Creek Nation Calls EPA’s Regulation Decision ‘A Challenge To Sovereignty’

The Muscogee (Creek) Nation is calling a new agreement between the state of Oklahoma and the Environmental Protection Agency “a challenge to sovereignty.”

The EPA granted approval to the state to have authority over environmental projects on land within tribal boundaries. Creek Nation leaders said they feel this is a knee-jerk reaction by the state after the Supreme Court decision on McGirt v. Oklahoma. They also said, despite their sovereign status, this agreement puts them at a disadvantage.

The Muscogee (Creek) Nation said they want more discussion with the state of Oklahoma following the new agreement between the state and the EPA.

"To me it means that we don't have a say now. It means where is out voice going to be heard and where do we go from here?" Second Chief Del Beaver of the Muscogee Creek Nation said. 

Beaver said his nation and other tribes are concerned and shocked at the state's new agreement with the environmental protection agency, which granted authority to the state to have control over environmental programs within tribal boundaries. This includes land apart from restricted or trust land across the state. 

Beaver said, by law, they were supposed to be consulted in the agreement process, but did not feel like that consultation was adequate for the nation as well as other tribes. 

"This is not just a Creek Nation issue, this law applies to all tribes in Oklahoma," Beaver said. "It’s just not us, it’s all the tribes that should have the consultation process and the proper consultation process with the EPA."

Beaver said the real issue is that, in a letter to Governor Kevin Stitt, the EPA said it is obligated to grant the state authority because of an amendment that was attached to a transportation bill in 2005. Beaver said the Creek Nation feels the agreement puts them beneath the state - not equal - due to not having a say, despite their sovereign status. 

"So where is it going to stop then, because this opens the doors to other things," Beaver said. "If the state wants to open a landfill across the road, who's stopping them? If they have the authority to open a landfill across the road, then where is our voice at? What can we do?"

In the wake of the Supreme Court ruling on tribal jurisdiction, Beaver said the Creeks should have had more say in the EPA agreement. He also said the law allows the state to partner with the tribes which he believes is the solution.

"Two eyes are better than one, and so why don't we just partner with the state? What's wrong with those partnerships?" Beaver said. 

Beaver also said they could consider litigation as a last resort, however, they would rather have a conversation than a lawsuit. Oklahoma's Secretary of Energy and Environment, Kenneth Wagner, said the agreement is only giving the same authority it had before the Supreme Court ruling, and that they are willing to work with the tribes on this issue.

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