Law hopes to protect environment
Navajo plan to govern land use

By John Christian Hopkins
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — With a special session today to vote on the Navajo Nation Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, the council spent Monday asking a myriad of questions on the proposed law.

Whether or not NNCERCLA passes remains to be seen, as delegates seemed evenly divided on the issue; some felt the law was needed, others saw it as redundant to federal environmental laws.

“Anyone doing land disturbance activities needs to know there are criteria,” said Navajo Environmental Agency Executive Director Stephen B. Etsitty.

The purpose of the NNCERCLA is to address issues of hazardous waste release, provide funding for site cleanups and regulate the redevelopment of Brownfield sites.

“This law is a good law to have on the books,” Etsitty said.
“It is time to step up to the plate,” said attorney David Taylor, of the Navajo Department of Justice.

The act is needed on the reservation, said attorney Jill Grant of the Nordhaus law firm. The federal EPA regulations are geared more toward larger sites, near heavily populated areas, Grant said.

Often, on the reservation, the former sites are not close to heavily populated areas, she added.

There are about 1,000 abandoned uranium sites on Navajo — most too small to be covered under federal law, Grant said.

Another advantage for Navajo to have this act is that it would be able to move quicker to address hazardous spills and cleanups, Grant said.

Delegate Leonard Tsosie said the NNCERCLA mimics the existing federal law. But the federal law does not include petroleum, so would the federal government provide funds if Navajo wanted to clean up a petroleum spill, Tsosie said.

“This law is too broad and will apply to the Navajo person working in a rundown garage, who has several buckets of motor oil in his yard,” Tsosie said.

The act needs to be specific, and clearly spell out what the Nation does not want the law to do — such as be used to target individuals in their own yards, Delegate Lorenzo Curley said.

Many Navajos transport small quantities of petroleum for use in their homes, Delegate Elmer Begay said. But he thought the new law would be geared toward businesses, and not target individuals.

While NNCERCLA closely resembles the federal EPA law, there are differences, Grant said. In addition to listing petroleum as a hazard material, the Navajo act would also cover uranium clean up on the reservation, she said.

“It sort of creates more red tape,” Delegate Johnny Naize suggested.

The NNCERCLA would only strengthen the Nation’s position if it takes legal action regarding hazardous spills, Etsitty said.

“A law like this gives us another set of tools,” Etsitty said. “We’re not out there to kill projects or squash development.”

John Christian Hopkins can be reached at hopkins1960@hotmail.com