Greetings Relatives/Frens/Humans, The Navajo Council convened its special session at 1 pm, 12.19.22.
1:32 pm, 12.19.22, Council debating proposed agenda. Law & Order Committee Chairwoman Eugenia Charles-Newton asking to add legislation, remove legislation & create a Consent Agenda from legislation that the Naabik’iyati unanimously supported.
Here is info to attend special Navajo Council session:
Call-in Number: (669) 900-6833
Meeting ID: 928 871 7160
Passcode: 86515
Livestream will be available online at:
VIMEO: www.vimeo.com/navajonationcouncil
YouTube: www.youtube.com/navajonationcouncil
NNC Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/navajonationcouncil
2 pm, 12.19.22, Navajo Council now on LEGISLATION 0110-22: An Act Relating to the Budget and Finance, Resources and Development, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees, and the Navajo Nation Council; Allocating $5,000,000 from the Síhasin Fund for the Assessment and Remediation of the Former Navajo Forest Products Industry Location in Navajo, NM; Approving the Related Expenditure Plan Pursuant to 12 N.N.C. § 2501 – § 2508 (2/3)
SPONSOR: Honorable Wilson C. Stewart, Jr.
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Rickie Nez
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Raymond Smith, Jr.
(m) Hon. Eugene Tso (s) Hon. Paul Begay, Jr. (v)
10/18/2022 – Motion to Table Legislation 0110-22 for no less than 30 days for revisions to be applied to the expenditure plan; (M) Hon. Daniel E. Tso; (S) Hon. Eugenia Charles-Newton; (V) 15 In Favor, 07 Opposed (Speaker Damon Not Voting)
2:12 pm, 12.19.22, Point of Order by Delegate Crotty, who asks for Updated Plan of Operation for the expenditure plan for the Navajo EPA Remediation Plan for the defunct Navajo Forestry Products Industry by sponsor, Delegate Wilson Lame Duck Stewart. Stewart’s agent, a representative from NEPA, for his Legislation 0110-22 says that an Updated Plan of Operation for Expenditure Plan was complete this morning.
Speaker Pro Tem Jamie Lame Duck Henio cuts NEPA representative, Ms Maples, off from completing her report on the Expenditure & Remediation Plan for defunct NFPI. After Crotty’s Point of Order, Henio calls on NEPA to finish their report.
2:26 pm, 12.19.22, Delegate Crotty asks if there is a Moratorium on the Navajo Nation regarding Sawmill Operations since huge amounts of dangerous cancer causing metals have been found at the defunct Navajo Forestry Products Industry site & the Navajo Nation govt, not the defunct Navajo Govt Enterprise, NFPI, has to pay for the CleanUp. NEPA representative Maples emphasizes that there is No moratorium on lumbering and sawmill operation on the Navajo Nation but NEPA recommending that any sawmill activities work closely with NEPA to protect the environment.
Speaker Pro Tem Jamie Lame Duck Henio keeps Pushing for Navajo Council vote on Delegate Wilson Lame Duck Stewart legislation 0110-22, before the NEPA report is done.
“After a heavy harvest and a death, Navajo forestry realigns with culture”
Ernie Atencio Oct. 31, 1994
NAVAJO, N.M. – On the austere, high-desert plateau of the Navajo Nation, the Chuska Mountains rise unexpectedly, an oasis of alpine forests and crystal-clear lakes. For centuries the Chuskas have been the source of building materials, game animals and grazing land, a place to gather medicinal herbs and spiritual strength.
But in the past four years, amid allegations of overcutting and murder, the Chuskas have also become the source of bitter hostilities between the tribe’s logging operation and traditional residents.
Change has been difficult but it seems to be arriving. The tribal sawmill, which is said to support 2,500 people when extended families of loggers are considered, has been shut down temporarily and the tribe has announced a new regime of forest management based on concern for the ecosystem.
Standing in this sawmill town and waving his hand toward the dark hump on the horizon that is the Chuska range, Earl Tulley explains, “These are sacred mountains, the male deity” in the Navajo tribal pantheon.
Tulley, an employee of the Navajo Housing Authority, is one leader of Diné CARE, the environmental group that has gathered support for a vision of preserving old-growth forest and traditional values. “When unethical harvesting of trees is infringing on the health of the land, on sacred mountains,” he says, “then we have to protect it.”
Tulley and others suspect conspiracy and cover-up surrounding the death last October of Diné CARE co-founder Leroy Jackson (see accompanying story). Jackson’s death has been ruled accidental, but many think otherwise. “A lot of people had their hands in this particular till (the flow of money around logging),” says Tulley, “and they didn’t want to lose it.”
While lamenting the stridency of Navajo environmentalists – -It’s “do or die” to them’ – Robert Billie, director of tribal forestry, allows simply, “We could not continue as before. We had to pause.”
An Anglo forester’s perspective
Significant cutting of old-growth ponderosa pines in the Navajo forest during the 1980s led to the pause. Before the 1980s, the Bureau of Indian Affairs had a more direct hand in managing the forests and cutting was fairly light, says Dexter Gill, an Anglo who directed tribal forestry from 1982 until last year; it was his regime that got into controversy.
Over time, Navajo forests had built up a preponderance of 200- to 400-year-old pines that were vulnerable to insects and disease and needed to be cut and put to use, Gill says. During the 1980s, the tribe took over management of forests and conducted the first systematic inventory and began to cut in earnest. One primary purpose, Gill says, was to create jobs and a logging economy on the reservation.
During the 1980s, the cut was increased to about 36 million board-feet a year – which the forest could more than support through growth and regeneration, Gill says. Not everyone agreed. In 1990, when a timber sale took much of the old growth and thinned thickets of saplings in Tsaile Canyon, several families living in the canyon became active in Diné CARE (in Navajo, Diné means “The People,” and in English, CARE stands for Citizens Against Ruining our Environment).
The logging in Tsaile Canyon “was a traumatic change aesthetically” in the landscape, Gill says. “But to me, as a forester, it was beautiful. To me it was a dying forest and now (with the saplings thinned and the overstory removed), it’s a growing forest.”
Diné CARE organized against another big timber sale, appealing it to the BIA, which retained oversight. The appeal resulted in a 50 percent reduction in the volume of timber to be cut in the sale.
“That was the first appeal of a timber sale the BIA ever had filed against it, anywhere,” Gill says. Continued Diné CARE pressure led to a 66 percent reduction in the next timber cut.
“Tribal politics couldn’t handle the concept of pressure groups,” says Gill, who now lives in Gallup, N.M. “The Navajo concept is that everybody should have a consensus before going ahead. Once it became a cultural issue, that was it.”
Saving a forest strangles a mill
Diné CARE paid for forest studies that contradicted the studies the tribe had done; the environmentalists said the Navajo forests could support only one-third the annual cut of the 1980s and that during the decade, Navajo forests had been cut more intensively than any other forests in the Southwest.
Forest residents said wildlife and plant communities were suffering. “We used to have ponds and beavers,” recalls Adella Begaye, Leroy Jackson’s widow. “We no longer hear the songbirds, and the medicine people can’t even find all the plants they used to.”
As timber sales on the reservation were scaled back, the Navajo sawmill – operating as Navajo Forest Products Industries – was also forced to scale back. The mill required larger infusions of funding from the tribe, amassing a $14 million debt and triggering an audit, and there were efforts to buy timber from off the reservation and have it trucked to the mill for processing.
“It was ill-planning and arrogance.” says Tulley of Diné CARE. “They (mill operators and backers, including three members of the Navajo Tribal Council who also sat on the mill’s board of directors) saw this train wreck coming a long time.”
At least 600 Navajos worked at the mill during its prime, living in company houses in the company town of Navajo. Nearly 15 years ago, long before there were activists or environmental regulations to blame it on, NFPI started laying off workers. By 1991 the workforce had dwindled to 300; about 125 people were working at the mill when it shut down July 25.
As Diné CARE pushed for the enforcement of federal environmental laws, the BIA refused to approve any further timber sales until a new 10-year forest management plan could be agreed upon, paralyzing the timber program.
Today, only 20 people, mostly managers, are still at work at the mill. Once-bustling neighborhoods in Navajo stand empty and windswept. “A boomtown gone bust,” Diné CARE described it in a letter to Navajo President Peterson Zah. “The unfortunate thing is, this beligaana-style (Anglo) phenomena took place on Indian lands.”
Thomas Boyd, chairman of NFPI’s board of directors, did not return any calls for this story. NFPI director Ed Richards accused this reporter of being “another one of those people trying to make this into an environmental story” and hung up.
In an interview with the Navajo Times, Richards blamed environmentalists for the shutdown but also conceded that the 38-year-old mill may be obsolete. He wanted to invest more of the tribe’s money in building a smaller, modern mill.
It seems likely that the Navajo timber program will re-emerge, but in a more modest form.
The first real study of impacts
The same environmental laws that apply to national forests also apply to forests on reservations, says Billie, the new director of tribal forestry. “We are a sovereign nation, but we are subject to federal law,” he says. Also there are general tribal laws about conservation of resources, Billie says.
But until recently, he says, timber cutting was getting preference over other forest values, possibly in violation of such environmental laws.
