Environmental Programs Background
The Ak-Chin Community has long been interested in environmental issues, but for many decades did not have environmental (legal, administrative and technical) capabilities of its own. To remedy this situation, an Environmental Specialist was hired on February 9, 1998 under a US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) General Assistance Program (GAP) Grant to establish and maintain an Environmental Quality Office.
The Environmental Quality Office was first placed under the direction of the Planning & Economic Development Department. The following year, the Ak-Chin Community Council decided to make the Environmental Quality Office its own Department, the Environmental Protection Department (EPD), established under Community Council Resolution A-83-99. This was done to allow for future expansion of the Environmental Protection Department by developing infrastructure capacity and environmental capability and establishing and implementing environmental programs. During this time, the Community determined it was necessary to develop its own Environmental Protection Department and enforceable laws since it is responsible to protect the environment of the Community and safeguard human health including conducting environmental reviews of all proposed projects and prospective tenants and regulating activities within the Community to verify compliance with all Environmental Codes.
In 2021, the Ak-Chin Council by resolution split EPD into three (3) separate sections; including the Environmental Programs. Environmental Programs interfaces with other Ak-Chin Departments and enterprises such as Education, Him Dak Museum, Housing, Maintenance, Sanitation, Parks & Recreation, Ak-Chin Farms, Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino, Ak-Chin Circle Family Entertainment Center, Southern Dunes Golf Course and the Santa Cruz Commerce Center. Currently, Environmental Programs has five (5) active US EPA grants: Clean Air Act 103; Clean Water Act 106 Surface Water Pollution Control; Clean Water Act 319 Non-Point Source Pollution; a Pesticide Control & Worker Protection Standard Cooperative Agreement and a Tribal General Assistance Program grant. These grants are incorporated into a Performance Partnership Grant (PPG). Environmental Programs has overseen a number of different environmental grants from different sources; one of the most recent being a Direct Implementation Tribal Cooperative Agreement (DITCA) to conduct a Source Water Assessment on the Community’s main drinking water source, Central Arizona Project water from the Santa Rosa canal