EPA’s Pacific Northwest Tribal Clean Water Act Training will be held in person in Tulalip, WA. 

Tribal water quality and water resource staff are invited to learn how to enhance their program’s capability to implement Clean Water Act (CWA) programs. The training will address CWA programs, including Section 106, Section 319, Section 303(d), water quality standards, and wetlands, and will be useful to Tribes that work on these programs or are interested in pursuing Treatment in a similar manner as a State (TAS) status for one or more programs. The training is targeted to Tribes that conduct water quality monitoring, issue water quality certifications, and address water quality issues, nonpoint source pollution, and impaired waters/TMDLs. The training is being organized by the National Association of Wetland Managers and St. Mary’s University. 

• Register by Sept 19.

The National Congress of American Indians will host its Mid-Year Convention in Mashantucket, CT, for Tribal leaders, Native youth, advocates, and partners from across Indian Country. 

• Register

Courtesy of the Tulalip Tribes, the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University will be conducting pilot trainings for two courses. Tribal members or affiliated professionals of Tribal Nations are welcome to attend one or both trainings. 

• Identifying Community Preparedness Resources for Tribal Nations: This four-hour, virtual, instructor-led course will provide participants with basic information on community preparedness within the unique context of Tribal Nations, highlighting the diverse approaches to resilience across different communities. Participants will need to complete a pre-test before the training.
  • Register for AWR-307-V (Pilot) Training on June 3.
     
• Risk Communication Techniques Within Tribal Nations: This performance-level, four-hour, virtual, instructor-led course will explore the nuances of effective risk communication within Tribal Nations. Participants will need to complete a pre-test before the training.
  • Register for PER-317-V (Pilot) Training on June 4.

The Safe Drinking Water Act section requires community water systems to certify their risk and resilience assessments (RRAs) and emergency response plans (ERPs) every 5 years. Deadlines are coming throughout 2025 and 2026. This EPA webinar will help community water systems learn how to address contamination incidents in their RRAs and ERPs.

• Register

Whether you’ve just received an EPA Brownfield grant or you’re still waiting to hear, this national webinar hosted by Technical Assistance to Brownfields Providers will guide you through your next steps. Get expert insights, practical advice, and a roadmap for success.

• Register

Hosted by the National Association of Wetlands Managers (NAWM), this webinar will present the National Wildlife Federation’s Waters Storytelling Toolkit. The toolkit is designed to help Tribes, community members, policy experts, and others tell the story of why protecting wetlands and smaller streams in their area is important. 

• Register

Thinking of how to support the young children in your community this summer? This information session hosted by the Alaska Tribal Resilience Learning Network (AK TRLN) will discuss the co-creation and implementation of the Molly of Denali Community Science Project. Learn how the community of Hoonah, through the Huna Heritage Foundation, co-developed Molly’s Salmon Protector Camp, and their plans to deliver a similar camp this summer. 

• Register

A common public health message is for people to go indoors during wildfires when outdoor particulate matter (PM) levels are elevated. While PM infiltration in single family homes has been relatively well studied, less is known about how much comes indoors in commercial and nonresidential buildings (such as libraries, fitness centers, and schools). EPA’s Wildfire Advancing Science Partnerships for Indoor Reductions of Smoke Exposures (ASPIRE) Study sought to fill those knowledge gaps. This presentation will provide an overview of the study and the key results.

• Register

Join this month’s Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy (ACCAP) briefing for a discussion of recent and current climate conditions around Alaska, forecasting tools, and the Climate Prediction Center’s forecast for June and the summer season. 

• Register

As the number of disasters per year significantly increases, emergency managers and responders are inundated with large amounts of data processing and decision-making required for successful response and recovery outcomes. Artificial intelligence (AI) has a significant potential for facilitating many of these activities. EPA’s Homeland Security Research Program has been working to leverage AI and enhance disaster readiness for several years. This presentation will showcase real-world applications of AI and its future potential in disaster preparedness and recovery. 