Compliance with federal environmental laws has amounted to “just more or less going through the motions,” says John Martin, a tribal member and resource specialist for the BIA.
“There definitely has not been an honest attempt by the BIA to foster the intent of NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act),” Martin says. “It wouldn’t surprise me if some timber sales (before the recent controversy) were approved in as little as 10 minutes.”
Billie now talks in terms of ecosystems and says the tribe has “embarked on a new direction of integrated forest management – all forest resources being considered.”
The change, he says, came out of “an assessment, not only from environmentalists, but from the professionals here in tribal forestry,” with a nudge from President Zah. “Diné CARE takes full credit but there was a general shift in environmental awareness on the reservation.”
Billie says that modern forestry reflects traditional Navajo values. “My grandfather was a medicine man, and taught me that you do not use anything to excess. So when I learned about integrated resource management and multiple use, I thought, yeah, I know this stuff.”
Tribal foresters are putting together the first environmental impact study of the timber program, as well as a new 10-year plan that will reflect the new priorities – two moves that Diné CARE had urged. Both studies are to be completed by next year, but Gill, the former head of tribal forestry, says he understands that the annual timber cut on the reservation will be reduced by about 50 percent.
An environmental study must also take into account the threatened Mexican spotted owl, not only as an indicator species but also because the owl is revered as a sacred messenger that warns of danger, says Tulley of Diné CARE.
An impact statement could open an avenue for legal challenges to natural resource management on Indian lands, says Martin of the BIA. On the other hand, he says, many federal environmental regulations are probably not appropriate for reservations.
The BIA increasingly promotes Indian self-determination, says Martin, and the Navajo Nation should develop its own culturally appropriate environmental regulations.
Tribes around the country are seeking just such freedom, cooperating to draft a National Indian Forest Management Act that Congress will be asked to approve, Billie says.
“We have sacred laws that a lot of us live by,” says Begaye, “but the Navajo Nation has very few written laws, so federal laws are the only handle we have.”
In recent months, unemployed loggers and mill workers fed up with NFPI management have thrown in with Diné CARE. Fourteen community chapters around the Chuskas tired of watching their forests topple have passed resolutions in support of the group. Even a field technician with the tribal forestry department was spotted in a Diné CARE T-shirt.
Diné CARE’s grass roots are growing stronger and seem less willing to bend.
In the wake of her husband’s mysterious death, it will be difficult for Adella Begaye to compromise at all. She says that any reform of the Navajo timber industry will be too little, too late. Navajo forests have already suffered too much abuse, she says, and Diné CARE will oppose all future timber sales.
Commercial logging has played itself out and just doesn’t belong on the reservation, she says. “NFPI is not financially viable, it’s just an employment agency. Maybe they should turn that plant into something else, like a recycling center.”
Diné CARE can be reached at P.O. Box 121, Tsaile, AZ 86556.
Former HCN intern Ernie Atencio studies anthropology and writes in Flagstaff, Arizona. Ray Ring contributed to this report.
The following sidebar articles accompany this feature story:
- ‘People of the Earth’ stress “natural laws’
- Faith in a martyr helps the cause
Costs of cleaning up: Many issues plague former Navajo Forest Products Industry site
By Arlyssa Becenti | Jun 17, 2021
NAVAJO, N.M. – The small community of Navajo, New Mexico, is often remembered for the thriving economy it had at one point, but those days have long since passed and now residents want to clean up contamination left by the former Navajo Forestry Products Industry Inc.
On May 25, Delegate Wilson Stewart, Vice President Myron Lizer and Navajo Environmental Protection Agency Superfund Brownfields Program officials toured the area.
Vice President Myron Lizer looks over the abandoned and aged facilities of the former Navajo Forest Products Industry during a tour with Navajo Environmental Protection Agency officials.
They walked through the former sawmill site where remnants of the old mill are still visible and within scattered debris are a litany of contaminates that harm the soil, air and water.
“It’s been 25 years since NFPI closed,” said Stewart. “When it closed there’s been various presentation, talks, on the site itself on what it needs to be cleaned.”
In 1962, NFPI was established and the business venture was seen as a good step into economic prosperity for the tribe.
From 1962 to 1992, an average of 40 million board feet of lumber were harvested by NFPI every year from the Chuska Mountains.
But years of mismanagement caught up with the company and it was millions of dollars in debt, among other issues, and eventually NFPI shut down in 1994.
The environmental group Diné CARE played a large part in NFPI’s shutdown after they raised concerns over the habitat of the endangered Mexican Spotted Owl.
Discussion to clean up the site were held by former President Ben Shelly in 2012. This is also when Red Lake Chapter hired a contractor to conduct cleanup of vandalized and burnt buildings.
But NNEPA Superfund shut down the contractor for knocking down concrete structures without sampling for asbestos and other potential contaminates.
Structures have mostly been brought down, and this in itself causes issues for NNEPA Superfund Group.
Finding asbestos
As Pam Maples, remedial project manager for the NNEPA Superfund Group, pointed out during the walking tour through her N95 mask – required for COVID and to prevent breathing asbestos –finding exactly where the asbestos is located needs to happen before they can do anything with the site.
“That’s what is going to be the major important part about this site,” said Maples. “Before we can get in here and do anything we’ve got to know where the asbestos at the surface is because we can’t be kicking it up and letting it blow down to the school.”
Besides NFPI’s money problems, or concerns about the Chuska forest and the Mexican Spotted Owl, the watering system was another worry.
In 1992, NFPI discharged in the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority system. NFPI acknowledged that their wastewater contained solids that caused NTUA’s sewage treatment ponds to fill up with sludge at a faster rate than usual.
In 1993, USEPA Region 9 visited the site and saw discharge flowing into Black Creek. They made five recommendations and eight submission requests.
NFPI repaired leaking underground pipes from the cooling water recycling system that discharged warm wastewater into Black Creek.
But concerns arose over stream sediments and lake sediments. In 1994, NFPI ultimately shut down and 300 workers were laid off.
In 1995, internal NTUA discussions of problems with treatment ponds and NFPI practices were seen as part of the cause.
“The drainage here was causing the sewage to accumulate sludge at an alarming rate,” said Maples. “Where did they take all that stuff? I really need to know because all the metals, chromium and all the ugly stuff is going to be in that sludge. So trying to find where they dumped that.”
After the closure, documents couldn’t be found but vandals spread chemicals and set multiple fires.
In 1997, the facility’s dumpsite caught fire and a preliminary assessment indicated it contained specific compounds, such as formaldehyde and sulfuric acid and drums, some containing a corrosive powdered substance.
Hazards at every turn
While on the walking tour of the old sawmill, at every turn there is a potential hazard lurking. Although the site is gated off, Maples pointed to where there are holes in the fence made by vandals, kids, or people walking through.
There are holes in the ground – one is about 35 feet deep – into which a child or anyone could easily fall.
“I have fished dogs out of here,” said Maples, saying the holes are immensely dangerous and need to be filled up. “They can just as easily be children because there are holes cut into the fence for people to come through.”
In 2017, excavation of an additional 1,700 cubic yards of aboveground soil from the storage tank basin happened. Excavation and removal of 500 cubic yards of heavily impacted soil contributing to groundwater contamination took place, and the extent of the contaminated groundwater is approximately 2.5 acres.
Identified in 2018 was over 22,000 cubic yards of petroleum-contaminated soil that continues to contaminate groundwater at the site. A surface asbestos survey was conducted to check if the soil could be remediated. More than half of the samples were positive and above the action level.
Asbestos in the lumber drying kiln was found to have a serious air hazard and was scheduled for abatement and removal.
Due to the pandemic in 2020 there was no work and an emergency removal was scheduled for 2021.
NNEPA Brownfields staff secured a $120,000 two-year environmental justice grant to for community action regarding NFPI and cleanup. They also won a $350,000 Brownfields Site Specific Assessment grant to begin to assess the contamination at the site.
But these won’t be enough for all that needs to be done.
“It’s going to cost us a lot more for the community to clean it up,” said Wilson. “Not only does it affect this area, which is over 100 acres, but it affects the whole District 18 area.
“You still have some small farmers that are still farming along the wash,” he said, “or you have livestock…that drink it. It’s affecting our livestock and back to us as humans. Chemicals continue to flow, they don’t disappear.”
2:36 pm, 12.1922, Navajo Council votes 18 in favor, 1 opposed on Legislation 0110-22, Allocating $5,000,000 from the Síhasin Fund for the Assessment and Remediation of the Former Navajo Forest Products Industry Location in Navajo, NM; Approving the Related Expenditure Plan Pursuant to 12 N.N.C. § 2501 – § 2508 (2/3)
Unofficial Navajo Council voting tally:
Elmer Begay Green; Kee Allen Begay Green; Paul Begay Green; Nathaniel Brown Green; Eugenia Charles-Newton Green; Amber Kanazbah Crotty Green Seth Damon EXCUSED; Herman M. Daniel Jr. Green; Mark Freeland Green; Pernell Halona Green; Vince James Green; Rickie Nez Green; Carl Slate Green; Raymond Smith Jr. Green; Wilson Stewart Jr Green; Speaker Otto Tso EXCUSED; Charlaine Tso NoVote: Daniel Tso Green; Eugene Tso Green; Thomas Walker Jr Green; Edison Wauneka Green; Edmund Yazzie Green; Jimmy Yellowhair Red.
