Nez pushes to update laws, regs to complete projects

KINŁÁNÍ-DOOK’O’OOSŁÍÍD

There are only a few steps involved in paving a road in Diné Bikéyah. But the entire asphalt paving process takes years to complete.

“It does take years,” President Jonathan Nez said.

It’s because the Navajo Nation must follow the federal government’s regulations that protect federal lands, such as the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

“We need to change that,” Nez said. “That way, projects can get done quicker, and if it’s a permanent change, it helps us into the future.”

Nez met with Secretary Deb Haaland, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and Deanne Criswell, the Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator, in Washington, D.C., late last month, pushing to overhaul the laws and regulations that would upgrade the Navajo Nation’s infrastructure.

“Because we are on federal lands, there are certain protocols we have to follow,” Nez explained. “The federal government sees trust (tribal) land as any other federal land.

“That compares us to park service lands, BLM lands, so we have to follow the same protocols to improve things in Indian Country,” he said. “That means there are so (many) regulations and policies in place to get a project completed.”

Two of those regulations – that prolong project completion – are for rights of way and environmental clearances.

Immediate priority

When he and Vice President Myron Lizer took office on Jan. 15, 2019, Nez said that talks of changing those laws and regulations started. This includes an inter-agency agreement – between the Nation and the federal government – that would streamline the right-of-way process.

“We developed a white paper – Diné ‘Atiin Baa Hane’: Navajo Road Emergency,” Nez said. “The Biden administration embraced our recommendation. The old administration (Trump) put it aside and didn’t want to deal with it.

“We’ve (his administration) been talking with our congressional delegation and the White House to update these old laws and regulations,” he said. “We saw it firsthand how these laws need to be updated.”

That was through the $714 million in federal virus relief the Navajo Nation received in 2020. About half of the fund went toward Hardship Assistance.

The rest went toward electricity lines for over 700 Diné families, off-grid solar installations, water, wastewater upgrades and replacements, water cistern system installations, and waterline connections broadband installations and upgrades.

“There was a timeline,” Nez said. “We had projects, and we were ready to (complete them) quickly, but it took way too long because of red-tape processes or laws and regulations.

“And because of that, we (couldn’t) finish off all the processes,” he explained. “We had to work with the BIA for right of ways; we had to work with the (Environmental Protection Agency) for clearances. We need to get those laws and regulations (updated); it doesn’t have to be a law change.”

Long-term project

Congress in 1948 authorized the Interior secretary to oversee rights-of-way and road development on tribal lands.

Under the current laws, tribes must obtain two separate environmental clearances from federal agencies to proceed with most road projects. And it can take years to complete.

There are more than 11,200 miles of road in Diné Bikéyah. Of that number, more than 1,700 miles are paved, and more than 9,500 miles are dirt roads, according to the Navajo Division of Transportation.

Paving one mile of a dirt road in the Navajo Nation costs up to $3 million.

“We know that it takes a long time to get these projects done,” Nez said. “We found back in the early eighties that precedent was set between the Interior and the U.S. Department of Transportation.

“BLM relinquished some of its responsibility and gave it to the USDOT because they wanted to fix the roads in BLM lands,” he said. “They didn’t have to do duplication of environmental review or right-of-way processes. It makes sense. So, we said, ‘Why can’t we do the same thing?’”

Nez is selling his proposal saying the BIA could relinquish some of its responsibility to the USDOT to upgrade the Nation’s infrastructure.

“We’re going to be improving roads, building new roads, building bridges because of the ARPA and (the bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure bill President Biden signed into law Nov. 15, 2021),” Nez said. “Hopefully, it doesn’t take a long time to complete these projects.

“Much of our discussion was on updating those processes and having those agencies work together,” he said. “It’s great to have the White House support. We’re looking forward to completing these projects quicker in the Navajo Nation.”

The infrastructure bill is intended to bankroll public work projects such as highway, bridge, freight, port, and public transit expansions and repairs.

Buttigieg said on March 22 applications for the funds are due by May 23 at 5 p.m. (ET) and that approvals are expected at some point in the fall.

Nez added that because of the CARES Act, ARPA, and the infrastructure bill, permanent changes could be made to the regulations, policies, and laws that would help the Nation and other tribes throughout the country.

White paper

Nez said there is a master white paper, the one he shared with Biden’s cabinet doesn’t have “transportation” under the list of proposed revisions.

The master white paper talks about broadband processes, water and electricity lines, and telecommunication towers, among others.

“But (my) administration put the white paper together to let Congress know that in order for us to use the funding that has come to the Navajo Nation, we need those regulations and laws updated,” Nez said.

Nez said another law that needs to be changed is the mining law because the Nation cannot open a gravel or a burrow pit without going through a lengthy process.

“Just imagine if we were to approve a gravel or a burrow pit next to a road project site,” Nez said. “That would pave more miles of roads for the Navajo people if we just change the mining laws.

“So, what I’m saying is there are so many factors into getting a project developed,” he added. “There is still work to be done, but it’s a start to where the inter-agencies are working together. The bigger items are the law changes, which takes a while because it has to go through Congress.”

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