Andrea Joy Campbell: “today I am re-introducing a bill that is important to the State of Colorado, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and all…”

“today I am re-introducing a bill that is important to the State of Colorado, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and all Coloradans that live in the southwest corner of our beautiful State. More than thirty years of experience with environmental laws shows us that local design and implementation of such laws almost always trumps the "one size fits all" approach advocated by many in Washington, D.C. The Federal Clean Air Act authorizes States and Indian tribes to accept responsibility for air quality plans and standards, and implement many of the regulatory programs needed to maintain or improve air quality. In 1984 Congress ratified a jurisdiction and boundary agreement between the Tribe and the State that spared both sides litigation costs and a fight over the jurisdictional status of each square inch on the reservation. The 1984 pact permits the Tribe and the State to work out jurisdictional issues for themselves. Some uncertainty remains with respect to environmental issues and rather than placing the Environmental Protection Agency in the middle of a controversy about whether it is authorized to delegate Clean Air Act programs within the Ute Reservation, the Tribe and the State signed an agreement to eliminate any ambiguities. First, consistent with Congress' mandate in the Clean Air Act, the Tribe will be the entity responsible for administering Clean Air Act programs within the reservation.”