Legislation 0110-22 now goes to President Jonathan Nez for his signature, veto or line item veto.
HERE are the REPORTS from the Navajo EPA regarding the CleanUp of the Defunct NFPI:
2:53 pm, 12.19.22, Navajo Council debating Amendment One to LEGISLATION 0159-22: An Act Relating to the Resources and Development, Budget and Finance, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees, and to the Navajo Nation Council; Allocating $10,031,897 from the Síhasin Fund for the Mariano Lake Chapter Multipurpose Building Project; Approving the Related Expenditure Plan Pursuant to 12 N.N.C. §2501 – §2508 (2/3)
SPONSOR: Honorable Edmund Yazzie
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Raymond Smith, Jr.
(m) Hon. Pernell Halona (s) Hon. Raymond Smith, Jr. (v)
10/19/2022 – Motion to Refer Legislation 0159-22 to the Naabik’íyáti’ Committee and bring back no later than 30 days for further discussion on current modifications and to allow more time for possible amendments to be drafted.; (M) Hon. Eugenia Charles-Newton; (S) Hon. Herman M. Daniels, Jr.; (V) 14 In Favor, 07 Opposed (Speaker Damon Not Voting)
11/10/2022 – Legislation 0159-22 was passed and referred back to the Navajo Nation Council; (M) Hon. Pernell Halona; (S) Hon. Jimmy Yellowhair; (V) 19 In Favor, 00 Opposed (Chairman ProTem Daniel E. Tso Not Voting)
3:20 pm, 12.19.22, 3:20 pm, 12.19.22, Navajo Council votes 20 in favor, 1 opposed on Amendment One to Legislation 0110-22 : An Act Relating to the Resources and Development, Budget and Finance, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees, and to the Navajo Nation Council; Allocating $10,031,897 from the Síhasin Fund for the Mariano Lake Chapter Multipurpose Building Project; Approving the Related Expenditure Plan Pursuant to 12 N.N.C. §2501 – §2508 (2/3)
Unofficial Navajo Council voting tally:
Elmer Begay Green; Kee Allen Begay Green; Paul Begay Green; Nathaniel Brown Green; Eugenia Charles-Newton Red; Amber Kanazbah Crotty Green; Seth Damon EXCUSED; Herman M. Daniel Jr. Green; Mark Freeland Green; Pernell Halona Green; Vince James Green; Rickie Nez Green; Carl Slate Green; Raymond Smith Jr Green; Wilson Stewart Jr Green; Speaker Otto Tso EXCUSED; Charlaine Tso Green: Daniel Tso Green; Eugene Tso Green; Thomas Walker Jr Green; Edison Wauneka Green; Edmund Yazzie Green; Jimmy Yellowhair Green.
3:28 pm, 12.19.22, GOOD GRIEF!!!! When the Council approved Amendment One to Legislation 0110-22, it BLEW UP the initial allocation of about $10 Million to $43.5 Million. I’m posting the Projects that Council Delegates added to the $10M for the Mariano Lake Chapter multipurpose building.
And now Council Delegate Herman Daniels made Amendment Two, which asks for $13,8 million from the Sihasin Fund to complete a Shonto multipurpose project and $600 million from the Sihasin Fund for the Oljato Multipurpose Bldg.
3:29 pm,12.19.22, Law & Order Committee chairwoman Eugenia Charles-Newton questions the Council’s spending of the Sihasin Fund, which she said would only leave a very small balance in the Sihasin Fund for the Incoming Navajo Council. “I’m just concerned that we are going through the entire Sihasin. We’re allocating funds for projects that just sit there, such as chapter projects with $71 Million just sitting there. What do we have after we run through Sihasin”
Charles-Newton asked for a balance on the Sihasin Fund and what the balance would be after the Council approves Amendment One.
Speaker Pro Tem Jamie Lame Duck Henio tells Charles Newton that that Balance is Unknown until the Council approves Amendment One…LOL LOL LOL LOL
Delegate Eugene Tso asks when the Council will hear the Balance of the Sihasn Fund in 2019 and now from the Navajo Nation Office of the Controller. Will that before the Vote on Amendment Two to Legislation 0159-22?
Henio says the Council will get the Sihasin Fund balance from the Office of the Controller in writing – later.
Navajo Council votes 20 in favor, 1 opposed on Amendment Two to Legislation 0159-22.
Unofficial Navajo Council voting tally:
Elmer Begay Green; Kee Allen Begay Green; Paul Begay Green; Nathaniel Brown Green; Eugenia Charles-Newton Red; Amber Kanazbah Crotty Green; Seth Damon EXCUSED; Herman M. Daniel Jr. Green; Mark Freeland Green; Pernell Halona Green; Vince James Green; Rickie Nez Green; Carl Slate Green; Raymond Smith Jr Green; Wilson Stewart Jr Green; Speaker Otto Tso EXCUSED; Charlaine Tso Green: Daniel Tso Green; Eugene Tso Green; Thomas Walker Jr Green; Edison Wauneka Green; Edmund Yazzie Green; Jimmy Yellowhair Green.
HERE are the DOCUMENTS related to the Navajo Council RAIDING of the Navajo Nation Sihasin Fund:
4:25 pm, 12.19.22, Navajo Council votes 17 in favor, 1 opposed on Legislation 0159-22, LEGISLATION 0159-22: An Act Relating to the Resources and Development, Budget and Finance, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees, and to the Navajo Nation Council; Allocating $10,031,897 from the Síhasin Fund for the Mariano Lake Chapter Multipurpose Building Project; Approving the Related Expenditure Plan Pursuant to 12 N.N.C. §2501 – §2508 (2/3)
SPONSOR: Honorable Edmund Yazzie
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Raymond Smith, Jr.
Unofficial Navajo Council voting tally:
Elmer Begay Green; Kee Allen Begay Green; Paul Begay Green; Nathaniel Brown NoVote; Eugenia Charles-Newton Red; Amber Kanazbah Crotty Green; Seth Damon EXCUSED; Herman M. Daniel Jr. Green; Mark Freeland Green; Pernell Halona NoVote; Vince James Green; Rickie Nez Green; Carl Slate Green; Raymond Smith Jr Green; Wilson Stewart Jr Green; Speaker Otto Tso EXCUSED; Charlaine Tso Green: Daniel Tso Green; Eugene Tso Green; Thomas Walker Jr NoVote; Edison Wauneka Green; Edmund Yazzie Green; Jimmy Yellowhair Green.
4:30 pm, 12.19.22, Navajo Council hearing from Council Delegate Elect Carl Slater on his LEGISLATION 0075-22: An Act Relating to the Budget and Finance, Resources and Development, Health, Education and Human Services, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees, and to the Navajo Nation Council; Allocating $10,000,000 from the Síhasin Fund to Establish a New Outdoor Recreation Fund for the Navajo Nation (2/3)
SPONSOR: Honorable Carl R. Slater
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Amber Kanazbah Crotty
4:43 pm, 12.19.22, Navajo Council votes 16 in favor, 2 opposed on Legislation 0075-22: An Act Relating to the Budget and Finance, Resources and Development, Health, Education and Human Services, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees, and to the Navajo Nation Council; Allocating $10,000,000 from the Síhasin Fund to Establish a New Outdoor Recreation Fund for the Navajo Nation (2/3 vote approval required)
Unofficial Navajo Council voting tally:
Elmer Begay Green; Kee Allen Begay Green; Paul Begay Green; Nathaniel Brown NoVote; Eugenia Charles-Newton Red; Amber Kanazbah Crotty Green; Seth Damon EXCUSED; Herman M. Daniel Jr. Green; Mark Freeland Green; Pernell Halona Green; Vince James Green; Rickie Nez Green; Carl Slate Green; Raymond Smith Jr Red; Wilson Stewart Jr Green; Speaker Otto Tso EXCUSED; Charlaine Tso Red: Daniel Tso Green; Eugene Tso Green; Thomas Walker Jr NoVote; Edison Wauneka Green; Edmund Yazzie NoVote; Jimmy Yellowhair Green.
4:51 pm, 12.19.22, Navajo Council – Without Debate – votes 14 in favor, 6 opposed on NO MORE CONTAMINATION by another SAWMILL PLANT. Legislation 0109-22 sought Council approval of $18,880,105 from the Síhasin Fund to NavaMill Lumber & Logging Company for its Proposed Forest Products Business to be Constructed in Sawmill Chapter; Approving the Related Expenditure Plan Pursuant to 12 N.N.C. § 2501 – § 2508 (2/3), which Delegate Wilson LAME DUCK Stewart, Jr. sponsored. REMEMBER that Delegate LAME DUCK Stewart sponsored legislation for $5 Million from the Sihasin Fund to CleanUp the defunct Navajo Forestry Products Industry, a Navajo govt enterprise/business.
