To celebrate Native American Heritage Month, we are sharing all the favorable outcomes of the 82nd Legislative Session.

As all our relatives become more engaged in civic matters, please know that the bill which “Requires the Division of Environmental Protection of the State Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to conduct an interim study concerning environmental justice,” is now a law.

(BDR S-347) Section 9 of this bill directs the Division of Environmental Protection of the State Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to conduct an interim study concerning environmental justice. In conducting the study, section 9 requires the Division to identify:

(1) the communities in this State that face the greatest cumulative environmental burdens                                
(2) methods for preventing the increase of the cumulative environmental burdens of such communities
(3) strategies to decrease the cumulative environmental burdens of such communities.

Section 9 authorizes the Division to contract with a private entity to conduct the study.

The NEVADA INDIAN COMMISSION (NIC) is a State agency created by statute in 1965 to “study matters affecting the social and economic welfare and well-being of American Indians residing in Nevada, including but not limited to matters and problems relating to Indian affairs and to federal and state control, responsibility, policy, and operations affecting such Indians.”  Beginning on July 1, 2024, our agency will be known as the Department of Native American Affairs (DNA).         

For more information about this required Environmental Justice Study, click here.