Indians — tribal sovereignty

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United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Civil

Indians — tribal sovereignty

Property held in trust for an Indian tribe cannot be assessed stormwater management fees by a municipality.

“The eleven federally recognized tribes in Wisconsin occupy about a thousand square miles. Wisconsin Department of Administration, Division of Intergovernmental Relations, Tribes of Wisconsin 3, Appendices A through K (July 2013), ftp://doaftp1380.wi.gov/Doadocs/2011_Tribes_of_WI_v_7? 2013.pdf (visited Oct. 15, 2013). They are self-governing entities, and there is no indication that in section 313(a) of the Clean Water Act (a section that contains no mention of Indians) Congress decided to place the regulation of pollution in their territory under state control. Other federal properties in a state—post offices, for example—are subject to delegated state administration of the Clean Water Act, but not Indian reservations, which for purposes of the Act are equated to states. 33 U.S.C. § 1377(e); 40 C.F.R. § 131.3(j).”

Affirmed.

12-3419 Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin v. Village of Hobart, Wisconsin

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Griesbach, J., Posner, J.