Unofficial Navajo Council voting tally:
Elmer Begay Green; Kee Allen Begay Green; Paul Begay Green; Nathaniel Brown NoVote; Eugenia Charles-Newton Red; Amber Kanazbah Crotty Red; Seth Damon EXCUSED; Herman M. Daniel Jr. Green; Mark Freeland Green; Mark Freeland Green; Pernell Halona Red; Vince James Green; Rickie Nez Green; Carl Slate Red; Raymond Smith Jr Green; Wilson Stewart Jr Green; Speaker Otto Tso EXCUSED; Charlaine Tso Red: Daniel Tso Green; Eugene Tso Green; Thomas Walker Jr Green; Edison Wauneka Green; Edmund Yazzie Green; Jimmy Yellowhair Red.
5 pm, 12.19.22, Navajo Council now on LEGISLATION 0176-22: which seeks Council approval to Allocate $10,159,542 from the Síhasin Fund to Replace the Ramah Navajo School Board Drinking Water System; Approving the Related Expenditure Plan (2/3)
SPONSOR: Honorable Jamie Henio
5:24 pm, 12.19.22, Delegate Amber Kanazbah Crotty says that Legislation 0176-22 is eligible under the Navajo Nation ARPA Funds and she supports it because Water has always been a Need of the Navajo People, especially when COVID-19 devastated the Dine’ People. And the Pandemic is still making our Dine’ People/Children/Elders/Young Adults suffer.
FYI – GOOD GRIEF! What has Ramah’s Council Delegate Jamie Henio been doing for the past 4 Years. A SCHOOL with STUDENTS/CHILDREN has been in dire need of Drinking Water since before the COVID-19 Pandemic. According to the Ramah Navajo School representative, the Council voted down this Project when the Council was approving Projects for CARES dollars. SHAME, SHAME, SHAME, SHAME on Budget & Finance Committee Chairman Jamie Henio for Waiting until the Last Minute to help our Students/Children.
On Dec. 16, 2022, Navajo President Jonathan Nez announced in a press rlease that the Navajo Department of Health, in coordination with the Navajo Epidemiology Center and the Navajo Area Indian Health Service, reported 217 new COVID-19 cases for the Navajo Nation and 13 recent deaths over a one-week period from December 9 – 15, 2022. The total number of deaths is now 1,981. 644,496 COVID-19 tests have been administered. The overall total number of positive COVID-19 cases is now 79,757, including 24 delayed reported cases.
On Dec. 9, 2022, President Nez announced that the Navajo Department of Health, in coordination with the Navajo Epidemiology Center and the Navajo Area Indian Health Service, reported 355 new COVID-19 cases for the Navajo Nation and eight recent deaths over a one-week period from December 2 – 8, 2022. The total number of deaths is now 1,968. 640,085 COVID-19 tests have been administered. The overall total number of positive COVID-19 cases is now 79,516, including 158 delayed reported cases.
On Dec. 5, 2022, President Nez announced that the Navajo Department of Health, in coordination with the Navajo Epidemiology Center and the Navajo Area Indian Health Service, reported 393 new COVID-19 cases for the Navajo Nation and four recent deaths over a one-week period from November 24 – December 1, 2022. The total number of deaths is now 1,960. 635,378 COVID-19 tests have been administered. The overall total number of positive COVID-19 cases is now 79,003, including 228 delayed reported cases.
5:54 pm, 12.19.22, Navajo Council votes 18 in favor, zero opposed on Legislation 0176-22 which seeks Council approval to Allocate $10,159,542 from the Síhasin Fund to Replace the Ramah Navajo School Board Drinking Water System; Approving the Related Expenditure Plan (2/3)
SPONSOR: Honorable Jamie Henio
Unofficial Navajo Council voting tally:
Elmer Begay Green; Kee Allen Begay Green; Paul Begay Green; Nathaniel Brown Green; Eugenia Charles-Newton Green; Amber Kanazbah Crotty Green; Seth Damon EXCUSED; Herman M. Daniel Jr. Green; Mark Freeland Green; Pernell Halona Green; Vince James Green; Jamie Henio Green; Rickie Nez Green; Carl Slater Green; Raymond Smith Jr NoVote; Wilson Stewart Jr Green; Speaker Otto Tso EXCUSED; Charlaine Tso NoVote: Daniel Tso Speaker Pro Tem NoVote; Eugene Tso NoVote; Thomas Walker Jr Green; Edison Wauneka Green; Edmund Yazzie Green; Jimmy Yellowhair Green.
5:54 pm, 12.19.22, Navajo Council Delegate Carl Slater, who is sponsoring LEGISLATION 0182-22: which seeks Navajo Nation Council Approval of $970,000 from the Síhasin Fund for the Demolition and Cleanup for Four Former Business Sites Under the Chinle RBDO, and Approving the Related Expenditure Plan, asks the Council to move 0182-22 to the next Council Special Session. CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Amber Kanazbah Crotty
6 pm, 12.19.22, Navajo Council – Without Debate – votes 19 in favor, zero opposed on Legislation LEGISLATION 0187-22: An Act Relating to the Resources and Development, Budget and Finance, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees, and the Navajo Nation Council; Approving $783,500 from the Síhasin Fund for the San Juan River Dineh Water Users, Inc. to Complete the Shiprock Lateral Water Conversion –Phase I Salinity Control – Project; Approving the Related Expenditure Plan (2/3)
SPONSOR: Honorable Amber Kanazbah Crotty
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Eugenia Charles-Newton
Legislation 0187-22 goes to President Nez for his action.
6:08 pm, 12.19.22, Navajo Council – Without Debate – votes 19 in favor, zero opposed on LEGISLATION 0192-22: which seeks Council approval of a Limited Waiver of Sovereign Immunity Allowing the Navajo Nation to be Sued in Federal District Court Regarding Compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act in Carrying Out Grants from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and Authorizing the President of the Navajo Nation or the Executive Director of the Navajo Nation Division of Community Development to Sign HUD Form 7015.15 Through September 30, 2027 (2/3)
SPONSOR: Honorable Mark A. Freeland
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Otto Girdy Tso
Unofficial Navajo Council voting tally:
Elmer Begay Green; Kee Allen Begay Green; Paul Begay Green; Nathaniel Brown NoVote; Eugenia Charles-Newton Green; Amber Kanazbah Crotty Green; Seth Damon EXCUSED; Herman M. Daniel Jr. Green; Mark Freeland Green; Pernell Halona Green; Vince James Green; Speaker Pro Tem Jamie Henio NoVote; Rickie Nez Green; Carl Slater Green; Raymond Smith Jr NoVote; Wilson Stewart Jr Green; Speaker Otto Tso EXCUSED; Charlaine Tso Green: Daniel Tso Green; Eugene Tso Green; Thomas Walker Jr Green; Edison Wauneka Green; Edmund Yazzie Green; Jimmy Yellowhair Green.
Council has final authority and so Legislation 0192-22 does not go to President Nez.
6:20 pm, 12.19.22, Navajo Council now on LEGISLATION 0198-22: which seeks Navajo Council Approval of $3,468,000 from the Síhasin Fund for a Multipurpose Building at the Aneth Chapter and Approving the Related Expenditure Plan (2/3)
SPONSOR: Honorable Charlaine Tso
Aneth Chapter Representative says this project can be started in three months. Aneth has been waiting for funding for this project for several years.
Aneth Chapter President says that the revenues from oil production in the Aneth area for the past 70 years have gone to Window Rock and have not benefited Aneth. With the help of our Delegate Charlaine Tso and community, we are presenting this project.
6:30 pm, 12.19.22, Navajo Council votes 18 in favor, 1 opposed on Amendment One by Delegate Eugene Tso to allocate $9,560,985 from the Sihasin Fund for Chinle Chapter improvements.
Unofficial Navajo Council voting tally:
Elmer Begay Green; Kee Allen Begay Green; Paul Begay Green; Nathaniel Brown Green; Eugenia Charles-Newton Red; Amber Kanazbah Crotty NoVote; Seth Damon EXCUSED; Herman M. Daniel Jr. Green; Mark Freeland Green; Pernell Halona Green; Vince James Green; Speaker Pro Tem Jamie Henio NoVote; Rickie Nez Green; Carl Slater Green; Raymond Smith Jr EXCUSED; Wilson Stewart Jr Green; Speaker Otto Tso EXCUSED; Charlaine Tso Green: Daniel Tso Green; Eugene Tso Green; Thomas Walker Jr Green; Edison Wauneka Green; Edmund Yazzie Green; Jimmy Yellowhair Green.
6:43 pm, 12.19.22, Navajo Council Delegate Eugenia Charles-Newton informs Council that the balance of the Shihasin Fund is $55 Million with the approval of funds for Aneth and Chinle Chapters! Charles-Newton notes that when the Council came into office, the balance of the Sihasin Fund was $335,046,669. The Council is in a “FREE FOR ALL” Mode, Charles-Newton adds. She also says that she will be Voting RED on all Legislation asking for funds from the Sihasin Fund.
