Treatment as a State Signing Ceremony Program Agenda

Today, August 15, 2019 join the Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa and the Environmental Protection Agency in the Signing Ceremony of Regulatory Treatment as a State in the Development of Tribal Water Quality Standards.

This signing ceremony will be from 11:30 am – 12:30 pm at the Meskwaki Tribal Center, located at 349 Meskwaki Rd in Tama, Iowa.

To view the complete program CLICK HERE

Program Agenda:

  • 11:30 am – Opening Ceremony
      • Color Guard
      • Drum Service
      • Invocation Prayer
  • 11:45 am – Welcome
      • Anthony Waseskuk, Tribal Chairman
  • 11:50 am – Meskwaki Natural Resources Water Program
      • Dr. Jarrett Pfrimmer, Meskwaki Natural Resource Director
  • 11:55 am – Tribal Water
      • Johnathon Buffalo, Historical Preservation Director
  • 12:00 pm – Region 7 Administrator
      • Jim Gulliford, EPA Regional Administrator
  • 12:05 pm – Signing of Treatment as a State (TAS) and Certificate of Achievement
      • Tribal Chairman and EPA Administrator
  • 12:10 pm – Closing Remarks
      • Dr. Jarrett Pfrimmer, Meskwaki Natural Resource Director
  • 12:10 pm – Closing Prayer
  • 12:15 pm – Refreshments / Social / Media Availability

Treatment as a State (TAS) – without a regulatory TAS the Tribe is limited to continuation of surface water monitoring without any authority or say in what flows on to tribal lands.

  • TAS is a required step within the EPA water program in achieving Tribal Water Quality Standards (WQS).
  • With an EPA approved regulatory TAS, the Tribe has the capacity and authority to draft Tribal Water Quality Standards.
  • WQS provide the regulatory and scientific foundation for protecting water quality under the Clean Water Act (CWA).
  • WQS not only set water quality goals for the Tribe’s water bodies, but also serve as the regulatory basis for establishing water quality based treatment controls and strategies.
  • To administer a WQS program under the CWA, a tribe must apply to EPA for authorization to be treated in a similar manner as a state (TAS).