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American Indian Environmental Office (AIEO)
AIEO Mission
The American Indian Environmental Office (AIEO) leads EPA's efforts to protect human health and the environment of federally recognized Tribes by supporting implementation of federal environmental laws consistent with the federal trust responsibility, the government-to-government relationship, and EPA's 1984 Indian Policy.
- AIEO Fact Sheet (PDF) (1 pg, 362 K, About PDF)
- AIEO Staff Chart (PDF) (2 pp, 199 K, About PDF)
- AIEO Organizational Chart (PDF) (1 pg, 177 K, About PDF)
Grants and Funding
AIEO manages the Indian Environmental General Assistance Program (GAP). The GAP provides grant funding to federally-recognized tribes and intertribal consortia through a negotiated process administered by each EPA Region. The grant funds may be used by tribes to plan and carry out a number of environmental capacity-building activities.
AIEO manages EPA's Tribal ecoAmbassadors Program partnering with Tribal College and University (TCU) professors and EPA scientists to solve the environmental problems most important to their tribal communities. This program was developed to empower the TCUs to help make our tribal communities healthier and safer. Through the program, EPA works with a variety of different communities across the country. EPA provides training and guidance that can be taken back to the community and put into practice.
Direct Implementation Tribal Cooperative Agreements (DITCAs) allow tribes and intertribal consortia to help EPA implement federal environmental programs in Indian country, notwithstanding the Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act. DITCAs are negotiated between EPA and tribes and can help tribes build the capacity to carry out specific activities for EPA with EPA retaining final decision-making authority and ultimate responsibility for the environmental programs including all regulatory activities.