7:20 pm, 12.19.22, Navajo Council votes 18 in favor, 1 opposed on LEGISLATION 0198-22: which seeks Navajo Council Approval of $3,468,000 from the Síhasin Fund for a Multipurpose Building at the Aneth Chapter and Approving the Related Expenditure Plan and approval of $9,560,985 for Chinle Chapter Improvements (2/3 vote required)
SPONSOR: Honorable Charlaine Tso
Unofficial Navajo Council voting tally:
Elmer Begay Green; Kee Allen Begay Green; Paul Begay Green; Nathaniel Brown Green; Eugenia Charles-Newton Red; Amber Kanazbah Crotty Green; Seth Damon EXCUSED; Herman M. Daniel Jr. Green; Mark Freeland Green; Pernell Halona NoVote; Vince James Green; Speaker Pro Tem Jamie Henio NoVote; Rickie Nez Green; Carl Slater Green; Raymond Smith Jr EXCUSED; Wilson Stewart Jr Green; Speaker Otto Tso EXCUSED; Charlaine Tso Green: Daniel Tso Green; Eugene Tso Green; Thomas Walker Jr Green; Edison Wauneka Green; Edmund Yazzie Green; Jimmy Yellowhair Green.
0198-22 now goes to President Nez.
7:28 pm, 12.19.22, Navajo Council now on LEGISLATION 0186-22: which seeks Navajo Nation Council approval to Assert Sovereignty and Taking Over Primary Regulatory Authority from the Federal Government, Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation Enforcement, Over All Coal Mining Lands Located on the Navajo Nation; Enacting a Waiver of Sovereign Immunity; and Establishing New Sections in Title 18 at 18 N.N.C. §§ 1701 et seq. (2/3)
SPONSOR: Honorable Wilson C. Stewart, Jr.
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Pernell Halona
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Daniel E. Tso
The purpose of this resolution is to enact the Navajo Nation Surface Coal Mining Program Act, establishing new Navajo Nation Code sections 18 N.N.C. §§ 1701 et seq. This enactment will provide for regulation, inspection and enforcement of surface coal mining and reclamation operations on Navajo Nation lands by the Navajo Minerals Department, specifically the Surface Coal Mining Program. If this legislation is passed, the Navajo Nation will be the first American Indian Nation to obtain primacy over surface coal mining and reclamation.
7:39 pm, 12.19.22, Navajo Council Delegate Amber Kanazbah Crotty asks if the Navajo EPA has staff and funding to do the work required to do the US Office of Surface Mining work, especially since divisions, department, programs of the Navajo government routinely suffer from a lack of staff and funding.
NEPA representative says that the new duties would only require ten professional staff.
Delegate Vince James asks if the Navajo Nation Judicial Branch ready for lawsuits against the NEPA for failing to provide surface mining & reclamation enforcement over all coal mining lands on the Navajo Nation. Where are the judicial experts?
Chief Legislative Counsel Dana Bobroff says that Delegate James’ question is best answered by Navajo Dept of Justice & the Navajo Judicial Branch.
Navajo Dept of Justice Natural Resources Division attorney April Quinn says that they have never backed down from a challenge.
Delegate Jimmy Yellowhair calls for the Tabling of 0186-22 for ten days to conduct a Work Session. This council has only 15 days left, but having the Navajo Nation take over federal OSM duties also requires a review of why the Navajo Nation has not made Peabody cleanup its coal mines, the Black Mesa & Kayenta Mines. Delegate Vince James seconds Yellowhair’s Tablilng motion.
Delegate Wilson Stewart Jr upset that Yellowhair & James want to Table his legislation.
8 pm, 12.19.22, The Council votes 5 in favor, 13 opposed to Table LEGISLATION 0186-22: which seeks Navajo Nation Council approval to Assert Sovereignty and Taking Over Primary Regulatory Authority from the Federal Government, Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation Enforcement, Over All Coal Mining Lands Located on the Navajo Nation; Enacting a Waiver of Sovereign Immunity; and Establishing New Sections in Title 18 at 18 N.N.C. §§ 1701 et seq. (2/3)
SPONSOR: Honorable Wilson C. Stewart, Jr.
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Pernell Halona
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Daniel E. Tso
Unofficial Navajo Council voting tally:
Elmer Begay Green; Kee Allen Begay Red; Paul Begay Red; Nathaniel Brown Red; Eugenia Charles-Newton Red; Amber Kanazbah Crotty Green; Seth Damon EXCUSED; Herman M. Daniel Jr. Red; Mark Freeland Red; Pernell Halona Red; Vince James Green; Speaker Pro Tem Jamie Henio NoVote; Rickie Nez Red; Carl Slater Green; Raymond Smith Jr EXCUSED; Wilson Stewart Jr Red; Speaker Otto Tso EXCUSED; Charlaine Tso NoVote: Daniel Tso Red; Eugene Tso Red; Thomas Walker Jr NoVote; Edison Wauneka Red; Edmund Yazzie Red; Jimmy Yellowhair Green.
8:08 pm, 12.19.22, Navajo Council Delegate Amber Kanazbah Crotty asks what does Limited Waiver of Sovereign Immunity mean?
Navajo Dept of Justice attorney April Quinn says that Limited waiver of sovereign immunity means that citizens of the Navajo Nation can sue the Navajo Nation only on the laws regarding Primary Regulatory Authority from the Federal Government, Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation Enforcement, Over All Coal Mining Lands Located on the Navajo Nation.
8:20 pm, 12.19.22, Council Delegate Amber Kanazbah Crotty asks if the federal govt will provide Funding to the Navajo Nation for the Nation taking over its responsibilities, especially since many of the federal authorities taken over by the Navajo Nation are not adequately funded.
NDOJ attorney April Quin says: How many lawsuits under Office of Surface Mining? None. But there was one that went to Interior but not to court because these types of lawsuit are expensive. Will Office of Surface Mining cover legal costs or other funding costs? No
8:33 pm, 12.19.22, Navajo Council votes 17 in favor, 1 opposed on LEGISLATION 0186-22: which seeks Navajo Nation Council approval to Assert Sovereignty and Taking Over Primary Regulatory Authority from the Federal Government, Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation Enforcement, Over All Coal Mining Lands Located on the Navajo Nation; Enacting a Waiver of Sovereign Immunity; and Establishing New Sections in Title 18 at 18 N.N.C. §§ 1701 et seq. (2/3)
SPONSOR: Delegate Wilson C. Stewart, Jr.
CO-SPONSOR: Delegate Pernell Halona
CO-SPONSOR: Delegate Daniel E. Tso
Unofficial Navajo Council voting tally:
Elmer Begay Green; Kee Allen Begay Green; Paul Begay Green; Nathaniel Brown Green; Eugenia Charles-Newton Green; Amber Kanazbah Crotty Green; Seth Damon EXCUSED; Herman M. Daniel Jr. Green; Mark Freeland Green; Pernell Halona Green; Vince James Red; Speaker Pro Tem Jamie Henio NoVote; Rickie Nez Green; Carl Slater EXCUSED; Raymond Smith Jr EXCUSED; Wilson Stewart Jr Green; Speaker Otto Tso EXCUSED; Charlaine Tso NoVote: Daniel Tso Green; Eugene Tso Green; Thomas Walker Jr Green; Edison Wauneka Green; Edmund Yazzie Green; Jimmy Yellowhair Green.
8:38 pm, 12.19.22, Council Delegates Amber Kanazbah Crotty and Nathaniel Brown motion for the Council to Adjourn. The Council votes 8 in favor, 10 oppose to Adjourn.
Unofficial Navajo Council voting tally:
Elmer Begay Green; Kee Allen Begay Red; Paul Begay Red; Nathaniel Brown Green; Eugenia Charles-Newton Red; Amber Kanazbah Crotty Green; Seth Damon EXCUSED; Herman M. Daniel Jr. Red; Mark Freeland Green; Pernell Halona Red; Vince James Green; Speaker Pro Tem Jamie Henio NoVote; Rickie Nez Red; Carl Slater EXCUSED; Raymond Smith Jr EXCUSED; Wilson Stewart Jr Red; Speaker Otto Tso EXCUSED; Charlaine Tso NoVote: Daniel Tso Red; Eugene Tso Green; Thomas Walker Jr Green; Edison Wauneka Green; Edmund Yazzie Red; Jimmy Yellowhair Red.
8:42 pm, 12.19.22, Navajo Council now on LEGISLATION 0023-22: which seeks Navajo Nation Council approval to Amend Certain Sections of the Navajo Nation Code to Transfer Legislative Oversight Over Veteran Services to the Naabik’íyáti’ Committee
(2/3) SPONSOR: Delegate Eugenia Charles-Newton says oversight is Health, Education & Human Services Committee but veterans requested that oversight be given to Naabik’iyati Committee after the Council failed to get answers regarding the construction of two houses during the past four years, after the Navajo VA director failed to answer questions from the Council. There has been some misinformation about Council taking away President Elect Buu Nygren oversight over Navajo VA, which is not true. Charles Newton notes that veterans’ housing funds just sitting there. “We need better information regarding veterans’ services,” she added.
Charles-Newton recalls that Delegate Eugene Tso attempted to create one Council committee, which supports Tso’s reasoning that having one Council committee would provide for all Delegates to be informed about all Legislation because all legislation impacts the Dine’ people.
