Contamination on ANCSA Conveyed Lands
On this page:
- Background
- Contaminated ANCSA Lands Assistance Program
- Contaminated ANCSA Sites Common Operating Picture and Inventory
- Contacts
- Frequent Questions
Background
The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) of 1971 included the transfer of 44 million acres to Alaska Native regional and village corporations. Some of these lands became contaminated prior to conveyance (transfer) from a variety of past activities such as fuel storage, power generation, waste handling practices, mining and other activities.
These contaminants — which include but are not limited to arsenic, asbestos, lead, mercury, pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls, and petroleum products — can pose health concerns to Alaska Native communities, impact subsistence resources, and impair economic activity.
Learn more:
- About the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA Regional Association)
- ANCSA Contaminated Lands Report to Congress (Bureau of Land Management)
Contaminated ANCSA Lands Assistance Program
In the fiscal year 2023 omnibus bill, Congress appropriated $20 million for EPA to establish and implement a grant program to assist Alaska tribal entities with addressing contamination on ANCSA lands that were contaminated prior to the time of conveyance. Grants may be used for site assessment and remediation, as well as related community outreach and involvement.
Eligible Tribal Entities
- Alaska Native regional corporations
- Alaskan Native village corporations
- Federally-recognized tribes in Alaska
- Alaska Native nonprofit associations
- Inter-tribal consortia of Alaskan tribal entities
Interim Sites Inventory
For the purpose of awarding grants in 2024, EPA is using its Contaminated ANCSA Sites Inventory.
Grants Program Guidance
How to Apply
Details on how to apply are provided in the Contaminated ANCSA Lands Assistance Program Guidance and on grants.gov.
Proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis as long as funds are available. If funds remain available, EPA expects to extend the closing date for this funding opportunity.
- Grants.gov Funding Opportunity EPA-OLEM-R10-NC-24-01
- Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Listing 66.965 (SAM.gov)
Returning or current cooperative agreement recipients contact: Jeff Estes (estes.jeff@epa.gov), 907-271-6558, Contaminated ANCSA Lands Project Manager.
New applicants contact: Mahri Lowinger (lowinger.mahri@epa.gov), 907-271-6334, Contaminated ANCSA Lands Project Manager.
Grants Awarded in 2023
Three Alaska Native Corporations were selected in the initial 2023 round of funding:
- Ukpeaġvik Iñupiat Corporation ($582,345): Assess lands impacted by a fuel spill; conduct lead and asbestos testing and abatement at the former Naval Arctic Research Laboratory in Utqiaġvik.
- Tyonek Native Corporation ($1 million): Conduct an inventory, characterization and decommissioning of abandoned drums; clean up remaining petroleum and other surface contaminants on the Iniskin Peninsula.
- Ounalashka Corporation ($1 million): Remove soils contaminated with PCBs and conduct an initial round of soil and groundwater sampling at a WWII-era warehouse in Dutch Harbor.
Read EPA's news release (Sep. 1, 2023).
Contaminated ANCSA Sites Common Operating Picture and Inventory
The EPA Contaminated ANCSA Sites Common Operating Picture is a GIS-based map interface that enables users to interactively view information about contaminated ANCSA sites.
Sites on the Common Operating Picture initially include sites from the 2019 BLM ANCSA Inventory Data, but there is also a feature to submit new sites for screening and further evaluation.
The Common Operating Picture is a living inventory and dynamic tool that will change as site information is updated and this information will be continuously available to the public as sites are added and cleaned up.
- Contaminated ANCSA Sites Common Operating Picture
- Story Map: EPA and the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
Contacts
For questions about EPA's Contaminated ANCSA Lands Assistance Program, or to be added to our email list, please contact:
- Ken Andraschko (andraschko.kenneth@epa.gov), 907-271-5079, ANCSA Program Coordinator
- Jeff Estes (estes.jeff@epa.gov), 907-271-6558, Contaminated ANCSA Lands Project Manager
- Mahri Lowinger (lowinger.mahri@epa.gov), 907-271-6334, Contaminated ANCSA Lands Senior Project Manager
- Stephen Nguyen (nguyen.stephen@epa.gov), 206-553-1073, Contaminated ANCSA Lands Site Inventory Manager
Other partners include:
- Alaska Dept. of Environmental Conservation - ANCSA Contaminated Lands
- Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act Contaminated Lands Partnership Group
Frequent Questions
What sort of contaminated land does this program address?
