EPA chief weighs prominent role for Indian office
Lisa Jackson, the new administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, is weighing a more prominent role for the American Indian Environmental Office, RezNet News reports.

Jackson could place the office under her supervision or establish it as an independent entity. She said it would be part of her efforts to develop a stronger relationship between tribes and the EPA.

Moving the office will benefit tribes, said Jerry Pardilla, the executive director of the National Tribal Environmental Council. "That would be tremendously important so that we're not pigeonholed in one environmental medium," he told RezNet.

Jackson addressed the 2009 executive council winter session of the National Congress of American Indians on Wednesday. She has a close relationship with members of the Ramapough Lenape Indian Nation due to her work in New Jersey.

Get the Story:
'EPA Is Back on the Job,' Tribes Told (RezNet News 3/4)

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