8:55 pm, 12.19.22, Health, Education & Human Services Committee chairman Daniel Tso says he supports 0023-22. In the past, the HEHS Committee became the scapegoat for the inefficiency of the Navajo VA. And Tso said that HEHS Committee directives/recommendations to the Navajo VA were often ignored by the Navajo VA director Zwierlein.
9 pm, 12.19.22, Navajo Council votes 14 in favor, 3 opposed on LEGISLATION 0023-22: which seeks Navajo Nation Council approval to Amend Certain Sections of the Navajo Nation Code to Transfer Legislative Oversight Over Veteran Services to the Naabik’íyáti’ Committee. 0023-22 required a 2/3 vote or 16 Yes votes.
Unofficial Navajo Council voting tally:
Elmer Begay Green; Kee Allen Begay Green; Paul Begay Red; Nathaniel Brown Green; Eugenia Charles-Newton Green; Amber Kanazbah Crotty Green; Seth Damon EXCUSED; Herman M. Daniel Jr. Red; Mark Freeland EXCUSED; Pernell Halona Red; Vince James Green; Speaker Pro Tem Jamie Henio NoVote; Rickie Nez Green; Carl Slater EXCUSED; Raymond Smith Jr EXCUSED; Wilson Stewart Jr Green; Speaker Otto Tso EXCUSED; Charlaine Tso NoVote: Daniel Tso Green; Eugene Tso Green; Thomas Walker Jr NoVote; Edison Wauneka Green; Edmund Yazzie Green; Jimmy Yellowhair Green.
9:17 pm, 12.19.22, After Speaker Pro Tem Jamie Henio explains that 6 delegates have been Excused, Delegate Elmer Begay says that 17 delegates present is not enough delegates to address Legislation that requires 2/3 votes or 16 Yes votes and so Begay motions for his Legislation 0130-22, which seeks Council Approval of and the adoption of the Síhasin Dilkon Justice Center Fund Expenditure Plan pursuant 12 N.N.C. §§2501-2508 (2/3) and so he asks the Council to move 0130-22 to the next Council special session. CO-SPONSOR is Delegate Thomas Walker, Jr
Delegate Eugene Tso asks Delegate Elmer Begay to add his Legislation 0108-22, which seeks Council approval to Repeal 9N.N.C. § 2(C) of the Diné Marriage Act of 2005, to Equally Recognize all Marriages within the Navajo Nation; and Amending Other Provisions in Title 9 Related to Marriage within the Navajo Nation, to Delegate Begay’s Motion to Move 0130-22 to the next Council special session. Delegate Eugene Tso is the main sponsor of 0108-22 and the CO-SPONSOR is Delegate Nathaniel Brown.
FYI – NOT SURE WHAT HAPPENED, but the live-streaming of Council abruptly ended.
10:08 pm, 12.19.22, I don’t know when the Navajo Council got back online, but this is Part 2 of the Council special session, 12.19.22. Delegate Vince James changes his vote to Green to Adjourn, which changes vote to 9 in favor, 9 opposed. Delegate Rickie Nez question what is going on. He asks if Delegates that have been Excused can Vote. Speaker Pro Tem Jamie Henio says that delegates who have been Excused have voted in the past. Henio asks attorney Dana Bobroff for comment. She takes up time saying she does’t know. Legislative director says that with the teleconferencing of Council & Committee meetings, it has been allowed for numerous reasons. Delegate Vince James apologizes for being excused & he explains that he had to be Excused to do his breathing exercise. FYI – I could hear Delegate James having difficulty breathing.
Speaker Pro Tem Henio says it’s 9:40 pm & IT staff still having problems. We can get petition moving for special Council session next week.
Delegate Rickie Nez asks Heno if it would be possible to have a special Council session Wednesday. Henio says many legislative staff will be driving to Twin Arrows for legislative staff Xmas luncheon.
Delegate Nathaniel Brown asks if possible to have special Council session on the weekend. Henio says that it’s Xmas Eve & many families of legislative staff are busy with last minute holiday activities.
Delegate Eugenia Charles-Newton asks Henio if the Council is adjourned. Henio says Yes.
The vote is 10 in favor, 9 opposed to adjourn at 9:42 pm, 12.19.22
APPROVED AGENDA OF THE 24th NAVAJO NATION COUNCIL
SPECIAL SESSION Monday, December 19, 2022, 1 PM, Navajo Nation Council Chambers Window Rock, Navajo Nation (AZ)
Call-in Number: (669) 900-6833
Meeting ID: 928 871 7160
Passcode: 86515
PRESIDING: Honorable Jamie Henio, Speaker Pro Tem, 24th Navajo Nation Council
- CALL MEETING TO ORDER; ROLL CALL; INVOCATION
- RECOGNIZE GUESTS AND VISITING OFFICIALS TO THE NAVAJO NATION
- REVIEW AND ADOPT THE AGENDA
(m) Hon. Edison J. Wauneka (s) Hon. Eugenia Charles-Newton (v) 21-0 (snv) - REPORTS: NONE
- OLD BUSINESS:
A. LEGISLATION 0110-22: An Act Relating to the Budget and Finance, Resources and Development, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees, and the Navajo Nation Council; Allocating $5,000,000 from the Síhasin Fund for the Assessment and Remediation of the Former Navajo Forest Products Industry Location in Navajo, NM; Approving the Related Expenditure Plan Pursuant to 12 N.N.C. § 2501 – § 2508 (2/3)
SPONSOR: Honorable Wilson C. Stewart, Jr.
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Rickie Nez
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Raymond Smith, Jr.
(m) Hon. Eugene Tso (s) Hon. Paul Begay, Jr. (v)
10/18/2022 – Motion to Table Legislation 0110-22 for no less than 30 days for revisions to be applied to the expenditure plan; (M) Hon. Daniel
E. Tso; (S) Hon. Eugenia Charles-Newton; (V) 15 In Favor, 07 Opposed (Speaker Damon Not Voting)
B. LEGISLATION 0159-22: An Act Relating to the Resources and Development, Budget and Finance, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees, and to the Navajo Nation Council; Allocating $10,031,897 from the Síhasin Fund for the Mariano Lake Chapter Multipurpose Building Project; Approving the Related Expenditure Plan Pursuant to 12 N.N.C. §2501 – §2508 (2/3)
SPONSOR: Honorable Edmund Yazzie
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Raymond Smith, Jr.
(m) Hon. Pernell Halona (s) Hon. Raymond Smith, Jr. (v)
10/19/2022 – Motion to Refer Legislation 0159-22 to the Naabik’íyáti’ Committee and bring back no later than 30 days for further discussion on current modifications and to allow more time for possible amendments to be drafted.; (M) Hon. Eugenia Charles-Newton; (S) Hon. Herman M. Daniels, Jr.; (V) 14 In Favor, 07 Opposed (Speaker Damon Not Voting)
11/10/2022 – Legislation 0159-22 was passed and referred back to the Navajo Nation Council; (M) Hon. Pernell Halona; (S) Hon. Jimmy Yellowhair; (V) 19 In Favor, 00 Opposed (Chairman ProTem Daniel E. Tso Not Voting) - NEW BUSINESS:
A. LEGISLATION 0075-22: An Act Relating to the Budget and Finance, Resources and Development, Health, Education and Human Services, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees, and to the Navajo Nation Council; Allocating $10,000,000 from the Síhasin Fund to Establish a New Outdoor Recreation Fund for the Navajo Nation (2/3)
SPONSOR: Honorable Carl R. Slater
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Amber Kanazbah Crotty
(m) (s) (v)
B. LEGISLATION 0109-22: An Act Relating to the Resources and Development, Budget and Finance, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees, and the Navajo Nation Council; Allocating $18,880,105 from the Síhasin Fund to NavaMill Lumber & Logging Company for its Proposed Forest Products Business to be Constructed in Sawmill Chapter; Approving the Related Expenditure Plan Pursuant to 12 N.N.C. § 2501 – § 2508 (2/3)
SPONSOR: Honorable Wilson C. Stewart, Jr.