This program addresses contamination left by federal departments and agencies and their agents on land that was subsequently conveyed to Alaska Native Corporations under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971. When Congress created this grant program in the Fiscal Year 2023 Omnibus Appropriations Act, it did not define the term “contamination.” EPA believes that Congress intended the funding to address hazardous materials sites. Such sites typically present a greater risk and more complex remediation challenges. EPA will prioritize providing funding for requests that address hazardous materials over those that do not.
What if a contaminated land site includes both contamination left by the federal government and other contamination from post-conveyance activities?
We call these mixed-waste sites, and they will often present challenges. In general, federal environmental laws seek to hold any party that caused or contributed to the contamination liable for the cost of cleaning it up. At mixed waste sites we would need to investigate parties responsible for the contamination, including the post-conveyance contributors. Because of these challenges, we will prioritize sites where all the known contamination took place prior to conveyance and resulted from the actions of the federal government or those acting on its behalf. We are seeking to determine how best to address mixed-waste sites.
What level of cleanup is required and/or allowed?
This is another potentially complex matter. In general, cleanup will not be considered complete unless it meets the cleanup standards of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. In creating this program, Congress sought to assist Alaska Tribal Organizations in addressing contamination caused by the federal government prior to the conveyance of such lands under ANCSA. Congress did not establish cleanup standards as part of this program. It is also important to consider that the amount of funding Congress provided for this program, $20 million, is not sufficient to address all sites. In the near term, our focus will be on site assessments and initial hazard removals. We do not expect to conduct comprehensive cleanups in the near-term.
EPA's established investigation and cleanup programs under CERCLA and RCRA and the standards, guidance, and experience developed under those programs may help inform the investigation and cleanup work for ANCSA sites. This is important to consider since EPA may conduct work at ANCSA sites using Superfund resources and under Superfund requirements, therefore federal PRPs who transferred ownership of contaminated sites would be expected to follow those requirements as well. In addition, some ANCSA sites may be addressed under the RCRA program. Consistency in addressing ANCSA sites will be helped by following the CERCLA and RCRA approaches as guidelines.
Is EPA going to seek to recover the cost of cleanup from responsible parties at sites addressed by this grant program?
EPA reserves the right to do so. That said, because, doing so may also have implications for how assessments and initial removal actions are taken, our near-term priority will be on so-called “orphan sites” which includes sites that meet the eligibility requirements articulated by Congress and (1) for which no responsible party has been identified after reasonable effort has been made, or (2) are appropriately determined to have resulted from an act of God or act of war, or (3) not currently in a cleanup program (state or federal).
If an eligible entity takes action under this program, does it risk becoming a responsible party?
No, so long as it did not cause or contribute to contamination and does exercise due care and complies with the terms and conditions of the funding assistance agreement. In addition, the 2018 Brownfields Utilization, Investment, and Local Development (BUILD) Act amends certain aspect of CERCLA. With respect to Alaska Native Villages and Native Corporations, the BUILD Act provides for CERCLA liability relief if the Villages/Corporations received a facility from the U.S. government and did not cause or contribute to the release of hazardous substances at or from that facility. A typical way to obtain liability protection when performing work at such sites is for the grant recipients to enter a contract with private insurance companies who provide coverage for the investigation and cleanup of hazardous sites. The ANCSA program is new but insurance coverage for this type of work is widely available. The cost of acquiring insurance can be included in a grant application and must be acquired consistent with federal procurement requirements.
What relevance does the Indian Self-Determination and Education and Assistance Act have on federal procurement requirements?
Under the Indian Self-Determination and Education and Assistance Act (as amended, 25 U.S.C 450-458ddd-2), tribes can limit competition for EPA-funded contracts to Indian organizations and Indian-owned economic enterprises but cannot make sole source awards to those organizations based on their status as Indian organizations and Indian-owned economic enterprises. Competition requirements must still be met, but the competition can be limited to tribal entities.