## Facts

- The Sokaogon Chippewa Community (Mole Lake Band) occupies a reservation in northeastern Wisconsin that includes Rice Lake, relied on for subsistence and cultural practices.
- Under the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Band applied to the EPA for “treatment-as-state” (TAS) status under 33 U.S.C. § 1377 to set water-quality standards for reservation waters.
- Wisconsin opposed the application, asserting sovereign authority over navigable waters within the state and claiming ownership of the bed of Rice Lake.
- A proposed upstream zinc-copper mine near Crandon, Wisconsin created conflict because tribal water-quality standards could restrict pollutant discharges affecting the mine.
- After administrative review, the EPA granted the Band TAS status to establish and enforce water-quality standards for waters within the reservation.

## Issues

1. Whether 33 U.S.C. § 1377 and the CWA authorized the EPA to grant TAS status to the Band for setting water-quality standards for reservation waters.
2. Whether the Band had sufficient regulatory authority under federal Indian-law principles and EPA’s TAS regulations to regulate water quality within the reservation.
3. Whether Wisconsin’s asserted sovereignty over navigable waters and claimed lakebed ownership barred EPA from approving tribal TAS status that could affect off-reservation activities.

## Decision

- The Seventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment upholding EPA’s TAS approval.
- The court held the EPA was authorized under the CWA to treat the Band as a state for specified water-quality functions upon satisfaction of statutory and regulatory criteria.
- The court rejected Wisconsin’s argument that state lakebed ownership and navigable-waters sovereignty defeated EPA’s authority to approve tribal TAS for reservation waters.
- The court upheld EPA’s determination that the Band had adequate authority to regulate water quality to protect tribal health and welfare.
- The court concluded that potential off-reservation effects (including constraints on the proposed mine) did not invalidate EPA’s TAS decision.

## Legal Principles

- The Clean Water Act authorizes EPA to treat eligible tribes as states for specified purposes, including establishing water-quality standards, when the tribe meets § 1377 and implementing regulatory requirements.
- For TAS, EPA may require a showing that the applicant is federally recognized, has a functioning governing body, and possesses authority to regulate the relevant waters.
- State ownership of the beds of navigable waters does not, by itself, preclude federally authorized tribal regulation under the CWA within reservation boundaries.
- EPA’s reasonable interpretation of ambiguous CWA provisions governing tribal participation is entitled to deference in judicial review.
- Congressional provision for mechanisms to address state–tribal standard conflicts supports approval of tribal regulatory status even if tribal standards have practical effects beyond the reservation.

## Conclusion

The Seventh Circuit upheld EPA’s grant of TAS status to the Sokaogon Chippewa Community, concluding that the CWA permits EPA to approve tribal authority to set reservation water-quality standards despite Wisconsin’s claims of navigable-water sovereignty, lakebed ownership, and anticipated impacts on off-reservation industrial activity.


Wisconsin v. EPA, 266 F.3d 741 (7th Cir. 2001)