Government-to-Government Consultation

The issuing agencies will consult with Native governments regarding the West-wide Energy Corridor Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS).

The U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Interior Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service (the Agencies) work on a government-to-government basis with Native American Tribes. As a part of the government's Treaty and Trust responsibilities, the government-to-government relationship was formally recognized by the federal government on November 6, 2000, with Executive Order 13175.

The Agencies coordinate and consult with tribal governments, Native communities, and tribal individuals whose interests might be directly and substantially affected by activities on Western federal lands. The agencies will strive to provide the tribes sufficient opportunities for productive participation in planning and resource management decision making.

Tribal Nation Input

The opportunity for government-to-government consultation is offered to all federally recognized Tribes in the 11 Western States. The Agencies recognize that the Tribes are the best source for information on sensitive areas on ancestral lands, traditional resources, and treaty rights on federal lands. Any information on these topics that can be provided to the PEIS team is greatly appreciated and is kept confidential. This information helps to ensure that the final corridor configuration has the least possible adverse effect on resources important to tribal communities. While Tribal nations may consult at any level of government, an Agency point of contact (Agency POC) is assigned to individual Tribes to facilitate consultation and coordination among entities whenever a Tribe expresses an interest in the PEIS. These Agency POCs are usually local Tribal Coordinators from the BLM or USFS. Once assigned, Tribal organizations or individuals may communicate directly with the Agency POC. See the Frequently Asked Questions page for more information on how tribes can stay informed about the project or engage in consultation.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): Government-to-Government Consultation

A list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) concerning government-to-government consultation for the WWEC PEIS is available. A general list of FAQs for the WWEC PEIS is available on the FAQ page of this Web site.

Government-to-Government Consultation Schedule

Energy Corridor Programmatic EIS Government-to-Government Consultation Schedule
Date	Consultation Event
28 Sep 2005	Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement published.
28 Sep - 28 Nov 2005	Public scoping
25 Oct - 3 Nov 2005	Scoping meetings held in each of the eleven Western states.
14 Apr 2006	All federally recognized tribes invited to regional Tribal information meetings. Text of letter sent on April 14, 2006.
9 May - 25 May 2006	Five Regional Tribal information meetings held.
10 Jul 2006	Summary of regional meetings (Tribal Information Update) and invitation to consultation sent to all Western tribes. Text of letter sent on July 10, 2006.
November 2007	Release of the Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement
Nov. 2007 - Feb. 2008	90-day public comment period
21 Nov 2008	Release of the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement
To Be Determined	Record(s) of Decision to be issued

Government-to-Government Consultation Documents

	List of all Tribes that have been contacted for government-to-government consultations (15 KB)
	Sample letter from BLM requesting tribal participation in the the public scoping process for the PEIS. (73 KB)

Selection of Corridor Routes

Input on the selection of appropriate energy corridor end points was received from government agencies, energy providers, and the general public during the scoping process and the public comment period for the draft PEIS. Taking this input into account, the proposed SEction 368 energy corridors identified in the Final PEIS are located to enhance the reliability and capacity of the existing energy transmission and conveyance network in the West for moving electricity, oil, natural gas, and hydrogen from their sources to end users. The PEIS is a federal action and identifies proposed Section 368 energy corridors only on federal lands, as dictated by Section 368 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct).

EPAct requires the Agencies to specify center lines and widths for energy corridors designated on federal lands. Specific corridor routes have been located to avoid areas inappropriate for corridor development because of legal, regulatory, or Agency-mission requirements; and to take into account local resource-management considerations. The proposed energy corridors have been located to avoid known sensitive cultural resources, such as traditional cultural properties. While this should minimize the adverse effects of developing the energy corridors it does not eliminate the requirement for future National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Section 106 reviews. No field surveys for cultural resources were carried out in conjunction with this PEIS. Any construction or development projects that are later proposed for these corridors would require their own NEPA and National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) Section 106 reviews.

For More Information

For further information on government-to-government consultation for the West-wide Energy Corridor PEIS, please contact:

LaVerne Kyriss, DOE
202-586-1056
laverne.kyriss@wapa.gov

Jerry Cordova, BLM, Tribal Coordinator
202-452-7756
jerry_cordova@blm.gov

Marsha Butterfield, USFS Tribal Coordinator
202-205-4095
mbutterfield@fs.fed.us

Dr. Kate Winthrop, BLM Washington Office POC
202-452-5051
Kate_winthrop@blm.gov

Dr. Bruce Verhaaren, Argonne POC
630-252-3240
bverhaaren@anl.gov

You may also visit the Energy Policy Act Section 1813: Indian Lands Rights-of-Way Study Public Information Center. This Website contains general information, news, public comments, and background documents pertaining to Section 1813 of the Energy Policy Act - the Indian Lands Rights-of-Way study.