas, and Mrs. 
  Kassebaum) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
              referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to grant State status to Indian 
   tribes for purposes of the enforcement of such Act, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. AUTHORITY TO GRANT STATE STATUS TO INDIAN TRIBES FOR 
              ENFORCEMENT OF SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL ACT.

    (a) Definitions.--Section 1004 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 
U.S.C. 6903) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (13)(A), by striking ``or authorized 
        tribal organization or Alaska Native village or 
        organization,'';
            (2) in paragraph (15), by inserting after ``State,'' the 
        following: ``Indian tribe,''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraphs:
    ``(42) The term `Indian country' means--
            ``(A) all land within the limits of any Indian reservation 
        under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government (including any 
        right-of-way running through the reservation), notwithstanding 
        the issuance of any patent;
            ``(B) all dependent Indian communities within the borders 
        of the United States, including dependent Indian communities--
                    ``(i) within the original territory or territory 
                that is subsequently acquired; and
                    ``(ii) within or without the limits of a State; and
            ``(C) all Indian allotments with respect to which the 
        Indian titles have not been extinguished, including rights-of-
        way running through the allotments.
    ``(43) The term `Indian tribe' means any Indian tribe, band, group, 
or community, including any Alaska Native village, organization, or 
regional corporation (as defined in, or established pursuant to, the 
Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.)) that--
            ``(A) is recognized by the Secretary of the Interior; and
            ``(B) exercises governmental authority within Indian 
        country.''.
    (b) Treatment of Indian Tribes as States.--Subtitle A of such Act 
(42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following 
new section:

``SEC. 1009. INDIAN TRIBES.

    ``(a) In General.--Subject to subsection (b), the Administrator 
may--
            ``(1) treat an Indian tribe as a State for the purposes of 
        this Act;
            ``(2) delegate to an Indian tribe primary enforcement 
        responsibility for programs and projects established under this 
        Act; and
            ``(3) provide Indian tribes grant and contract assistance 
        to carry out functions of a State pursuant to this Act.
    ``(b) Environmental Protection Agency Regulations.--
            ``(1) In general.--
                    ``(A) Treatment.--Not later than 18 months after 
                the date of the enactment of this section, the 
                Administrator shall issue final regulations that 
                specify the manner in which Indian tribes shall be 
                treated as States for the purposes of this Act.
                    ``(B) Authorization.--Under the regulations issued 
                by the Administrator, the treatment of an Indian tribe 
                as a State shall be authorized only if--
                            ``(i) the Indian tribe has a governing body 
                        carrying out substantial governmental duties 
                        and powers;
                            ``(ii) the functions that the Indian tribe 
                        will exercise pertain to land and resources 
                        that are--
                                    ``(I) held by the Indian tribe, the 
                                United States in trust for the Indian 
                                tribe, or a member of the Indian tribe 
                                (if the property interest is subject to 
                                a trust restriction on alienation); or
                                    ``(II) are otherwise within Indian 
                                country; and
                            ``(iii) in the judgment of the 
                        Administrator, the Indian tribe is reasonably 
                        expected to be capable of carrying out the 
                        functions to be exercised in a manner 
                        consistent with the requirements of this Act 
                        (including all applicable regulations).
            ``(2) Exceptions.--
                    ``(A) In general.--If, with respect to a provision 
                of this Act, the Administrator determines that the 
                treatment of an Indian tribe in the same manner as a 
                State is inappropriate, administratively infeasible, or 
                otherwise inconsistent with the purposes of this Act, 
                the Administrator may include in the regulations issued 
                under this section a mechanism by which the 
                Administrator directly implements and carries out the 
                provision in lieu of the Indian tribe.
                    ``(B) Statutory construction.--Subject to 
                subparagraph (C), nothing in this section is intended 
                to permit an Indian tribe to assume or maintain primary 
                enforcement responsibility for programs established 
                under this Act in a manner that is less protective of 
                human health and the environment than the manner in 
                which a State may assume or maintain the 
                responsibility.
                    ``(C) Criminal enforcement.--An Indian tribe shall 
                not be required to exercise jurisdiction over the 
                enforcement of criminal penalties.
    ``(c) Cooperative Agreements.--In order to ensure the consistent 
implementation of the requirements of this Act, an Indian tribe and 
each State in which the lands of the Indian tribe are located may, 
subject to review and approval by the Administrator, enter into a 
cooperative agreement to cooperatively plan and carry out the 
requirements of this Act.
    ``(d) Report.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 
of this section, the Administrator, in cooperation with the Secretary 
of the Interior, the Director of the Indian Health Service, and Indian 
tribes, shall submit to Congress a report that includes--
            ``(1) recommendations for addressing hazardous and solid 
        wastes and underground storage tanks within Indian country;
            ``(2) methods to maximize the participation in, and 
        administration of, programs established under this Act by 
        Indian tribes;
            ``(3) an estimate of the amount of Federal assistance that 
        will be required to carry out this section; and
            ``(4) a discussion of proposals by the Administrator 
        concerning the provision of assistance to Indian tribes for the 
        administration of programs and projects pursuant to this Act.
    ``(e) Tribal Hazardous Waste Site Inventory.--
            ``(1) Inventory.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
        enactment of this section, the Administrator shall undertake a 
        continuing program to establish an inventory of sites within 
        Indian country at which hazardous waste has been stored or 
        disposed of.
            ``(2) Contents of inventory.--The inventory shall include--
                    ``(A) the information required to be collected by 
                States pursuant to section 3012; and
                    ``(B) sites located at Federal facilities within 
                Indian country.''.
    (c) Technical Amendment.--The table of contents for subtitle A of 
such Act (contained in section 1001 of such Act (42 U.S.C. prec. 6901)) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new item:

``Sec. 1009. Indian tribes.''.

SEC. 2. LEAKING UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANK TRUST FUND.

    Section 9508(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``Except as provided'' and inserting the 
        following:
                    ``(A) Purposes.--Except as provided''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
                    ``(B) Set aside for indian tribes.--Notwithstanding 
                any other provision of law, for each of fiscal years 
                1996 through 2000, the Secretary shall reserve an 
                amount equal to not less than 3 percent of the amounts 
                made available to States pursuant to subparagraph (A). 
                Such amount shall be used only by Indian tribes (as 
                defined in section 1004(43) of the Solid Waste Disposal 
                Act) to carry out the purposes referred to in 
                subparagraph (A).''.
                                 <all>