(m) (s) (v)
C. LEGISLATION 0176-22: An Action Relating to the Resources and Development, Budget and Finance, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees, and to the Navajo Nation Council; Allocating $10,159,542 from the Síhasin Fund to Replace the Ramah Navajo School Board Drinking Water System; Approving the Related Expenditure Plan (2/3)
SPONSOR: Honorable Jamie Henio
(m) (s) (v)
D. LEGISLATION 0182-22: An Act Relating to the Resources and Development, Budget and Finance, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees, and to the Navajo Nation Council; Approving $970,000 from the Síhasin Fund for the Demolition and Cleanup for Four Former Business Sites Under the Chinle RBDO, and Approving the Related Expenditure Plan (2/3)
SPONSOR: Honorable Carl R. Slater
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Amber Kanazbah Crotty
(m) (s) (v)
E. LEGISLATION 0187-22: An Act Relating to the Resources and Development, Budget and Finance, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees, and the Navajo Nation Council; Approving $783,500 from the Síhasin Fund for the San Juan River Dineh Water Users, Inc. to Complete the Shiprock Lateral Water Conversion –Phase I Salinity Control – Project; Approving the Related Expenditure Plan (2/3)
SPONSOR: Honorable Amber Kanazbah Crotty
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Eugenia Charles-Newton
(m) (s) (v)
F. LEGISLATION 0192-22: An Action Relating to Resources and Development and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees and the Navajo Nation Council; Approving a Limited Waiver of Sovereign Immunity Allowing the Navajo Nation to be Sued in Federal District Court Regarding Compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act in Carrying Out Grants from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and Authorizing the President of the Navajo Nation or the Executive Director of the Navajo Nation Division of Community Development to Sign HUD Form 7015.15 Through September 30, 2027 (2/3)
SPONSOR: Honorable Mark A. Freeland
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Otto Tso
(m) (s) (v)
G. LEGISLATION 0198-22: An Act Relating to the Resources and Development, Budget and Finance, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees, and to the Navajo Nation Council; Approving $3,468,000 from the Síhasin Fund for a Multipurpose Building at the Aneth Chapter and Approving the Related Expenditure Plan (2/3)
SPONSOR: Honorable Charlaine Tso
(m) (s) (v)
H. LEGISLATION 0186-22: An Act Relating to Law and Order, Resources and Development, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees and Navajo Nation Council; Asserting Sovereignty and Taking Over Primary Regulatory Authority from the Federal Government, Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation Enforcement, Over All Coal Mining Lands Located on the Navajo Nation; Enacting a Waiver of Sovereign Immunity; and Establishing New Sections in Title 18 at 18 N.N.C. §§ 1701 et seq. (2/3)
SPONSOR: Honorable Wilson C. Stewart, Jr.
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Pernell Halona
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Daniel E. Tso
(m) (s) (v)
I. LEGISLATION 0023-22: An Act Relating to Health, Education and Human Services, Law and Order, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees and the Navajo Nation Council; Amending Certain Sections of the Navajo Nation Code to Transfer Legislative Oversight Over Veteran Services to the Naabik’íyáti’ Committee
(2/3) SPONSOR: Honorable Eugenia Charles-Newton
(m) (s) (v)
J. LEGISLATION 0130-19: An Action Relating to the Law and Order, Budget and Finance, Naabik’íyáti’ Committees, and Navajo Nation Council; Approving and adopting the Síhasin Dilkon Justice Center Fund Expenditure Plan pursuant 12 N.N.C. §§2501-2508 (2/3)
SPONSOR: Honorable Elmer P. Begay
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Thomas Walker, Jr.
(m) (s) (v)
K. LEGISLATION 0040-22: An Act Relating to Resources and Development, Health, Education and Human Services, Law and Order, Budget and Finance, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees and the Navajo
Nation Council; Establishing the San Juan River Mitigation Fund; Directing that Monies Received from In Re: Gold King Mine Release In San Juan County, Colorado, on August 5, 2015, NO. 1:18-md-02824 (D.N.M.) and Underlying and Related Actions Be Deposited in the San Juan River Mitigation Fund After Reimbursement of Litigation Costs
SPONSOR: Honorable Rickie Nez
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Seth Damon
(m) (s) (v)
L. LEGISLATION 0108-22: An Act Relating to the Health, Education and Human Services, Law and Order, Budget and Finance, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees and the Navajo Nation Council; Repealing 9 N.N.C. § 2(C) of the Diné Marriage Act of 2005, to Equally Recognize all Marriages within the Navajo Nation; and Amending Other Provisions in Title 9 Related to Marriage within the Navajo Nation
SPONSOR: Honorable Eugene Tso
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Nathaniel Brown
(m) (s) (v)
M. LEGISLATION 0157-22: An Action Relating to Law and Order, Health Education and Human Services, Resources and Development, Budget and Finance and Naabik’íyáti’ Committee and Navajo Nation Council; Amending CAP-35-18, Síhasin Fund Powerline and Chapter Projects Expenditure Plan, to Extend Project Completion Deadlines for an Additional Twenty-Four Months
SPONSOR: Honorable Raymond Smith, Jr.
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Pernell Halona
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Wilson C. Stewart, Jr.
(m) (s) (v)
N. LEGISLATION 0188-22: An Action Relating to Resources and Development and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees and Navajo Nation Council; Confirming Michele T. Jones as the Navajo Gaming Regulatory Office Executive Director
SPONSOR: Honorable Nathaniel Brown
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Pernell Halona
(m) (s) (v)
O. LEGISLATION 0190-22: An Act Relating to the Budget and Finance, Resources and Development, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees, and the Navajo Nation Council; Approving $200,000 from the Unreserved, Undesignated Fund Balance (“UUFB”) for the Sawmill Chapter Renovation Project SPONSOR: Honorable Wilson C. Stewart, Jr.
(m) (s) (v)
P. LEGISLATION 0201-22: An Act Relating to Law and Order, Resources and Development, Health, Education and Human Services, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees, and the Navajo Nation Council; Amending Navajo Nation Code 13 N.N.C. §§ 1901, 1902, 1903, 1905, 1906, 1951, 1952, and 1953
SPONSOR: Honorable Rickie Nez
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Wilson C. Stewart, Jr.
(m) (s) (v)
Q. LEGISLATION 0223-22: An Action Relating to the Health, Education and Human Services, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees, and the Navajo Nation Council; Approving the Reinstatement of Halle A. Lizer as a Member of the Navajo Nation
SPONSOR: Honorable Edison J. Wauneka
(m) (s) (v)
R. LEGISLATION 0224-22: An Act Relating to the Law and Order and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees and the Navajo Nation Council; Amending the Navajo Nation Criminal Code at 17 N.N.C. § 320 by Recognizing Concealed Weapon Carry Permits Issued by States
SPONSOR: Honorable Edmund Yazzie
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Carl R. Slater
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Eugene Tso
(m) (s) (v)
S. LEGISLATION 0228-22: An Action Relating to the Resources and Development Committee, Naabik’íyáti’ Committee and the Navajo Nation Council; Approving the Oil and Gas Operating Agreement Between the Navajo Nation and EOG Resources, Inc., for Certain Trust Lands in the Upper Fruitland Chapter and the Nenahnezad Chapter, Navajo Nation (San Juan County, New Mexico)
SPONSOR: Honorable Rickie Nez
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Elmer P. Begay
(m) (s) (v)
T. LEGISLATION 0193-22: An Act Relating to Law and Order, Budget and Finance, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees, and Navajo Nation Council; Amending 12 N.N.C. § 820(N) to Change the Lapse of Certain Appropriations
SPONSOR: Honorable Otto Tso
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Eugenia Charles-Newton
(m) (s) (v)
U. LEGISLATION 0227-22: An Action Relating to Resources and Development; Naabik’íyáti’ Committees and the Navajo Nation Council; Adopting the Latest International Building Code (ICC’S 2021 International Building Code) as Applicable to Commercial and Government Buildings Constructed by the Navajo Nation Government and its Entities and Political Subdivisions
SPONSOR: Honorable Eugenia Charles-Newton
(m) (s) (v) - CLOSE OF SESSION; ANNOUNCEMENTS; ADJOURNMENT
Livestream will be available online at:
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YouTube: www.youtube.com/navajonationcouncil
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PROPOSED AGENDA OF THE 24th NAVAJO NATION COUNCIL SPECIAL SESSION Monday, December 19, 2022 – 1:00 PM
Navajo Nation Council Chambers, Window Rock, Navajo Nation (AZ)
Call-in Number: (669) 900-6833
Meeting ID: 928 871 7160
Passcode: 86515
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PRESIDING: Honorable Otto Tso, Speaker, 24th Navajo Nation Council
- CALL MEETING TO ORDER; ROLL CALL; INVOCATION
- RECOGNIZE GUESTS AND VISITING OFFICIALS TO THE NAVAJO NATION
- REVIEW AND ADOPT THE AGENDA
(m) (s) (v) - REPORTS: NONE
- OLD BUSINESS:
A. LEGISLATION 0110-22: An Act Relating to the Budget and Finance, Resources and Development, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees, and the Navajo Nation Council; Allocating $5,000,000 from the Síhasin Fund for the Assessment and Remediation of the Former Navajo Forest Products Industry Location in Navajo, NM; Approving the Related Expenditure Plan Pursuant to 12 N.N.C. § 2501 – § 2508 (2/3)
SPONSOR: Honorable Wilson C. Stewart, Jr.
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Rickie Nez
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Raymond Smith, Jr.
(m) Hon. Eugene Tso (s) Hon. Paul Begay, Jr. (v)
10/18/2022 – Motion to Table Legislation 0110-22 for no less than 30 days for revisions to be applied to the expenditure plan; (M) Hon. Daniel E. Tso; (S) Hon. Eugenia Charles-Newton; (V) 15 In Favor, 07 Opposed (Speaker Damon Not Voting)
B. LEGISLATION 0159-22: An Act Relating to the Resources and Development, Budget and Finance, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees, and to the Navajo Nation Council; Allocating $10,031,897 from the Síhasin Fund for the Mariano Lake Chapter Multipurpose Building Project; Approving the Related Expenditure Plan Pursuant to 12 N.N.C. §2501 – §2508 (2/3)
SPONSOR: Honorable Edmund Yazzie
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Raymond Smith, Jr.
