Study Reveals Renewable Energy Regulations Often Overlook Tribal Rights, Threatening Sovereignty and Cultural Heritage.

The University of Michigan study suggests that current federal and state regulations governing renewable energy development in the US often neglecttate Tribal rights, including the right to sovereignty and the freedom to self-determination. The study found that these issues occur in 23% of cases, but disproportionately affect 37% of the total generation capacity at risk. While Tribes retain inherent powers of self-government and national sovereignty, their relationship to the federal government is influenced by Federal Trust Responsibility, which states that matters affecting Tribes are under federal government control. Despite this, even when consultation guarantees are upheld, there can still be conflict as consultation does not equal consent. National environmental laws regulating renewable energy develop include the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA). However, these measures are often poorly or inconsistently enforced by federal agencies, as well as developers. In 2010, the Quechan Tribe successfully sued the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for failing to consult them about the development of the Imperial Valley solar park, which threatened to damage ancestral grounds and cultural sites, and the California Energy Commission indicated that the site threatened the most extensive set of cultural and archeological resources of any large solar projects proposed in the California Desert.