The Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians has been awarded treatment as state status from the Environmental Protection Agency.

The designation allows the southern California tribe to administer and enforce standards for waters that run through the reservation. The tribe is the 38th in the nation to receive such status under the Clean Water Act.

Congress has recognized the authority of tribes to administer water and air programs. The law has survived numerous challenges in court.

Get the Story:
Local tribe OK'd for EPA work (The Palm Springs Desert Sun 11/3)

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