TAMS Steering Committee Call
Wednesday, June 27, 2012 @ 10:00 AM PDT
Attending: Ondrea Barber, Cody Charwood, PatEllsworth, Farshid Farsi, Ron Fraass, David
Gay, Christopher Horan, Chris Lee, James Luedecke, Laura McKelvey, Mike Papp, Katie
Renwick, Lee Rose, Bill Thompson, Scott Weir
Guests: Anna Duncan, Mike Flynn, Dennis O’Connor – EPA, ORIA
Opening Business
Roll Call was completed, and there was a quorum of voting members.
March 13-17, 2012 minutes were approved and April 18, 2012 notes accepted as written
and will be posted to the ITEP/TAMS website.
The agenda was approved.
The next conference call is scheduled for Wednesday, July 25th.
Gravimetric Lab Update –
Mike Flynn, Dennis O’Connor, and Anna Duncan were welcomed to the conference call.
Mike Flynn opened the discussion by explaining the need to look at the functions of the two labs
- R&IENL (Las Vegas) and NAREL (Montgomery, AL) - in order for EPA to operate as
efficiently as possible. The current proposed plan is to reorganize the two labs – NAREL would
be the analytical lab while R&IENL’s focus would be emergency response/field work. One of
the services to be impacted under this reorganization is the TAMS gravimetric lab. It is
proposed to shift the gravimetric lab services in a phased process to NAREL for analytical work.
Additionally, the current lease of space on the UNLV campus where the gravimetric lab is
located will expire September 30, 2015, and the gravimetric lab will need to be relocated.
Before a final decision is made, Mike and his planning team wanted to consult with the Steering
Committee members to hear tribal needs, priorities, and concerns. The Committee appreciated
the opportunity to be heard and stressed the need to be given time to acquire feedback from the
tribes in their respective regions. It was agreed the SC would provide tribal feedback no later
than 60 days from now. In addition, the Committee members stressed the good relationship
TAMS has with the tribes – the trust, the respect for tribal sovereignty and the understanding and
sensitivity TAMS has for tribal needs - and the importance for TAMS to remain the interface for
the tribes whether the gravimetric lab is moved to NAREL or to a contract lab. It was noted that,
currently, TAMS is providing assistance to the tribes in analyzing data reports from the current
contract lab. With this proposed change, re-evaluation of priorities and needs for TAMS in its
future direction was also requested, whether it be the ongoing need for weighing services, indoor
air quality, radon, or other monitoring services. Tribes who are currently using the gravimetric
lab will be contacted to evaluate the future needs for weighing services to see if this service is
still a priority and/or an upcoming need for tribes who might be starting to monitor. If the
gravimetric lab were to move to NAREL instead of utilizing a contract lab, there are concerns
that NAREL personnel do not have a great deal of experience with tribal services. Mike Papp
also raised the concern that NAREL does audit samples for EPA regarding PM2.5 to evaluate
national labs and the ensuing dilemma of independence, that audit samples cannot be developed
for one activity to NAREL that forces another activity to go elsewhere.
Action Item – Tribal needs assessment to be developed; add to the monthly call agenda.
OMB Support Letter for TAMS –
In light of the many changes occurring, Chris thought it would be a good idea to mention TAMS
services and to highlight the collaboration aspect of the TAMS program – partners bringing
strengths together to address tribal needs - in a tribal NTOC report to OMB. He presented this
idea to NTAA for their consideration, and it will be included with the NTAA statement for the
report to NTOC. Ondrea agreed and stressed the hope to have NTAA officers meet with NTOC.
A small NTAA budget workgroup, which includes Syndi and Bill, is working on a presentation.
Ondrea said it would be good to include Chris’s language with slides.
TAMS Update A new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is being drafted between R&IE and ITEP/NAU
to detail the collaboration and responsibilities. No copies have been found of the original MOU.
Include all stakeholders.
School Air Toxics – Rincon has submitted a request to monitor an additional pollutant, and
TAMS is following up to obtain more details.
Mercury Monitoring – Hualapai and Makah started their one-year monitoring, effective June 6th.
Other updates and concerns – The Committee wondered about ITEP’s stance in the gravimetric
lab issue, and Chris said ITEP wants tribes to be more involved. Ann Marie and Mehrdad were
not available for today’s discussion because of the Hopi delegation’s visit to ITEP. The
Committee was encouraged to ask Mehrdad and Ann Marie directly to provide an opinion of the
current issues at hand.
Subcommittees –
TEK Workgroup – The Tribal Science Council (TSC) held a session to discuss the TEK priority
and how TEK promotes tribal survival. The plan is for TSC, eco-ambassadors and TAMS SC
workgroup to meet in June 2013 to plan and prepare for a future TEK Forum. Locations to be
considered for the June 2013 meeting include the Northeast, Haskell, and Cherokee, NC.
Other Announcements –
Scott congratulated Bill on the NPR session covering the restoration of the river and fishery on
the Penobscot reservation.
Next call – Wednesday, July 25th at 10 a.m. Pacific
Next Face-to-Face Meeting – September 25-27, 2012 in Las Vegas, NV
Submitted by:
Lee Rose