§ 49.9 - EPA review of tribal Clean Air Act applications.

§ 49.9 EPA review of tribal Clean Air Act applications.

(a) The EPA Regional Administrator shall process a request of an Indian tribe submitted under § 49.7 in a timely manner. The EPA Regional Administrator shall promptly notify the Indian tribe of receipt of the application.

(b) Within 30 days of receipt of an Indian tribe's initial, complete application, the EPA Regional Administrator shall notify all appropriate governmental entities.

(1) For tribal applications addressing air resources within the exterior boundaries of the reservation, EPA's notification of other governmental entities shall specify the geographic boundaries of the reservation.

(2) For tribal applications addressing non-reservation areas, EPA's notification of other governmental entities shall include the substance and bases of the tribe's jurisdictional assertions.

(c) The governmental entities shall have 30 days to provide written comments to EPA's Regional Administrator regarding any dispute concerning the boundary of the reservation. Where a tribe has asserted jurisdiction over non-reservation areas, appropriate governmental entities may request a single 30-day extension to the general 30-day comment period.

(d) In all cases, comments must be timely, limited to the scope of the tribe's jurisdictional assertion, and clearly explain the substance, bases, and extent of any objections. If a tribe's assertion is subject to a conflicting claim, the EPA Regional Administrator may request additional information from the tribe and may consult with the Department of the Interior.

(e) The EPA Regional Administrator shall decide the jurisdictional scope of the tribe's program. If a conflicting claim cannot be promptly resolved, the EPA Regional Administrator may approve that portion of an application addressing all undisputed areas.

(f) A determination by the EPA Regional Administrator concerning the boundaries of a reservation or tribal jurisdiction over non-reservation areas shall apply to all future Clean Air Act applications from that tribe or tribal consortium and no further notice to governmental entities, as described in paragraph (b) of this section, shall be provided, unless the application presents different jurisdictional issues or significant new factual or legal information relevant to jurisdiction to the EPA Regional Administrator.

(g) If the EPA Regional Administrator determines that a tribe meets the requirements of § 49.6 for purposes of a Clean Air Act provision, the Indian tribe is eligible to be treated in the same manner as a State with respect to that provision, to the extent that the provision is identified in § 49.3. The eligibility will extend to all areas within the exterior boundaries of the tribe's reservation, as determined by the EPA Regional Administrator, and any other areas the EPA Regional Administrator has determined to be within the tribe's jurisdiction.

(h) Consistent with the exceptions listed in § 49.4, a tribal application containing a Clean Air Act program submittal will be reviewed by EPA in accordance with applicable statutory and regulatory criteria in a manner similar to the way EPA would review a similar State submittal.

(i) The EPA Regional Administrator shall return an incomplete or disapproved application to the tribe with a summary of the deficiencies.