Wyoming Indian Tribe Can Administer Clean Air Act

The governor of the U.S. state of Wyoming, Matt Mead, has said he will not recognize the Environmental Protection Agency's determination that more than a million acres of state land legally belongs to two Native American tribes.

In response to an application from the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes to claim the land on order to administer the federal Clean Air Act, the EPA ruled earlier in December that the land has been a part of the Wind River Indian Reservation for over a century. The ruling came in response to an application from the Northern Arapaho.

The agency's decision means not only that the tribes can administrate the antipollution statute, but also gives them more money and criminal prosecution powers.