• Register

Join the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy (ACCAP) and the Alaska Fire Science Consortium for a discussion of Alaska’s Changing Wildfire Environment 2.0. This report provides information about wildfire trends in Alaska, their impacts to humans and wildlife, and how science can improve wildfire management. 

• Register

Join this monthly meeting for EPA and Tribal updates; a special presentation/speaker; round robin sharing; and information from the National Tribal Air Association, Tribal Healthy Homes Network, Western Regional Air Partnership, and Clean Air Act Advisory Committee.

• Join on Teams at 9:00 Pacific. Meeting ID: 273 251 454 265. Passcode: 3v5FSH 
• Join by phone: Find a local number. Phone conference ID: 181 886 830#

The Center for Creative Land Recycling (CCLR) is EPA’s Technical Assistance to Brownfield Communities (TAB) provider in Regions 9 and 10. Here are a few tips from CCLR to help you explore reuse of underutilized and contaminated properties:

• Review CCLR’s resource library.
• Watch Brownfield Basics webinar for land reuse basics.
• Schedule an intake meeting with CCLR to discuss your land reuse goals. 
• Subscribe to CCLR’s monthly newsletter. 

Learn even more about brownfields redevelopment at the Washington Brownfields Conference, May 20-21 in Yakima, WA.

This new EPA webpage offers practical strategies and resources to minimize the risk from Legionella in the indoor environment. Legionella is a bacteria found naturally in lakes, streams, ponds, other freshwater settings and in some soils. It can also be found in water distribution systems and plumbing in buildings. It can become a health concern when it grows and spreads in a building’s water system, such as water pipes and devices that use water. The Centers for Disease Control’s Legionnaire’s webpage discussing the symptoms and treatment. 

Strategies you can use in combination to prevent or reduce the growth of Legionella in your home’s water system include keeping water fixtures clean, controlling water temperature, flushing the water in your home, and properly maintaining hot tubs and spas.

The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) is offering free online training classes, many leading to certifications, on solid waste management. The courses are offered on the Indian Health Service’s website. 

• Register
  
  • Click on Classes. Under Regular Classes, select “Access to On-Demand Solid Waste Safety Trainings.”
  • Click on Classes. Under On-Demand Classes, select “Solid Waste Open Dump Site Assessment Part 1.”

In 2023, the Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council (ITRC) Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CEC) Framework was published to help environmental regulatory agencies and other stakeholders identify, evaluate, and manage CEC’s while acknowledging uncertainties in their environmental fate and transport, receptor exposure, and/or toxicity. The framework is meant to help environmental regulatory agencies and other stakeholders by providing examples of CEC monitoring programs and guiding the user through the process of identifying CEC key characteristics, how to communicate real and perceived risk from CEC to the public, and how laboratory analytical methods can be used in the identification process. This training by ITRC will discuss the framework in detail.

• Register

The Washington State Post-Fire Recovery Workshop brings together people working on post-fire recovery across Washington and the Pacific Northwest in order to improve how watersheds, working lands, communities, infrastructure, and people recover from wildfire. Topics will include recovery readiness planning, actions taken during the fire, and actions taken in the months to years following. Learn to improve recovery coordination, share best practices, and network with other professionals. 

• Register

Cornell University’s Civic Ecology Lab invites you to join its new 4-week online course, Food, Farms, and Climate, starting May 5. The course will include pre-recorded lectures and live webinars, readings and resources, discussions, and a practical course project.

• Register

The dates for the Development and Implementation of Tribal Solid Waste Codes and Ordinances Training have shifted to later in the year and a few seats are available.

EPA, the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP), and the Indian Health Service (HIS) are offering the course to federally recognized Tribes that have completed an Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan but lack operable solid waste codes/ordinances. The goal of the course is for participants to write a new or update an outdated solid waste code. The training has been developed for Tribal environmental professionals without legal experience, yet all levels of experience are welcome. EPA strongly encourages multiple staff from one Tribe to apply as this increases the chances of passing a code.