(m) (s) (v)
10/19/2022 – Motion to Refer Legislation 0159-22 to the Naabik’íyáti’ Committee and bring back no later than 30 days for further discussion on current modifications and to allow more time for possible amendments to be drafted.; (M) Hon. Eugenia Charles-Newton; (S) Hon. Jimmy Yellowhair; (V) 14 In Favor, 07 Opposed (Speaker Damon Not Voting)
11/10/2022 – Legislation 0159-22 was passed and referred back to the Navajo Nation Council; (M) Hon. Pernell Halona; (S) Hon. Jimmy Yellowhair; (V) 19 In Favor, 00 Opposed (Chairman ProTem Daniel E. Tso Not Voting) - NEW BUSINESS:
A. LEGISLATION 0075-22: An Act Relating to the Budget and Finance, Resources and Development, Health, Education and Human Services, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees, and to the Navajo Nation Council; Allocating $10,000,000 from the Síhasin Fund to Establish a New Outdoor Recreation Fund for the Navajo Nation (2/3)
SPONSOR: Honorable Carl R. Slater
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Amber Kanazbah Crotty
(m) (s) (v)
B. LEGISLATION 0109-22: An Act Relating to the Resources and Development, Budget and Finance, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees, and the Navajo Nation Council; Allocating $18,880,105 from the Síhasin Fund to NavaMill Lumber & Logging Company for its Proposed Forest Products Business to be Constructed in Sawmill Chapter; Approving the Related Expenditure Plan Pursuant to 12 N.N.C. § 2501 – § 2508 (2/3)
SPONSOR: Honorable Wilson C. Stewart, Jr.
(m) (s) (v)
C. LEGISLATION 0176-22: An Action Relating to the Resources and Development, Budget and Finance, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees, and to the Navajo Nation Council; Allocating $10,159,542 from the Síhasin Fund to Replace the Ramah Navajo School Board Drinking Water System; Approving the Related Expenditure Plan (2/3)
SPONSOR: Honorable Jamie Henio
(m) (s) (v)
D. LEGISLATION 0182-22: An Act Relating to the Resources and Development, Budget and Finance, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees, and to the Navajo Nation Council; Approving $970,000 from the Síhasin Fund for the Demolition and Cleanup for Four Former Business Sites Under the Chinle RBDO, and Approving the Related Expenditure Plan (2/3) SPONSOR: Honorable Carl R. Slater
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Amber Kanazbah Crotty
(m) (s) (v)
E. LEGISLATION 0187-22: An Act Relating to the Resources and Development, Budget and Finance, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees, and the Navajo Nation Council; Approving $783,500 from the Síhasin Fund for the San Juan River Dineh Water Users, Inc. to Complete the Shiprock Lateral Water Conversion –Phase I Salinity Control – Project; Approving the Related Expenditure Plan (2/3)
SPONSOR: Honorable Amber Kanazbah Crotty
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Eugenia Charles-Newton
(m) (s) (v)
F. LEGISLATION 0192-22: An Action Relating to Resources and Development and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees and the Navajo Nation Council; Approving a Limited Waiver of Sovereign Immunity Allowing the Navajo Nation to be Sued in Federal District Court Regarding Compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act in Carrying Out Grants from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and Authorizing the President of the Navajo Nation or the Executive Director of the Navajo Nation Division of Community Development to Sign HUD Form 7015.15 Through September
30, 2027 (2/3) SPONSOR: Honorable Mark A. Freeland
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Otto Tso
(m) (s) (v)
G. LEGISLATION 0198-22: An Act Relating to the Resources and Development, Budget and Finance, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees, and to the Navajo Nation Council; Approving $3,468,000 from the Síhasin Fund for a Multipurpose Building at the Aneth Chapter and Approving the Related Expenditure Plan (2/3)
SPONSOR: Honorable Charlaine Tso
(m) (s) (v)
H. LEGISLATION 0040-22: An Act Relating to Resources and Development, Health, Education and Human Services, Law and Order, Budget and Finance, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees and the Navajo Nation Council; Establishing the San Juan River Mitigation Fund; Directing that Monies Received from In Re: Gold King Mine Release In San Juan County, Colorado, on August 5, 2015, NO. 1:18-md-02824 (D.N.M.) and Underlying and Related Actions Be Deposited in the San Juan River Mitigation Fund After Reimbursement of Litigation Costs SPONSOR: Honorable Rickie Nez
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Seth Damon
(m) (s) (v)
I. LEGISLATION 0108-22: An Act Relating to the Health, Education and Human Services, Law and Order, Budget and Finance, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees and the Navajo Nation Council; Repealing 9 N.N.C. § 2(C) of the Diné Marriage Act of 2005, to Equally Recognize all Marriages within the Navajo Nation; and Amending Other Provisions in Title 9 Related to Marriage within the Navajo Nation SPONSOR: Honorable Eugene Tso
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Nathaniel Brown
(m) (s) (v)
J. LEGISLATION 0157-22: An Action Relating to Law and Order, Health Education and Human Services, Resources and Development, Budget and Finance and Naabik’íyáti’ Committee and Navajo Nation Council; Amending CAP-35-18, Síhasin Fund Powerline and Chapter Projects Expenditure Plan, to Extend Project Completion Deadlines for an Additional Twenty-Four Months
SPONSOR: Honorable Raymond Smith, Jr.
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Pernell Halona
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Wilson C. Stewart, Jr.
(m) (s) (v)
K. LEGISLATION 0186-22: An Act Relating to Law and Order, Resources and Development, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees and Navajo Nation Council; Asserting Sovereignty and Taking Over Primary Regulatory Authority from the Federal Government, Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation Enforcement, Over All Coal Mining Lands Located on the Navajo Nation; Enacting a Waiver of Sovereign Immunity; and Establishing New Sections in Title 18 at 18 N.N.C. §§ 1701 et seq.
SPONSOR: Honorable Wilson C. Stewart, Jr.
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Pernell Halona
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Daniel E. Tso
(m) (s) (v)
L. LEGISLATION 0188-22: An Action Relating to Resources and Development and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees and Navajo Nation Council; Confirming Michele T. Jones as the Navajo Gaming Regulatory Office Executive Director SPONSOR: Honorable Nathaniel Brown
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Pernell Halona
(m) (s) (v)
M. LEGISLATION 0190-22: An Act Relating to the Budget and Finance, Resources and Development, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees, and the Navajo Nation Council; Approving $200,000 from the Unreserved, designated Fund Balance (“UUFB”) for the Sawmill Chapter Renovation Project
SPONSOR: Honorable Wilson C. Stewart, Jr.
(m) (s) (v)
N. LEGISLATION 0201-22: An Act Relating to Law and Order, Resources and Development, Health, Education and Human Services, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees, and the Navajo Nation Council; Amending Navajo Nation Code 13 N.N.C. §§ 1901, 1902, 1903, 1905, 1906, 1951, 1952, and 1953
SPONSOR: Honorable Rickie Nez
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Wilson C. Stewart, Jr.
(m) (s) (v)
O. LEGISLATION 0223-22: An Action Relating to the Health, Education and Human Services, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees, and the Navajo Nation Council; Approving the Reinstatement of Halle A. Lizer as a Member of the Navajo Nation
SPONSOR: Honorable Edison J. Wauneka
(m) (s) (v)
P. LEGISLATION 0224-22: An Act Relating to the Law and Order and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees and the Navajo Nation Council; Amending the Navajo Nation Criminal Code at 17 N.N.C. § 320 by Recognizing Concealed Weapon Carry Permits Issued by States
SPONSOR: Honorable Edmund Yazzie
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Carl R. Slater
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Eugene Tso
(m) (s) (v)
Q. LEGISLATION 0228-22: An Action Relating to the Resources and Development Committee,
Naabik’íyáti’ Committee and the Navajo Nation Council; Approving the Oil and Gas Operating Agreement Between the Navajo Nation and EOG Resources, Inc., for Certain Trust Lands in the Upper Fruitland Chapter and the Nenahnezad Chapter, Navajo Nation (San Juan County, New Mexico)
SPONSOR: Honorable Rickie Nez
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Elmer P. Begay
(m) (s) (v)
R. LEGISLATION 0240-22: An Act Relating to the Law and Order, and Naabik’íyáti’ Committees and the Navajo Nation Council; Amending Title 17 of the Navajo Nation Code
SPONSOR: Honorable Eugenia Charles-Newton
CO-SPONSOR: Honorable Otto Tso
(m) (s) (v) - CLOSE OF SESSION; ANNOUNCEMENTS; ADJOURNMENT
THIS AGENDA IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE: The public is advised that the Navajo Nation Council Agenda and the Agendas of the Standing Committees are not final until adopted by a majority vote of the Navajo Nation Council or the Standing Committee at a Navajo Nation Council or a Standing Committee meeting pursuant to 2 N.N.C. §§ 163 and 183, Navajo Nation Council Rule of Order No. 7, and Standing Committee Rule of Order No. 8.
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