When Sandra Talley joined the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2007, she had experience working with several federal agencies. Eventually, she saw an opportunity to bring her background in building inclusive dialog into the commission’s work with tribal nations.
“I moved into the senior tribal liaison role when NRC was changing its approach to working with tribes by developing a formal tribal policy to guide staff interactions with tribal nations,” she says.
Talley went on to work for 12 years as the senior tribal liaison in the commission’s Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, known as NMSS. The office licenses facilities and certain uses of nuclear materials and regulates the safe transport and handling of those materials, among other responsibilities. When the work involves projects on tribal lands, the liaisons help to maintain effective working relationships with states, local governments, other federal agencies and Native American tribal governments.
Talley’s connection to NCSL is through the Nuclear Energy Tribal Working Group, which is chartered by the U.S. Department of Energy to engage tribal governments with the department’s Office of Nuclear Energy. NCSL provides staff support to the working group.
Talley, who retired from the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards in January, talked with NCSL about her experience working with the states and tribes.
What was the nature of your work with state agencies?
When I joined NMSS, tribal liaisons actively supported NRC project teams by engaging with state agency personnel on the commission’s licensing work. For example, the project teams work with state historic preservation officers to identify and protect cultural resources. NRC coordinated and collaborated with state agency personnel in carrying out the agency’s and the state’s engagement and consultation with tribal nations.
How could state agencies incorporate tribes into the decision-making process?
Tribal outreach is a continuous process, and resources need to be dedicated to those efforts specific to tribal liaisons. It is important for liaisons to travel to the tribal nations to ensure the concerns related to the agency’s activities are seen firsthand. The dialog must take place throughout the agency, not only with the tribal staff representatives but on a government-to-government basis with the tribal leadership.
What factors should agencies consider when building an effective tribal outreach and consultation program?
The tribal policy statement and the tribal protocol manual were developed to encourage and facilitate tribal involvement in activities under the commission’s jurisdiction. To develop a tribal outreach or consultation program, an agency is encouraged to focus on efforts to enhance tribal participation in specific mission activities of the agency: 1) Gain an understanding of the land, environment and the sovereign status of tribes; 2) Devote appropriate resources such as staff and budget to the efforts; and 3) Garner the support of the agency’s leadership to ensure that tribal interaction efforts are part of activities such as policy development or legislative changes.
Tansey Moore is NCSL’s tribal working groups specialist.