This training course will assist Tribes in completing GAP Indicators RCRA 01.04 and RCRA 01.05.  There is no course fee and GAP will cover the travel costs to attend.

The first two sessions will be virtual. Participants are expected to attend all three portions of the course:

• Online Training Week: September 8-11
• Online Half-Day Training: October 1
• In-Person Workshop: November 18-20 in Phoenix, AZ
   

Apply by April 23. If you see a pop-up login screen, click Cancel both times to proceed to the application. No login is required

The Cascadia Region Earthquake Science Center’s Partnerships & Applications Workshop is designed to explore the emergent challenges and needs of the multi-disciplinary community involved in earthquake hazard study and mitigation in the Pacific Northwest. The workshop will address:

• Science communication
• Emergency preparedness and response
• Data availability and access
• Resource limitations

There is no fee; limited funding is available to support travel and lodging needs. The workshop will be held in Portland, OR.

• Apply to attend the workshop by April 25.
• Apply for travel support.

The agenda for the Columbia River Basin Restoration Working Group Spring Virtual Meeting includes grantee presentations, EPA updates, an overview of the Columbia River Basin Monitoring Strategy, and breakout discussions on agriculture, communication and outreach, mining and cleanups, pollution prevention, and stormwater/green infrastructure.

• Register by June 6. 

If you or your staff are responsible for oil spill response, plan to join the Fast/Slow Water Booming Course in Yakima, WA. EPA is sponsoring this hands-on training taught by the Whitewater Rescue Institute. The training will cover personnel rescue, swift water oil spill control, boom deployment, spill containment and cleanup on fast and slow waters. Instructional will be mostly in the field, with some classroom lecture. The training is free, but participants will be required to cover their own travel costs and attend the full four days.

After completing this course, participants should be able to:

• Demonstrate how to read a river to determine flow rates, debris patterns in currents, and selection of safe oil recovery locations.
• Select an appropriate method of boom deployment on a fast water.
• Demonstrate the deployment of boom on fast water by deflecting simulated oil to a recovery site down river.
• Select an appropriate method of protecting sensitive areas of a river with boom.
• Demonstrate safe boat operations on fast water rivers.
• Recognize health and safety issues associated with field operations involving oil recovery on fast water rivers.

Space is limited. Please register for the event as soon as possible to secure your spot.

• Register
• Questions? Contact Jenna Manheimer at 206-487-2984 or Manheimer.Jenna@epa.gov

Tribes are welcome to attend Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) smoke coordination calls, which are held on Mondays and Thursdays for as long as prescribed burns are taking place. Calls include a review of current and upcoming weather, ventilation, and air quality conditions and an opportunity to ask questions. Burners also can share their plans with the group – when they’re hoping to burn, the size and tonnage of the burn, fuel types, and the general location. The Smoke Team is available post-presentation to discuss specific projects and answer questions.

• Attend the Smoke Coordination Call on Teams at 9:00 Pacific.
• Visit the State of Washington’s Burn Portal and Smoke Resources page for more information.

For Washington State smoke-related questions or concerns, email Smoke@dnr.wa.gov

On May 27, EPA will host a cybersecurity drill for drinking water and wastewater utilities to provide an opportunity for participants to test their ability to respond to a cybersecurity incident and practice manual operations. Interested water systems may also participate in a 1-hour informational session on April 29 designed specifically for systems interested in testing transition to manual operations. Water and Wastewater Cybersecurity Vulnerability Snapshot Quarterly Webinar

• Register for April 29 (the info section)
• Register for May 27 (the drill)

Join coastal decision-makers, planners, resource managers, researchers, and other practitioners in Lacey, WA, for a day of knowledge sharing and partnership-building around Washington’s coastal resilience.

• Register by April 18.